of his Throne against the Common-wealth by destroying the principles of Safety and Prosperity Other Treasons are against the Rule of the Law this is against the being of the Law It is the Law that unites the King and his People and the Author of this Treason hath endeavoured to dissolve that Vnion even to break the mutual irreversal indissoluble band of Protection and Allegiance whereby they are and I hope ever will be bound together If this Treason had taken effect our Souls had been inthralled to the Spiritual Tyranny of Sathan our Consciences to the Ecclesiastical Tyranny of the Pope our Lives our Persons and Estates to the Civil Tyranny of an Arbitrary unlimited confused Government Treason in the least degree is an odious and a horrid Crime other Treasons are particular if a Fort be betrayed or an Army or any other Treasonable fact committed the Kingdom may out-live any of these this Treason would have dissolved the frame and being of the Common-wealth it is an Vniversal a Catholick Treason the venom and malignity of all other Treasons are abstracted digested sublimated into this The Law of this Kingdom makes the King to be the Fountain of Justice of Peace of Protection therefore we say the Kings Courts the Kings Judges the Kings Laws The Royal Power and Majesty shines upon us in every publick blessing and benefit we enjoy but the Author of this Treason would make him the Fountain of Injustice of Confusion of publick misery and calamity The Gentiles by the light of Nature had some obscure apprehensions of the Deity of which they made this expression that he was Deus optimus maximus and infinite goodness and an insinite greatness All Soveraign Princes have some Characters of Divinity imprinted on them they are set up in their Dominions to be Optimi Maximi that they should exercise a goodness proportionable to their greatness That Law term Laesa Majestas whereby they express that which we call Treason was never more thorowly fulfilled then now there cannot be a greater laesion or diminution of Majestie then to bereave a King of the glory of his goodness It is goodness My Lords that can produce not onely to his People but likewise to himself Honour and Happiness There are Principalities Thrones and Dominions amongst the Devils greatness enough but being uncapable of Goodness they are made uncapable both of Honour and Happiness The Lawes of this Kingdom have invested the Royal Crown with Power sufficient for the manifestation of his Goodness and of his Greatness if more be required it is like to have no other Effects but Poverty Weakness and Misery whereof of late we have had very woful Experience It is far from the Commons to desire any abridgment of those great Prerogatives which belong to the King they know that their own Liberty and Peace are preserved and secured by his Prerogative and they will alwayes be ready to Support and Supply his Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes for the maintenance of his Just and Lawful Power This My Lords is in all our Thoughts in our Prayers and I hope will be so manifested in our Endeavours that if the Proceedings of this Parliament be not interrupted as others have been the King may within a few Moneths be put into a clear way of as much Greatness Plenty and Glory as any of his Royal Ancestors have enjoyed A King and his People make one Body the Inferiour Parts confer Nourishment and Strength the Superiour Sense and Motion If there be an interruption of this necessary intercourse of blood and spirits the whole Body must needs be subject to decay and distemper therefore Obstructions are first to be removed before Restoratives can be applyed This My Lord is the end of this Accusation whereby the Commons seek to remove this Person whom they conceive to have been a great cause of the Obstructions betwixt his Majesty and his People for the Effecting whereof they have Commanded me to desire your Lordships that their Proceedings against him may be put into as speedy a way of dispatch as the Courses of Parliament will allow First That he may be called to answer and they may have liberty to Reply That there may be a quick and secret examination of Witnesses and they may from time to time be acquainted with the Depositions that so when the Cause shall be ripe for Judgment they may collect the several Examinations and represent to your Lordships in one entire Body the state of the Proofs as now by me they have presented to your the state of the Charge Of which Mr. Pym having given an account to the House had the Thanks of the House returned for his well delivery of the Charge against the Earl of Strafford After this Impeachment was Read Earl of Strafford sent to the Tower the Earl was sent for to the House of Lords and acquainted with the Order of their Lordships for his Commitment to the Tower upon which occasion he made a most Moving and Eloquent Speech but I have not been able to retrieve it the Journal where it is Entred being according to an Act of Parliament after the Restauration of King Charles the Second wholly obliterated The Earl being thus Committed Friday Nov. 27. he Petitioned the Lords to have Counsel assigned him which was allowed and Mr. Richard Lane the Prince's Attorney Mr. Recorder of London Mr. Jo. Lightfoot Mr. Hugh Windham Serjeant Rolles Mr. Platt and Mr. Geo. Love were appointed to be his Counsel Upon the 30 of November a Conference was between a Committee of the Two Houses concerning the Examination of Witnesses and other things preparatory to the Trial of the Earl Monday Novemb. 30. where the Lords agreed That such Members of the House of Commons as they shall appoint shall be present at the Examination of Witnesses and the Lords who were appointed to take the Examination of the Witnesses were Earl of Bath Earl of Bedford Earl of Hartford Earl of Essex Lord Wharton Lord Kimbolton Lord Brook Lord Roberts Lord Savile Thursday Dec. 3. Committee to Examine Evidence an Oath of Secrecy administred Lord Viscount Say and Seal who were impowered to give an Oath to the Attendants Witnesses and the Commons who were to be present of Secresie till the publication of the Evidence The Commoners chosen by their House to be present at this Examination were Mr. Selden Mr. Dutton Mr. Crew Sir Peter Hayman Mr. Grimston Commons to be present at the Examination their Protestation Sir Henry Anderson Sir Nevil Pool Sir Tho. Barrington who were all required to declare That by their Duty they owe to this House they are obliged to keep all those Examinations secret who accordingly did every one make an open protestation that they would The Earl also Petitioned to be heard at the time of the preparatory Examinations but was denied Among the Rest of the Witnesses Examined against the Earl Sir David Fowles was one who at the same
were the King 's right and due and a great profit was thereby advanced and he trusted to advance it The King must loose of his former Rents in the case of Custom and received a small Rent in the case of Tobacco my Lord himself in the mean time imbursing such vast summs of Money where is then the discharge of his Trust where is his care to advance the King's Rents to increase his Revenue Compare that part of his Answer with this and see what credit is to be given to his affirmation My Lords throughout the passages of his discourse he insinuates and never more than this day with the Peers of the Realm magnifying them almost to Idolatry and yet my Lords when he was in his Kingdom in Ireland and had power over them what respect shewed he then to the Peers of the Kingdom when he judged some to death trampled upon others in misery committed them to prison and seized on their Estates where then was the Peerage he now magnifies And to shew it was an insinuation for his own advantage you may remember when there was an unlawful Act to be committed that is the levying of Money in the North What regard had he then to the Peers of the Kingdom when he comes to justifie and boulster up High-Treason it self under the name and authority of the great Council where most of the Peers of the Realm then were and so by this time I know what credit your Lordships give to his words spoken when he lies under your Mercy and Power but what do I speak of the Peers of the Kingdom and his using of them My Lords he spared not his Soveraign His Majesty in His whole Defence for being charged with offences of a high nature he justifies those offences under the pretence and under the authority of His Majesty our Gracious King and Soveraign even Murther it self in the Case of Denwitt and my Lord Mountnorris Treason it self in the Fifteenth Article by a Command in Ireland and in the Seven and twentieth by a pretended authority from His Majesty in the face of His people he justifies my Lord Mountnorris his sentence by a Letter from his Majesty Denwit's Sentence by a Commission from his Majesty and he read three or four clauses to that purpose My Lords my Lord of Strafford doth very well know and if he doth not know it I have a Witness to produceagainst him which I will not examine but refer it to his own Conscience that is The Petition of Right that the King's Servants are to serve him according to Law and no otherwise he very well knew if an unlawful act be committed especially to a degree of Treason and Murder the King's Authority and Warrant produced is no justification at all So then my Lords to mention the King's name to justifie an unlawful act in that way can do him no good and his own understanding knows it may do the King harm if we had not so Gracious a King that no such thing can do harm unto But my Lords to produce the King's Warrant to justifie his actions under his Patent and Command what is it else but so far as in him lies in the face of his people to raise a cloud and exhale a vapour To interpose betwixt the King and his Subjects whereby the splendor of his Glory and Justice cannot be discovered to his people My Lords what is it else when the people make complaint against the Ministers that should execute Justice of their oppression and slavery and bondage For the Minister when he is questioned to justifie this under the King's Authority what is it I say but as much as in that Minister lies to six this offence to fasten this oppression upon the King himself to make it to be believed that the occasion of these their groans proceeded from his Sacred Majesty yet God be thanked the strength of that Sun is powerful enough to dispel these vapours and to disperse the cloud that he would have raised but in the mean time my Lord is nothing to be excused My Lords he may pretend zeal to the King's Service and affection to His Honour but give me leave not to believe it since when he is questioned by all the King's people and in the face of his people and offences laid to his charge which himself now confesses to be against Law he should justifie it under the King's authority that savours not of a good servant I will say no more My Lords he is charged with exercising a tyrannical power over the King's people and in his Defence your Lordships have often heard and I may not omit it that he shelters himself under the protection of the King's Prerogative though he be charged with Tyranny of the highest nature that may be see then how foul and malignant an aspect this hath My Lords what is it else but to endeavour as much as in him lies to infuse into the King's heart an apprehension that his Prerogative is so bottomless a Gulf so unlimited a Power as is not to be comprehended within the Rules of Law or within the bounds of Government for else why should he mention the Prerogative when he is charged to exceed the Law What is it else but as far as in him lies to make the people believe for I may not forget the words he hath used by his magnifying of the Prerogative that it hath a special stamp of Divinity on it and that the other part of the Government that God pleases to put into the King's hands had not that stamp upon it as if any thing done by one was to be justified by authority derived from Heaven but the other not These expressions your Lordships remember and I may not omit to put your Lordships in mind of them and I can expound them no otherwise than as much as in him lies to make the Subject believe and apprehend that which is the buckler and defence of his protection to be the two-edged sword of his destruction according to the Doctrine he Preached and that that which is the Sanctuary of their Liberty is the Snare and Engine of their Slavery And thus he hath cast a bone of contention as much as in him lay betwixt King and People to make the Subjects loath that glorious Flower of his Crown by fixing a jealousie in them that it may be a means of their Bondage and Slavery But there is so much Piety and Goodness in the King's Heart that I hope upon fair understanding there will be no such occasion but no thanks to the party that so much advanced the Prerogative in the case and condition he stands in to justify that which is laid to his Charge of High Treason My Lords I beseech you give me leave there is no greater safety to King and People than to have the Throne incircled with good Counsellors and no greater danger to both than to have it encompassed with wicked and dangerous ones and yet I
counterfeit Coin was Treason and Justice Stamford fol. 331. 44. is of opinion that this or the conspiring to counterfeit the Great Seal is Treason The Statute is If any shall counterfeit the Great Seal conspiring to do it by the Book is Treason if a man take the Broad Seal from one Patent and put it to another here is no counterfeiting it 's tantamount and therefore Treason as is adjudged in 2 Hen. 4. fol. 25. and by the opinion of Stamford If Machination or Plotting a War be not within that clause of the Statute of Levying of War yet is within the first of compassing the death of the King as that which necessarily tends to the destruction both of King and People upon whose safety and protection he is to engage himself That this is Treason hath been adjudged both after the Statutes of 1 Hen. 4. Cap. 10. and 1 Queen Mary so much insisted upon on the other side In the Third year of King Henry 4th one Balshal coming from London found one Bernard at Plough in the Parish of Osley in the County of Hertford Bernard asked Balshal what news he told him that the news was That Richard the Second was alive in Scotland which was false for he was dead and that by Midsummer next he would come into England Bernard asked him What were best to be done Balshal answered Get Men and go to King Richard In Michaelmas Term in the Third year of Hen. 4th in the Kings-Bench Rot. 4. This advice of War adjudged Treason In Queen Mary's time Sir Nicholas Throckmorton conspired with Sir Thomas Wyat to Levy War within this Realm for alteration in Religion he joyned not with him in the execution This conspiracy alone declared to be Treason by all the Judges this was after the Statute of Queen Mary so much insisted upon That Parliament ended in October this opinion was delivered the Easter Term following and is reported by Justice Dyer fol 98. It 's true Sir Thomas Wyat afterwards did Levy War Sir Nicholas Throckmorton he only conspired This adjudged Treason One Story in Queen Elizabeths time practised with Foreigners to Levy War within this Kingdom nothing done in pursuance of the practice The intent without any adhering to enemies of the Queen or other cause adjudged Treason and he executed thereupon It 's true my Lords that year 13 Eliz. by Act of Parliament it 's made Treason to intend the levying of War this Case was adjudged before the Parliament The Case was adjudged in Hillary Term the Parliament begun not till the April following This my Lords is a Case judged in point that the practising to Levy War though nothing be done in execution of it is Treason Object It may be objected That in these Cases Object the Conspiring being against the whole Kingdom included the Queen and was a Compassing Her destruction as well as of the Kingdoms here the advice was to the King Answ The Answer is first That the Warrant was unknown to His Majesty Answ that was a Machination of War against the People and Laws wherein His Majesties Person was engaged for protection Secondly That the advice was to his Majesty aggravates the Offence it was an Attempt which was the Offence it was an Attempt not only upon the Kingdom but upon the Sacred Person and His Office too himself was hostis patriae he would have made the Father of it so to Nothing more unnatural nor more dangerous than to offer the King Poyson to drink telling him that it is a Cordial is a passing of his death the Poyson was repelled there was an Antidote within the Malice of the giver beyond expression The perswading of Foreigners to invade the Kingdom hold no proportion with this Machination of War against the Law or Kingdom is against the King they cannot be severed My Lords If no actual War within the Statute if the Counselling of War if neither of these single Acts be Treason within the Statute The Commons in the next place have taken it into consideration what the addition of his other Words Counsels and Actions do operate in the Case and have conceived that with this Addition all being put together that he is brought within the Statute of 25 E. 3. The words of the Statute are If any Man shall Compass or Imagine the death of the King the words are not If any Man shall Plot or Counsel the Death of the King No my Lords they go further than to such things as are intended immediately directly and determinatively against the Life and Person of the King they are of a larger extent to compass is to do by Circuit to Consult or Practise another thing directly which being done may necessarily produce this effect However it be in the other Treasons within this Statute yet in this by the very words there is room left for constructions for necessary inferences and consequences What hath been the Judgment and Practice of former times concerning these words of compassing the Kings Death will appear to your Lordships by some Cases of Attainders upon these words One Owen Owen's Case of Sandwich in Kent in King James His time in the 13th year of His Reign at Sandwich in Kent spake these words That King James being Excommunicated by the Pope may be killed by any Man which killing is no Murther Being asked by those he spake to how he durst maintain so Bloody an Assertion Answered That the matter was not so heinous as was supposed for the King who is the Lesser is concluded by the Pope who is the Greater and as a Malefactor being Condemned before a Temporal Judge may be delivered over to be Executed So the King standing Convicted by the Popes Sentence of Excommunication may justly be slaughtered without fault for the Killing of the King is the Execution of the Popes Supream Sentence as the other is the Execution of the Law For this Judgment of High Treason was given against him and Execution done My Lords there is no clear intent appearing that Owen desired the thing should be done only Arguments that it might be done this is a Compassing there is a clear Endeavour to corrupt the Judgment to take off the Bonds of Conscience the greatest security of the Kings Life God forbid saith one of better Judgment then he that I should stretch out my hand against the Lords Anointed No saith he the Lord doth not forbid it you may for these Reasons lawfully kill the King He that denies the Title to the Crown and plots the means of setting it upon anothers head may do this without any direct or immediate desiring the death of Him that wears it yet this is Treason as was adjudged in the 10 of Hen. 7 in these of Burton and in the Duke of Norfolk's Case 13 Eliz. This is a compassing of His Death for there can no more be two Kings in one Kingdom then two Suns in the Firmament he that conceives a Title counts it worth venturing
a Conference by the Earl of Bath to the Commons THese are to signifie to this House That whereas He sent an Answer this day to both Houses concerning the Third Head lest there should be any mistake upon the word Slander His Majesty declares he did not mean all of either House of Parliament or any Members thereof Upon the Reading of the Petition of the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury concerning his payment of Poll-mony It was Ordered Order of the Lords about the Arch-Bishops paying Poll-Money To be left to be paid according to the Act of Parliament The House for freer Debate was put into a Committee to consider of the Court of York and to give judgment herein and after much Debate the House was reassumed and it was Resolved upon the Question by the Major Part Resolves of the Lords concerning the Court at York That the Commission and Instructions whereby the President and Council of the North exercise a Jurisdiction is Illegal both in the Creation and Execution Resolved c. That this Commission and Instructions is unprofitable to His Majesty Resolved upon the Question Nemine Contradicente That this Commission and Instructions is inconvenient and grievous to His Majesties Subjects of those Parts Resolved upon the Question Nemine Contradicente That this House doth joyn with the House of Commons in beseeching His Majesty that the Present Commission and Instructions may be revoked and no such granted for the Future MEmorandum A Salvo for the Judges of the Court of York This House doth declare seeing the Commission and Instructions of the Court of York is Illegal in the Creation and Execution that the former Judges in the Court of York who have given Judgement and proceeded as they thought in their Consciences upon True and Legal Grounds shall not be liable to be Questioned but in case of Injustice and that none in that Case shall be barred of their Appeal And if it appear that there is a Necessity for the Ease of that Country to have a Court this House will advise with the House of Commons how one may be Established by Law for the Ease of those Parts And the Earl of Essex Earl of Bristol Viscount Say and Seal Bishop of Lincoln Lord Wharton Lord Kimbolton were appointed to prepare Heads for a Conference with the Commons concerning the aforesaid Particulars that so the Persons that were Judges and the Acts of that Court may have a Saving for them If humane Bodies and Minds are subject to the secret Influences of the Heavenly Bodies certainly England and the rest of the Brittish Dominions were at this time under the Aspects of some Violent and Malignant Configurations and there seemed to be an Universal Inclination in the People every where to Tumults Mutinies Violence and Injustice the Lords House was full of Complaints of the Disorders of this Nature throwing up Inclosures and disturbing the Possessions of others and that not singly but by Multitudes and with such Arms as Rusticks are wont to make Use of upon such Occasions of their Madness And of this the Lords were so sensible that they made this following Order WHereas daily Complaints are made unto this House of violent breaking into Possessions Order of the Lords concerning Violent and Tumultuous breaking into Possessions July 13. 1641. and Inclosures in Riotous and Tumultuous manner in several parts of this Kingdom without any due proceedings by Course of Law to warrant the same which hath been observed to have been more frequently done since this Parliament began then formerly it is thought fit and so Ordered by the Lords in Parliament That no Inclosure or Possession shall be Violently and in a Tumultuous manner disturbed or taken away from any man which was in Possession the first Day of this Parliament or before but by due Course and Form of Law and that such Possessions of all men shall continue and remain unto them as they were on the first Day of this Meeting of Parliament unless it have been or shall be by some Legal way of proceeding in some of His Majesties Courts of Law or Equity or by some Act or Order of the Parliament determined or ordered to the Contrary And in all such Cases where any such unlawful disturbance of the quiet Possession of any man hath happened or shall happen the High Sheriff of the County shall have Power by virtue of this Order together with two of the Justices of the Peace of the said County next or near to the place and such other or others as he or they shall think fit to take with him or them to repair unto the place where such Tumults happen to be and appease and quiet the Possession of the said Lands and Inclosures so disturbed as aforesaid and shall see to and cause that the Possession be continued unto the present Owners as aforesaid until by a Legal Course in some Court of Law or Equity or by order of Parliament it be determined or Ordered to the contrary The Lord Bishop of Lincoln Reported Report about the Officers of the Star-Chamber That the Lords Committees appointed to Consider of the Petition of the Officers of the Star-Chamber have fully heard their Cause and they are of Opinion and do not conceive of any fitter way of Relief for these Poor Officers the King's Servants then to remit them to the King's Mercy that His Majesty would be Graciously pleased to allow a Proportionable Relief for these Poor men out of such Fines as may accrue unto His Majesty in the High Court of Parliament to be apportioned by the Lords of the Committees or otherwise as their Lordships shall be pleased to approve thereof and Order it Upon Report this Day made unto the House by the Right Honourable the Lord Seymour that the difference between the Parishioners of St. Report about the Rioters at St. Thomas the Apostle's in pulling down the Rails Thomas the Apostle complained of to the Lords in Parliament was composed by his Lordship to whom the business was referred It is Ordered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in the High Court of Parliament Assembled that the said difference together with the Cause depending before their Lordships shall by virtue of this Order be fully ended and determined and Lastly that John Blackwell shall for himself others Petitioned against forthwith pay unto the Overseers of the Poor of that Parish upon sight hereof to the use of the said Poor the full Summ of ten Pounds of Lawful Money of England and hereof they are not to fail as they will answer to the contrary There being a Report spread abroad that His Majesty intended to send the Lord Digby abroad under some honourable Character Tuesday July 13. and as was said Ambassadour into France his Enemies in the House of Commons being extreamly nettled at it were resolved if possible to set a brand of Infamy upon his Lordship and therefore not content to have disgracefully Expelled him
out of their House they revived his Dormant Speech concerning the Attainder of the Earl of Strafford And notwithstanding that tender point of freedom of Speech which he might well plead as a Member of that Body where it is allowed to all Men to speak according to their Conscience yet upon the Debate of it they proceeded to these Votes Resolved c. Votes about the Lord Digby's Speech against the Bill of Attainder of the E. of Strafford That the Lord Digby 's Speech upon the Bill of Attainder of Thomas late Earl of Strafford contains matters Vntrue and Scandalous and that the Printing and Publishing of it is a Crime Resolved c. That Sir Lewis Dives and John Moor and Thomas Parston the Printer are Delinquents for Printing and Publishing the said Speech Ordered to be burnt by the Common Hangman Ordered That the Lord Digby 's Speech be burnt by the hand of the Common Hang-man on Friday in the Palace-Yard Cheapside and Smithfield And that these Votes be transmitted to the Lords for their Concurrence and that the Lords be moved to joyn with this House to Petition His Majesty That he would be pleased to forbear to confer any honour upon the Person of the Lord Digby who hath deserved so ill of the Parliament An Order for the speedy raising the Mony for disbanding the Army according to the Act of Parliament Wednesday July 14. The first Printing of the Orders of the H. of Commons was this day Ordered by the House of Commons to be Printed by the King's Printers The Order following about the Lord Digby's Speech to be presented to their Lordships at a Conference WHereas upon the 21 of April last past Orber about the L. Digby's Speech there was a Speech spoken in the House of Commons at the passing of the Bill of Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford by the Lord Digby then a Member of the said House the which Speech contained in it matters Vntrue and Scandalous as they have reference to the Proceedings of the Committees of the Lords House and this and to the Evidence of the Witnesses produced in that Cause And whereas the said Speech was published by the Lord Digby after the said Bill of Attainder was past by Vote in this House and after that great offence was taken to the said Speech and the same questioned in the House to the scandal of the Proceedings of this House and is since come forth in Print to the scandal of the Proceedings of His Majesty and both Houses of Parliament It is therefore this day Ordered by the said House That all the said Books so Printed shall be publickly burnt on Friday next part of them in the New Palace-Yard at Westminster the other part of them in Cheap-side London and the rest in Smithfield by the hands of the Common Hang-man And to that purpose the Bailiff of Westminster and the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex respectively are hereby required to be Assistant to the effectual Execution of this Order and see the said Books burnt accordingly And it is also Ordered by the said House That the Master and Wardens of the Company of Stationers do their utmost endeavours to collect all the said Books into their hands remaining now dispersed among their Company and others and forthwith deliver them to one of the Sheriffs of London to be burnt according this Order And all others who have any of the said Books are hereby required forthwith to deliver them to one of the Sheriffs of London or Bailiff of Westminster as they will undergo the displeasure of this House in doing the contrary to be burnt according to this Order The ingrossed Articles against the Bishop of Ely were read Upon his Petition and Submission to the House Mr. Mr. Whittacre released from the Tower Pym Reports the Conference about the Q. Journey to the Spaw Whittacre was this day discharged from his Imprisonment in the Tower Mr. Pym Reports the Conference with the Lords about the Queen's Journey That the Lords had agreed to the Propositions and had resolved to send a number of their House to desire His Majesty to be pleased to appoint some time when such a certain number of both Houses as he shall think fit may attend him touching this business and that if he please the Queen to be prefent The Lords appointed to wait upon the King to know his pleasure herein were Lord Steward Lord Chamberlain Earl of Bath Earl of Bedford and Earl of Essex An Act for the Confirmation of the Subsidies granted by the Clergy was this day read the Bill was once read the Preamble and Confirmation was read 3 times And afterwards being put to the Question Bill of Subsidies granted by the Clergy passed the Lords and carried down to the Commons Thursday July 15. it was consented to pass Nemine Contradicente Then the Confirmation being Subscribed by the Clerk of the Parliament Soit baille aux Comuns it was sent down to the House of Commons by Serjeant Whitfield and Serjeant Finch to pass there A Message from His Majesty by the Lord Chamberlain to acquaint the Lords that he appoints to meet both Houses at Four of the Clock this day in the Banquetting-House about the Queen's Journey which was at a Conference communicated to the Commons Heads of the Address to stop the Queens Journey YOur Majesties Loyal Subjects the Lords and Commons taking notice of an Intention of the Queen's Majesty to pass beyond the Seas whereby the Kingdom will be deprived of the comfort of Her Majesties presence they have thought good to express their humble Duties and Affections to Your Majesty and to the Royal Person of the Queen in some Considerations which they do now present unto You as they conceive very important for the good of this Kingdom and the safety and contentment of Her Majesty whose Honour and Happiness shall always have a chief place in their Estimation which Considerations are these following I. First there is great Cause to doubt lest the Papists have some Design upon Her Majesties Journey because the House hath been informed that divers of them have sold off their Lands to a great value and used other means to get ready mony 2. It is observed some of them have been very diligent gathering great quantities of Gold 3. It is informed that more then ordinary numbers of Papists are gone beyond Sea already and those of the better sort II. The great number of English Fugitives now beyond the Seas who by their late Designs and Practices are known to be full of Malice to the State and will no doubt seek all opportunities of access to Her Majesty and as much as they can labour to infuse into her such evil Counsels as may trouble the Peace of the Kingdom whereof at this time there is more danger because the Affairs of the Kingdom are not yet fully setled and upon the Disbanding the Army all Parts are like to
the honour and safety of the Kingdom This day the Bill Entituled An Act for the securing the True Religion The Bill for securing the true Religion c. rejected the Safety and Honour of His Majesties Person the just Rights of the Subject and the better discovery and punishment of Popish Recusants was read a Second time and after a long Debate of the House it was Resolved by the major part That this Bill be Rejected The Reader is to understand that under the glorious Title with which this Bill was guilded the main matter of it was the taking away the Peerage of the Bishops in Parliament which since they could not effect by the former Bill they thought to slide in under these specious pretences of preserving Religion c. but the House of Lords had too many Wise and Noble Just and Honourable Persons in it yet for the Faction to effect their Design After this the Lord Mayor of London and the Aldermen c. were called in to give an Answer to the Proposition for lending 40000 l. and the Lord Mayor signified That he hath already prepared 34500 l. part of the 40000 l. and the full Sum will be made up this night and further he acquainted the House that he hath received 18000 l. of the Poll-mony For which service and readiness in this business the Speaker gave the Lord Mayor and Aldermen and the rest thanks from this House The Earl of Bath reported the effect of the Conference about disbanding that the Commons delivered these four Resolutions Earl of Bath reports the Conference about disbanding 1. That the Ninth day of August next shall be the day appointed for the marching away of the Scots Army 2. That the mony due for relief of the Northern Counties is ready and that if they shall desire any reasonable assistance for the conveying of it they will be ready to assist them in the best manner they can 3. The House of Commons desires that the English Lords Commissioners may move the Scots Commissioners to put off the time for the payment of the 80000 l. part of the Brotherly Assistance till the first day of September next and that notwithstanding they will pay it sooner if they can 4. That after the Scots have declared their Assent of disbanding that then our Army shall be disbanded with all possible speed and the Horse to be first disbanded Upon which it was Ordered That this House doth agree with the House of Commons in all the aforesaid Resolutions and do further Order That the Lords Commissioners do resume the Treaty with the Scots Commissioners and prepare it for a Conclusion After the Conference with the Lords about the Disbanding the Commons fell into Debate concerning the Kings Journey into Scotland and it was Thursday July 29. Votes to desire a Vice-Roy during the King's absence in Scotland Resolved c. That the Lords be desired by this House in a Conference to joyn with this House in a Petition to His Majesty to appoint a Custos Regni or Locum tenens during his Absence out of this Kingdom and amongst other things in special to give him Power to give the Royal Assent in Parliament and to do such things as the King might do if he were present Resolved c. That His Majesty be likewise Petitioned That an Act of Parliament may pass to this Effect That such Commission shall not be repealed until His Majesties return from Scotland to the City of London or Westminster or be present in full Parliament Which two Resolves were communicated to the Lords at a Conference Upon Information this Day unto this House That Sir George Radcliff being now a Prisoner in the Gate-House Sir George Ratcliff has liberty to take the Air. was indisposed in his Health by reason of the closeness of the Place where he remaineth and that he was an humble Suitor to their Lordships that he might receive the Favor to go into the Fields with such Keepers as their Lordships should think fit It was Ordered That the said Sir George Radcliff shall have the Liberty by Virtue of this Order to go into Chelsey Fields or any other Fields near thereabout to take the Air for his Health at such times as he shall desire it The Earl of Bristol Reports the Scots Answer about the disbanding their Army which was read in haec verba Scots Commissioners Answer about disbanding the Army Whereas the Removal of the Scottish Army is desired against the 9th of August upon the Receipt of a Paper from your Lordships of the 22 of July we did immediately represent the same to the Lord General and Committees from whom we expect very satisfactory Answers by the Earl of Dumserling and Lord Lowdon and for hastning the disbanding we did in our Answer of the 21st of July desire that the Arrears might be then delivered and sent to New-Castle that we might finish our Accounts and pay our Debts in those Countries and be better prepared for our Disbanding but we conceive that the not timous delivery of the Arrears shall prove the greatest Impediment in our removal therefore We do remit to the Parliaments consideration to take some speedy course for sending of the whole Arrears As for the delay of the Payment of the 80000 l. we have also represented the same unto the General and Committees according to the days mentioned in our Paper of the 22 of July whereof we do expect an Answer by the Earl of Dumserling and the Lord Lowdon The Bill against Ship-Money being read a third Time this Day Act against Ship-Money passed the Lords Lord Majors Cause heard and referred and put to the Question it was resolved to pass for a Law After which the Lord Major and Aldermen and Commons of London were called in and asked Whether they had composed the Differences between themselves concerning the Election of the Sheriff But it being Answered That they had a meeting about it yet could not agree This House took the Cause into Consideration having heard the Objections on both Sides and at last appointed these Lords Committees viz. Lord Privy Seal Lord Chamberlain Earl of Bath Earl of Bedford Earl of Bristol to try if they could accommodate the difference between them and settle Peace amongst them if not to report the same to this House And their Lordships or any five or more to meet at 5 of the Clock this Afternoon in the Painted Chamber and the Lord Major and Aldermen and some of the Commons to be present Mr. Bagshaw Reports the Articles against the Bishop of Bath and Wells which were all read but are not entred in the Journal Friday July 30. But that the Reader may see they were of the same Leven with those against the Bishop of Ely and that indeed the Crime was being a Bishop I will subjoyn some Articles which an Informer one Mr. James a Minister in his Diocess exhibited against him whereby it will appear
come in further Agitation and discussion in this Honourable House 9. Lastly The Judges Opinions are not usually call'd upon in Parliament but when upon Debate great and difficult Points in Law do arise where this most Honourable doth think fit to Command their Opinions but no Resolutions do belong unto the said Judges in Parliament but unto your Lordships yet in the Front and Preamble of the said Questions the Resolution of the said Questions by the Judges is forthwith desired to be required by your Lordships in Writing Although the first Question Viz. Whether the Subjects of this Kingdom c. be positively resolved by the Preamble to the said Questions in which it is likewise declared That the said Judges Answers thereunto are not desired For any Doubt or Ambiguity which may be conceived or thought of for or concerning the Premisses nor of the said Questions but for Manifestation and Declaration of a clear Truth and of the Laws and Statutes already planted and setled in this Kingdom And they conceive it is impossible to make any Manifestation or Declaration of Law or Statutes which may hold or be useful upon such general Questions as most of these are namely by what Laws in what Cases of what Power of what Force How Where and Why by Whom Wherefore what punishment by what Rule of Policy in what Condition of Persons In regard that the next succeeding Judges may be of another Opinion and that a Circumstance may alter the Reason of the Law in many particular Cases which the Wit of Man is not able to foresee or give a general Rule in And they say That to give any satisfaction to your Lordships or the Honourable House of Commons would make up a great Volume and require far more time then your Lordships have afforded unto the said Judges considering their great Toyl in the Circuits the last long Vacation their other Employments in the Common-wealth at their daily Attendance on your Lordships in Parliaments and in ordering Courts of Justice and yet lest they may seem to come any way short in performance of that Duty which they confess to be due unto your Lordships or be wanting in promoting and advancing the Good of the Common-wealth which they believe to be aimed at by the said Questions though it may seem to draw Damage or Prejudice upon their Particulars They do in all humbleness present unto your Lordships the ensuing Answers unto the said Questions which is as much as by their Oaths or in their Duty they owe unto His Sacred Majesty before his Princely pleasure be therein signified they can answer thereunto TO the First they Answer That the Subjects of this Kingdom are a Free People and are for the general to be Govern'd only by the Common Laws of England and Statutes of Force in this Kingdom yet they say That as in England many Statutes are grown obsolete and out of use and some particular Ancient Laws as well in Criminal as Civil Causes have been changed by Interpretation of the Judges there as they found it most agreeable for the general Good of the Common-wealth and as the Times did require it so our Predecessors the Judges of this Kingdom as the Necessity of the Times did move them did declare the Law in some particular Cases otherwise then the same is practised in England which the now Judges cannot alter without apparent diminution of a great part of His Majesties standing Revenue and opening a Gap for the shaking and questioning the Estates of many of His Majesties Subjects and the overthrowing of several Judgments Orders and Decrees which depend thereupon For Example If it be found by Office of Record sufficient for Form That a Man was killed in actual Rebellion and at the time of his Death he was seised of Lands Hereditaments Goods or Chattels by the constant Declaration of Law and Practise in former times here the Crown was Intitled to such Lands Goods and Chattels and many Mens Estates depend thereupon and yet the Law is not so taken in England So If one or more commit Felony and then stand out upon his or their keeping and he or they will not submit themselves to be tryed by the Law but being in that Case do rob or spoil and terrifie His Majesties People whereby the Country is disquieted This by the constant Opinion of our Predecessors in this Kingdom hath been adjudged a Levying of War within the Statute of 25 E. 3. and so consequently Treason Also by the common received Opinion and Practice of this Kingdom the Wife is to have a Third of all the Goods and Chattels and Credits of her Husband the Debts being paid although he dispose of all by his Will from her And yet the constant Practise is otherwise in England And other Instances of that kind might be made so that that word Only must receive a benign Exposition before the first Question can receive a general Answer in the Affirmative Secondly Many Causes of great Weight and Consequence in this Kingdom are to be Decreed and Ordered by Equity in the proper Courts of Equity and in Course of State at the Council Board and by particular Customes not contrary to Law for which the Common Law and Statutes of Force in this Kingdom gave no Remedy Thirdly There are several other Laws of Force in England and Ireland so far as they have been received which though some would have to be part of the Common Law of England yet we find them particularly distinguished from it in our Printed Books and Parliament Rolls in England As Lex Consuetudo Parliamenti jura Belli Ecclesiastical or Canon Law in certain Cases Civil Law in some Cases not only in Ecclesiastical Courts but in the Courts of Constable and Marshal and of the Admiralty and upon particular occasions in other Courts Lex Mercatoria c. 2. To the Second they say That the Judges of this Kingdom do take the Oath of Judges which Oath is specified amongst the Statutes in 18 E. 3. And is afterwards explained by the Stat. of 20 E. 3. And that they may not stay hinder or delay the Suit of any Subject or his Judgment or Execution thereupon otherwise than according to the Law and Course of the Court when they Sit under pretence of any Act of State Proclamation Writ Letter or Direction under the Great or Privy Seal or Privy Signet or Letter or other Commandment Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy Justice Justices or other Chief Governors of this Kingdom most of which doth appear by their Oath expressed in the Statutes and the Statute of 20 E. 3. c. 8. And the Statute of 20 E. 3. c. 2. as to the Barons of the Exchequer And that as they know no Punishments due to Judges for their Deviations and Transgressions without other Aggravation so they know no punishment laid down by any Law against them for their Deviations and Transgressions in hindering staying or delaying of Justice contrary to their said Oath
Strafford The House of Commons in their own Name and in the Name of the whole Commons of England have this day accused your Lordship to the Lords of the Higher House of Parliament of High Treason the Articles they will in a few dayes produce in the mean time they have Resolved That your Lordship shall be Committed into Safe Custody to the Gentleman Vsher and be Sequestred from the House till your Lordship shall clear your self of the Accusations that shall be laid against you Whereupon he was immediately taken into Custody by James Maxwell Usher of the Black Rod. And that the Commons might Disable him of the Testimony and Assistance of Sir George Radcliff his great Friend and Confident it was resolved to make him a Party and accuse him of High Treason and Confederacy with the Earl which was accordingly done as is more at large related before to which the Reader is referred only a Debate worth the Observation arose upon his being a Member of the Parliament in Ireland Whether he could without Breach of Priviledge be sent for Upon which it was Resolved as a thing out of all Doubt That in case of High Treason Priviledg of Parliament neither here nor there doth reach to Protect him Notwithstanding which when afterwards his Majestie accused the Lord Kimbolton and the Five Members of High Treason and Exhibited Articles against them they did not only protect them but arraigned that proceeding as the Highest Violation of the Priviledges of Parliament making it one of the main Foundations upon which they built the Justice of the succeeding Rebellion and their taking up Arms against his Majesty It was Ordered Wednesday Novemb. 18. That no Member of the House of Commons shall visit the Earl of Strafford during his restraint without Licence first obtained from the House And the same Order was taken in the House of Peers and all the time of his Imprisonment the Lieutenant of the Tower brought in a Weekly account of the Names of those persons who visited him and by whose Order Upon Munday Munday Nov. 23. Novemb. 23. Mr. Pym presented a draught of Articles to the House which being referred to the Committee who were to prepare a Charge against the Earl were by them reported and agreed to by the House and Mr. Pym ordered to go up with them to the Lords which upon Wednesday following he did accordingly Wednesday Nov. 25. and before their Lordships laid out his Talent of Speech-making upon that subject as follows The Articles being first tendred and Read which were these I. THat he the said Thomas Earl of Strafford Articles of Impeachment against the Earl of Strafford Nov. 25. hath Trayterously endeavoured to subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of the Realms of England and Ireland and instead thereof to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law which he hath declared by Trayterous Words Counsels and Actions and by giving his Majesty advice by force of Armes to compel his Loyal Subjects to submit thereunto 2. That he hath Trayterously assumed to himself Regal power over the Lives Liberties Persons Lands and Goods of his Majesties Subjects in England and Ireland and hath exercised the same Tyrannically to the subversion and undoing of many both of Peers and others of his Majesties Liege people 3. That the better to enrich and enable himself to go thorow with his Trayterous Designs he hath detained a great part of his Majesties Revenue without giving legal account and hath taken great Summes out of the Exchequer converting them to his own use when his Majesty was necessitated for his own urgent occasions and his Army had been a long time unpaid 4. That he hath Trayterously abused the power and authority of his Government to the encreasing countenancing and encouraging of Papists that so he might settle a mutual dependance and confidence betwixt himself and that Party and by their help prosecute and accomplish his malicious and tyrannical designs 5. That he hath maliciously endeavoured to stir up enmity and hostility between his Majesties Subjects of England and those of Scotland 6. That he hath Trayterously broken the great Trust reposed in him by his Majesty of Lieutenant General of his Army by wilfully betraying divers of his Majesties Subjects to death his Army to a dishonourable defeat by the Scots at Newborn and the Town of New-Castle into their hands to the end that by the effusion of blood by dishonour and so great a loss of New-Castle his Majesties Realm of England might be engaged in a National and Irreconciliable quarrel with the Scots 7. That to preserve himself from being questioned for those and other his Trayterous Courses he laboured to subvert the Right of Parliaments and the ancient course of Parliamentary Proceedings and by false and malicious slanders to incense his Majesty against Parliaments By which Words Counsels and Actions he hath Trayterously and contrary to his allegiance laboured to alienate the hearts of the Kings Liege people from his Majesty to set a division between them and to ruin and destroy his Majesties Kingdoms for which they impeach him of High Treason against our Soveraign Lord the King his Crown and Dignity 8. And he the said Earl of Strafford was Lord Deputy of Ireland and Lieutenant General of the Army there viz. His most excellent Majesty for his Kingdoms both of England and Ireland and the Lord President of the North during the time that all and every the Crimes and Offences before set forth were done and committed and he the said Earl was Lieutenant General of all his Majesties Army in the North parts of England during the time that the Crimes and Offences in the fifth and sixth Articles set forth were done and committed 9. And the said Commons by protestations saving to themselves the liberty of exhibiting at any time hereafter any other Accusation or Impeachment against the said Earl and also of replying to the Answers that he the said Earl shall make unto the said Articles or to any of them and of offering proofes also of the premisses or any of them or any other impeachment or accusation that shall be exhibited by them as the cause shall according to the course of Parliaments require do pray that the said Earl may be put to answer for all and every the premisses that such Proceedings Examinations Tryals and Judgments may be upon every of them had and used as it is agreeable to Law and Justice My Lords THese Articles have exprest the Character of a great and dangerous Treason Mr. Pym's Speech after the Reading the Articles against the Earl of Strafford Nov. 25. such a one as is advanced to the highest degree of Malice and of Mischief It is enlarged beyond the limits of any description or definition it is so hainous in it self as that it is capable of no aggravation a Treason against God betraying his Truth and Worship against the King obscuring the Glory and weakning the foundation
said Earls command that he should Fight with the Scottish Army at the passage over the Tyne whatsoever should follow notwithstanding that the said Lord Conway had formerly by Letters informed him the said Earl that his Majesties Army then under his command was not of force sufficient to encounter the Scots by which advice of his he did contrary to the duty of his place betray his Majesties Army then under his command to apparent danger and loss All and every which Words Counsels and Actions of the said Earl of Strafford Traiterously and contrary to his Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord the King and with an intention and endeavour to alienate and withdraw the hearts and affections of the Kings Liege People of all his Realms from his Majesty and to set a division between them and to ruine and destroy his Majesties said Kingdoms For which they do farther impeach him the said Thomas Earl of Strafford of High Treason against our Soveraign Lord the King his Crown and Dignity To which the Earl according to the Order of the House of Lords prefixing the 23 of February for that purpose being brought to their House gave in his Answer in two hundred Sheets of Paper an abstract whereof as I find it in Mr. Rushworth's Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford is here subjoined TO the First Article The Answer of Tho. Earl of Strafford to the 28 Articles of the Commons Feb. 23. he saith He conceives that the Commission and Instruction differ not from those formerly granted but refers to them and that such Alterations and Additions as were made were for ought he knoweth rather for the explanation than for the enlarging of the Jurisdiction the Care whereof was left to the Secretary of that Council and to the King 's Learned Council to be passed for the good of the King's Service and the Publick Welfare of that Province for Legality of the Proceedings divers eminent Lawyers were joyned with the President who for the Legal parts was by them to be directed He did not advise or procure the enlargement of the Commission and Instructions and he believeth nothing hath been practiced since that was not in former Times contained in former Commissions under general words He believeth Sir Conyers Darcy was lawfully Fined for Misdemeanors as a Justice of Peace and hath heard he being in Ireland that Sir John Boucher was Fined for some great Abuse at the Kings being at York going into Scotland to be Crowned to the Proceedings he refers himself He denies that he hath done any thing by that Commission or Instruction other than he conceived he might by virtue thereof lawfully do To the Second Article The little Finger of the Law He denieth the speaking of those words but saith That 30 40 l. or more being returned as Issues out of the Exchequer against some that had compounded for Knighthood for 10 l. or 20 l. so as the Issues far exceeded the Composition and yet would next time have been increased The said Earl upon this occasion said That now they might see that the little Finger of the Law was heavier than the King's Loins which he spake to nourish good Affections in them towards His Majesty and not to threaten or terrifie any as the Article is supposed To the Third Article Ireland a Conquered Nation he saith Ireland is not Governed by the same Laws that this Kingdom is unless it be meant by the Common Laws their Customs Statutes Execution of Martial Laws Proceedings at Council-Board very much differ they spake not the words in the Article to any such intent He saith It might be fit enough for him to remember them of the great Obligation they had to the King and His Progenitors that suffered them being a Conquer'd Nation to enjoy Freedom and Laws as their own people of this Kingdom and it might be that upon some such occasion he said to those of Dublin That some of their Charters were void and nothing worth and did not bind His Majesty farther than He pleased which he believes to be true having been formerly so informed by His Majesties Learned Council upon sundry occasions To the Fourth Lawyers not to dispute the Orders of the Council-Board in the Earl of Cork's Case he saith That the legal and ordinary Proceeding at Council-Table are and time out of mind have been by Petition Answers examination of Witnesses as in other Courts of Justice concerning British Plantations the Church and Cases hence recommended by the King for the time being and in Appeals from other Courts there and the Council-Board have always punished Contempts to Orders there made to Proclamations and Acts of State by Fine and Imprisonment He saith That it might be he told the Earl of Cork that he would Imprison him if he disobeyed the Orders of the Council-Table and that he would not have Lawyers dispute or question those Orders and that they should bind but remembreth not the Comparison of Acts of Parliament and he hath been so far from scorning the Laws that he hath endeavoured to maintain them the Suit against the Earl in the Castle-Chamber was concerning the Possessions of the Colledge of Youghall worth 6 or 700 l. which he had endeavoured to get by causing of unlawful Oaths to be taken and very undue means the matter proceeded to Examination and Publication of Witnesses and after upon the Earl of Cork's humble Suit and payment of 15000 l. to His Majesty and his acknowledgment of his Misdemeanors obtained a Pardon and the Bill and Proceedings were taken off the Files and he remembers not any Suit for breach of any Order made at Council Table To the Fifth he saith Lord Mountnorris sentenced to suffer death by Martial Law The Deputies and Generals of the Army have always executed Martial Law which is necessary there and the Army and the Members thereof have been long time Governed by printed Orders according to which divers by Sentence of the Council of War have formerly been put to death as well in the time of Peace as War The Lord Mountnorris being a Captain of a Company in the Army for mutinous words against the said Earl General of that Army and upon two of those ancient Orders was proceeded against by a Council of War being the Principal Officers of the Army about twenty in number and by them upon clear Evidence Sentenced to Death wherein the said Earl was no Judge but laboured so effectually with His Majesty that he obtained the Lord Mountnorris's Pardon who by that Sentence suffered no personal hurt or damage save about two days Imprisonment And as to the other Persons he can make no Answer thereunto no particulars being described To the Sixth he saith The Suit had depended many years in Chancery The Lord Mountnorris put out of Possession and the Plaintiff Complaining of that delay the said Earl upon a Petition as in such Cases hath been usual calling to him the then Master of the Rolls
Answer to this Article and to the same Letters the said Earl referreth himself The said Earl upon sight of this and Sir Jacob Ashley's Letter had reason to believe that all fitting preparation was made and then understanding that if the Scotish Army should pass the River not only New-Castle altogether Unfortified on the South part would be lost but the said Army of 11000 Foot and 2000 Horse endangered and hearing that the Scotish Army were distressed for want of Victuals and knowing the advantage that was in opposing the passage of such a River Hereupon the said Earl by a Letter dated the 27th of August advised the Lord Conway with all the Horse and at least 8000 Foot and all the Cannon to March and Fight with them upon the passage of the River at which time the said Earl had no Charge of the Army but the truth is the Lord Conway having not with him all the Horse and not above 1500 Foot and only some part of the Cannon was in a posture to fight for the passage before the said Letter of advice came which he received not half an hour before the Fight began and proceeded according to his own judgment and His Majesties said general Direction and afterwards that is about the 30th of August and not before the said Earl took upon him the Charge of the Army at Darlington and brought it to York to be supplied with Necessaries that they wanted and purposed to have staid where they were quartered But hearing from many hands that there was a purpose to question him in Parliament and His Majesty having given him Liberty of staying there or coming away he left the Charge of the Army with the Lord Conway and other Officers as His Majesty had directed and came to London on Monday the 9th and the 11th of November was put under Restraint and so hath ever since remained And saith That the Town of New-Castle was no way under his Care and as to other matters whereto by Law he ought to answer and hath not answered he saith He is not Guilty of them or any of them in such manner and form as in the said Article is expressed and humbly prayeth a convenient time for making his Proofs and to justifie and maintain his Actions in Ireland by sight of His Majesties Warrants Records and Witnesses in that Kingdom and that if any mistake be in this Answer it may be amended And this the said Earl hopeth that upon equal Construction of his Words and Actions he shall appear free from any great and hainous Offences wherewith he is Charged and howsoever it shall please God to dispose of him he shall ever pray that by their Lordships great Wisdoms and Prudence the Affections of His Majesty and Duty of His Subjects may this Parliament be so surely knit together as may by God's blessing lastingly tend to the Prosperity and Flourishing Estate both of King and People Mr. Whitlock was Ordered to go to the Lords with this Message Saturday March 6. That the House of Commons have considered of the Earl of Strafford's Answer and do aver their Charge of High Treason against him and that he is guilty in such manner and form as he stands Accused and Impeached and that the House will be ready to prove their Charge against him at such convenient time as their Lordships shall prefix and intend to manage the Evidence by Members of their own After many Debates and Conferences preparatory to the place and manner of the Trial between the Two Houses Saturday March 13. they came to these Determinations First Determinations between the Lords and Commons about the Earl of Strafford's Trial. As to the Place it was agreed That it should be Westminster-Hall and the King to be made acquainted with it by the Lord Great Chamberlain Secondly For Persons the Lords agreed That the House of Commons should be present as a Committee of the whole House for this time with a Salvo jure to the Lords House either according to Law or Parliamentary proceedings and that this shall not be drawn into President hereafter on either side Thirdly For the Members of the House of Commons managing the Evidence the Lords granted it wholly Fourthly For the Earl's Councel That they should not speak nor interrupt the matter of the House of Commons until all the Evidence is finished That they shall not stand at the Barr but in some other convenient place where they may hear That they may speak to matter of Law only and not to matter of Fact and not unless the Lords shall think fitting and give permission Upon Monday Monday March 15. the King having been made acquainted with these Resolutions of the Two Houses was pleased to assent unto them and to appoint Monday the 22. of March 9. of the Clock for the Time of the Trial and accordingly the necessary preparations for the Tragical Solemnity were provided and the Earl had Notice of the Time and Place to prepare himself The Commons ordered the affair of the Trial in this manner Saturday March 20. First That the Members of their House shall sit together without any intermixture of others in the place prepared for them Secondly That the Members shall not meet at their House on Munday but come directly to the place of Trial. Thirdly That for the better ordering of the Business the Committee with the addition of Mr. Peard shall be at the several Doors by Six of the Clock and shall admit none into the place prepared for the Commons but such as shall bring Tickets of their Names and the Places for which they serve and no Members to be admitted till the Committee appointed to attend the Doors be come if any either Stranger or Member Offend this Order the Committee to report it to the House all the Members to be there by 8. of the Clock Fourthly That the Serjeant at Arms shall attend within the Court and his Men without to be imployed in such Service as they who manage the Evidence shall appoint Those who were appointed by the Commons to Manage the Evidence against the Earl were George Lord Digby John Hampden Esq John Pym Esq Oliver St. The Managers of the Evidence against the Earl of Strafford John Esq Sir Walter Erle Knight Jeoffry Palmer Esq John Maynard Esq John Glyn Esq In the Hall there was a Throne Erected for His Majesty On each side whereof was a Cabinet inclosed with Boards and before with Arras Before that were the Seats for the Lords and Woolsacks for the Judges below ten degrees of Seats extending further than the Middle of the Hall for the Gentlemen of the House of Commons at the End of all was a Desk closed about and set apart for the Earl and his Councel The Theatre being thus prepared whereupon this Noble Earl was to act his Tragedy Upon Munday March the 22. the Trial began Munday March 22. About 7. of the Clock in the Morning the
advance their Trade and Manufactures could not be very valuable since they made any alteration of their ancient Customs how foolish and unreasonable soever a great Grievance and Occasion of Complaint and there is Extant in the Paper-Office a Petition to reverse an Order of the Council-Board forbidding them to plough with their Horses tyed only to one anothers Tails and to use the English way of Traces for their more commodious performing the service of their Tillage But his last expressions put the Managers into a great heat and Mr. Glyn cryed out My Lords these words are not to be suffered charging the House of Commons with Faction Correspondency and Conspiracy we desire your Lordships Justice in this so watchful were they to catch at any seeming advantage even of an incautelous Expression But the Noble Prisoner with his wonted Temper replyed God forbid I should think there was or could be any thing in that House or any Member of it but that which agrees with Truth Justice and Equity and turning to the Lords protested he had no intention to reflect either upon the Lords House in Ireland or the Commons here but upon certain Persons that were not Members of the Commons House here that held Correspondency with some in Ireland that are no Members of the House there Then the Remonstrance of the Commons House in Ireland was read being in Effect the same with that from the Lords The next thing which was insisted on was the point of the Revenue Sir Edward Warder Sir Robert Pye Lord Mountnorris Witnesses which they endeavoured to prove he had not advanced by the Testimony of Sir Edward Warder Sir Robert Pye and the Lord Mountnorris to which my Lord made appear that he found the Crown indebted 100000 l. at his Entrance but had since improved the Revenue so that Ireland was able to subsist without being as it had been in the time of his Predecessors a burthen to England and that at his coming over he left 100000 l. in the King's Exchequer and in Fine the Managers did as good as give him the point for they confessed that it was not to be denied but the Revenue was encreased by such means as my Lord Strafford hath increased it but that it was not the Natural Revenue but the Bounty of the Country that supported the Charge before my Lord came to the Government so that to say Ireland did not support it self before in the general sence is untrue but to say in a special sence that the King 's proper Revenue did not support it his Lordship says true From whence the Earl inferred that therefore it was not material to insist upon it They then Charged him with receiving 24000 l. of the King's Revenue and making use of it which in Effect he did not deny it being a particular Favour of the King to permit him so to do and that he gave good security for the money and had also repaid it The Managers here took exceptions at the Earl's interlocutory discourses to which he answered applying himself to the Lords That he should willingly submit to the Order of their Lordships only there were some things put upon him which were not in the Charge to which he craved Liberty to recollect himself to make his Defence making protestation as in the Presence of Almighty God and by the hopes he had to be delivered out of his Afflictions that he never had other Intentions then to be true and faithful to his Majesty and the Common-wealth and that he hoped to regain the same good opinion of the House of Commons which he once had when he was once a Member of it being he was still the same person both in Opinion and Intention This the Managers opposed and urged to have him answer immediately desiring if he did not answer then he might be precluded from any future Answer Upon which he renewed his Request but withal desired their Lordships if it could not be granted to bear with many infirmities both of his Body and Mind which were very great and which did plead for a little Favour and Compassion He said the House of Commons proceeded with Justice according to their Information but that he knew it was in the Hearts of all that heard him that he should have time to clear a truth that no person could he thought deny it and therefore humbly prayed he might not be surprized Hereupon the Lords adjourned to their House for half an hour and at their return Ordered him to make his Answer presently which to the Admiration of the hearers he did as followeth My Lords I Shall never do other than readily obey whatsoever your Lordships should please to command me The Earl of Strafford's Speech April 23. my heart paying you Obedience and so in truth shall every thing that proceeds from me The question I observe is matter of Truth or not Truth in the Preamble as they call it of this my Answer and to that with all the Humility and Modesty in the World I will apply my self as not conceiving it any way becoming me to speak any thing of Sharpness in any kind but with all Humility and Reverence to bear all these Afflictions with acknowledgment unto Almighty God and to lay them so to my heart that they may provide for me in another World where we are to expect the Consummation of all Blessedness and Happiness And therefore to lay aside all these Aggravations by words wherewith I have been set forth to your Lordships only with this that I trust I shall make my self appear a person otherwise in my Dispositions and Actions than I have been rendred and shortly and briefly I shall fall upon the very points as near as I can that were mentioned by that Noble Gentleman and if I should forget any I desire to be remembred of them that I may give the best Answer I can on a suddain with this Protestation That if I had had time I should have given a far clearer Answer than on the sudden I shall be able to do I will take them as they lye in Order And the first thing in this Answer is That in Ireland by my means many good Laws were made for increase of the King's Revenue and for the good of the Church and Commonwealth and this I humbly conceive was not denied directly only it was inferr'd That Laws were of no use where Will was put above Law That these Laws were made the Acts of Parliament that are extant and visible things do make appear For though I might express it darkly by reason I understood not matters of Law the Truth of it is before such time as I came there the Statutes of Wills and Uses and Fraudulent Conveyances were not of force in Ireland by which there was a very great mischief that fell many ways both on the King and specially on the English Planters For by want of these Statutes no man knew when he had a good Title
the Defence I desire leave to open what is the Nature what the Height and Quality of the Offence of which this great Lord stands Accused before you My Lords It is a Charge of the highest Nature that can be against a man A Charge of High Treason It is a Treason not ending and expiring in one single Act of a discontented Heart but a Habit a Trade a Mistery of Treason exercised by this Great Lord ever since the King's Favour bestowed on him My Lords It hath two Evils to deprive us of that which is good That is to subvert and take away the fundamental the ancient Laws whereby we are secure of whatsoever we do enjoy it hath My Lords a positive Evil in it to introduce instead of that an Arbitrary Government bounded by no Laws but by the Evil Councels of such Ministers as he hath been My Lords It is the Law that gives that Soveraign Tye which with all Obedience and Chearfulness the Subject renders to the Soveraign It is the Law My Lords that gives Honours to the Lords and Nobles Interest Property and Liberty to the Subject My Lords The Law as it is the Foundation and Ground of all these hath its distribution in a course of Justice Justice is derived as by so many Channels by the several Courts of Justice whereby the King's Justice for it is His is brought and conveyed to the Subject My Lords Of all this hath my Lord of Strafford endeavoured not only to put the Subject out of present Possession but to make him uncapable of the future Benefit of it Other Treasons yea a Treason against the Person of a Prince which is the most Transcendent and High Treason that can be fall short of this Treason For a good Prince may be gathered to His Fathers yet another may succeed him that supports the Glory and Justice of his Throne We have had Experience of it When blessed King James was taken from us to Heaven Sol occubuit nox nulla secuta est But if any one such a design as this should take effect That the Law and Justice should be taken from the Throne and Will placed there we are without hope of ever seeing Remedy Power in so great a measure taken is not easily laid down unless it be by the exceeding great goodness of so merciful and just a Prince as we have My Lords The Particulars of this Treason are Conveyed to your Lordships in 28 several Articles I shall shortly and briefly touch but the Heads of those on which I shall insist and give some distribution of them And I think the best way will be this To consider first what he did and what he said before he went into Ireland then what he did and said there and what he hath done since And in all of them you will find this his main design which I have opened That Law might no were stand against his Will and to settle it that he might continue so My Lord hath declared this in incroaching Jurisdiction where it was not in exercising an Arbitrary Power under that Jurisdiction in taking on him a Power to make Laws In Domincering and Tyrannyzing over the Lives the Liberties the Goods the Estates and whatsoever is the Subjects And My Lords this hath he done not only on those of the meaner sort that could not resist him but on the Peers on the greatest and most ancient Nobility of Ireland And what might your Lordships expect but the same measure at his hands had his Will had its passage here which it had in Ireland I shall come now to the particular Articles 1. And first Whereas it pleased His Majesty to place him with Power and Honour in his hand in the North as President he had not been long there but that Commission which bounded and pleased his Predecessors he must needs surmount and overgo There was a Commission in 16 Jac. which the then Lord-Deputy had in which was that Legal phrase Secundùm antiquum cursum his own Commission 4 Car. pursued that without any alteration but being in but four years this would not please his boundless Ambition he must needs have the Power that the Lords in the Star-Chamber have put in express terms a Power to proceed according to the course of the Chancery that his Conscience might limit other mens Estates That his Injunctions might stay other Proceedings at Law And which is highest of all if any thing be done in that Court within these Instructions then no Prohibition should be Awarded He would make himself safe from any supervising of other Courts If he Committed any man to Prison though a Habeas Corpus were granted then which the Subject hath no other remedy to vindicate his Liberty the Officer for the encouragement of those which be under his Power must not obey it And if any Fine be put upon the Officer then comes a command in this Commission That the Fine shall be discharged so he not only takes a Power to himself but also takes the Scepter of Justice out of the King's Hands for by this means there is an impossibility the Subject should have the Justice that my Lord knows is due to him and he knows it right well for when he was a Member of the House of Parliament it was his own motion who now stands at the Barr That all the Officers and Ministers of State shall serve the King according to that Law and he is the first Officer and Minister of State that breaks it and in the most transcendent degree that ever it was broken My Lords He doth in this as much as in him lies say to the Laws Do your worst You can but Fine and that you can do shall come to nothing the Fine shall not be paid The Officer shall not obey you If this had been a single Act we should never have accused him of this Treason though it comes very High and very Transcendent But the Oppressions and Injustice the Counsels and Speeches that we present to Your Lordships we present them not singly but as together designing and noting what a Treasonable purpose and disposition is in him 2. My Lords The next thing he doth when he is in the North among the Justices of the Peace and the People attending for Justice you shall see what Encouragement he gives them to look for it and how foul a thing he dares to fling on the Sacred Majesty that did advance him He tells the Justices that were to do Justice and the People that were to receive Justice That some of the Justices were all for Law but they should find The King 's little Finger is heavier than the Loyns of the Law Your Lordships may consider what a transcendent Speech this was out of whose Mouth it came what sad Accidents happened upon it nothing could move this Lord to utter it but his Will and his Violence must out though he burst a Kingdom in pieces for it 3. The next thing is this When
say he is not the only person that deserves punishment and he is the less innocent for misguiding and drawing others into such Actions That he that Commands is more guilty then he that Executes He sayes it was recalled after two years this was the Effect of the tumults and this so that it seems he could go no further and so he left off That its likely the Commons Remonstrance went upon good information and that all he said did not amount to an Excuse having no command as in the Case of the Tobacco Mr. Glyn added That my Lord confessing he lost 3000 l. convinces the point he denyes which was that it was not to advance Trade but for his own profit though it proved not so which the Earl Explained that he made Cloth 6 or 7 years and the Cloth it self not the Yarn was worth 1700 l. per annum for the Yarn was not worth 400 l. and in that time he might very well lose 3000 l. The 14 Article was for the present laid aside Article 15. and they proceeded to the 15th His labouring to subvert the Established Laws and introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Power passing by the first part Mr Palmer who managed the Evidence insisted upon the 2d part of laying Souldiers by Warrant upon Offenders which warrant was given to one Savil a Serjeant at Arms. Mr. Savil being sworn produced a Copy of the Warrant Witness Mr. Savile against which the Earl excepted saying The Original ought to be produced his Life and Honour depending upon his Trial and that it were Treason Savile Swears to justifie himself he being the Person that executed this Treason Mr. Maynard said That if in a Letter one command Treason if the Letter be burnt the Treason cannot be proved if the Original must only prove it The Lord Clare demanded of Savil How they came by the Copy He answered He knew not but that one William Somer Secretary to the Lord Ranulagh had a Copy of it to which he set his hand in order to save a Soldier who had taken two Pewter-Dishes and was like to suffer unless he had a Copy of the Warrant and that this was a true Copy Upon which the House of Lords adjourned and at their return adjudged it should not be read in regard it was not attested So they proceeded to prove the effects of the Warrant To which Savil Deposed That by virtue of this Warrant Soldiers were laid upon delinquents who disobey orders abscond or are rescued from the Pursevants That the Soldiers go with Arms and have Meat and Drink from the Partie they lie on That he had laid Soldiers upon one Francis Ditton one Conolly and Luke Borne who could not be brought in by any other means That his warrant was general the Soldiers foot the number left to his discretion that my Lord never spake to him about complaints made of him that the Secretaries would demand why he did not put the Warrant in execution he said they were poor men Patrick Gough but it never came to my Lord's hands that he knows the greatest number laid was 5 and an Officer Patrick Gaugh deposed he had seen the Warrant Signed Wentworth on the top and a Seal to it that the Execution was a constant Course for contempt that the Soldiers were insolent that lying upon one Bern they took other mens Cattel Burnt part of his House sold his Corn to buy Beer but there was no such liberty given by the Warrant Richard Welsh deposed to the same effect Rich. Welsh of Soldiers laid upon one Francis Dillon Patrick Clear deposed Patrick Clear That Soldiers were laid upon one Agnes White being 80 years Old but upon affidavit of dissability to appear after a Month taken off Nicholas Ardagh deposed to the same effect Nich. Ardagh for debt upon a Paper-Petition Edmond Bern confirmed the Insolence of the Soldiers Edmond Bern. that he was forced to flie into Holland and lost 500 l. by this means Robert Kennedy deposed the same as to Bern Rob. Kenedy but that my Lord was gone to England that he did not see the Warrant but wondred at the Course it having never been done so before the Lord Strafford 's time Mr. Robert Little Little attested for the Earl that He never made any Warrant to Pigot or to Savil nor entred them in his Book or ever saw such Warrant or Entrie The Lord Ranulagh deposed Lord Ranulagh That he had heard something of it upon complaint of one Davis that by combination of the Serjeant and his Adversary he had Soldiers laid upon him which he told the said Lord Ranulagh was by a Warrant Dormant from the Lord-Deputy Wansford That formerly it had been used to lay Soldiers on the relievers of Rebels and for non-payment of Contribution-money but not in a Civil way between Party and Party and upon the Earl's motion he confessed that as a Captain he levied the Rent due to the Exchequer for his Pay by his Soldiers as had been Customary That in King Jame 's time 1628. the Gentlemen of Ireland got leave of the King that for non-payment of Rents or Contribution Soldiers might lie upon the defaulters Mr. Palmer concluded That this was an Act of Hostility by 25 Ed. 3. levying War against our Sovereign Lord the King within His Realm and by the 18 H. 6. cap. 3. made at Dublin in which are these words An Act c. It is agreed and Established That no Lord or any other of what condition soever he be shall bring or lead from henceforth Hoblers Kern or Hooded-men neither English Rebels nor Irish Enemies nor any other People nor Horse to lye on Horseback or Foot to lye on the King's People but on their own cost without consent And if any do so he shall be adjudged as a Traitor After a little time to peruse his Notes the Earl made his Defence The Earl's Defence He desired their Lordships to remember his Witnesses were to come out of Ireland That his time had been so short that he could have none but such as came accidentally That the Customs of Ireland differ from those of England that it had been the Ordinary practice of the Deputy and Council before his time to assess Soldiers not only on the party but his kndred without levying War Lord Dillon That these were ordinary Fellows and to shew what was meant by Rebels in Ireland the Lord Dillon Examined attested That such as having committed Felony or some unjustifiable Act and withdraw into the Woods if upon Proclamation they come not in are reputed Rebels and Traitors Sir Arthur Tyrringham averred That the practice was such in the Lord Faulkland 's time and that such as come not in upon Proclamation John Conley are reputed Rebels John Conley attested That in the Lords Faulkland Grandison and Chichester's times the King 's Rents were collected by Horse-men Henry Dillon who laid upon them
such persons only excepted as be imployed here c. do hereafter make their personal Residence and not depart for England or other place without privity of Our Deputy any former Letters to the contrary notwithstanding And because We resolve to have this course constantly observed if you shall have notice of any Contemner of this Command Our Will and Pleasure is That you proceed against them in an exemplary way to deterr others And for so doing this shall be your Warrant From whence he inferred That this being required by the Law of the Land by the Request of the Irish according to the Lord Faulkland 's former Instructions and justified by the King's Letter he trusted it would not appear to their Lordships so great a Crime as at first it might seem That the Council concurred to the Proclamation that there was great reason of State for it in regard O Neal and Tir Connel having Regiments of the most ancient Irish Septs in the Service of the King of Spain if every one might withdraw at pleasure without giving an account it would open all the Power and Means to distemper that State and he feared it would produce sad Events in that Kingdom And here I cannot but admire the Prophetick Wisdom of this Great Man and States man so soon justified by the Event when upon this Liberty procured by the English Parliament in so few months after his Death that Horrid Rebellion and Massacre broke out which produced the most deplorable Events in the World But to proceed he shewed further That this Restraint was to prevent the going over of the Nobility and Gentry to be Educated at Doway and St. Omers and was for the Interest of the Protestant Religion As to my Lord of Esmond which appeared to be so foul a business he was stayed as being Major General of the Army and could not be spared but he was mistaken if shortly after he did not give him Licence and whereas my Lord of Esmond was said to have no Commission to Examine Witnesses some Evidence accidentally appearing his Lordship took notice of God's Providence and Goodness to assist him and for this purpose Mr. Riley was Examined who Deposed That my Lord of Esmond and Sir Pierce Crosby had a Commission to Examine Witnesses in the Case between them and the Earl of Strafford Mr. Ralton attested the same He further added That the Lord Esmond was stayed on a Complaint of Sir Walsingham Cook 's concerning a Practice against Sir Walsingham 's Life For the Lord Roche he was informed against in the Star-Chamber which he was willing to forget for that Gentleman's Honor the Complaint being of that Nature that he was not willing to press it As to Mac Carty the Decree was made by a Letter from His Majesty on a notable fraud of the Father in the Case of Sir James Craig and the Restraining Young Mac Carty was to prevent his going to Doway or St. Omers and that he that swears it is Solicitor in the Case and unfit for a Witness As to Mr. Parry the Reason appeared in the Sentence which attested by Mr. Gibson was Read as followeth WHereas Henry Parry The Sentence against Mr. Parry one of them who attended the Lord Chancellor as his Lordship's Register-keeper or Clerk for private Judicatures and Keeper of the Books of these Private Proceedings was Commanded to attend the Board to be Examined And whereas in Contempt thereof he not onely neglected to attend accordingly but departed this Kingdom which being represented to His Majesty it pleased His Majesty to require his return hither to attend this Board To which end a Bond was taken for his Appearance here the next Council-day after the 12th of Aug. And whereas he was present himself at this Board 9th of October 1638 but offered no Petition as if he disdained so far to humble himself to this Authority whereupon it being made known to him That it became him in the Duty he owed to the Dignity of this Board to come by Petition as all other Men but he forbearing to exhibit his Petition till he was called by us the Deputie to do it and then when he exhibited it he therein misrecited his Offence alleadging it to be for his repairing to England without Licence whereas his Offence was The disobeying the Orders of this Board Secondly He laid a Tax on William Ralton Esq Alleadging That on pretence of Direction from Secretary Cooke he took his Bond for Appearance here whereas he knew it was not by any feigned direction but by appointment of Secretary Cooke by His Majestie 's Direction Thirdly In stead of humbling himself he desired Cancelling of his Bond and Dismission from attendance and the rather because he conceived he had not in any degree transgressed the Proclamation cautelously alledging that to be his Offence which was not laid to his Charge And forasmuch as his first Offence in Esloyning himself to shun the guilt whereof he was convinced and after his bold and insolent behaviour at this Board in answering plainly That he conceived the Command of the Lord Chancellor ought to free him from the Command of this Board deserves such proceedings against him as may be both Punishment to him and Example to others It is therefore Ordered That he stand Fined in 500 l. bound to his Good Behaviour stand Committed to the Castle during the Deputy's Pleasure and make Acknowledgment of his Offence at this Board And the Form of his Submission is set down I Acknowledge I presented a Presumptuous and Untrue Petition c. Given 30 October 1638. The Names of those that Subscribed it were also Read The Lord Dillon was Examined about the Lord Esmond affirmed That it was suggested that he had set some persons on to cut off Sir Walsingham Cook which was confirmed by Sir Adam Loftus Lord Dillon and that the Witnesses not concurring my Lord Esmond was dismissed To which the Earl added That as soon as he was clear he had liberty to go into England And for the Fees for Licences Mr. Slingsby and Mr. Little attested That they had 20 s. of Privy Councellors and Officers of the Army of others 5 s but it was voluntary and many times none at all was paid He concluded That he hoped nothing hitherto shall convince him of Treason before their Lordships to whose Judgment he did with all humility submit To this Mr. Palmer replyed Mr. Palmer's reply That his Lordship had used a great deal of Wit and Art to colour his Actions and to induce the King to an allowance of them but his Acts of Injustice shew quo obtentu this Proposition was gotten that as it prevented Clamorous Complaints so it terrified those which were real lest they should be punished as clamorous That the 25 H. 6. though it gave leave to seize their Lands that departed without Licence yet restrained not their persons That as to the Petition for Residence of Vndertakers there was a great difference
ready to assist His Majesty in any other way Sir Robert King deposed to Sir George Ratcliff's words about 30000 men and 400000 l and that the King could not want Money Sir Rob. King he had an Army The Lord Ranulagh deposed to the same Effect concerning Sir George Radcliff Lord Ranulagh Sir Tho. Barrington deposed Sir Thomas Barrington That on private discourse about the Parliament Sir George Wentworth said The Commonwealth was sick of Peace and will not be well till it be Conquered again Sir Robert King further said That the Lord Ranulagh was displeased at Sir George Ratcliff 's words conceiving it was an intention to raise Money forcibly in England and that they must turn their Swords upon them from whom they were descended and cut their Throats for their own Safety which the Earl confirmed by offering to sell the said Lord his Estate in Ireland though he thought they would be quieter there than in England From whence the Managers inferred his Design was against England To prove this Design Sir Tho. Jermin deposed Sir Thomas Jermin That he heard my Lord Strafford say something of the Parliaments forsaking the King The Earl of Bristol deposed The Earl of Bristol That discoursing of the Distractions of the Times the Mutiny of the Soldiers and Danger of a War with Scotland he proposed the Summoning a new Parliament as the best way to prevent those Desperate Vndertakings which discourse and his Reasons my Lord Strafford seemed not to dislike but said He thought it not counselable at that time in regard of the slow Proceedings of Parliaments and the real and pressing Dangers and that the Parliament had refused Supplies and therefore the King was to provide for the Safety of the Kingdom Salus Reipublicae being Suprema Lex and that the King must not suffer himself to be mastered by the stubborness and undutifulness of his people or rather Stubberness and disaffection of some particular men meaning some Members of Parliament as he conceives being discoursing of the Parliament The Lord Newborough deposed That he heard words to this Effect Lord Newborough That seeing the Parliament had not supplyed the King His Majesty might take other courses for Defence of the Kingdom But thô he cannot swear the Earl spake these words Earl of Holland he verily believes he heard him speak something to that purpose The Earl of Holland deposed much to the same Purport Then they proceeded to the 23. Article and the Examination of the Earl of Northumberland was read That in case of Necessity for Defence of the Kingdom if the People refuse to Supply the King the King is absolved from Rules of Government and that every thing is to be done for the Preservation of the King and his People and that by some discourses to His Majesty he believes if the King was not supplyed by Parliament some Course was intended to raise Money by Extraordinary wayes but that the Irish Army was to land in the West of Scotland and he hath not heard that these Forces were to be imployed in England to compel or awe the Subjects to pay Taxes imposed Sir Henry Vane deposed Sir Hen. Vane That upon debate of the Question Whether Offensive or Defensive War the Earl said Your Majesty having tryed all wayes and being refused in case of Extream Necessity for the Safety of the Kingdom you are loose and absolved from all Rules of Government you are acquitted before God and Man You have an Army in Ireland you may imploy it to reduce this Kingdom But he will not interpret whether my Lord meant England or Scotland but afterwards he said positively to reduce this Kingdom applying it to England Mr. Whitlock summed up the Evidence That it was clear my Lord of Strafford had a strong Design and Endeavour to Subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of England and to bring in an Army upon us to force this Kingdom to submit to an Arbitrary Power That he would not aggravate these words which were to allay them having in them more Bitterness and Horror than he is able to Express After some little pause The Earl's Defence the Earl made his Defence And first to the Earl of Traquair's Deposition the said Earl sayes That it was the Resolution of the Council-Board and that he gave his Vote among the other Lords That if the Commissioners of Scotland gave not Satisfaction the King might put himself into a posture of War So that his Opinion was the same with the rest and he thinks himself in great Safety having the Concomitant Opinion of so many wiser Persons than himself And for the Earl of Moreton 's Deposition he hopes when the Council of England had resolved it it was no great Crime for him to say That the unreasonable Demands of Subjects in Parliament was a good ground for the King to put himself into a posture of Defence and for his saying it was not Religion but the Root of Government they strook at that he thinks he and every man that thought so had reason to say as he did As to Sir H. Vane the War being resolved and whether Offensive or Defensive the Question he hopes it is not Treasonable for a Privy Councellor to give his Opinion according to his Conscience to do so being their Duty and according to their Oaths and that he was as free to give his Reasons one way as any other person another As to the seizing the Ships Barnwell 's Testimony is only by hearsay but he will inform their Lordships by proof that the Scots Ships were stayed by the Lord Admiral 's Warrant which Mr. Slingsby attested so that the Earl said it might appear he was no such Stirrer or Incendiary between the King and his Subjects as he was represented To the 21 Article and the Lord Primate's Examination about the King 's using his Prerogative it is but singularis testis and only in way of Argument but that the words fairly construed and clearly understood have no ill sence for the King may use his Prerogative as he pleases because the King's Pleasure is always just and to think the King will use his Prerogative otherwise were a high Offence or to think he will use his Prerogative otherwise then as befits a Christian and Pious King To my Lord Conway 's Testimony That the King might help himself though it were against their Will He answered That to help a man's self is Natural for Self is the last Creature that leaves any person and what is natural to every man is so to the King who is accountable not only for Himself but his People To Mr. Secretary Vane 's Testimony That if the Parliament should not succeed he would be ready to assist His Majesty any other way He sees not where the heynousness or venom of the words is to endanger his Life and Honor and he conceives Mr. Treasurer said as much and the Wayes the King could command
and read it in English That the French King had appointed Officers to view mens books and accompts to know what the King might demand of them and force them to pay and something to this purpose That it was an Example or might be an Example to do the like in England Lord Cottington Henry Gogan Sir William Parkhurst and Mr. Gogan being Present Mr. Gogan sworn deposed to the same Effect and that he said to my Lord Cottington My Lord this is worthy your Consideration or hearing or to that purpose Sir William Parkhurst sworn deposed That they were discoursed about the Copper money made for Ireland in Queen Elizabeth 's time Sir William Parkhurst and shewed them such a Letter and read the contents in English as before expressed but further he heard him not say nor any thing as expressed to the Lord Cottington or that if the King should do so he should follow the Example of other Princes Sir Ralph Freeman sworn deposed Sir Ralph Freeman That in a Debate about Copper-money he saying the workmen would not work if paid in that money my Lord replyed You know what course to take with them you may send them to the House of Correction The Examination of Mr. Thomas Skinner was read he being not present and my Lord having a Liberty reserved to Cross-Examine him he in his Examination about the seisure of the Bullion applying with others to my Lord he told them he knew not of it till that morning and that it was no news in other Countries where Princes made use of such wayes to serve their Occasions and in Effect about the Cities ingratitude c. as the other Witnesses To this he answered after some Recollection The Earl's Answer That for that part which would have been the principal part of the Charge concerning his Approving Counselling or Devising these Projects there was no proof offered and that the Testimony of the Witnesses acquits him for the undutifulness of the City the proofs are full and fuller then any thing of the Charge since his Tryal began that at that time he thought so but since he is of another Opinion and expressed himself so at the Council of Peers at York upon the Cities lending the King 200000 l. and that he would serve them with his Life For the French Letter and what was said to the Lord Cottington Mr. Gogan is singular in his Testimony this Letter he received from the Lord of Leicester which mentioned how the Cardinal had given directions to go into the Houses of diverse Merchants in Paris c. and having read it said You see what is done in other places but God be thanked you have so Pious and Gracious a King that he thinks on none of these things My Lord Cottington being interrogated said he knew nothing of the Letter nor ever heard of it but because he would recall it he spake with Sir William Parkhurst and Mr. Palmer they told him that while my Lord was reading the Letter he was in another Room writing From whence my Lord concluded That having told their Lordships the truth clearly under Favour of these Gentlemen he thought nothing can incline one way or other to be an Accusation of High Treason Mr. Maynard replyed Managers Reply That his words concerning the Great City of the Kingdom was no such slight thing Mr. Stroud added That whereas my Lord sayes Words only are laid to his Charge words may be Treason and more dangerous than some Actions such were his Counselling the King and Provoking him to Tyrannical Actions to his Subjects but my Lord stayes not here for Four Aldermen were Committed that day he gave the Counsel concluding That his words and Actions agree in this Kingdom and the miseries of this Kingdom do agree with his words and Actions Mr. Maynard proceeded to the 27th Article Artic. 27. of the Earl's Levying Money in Yorkshire and threatning the Refusers to take satisfaction out of their Goods and that to refuse was little short of High Treason First the Petition of the Gentlemen of the County of Tork was read in these words WHereas Your Majesty imparted to us the danger The Petition of the Yorkshire Gentlemen by the incursions of the Scots and the necessity of continuing the Trained-Bands of this County in entertainment for two Months raising Money so long and did Royally assure us That the Wardships of such as dyed in this Imployment should be freed and one third part of the Trained-Bands should be abated for which we acknowledge our bounden thankfulness in ready obedience of Your Majesties Command we have represented to Your Majesty our present Condition and in the entrance of the business we found a great impediment and discouragement by certain Warrants produced for levying Money towards this new service wherein in the first place we cannot omit to let your Majesty know the great grief we have in that the County is there charged with disaffection and backwardness therein which as we are confident we never were guilty of so we were in good hope your Majesty had received no such Impression of us And in the next place we find our selves much grieved that the execution of such Warrants which we conceive illegal should be concluded and urged on peril of life notwithstanding the strictness of which Warrants we find divers parts of the County have not been able to pay the Money demanded and from thence and the attestation of divers Gentlemen we are assured the scarcity of Money is such that it is disabled from satisfying your expectation therein And that Your Majesty may know it is no pretence but a real poverty we are bold to represent the Charges viz of Ship-Money Vast expences the last year in Military affairs The Billeting and Insolency of Soldiers this Summer part of the time on the credit of the County Decay of Trade Stop of Markets Charge of Carriages especially in Harvest by which means not only the common people but most of the Gentry by the failing of Rents are much impoverished And therefore we petition Your Majesty You will accept our endeavour to prevail with the Country to raise so much Money as will pay the County one whole month from their first rising within which time as is generally reported Your Majesty hath Commanded the attendance of the Peers to consult for the safety of the Kingdom and pray the Trained-Bands may be continued in the Villages where they are Quartered except Your occasions otherwise require it and in the interim for the redress of these Grievances and security of Your Kingdom Your Majesty will please to Declare Your Pleasure for summoning the High Court of Parliament c. This Petition Sir Philip Stapleton deposed upon Oath Sir Philip Stapletan Sir Hugh Cholmley to be the true Petition Then Sir Hugh Cholmley deposed That according to the desire of the Gentlemen this Petition was by the Lord Wharton delivered to the Earl who
the Gentlemen of my Lord's Chamber came to the Hall and gave Information to the Lords upon Oath that the Earl was the last night taken with a Violent Fit of the Stone and that it was impossible for him to make his appearance being indeed not able to stir out of his Bed The Commons seemed much dissatisfied at this disappointment and Mr. Glyn said That it appeared rather an Effect of Wilfulness than Weakness for otherwise he might have sent a Dr. of Physick to testifie the truth of the matter But the Lord Steward made answer That possibly a Dr. could not be procured so early in the morning nor was it possible for any Physitian to give a certain Judgment concerning a man's disability by the Stone because their is no outward symptom that appears Mr. Glyn then moved That if he did not appear on Saturday morning he should lose the Priviledg of speaking any thing further in his own Defence afterwards and that they might be permitted to proceed The Lord Steward replyed That the Lords had appointed Four of their Number to go to the Tower and learn the true Cause of the Earl's stay and that if by any means he were able he should be obliged to appear this day if not Humanity and Common Equity would excuse him The Commons were it seems very uneasy at this delay for reforting to their House after Noon a Conference was resolved upon with the Lords the Heads of which were That Mr. Pym should represent to their Lordships the pretiousness of time considering the great necessities of the Kingdom how much time hath already been spent in this Tryal and if more should how prejudicial it might prove to the Kingdom and therefore to desire that to morrow may be a peremptory Day for the Earl to be heard if he will come otherwise that the Committee may proceed to the Replication on the whole matter and the Earl to be absolutely concluded for saying any more to the matter of Fact To this the Lords answered by Message by Baron Henden and Mr. Heath That they have Considered of the Message and Resolved That if the Earl of Strafford come to morrow morning he may proceed according to the Former Order if he comes not that then the Commons may proceed to Summ up the Evidence as to matter of Fact and the Earl of Strafford to be concluded as to matter of Fact Some Lords went by Order to the Tower who at their return certified That they found two Physitians with him of whom they inquired whether the state of his health would without danger of his Life permit him to appear the next day at the Hall who informed them That he had been very ill but yet they judged he might appear In the Afternoon a Rumor was spread abroad the Town that he was Dead at which some who were Strangers to his Merit and Innocence seemed Exceedingly to rejoyce so strangely doth the Fickle Genius of the Populace seem to delight it self with the Calamities and Misfortunes even of the greatest Personages and whilst weak understandings and strong Prejudices filled them with Fears Jealousies and apprehensions of Dangers from the Life of this Noble Innocent they seemed so desirous of his Death as by their wishes to anticipate his Fate Upon Saturday he appeared at the Bar Saturday April 10. expecting when he should be commanded to summ up his Defence in order to the Commons Replication when Mr. Glyn begun to offer some new proof concerning the 23 d. Article but this the Earl opposed alledging the Process was already closed and that by the Order of the Lord's who had given him notice that he was now to answer and make his last Defence as to the Charge in matter of Fact or otherwise to be concluded Mr. Glyn replied That the Process was not closed so long as the evidence was not summed up and that it did not become a Prisoner at the Bar to prescribe a method to the proceedings of the Commons of England To this the Earl answered That he thought it stood him in hand as nearly to defend his life as it did any persons to pursue it Yet he was willing they should bring in new Proofs provided that he were allowed the Liberty to make replies and make use of some new Witnesses in some Articles that concerned his Justification The Lord Newark upon this contest moved that the Lords might Adjourn to their own House to take these things into Consideration which they did accordingly and the matter being strongly Debated The Judges Opinion the Judges Opinions were consulted in it and upon consultation gave this Resolution That according to the Course and Practice of Common Justice before them in their several Courts upon Tryals by Jury so long as the Prisoner is at the Bar and the Jury not sent away either side way give their Evidence and Examine Witnesses to discover Truth After near two hours stay the Lord 's returned and the Lord Steward commanded the Order which they had agreed upon to be read which was to this effect That it was granted to the Committee for the Commons to bring in new Proof concerning the 23 d Article so they conceived in Justice they could not deny the Lord Strafford liberty to make his reply and examin Witnesses and that if they were ready he should produce them And that if they went to no other Articles neither should his Lordship but if they did that then he might have the same freedom according to Common Justice to offer what he had further to any other Articles The Committee construed the Order in favour of themselves and declined all the other Articles except the 23 d concluding that the Earl was restrained by it from all Articles but that On the other side he said That he conceived the Order was for him and that since they had pick't out their Article it was against Common Equity to tye up his hands and not admit of a Common Rule for them both They replyed That when that Article was prosecuted they had reserved their further Witness till another time He answered That he had done the same upon every Article the time for procuring his Witnesses from Ireland being so short To which they returned That the House had refused his Reservation He answered Nor had they passed any Order for theirs Upon this new Contest the Lords adjourned again to their own House and after two Hours hot Debate between themselves they returned and the Order was read to this Effect 1. That either both of them should wave the new proofs and go immediately to what follows in the Process or Secondly if they declined that the Lord 's conceived themselves common Judges to both and so would not deny the Lord of Strafford the liberty of pitching upon what Articles he pleased as they had done or Thirdly That both of them should name their Witnesses instantly at the Bar. At this the Commons shewed great dissatisfaction yet they
is the 22d Article and these be words spoke in England The first part of them which concerns the bringing in of the Irish Army I have spoken to already but in the conclusion there are other words and shortly the said Earl of Strafford returned to England and to sundry persons declared his opinion to be That His Majesty should first try the Parliament here and if that did not supply him according to his occasions he might then use his Prerogative as he pleased to levy what he needed and that he should be acquitted both of God and Man if he took some other courses to supply himself though it were against the will of his Subjects My Lords as unto this I conceive the Charge is not proved by any Witness that hath been here produced against me and in truth my Lords I must needs say this under favour if it be an error in my Judgement I must humbly crave your Lordships pardon through the whole Cause I have not seen a weaker proof and if I had had time to have gotten my Witnesses out of Ireland I hope that should be proved and so clearly as nothing could be proved more but I must stand or fall to what I have proved and so I do my Lords the proof they offer for this as I conceive is the Testimony of my Lord Primate and his Testimony is That in some discourse betwixt us two touching Levying upon the Subject in case of imminent necessity he found me of opinion That the King might use his Prerogative as he pleased My Lords this is under favour a single Testimony it is of a discourse between him and me and there is not any other that witnesses any thing concerning it so that under favour my Lords I conceive this will not be sufficient to bring me any ways in danger of Treason being but a single Testimony and my Lords it is to be thought and to be believed and it were a great offence for any man to think otherwise that in this case any thing can please the King he is so Gracious and Good but what shall be Just and Lawful and then there is no doubt but so far as with Justice and Lawfulness he may use his Prerogative in case of imminent danger when ordinary means will not be admitted At most he saith it was but an opinion and opinions may make an Heretick but they shall not I trust make a Traitor The next is the Testimony of my Lord Conway and the words that his Lordship testifies are these That in case the King would not be otherwise supplyed by Subsidies he might seek means to help himself though it were against the will of his Subjects Truly my Lords if I should acknowledge these words I do not see how they can be any way Capital in my case but this again is but a single Testimony and there is no other that says it but himself and if there be a good sense given to them certainly the words may very well bear it for I think it is a very natural motion for any man to preserve himself though it be to the disliking of another and why a King should not do it as well as a Subject it is such a prerogative of Kings as I never yet heard of for I thought though they had been Gods on earth yet they are men and have affections as men and should preserve themselves being not only accountable for themselves to God Almighty but also for their Subjects whose Good and Benefit is wrapt up and involved in theirs and therefore the King ought more to regard his own preservation than the Common-wealth The Third is That Mr. Treasurer says that to his best remembrance I did say That if the Parliament should not succeed I would be ready to assist His Majesty any other way God forbid this should be any offence for to say so either in him or me for I will swear if it please you that he said so as well as I therefore God forbid it should endanger either of us both for my Lords to say I will serve the King any other way it is no other than what became a good and faithful servant to do always provided the way be good and lawful which in this case is always to be admitted among persons of Honour and persons of Trust and therefore admitting it not any other way it was just and lawful and commendable in Mr. Treasurer and me for I vow to your Lordships we both said it and he as fully as I. But my Lords all these come very far short to prove the words of the Charge and this under favour is all the proof as I have taken that I should say these words before the Parliament The next words I am charged withal are in the 23 Article and those my Lords are that having tryed the affections of his people His Majesty was loose and absolved from all Rules of Government and was to do every thing that Power would admit and that His Majesty had tryed all wayes and was refused and should be acquitted both of God and man For the latter part that concerns the reducing of this Kingdom by the Irish Army I have answered already and therefore shall not need to repeat it My Lords mine Answer under favour to those words with your Lordships Noble permission must be thus That they are no way proved in the most material part of them by any Testimony that hath been offered I shall as near as I can repeat the proofs that were offered on this point for these Articles were brought in four or five together but I shall apply the proofs severally and distinctly The Testimony first given was the Testimony of the Lord of Bristol wherein his Lordship says That in a discourse there was difference betwixt his Lordship and me in some Tenents of ours To which I answered the other day that in discourse we speak not always the things we think but many times to gain from other mens arguments to strengthen me in my opinion I will seem to be of the contrary This is ordinary and familiar in all conversation and very honest and just so that albeit we seem to differ as we held it severally yet if the pulse of our hearts had been touched close both his and mine perhaps we should have found it one and the same Besides his Lordship said I disliked not the discourse we speaking of another Parliament only I said it was not convenient at that time and that the present dangers would not admit a remedy of so long consideration and that the King must provide for the Common-wealth Et salus populi suprema lex And truly My Lords I think that it is very hard any man should upon such a discourse have his words turned upon him and made use of to condemn him for High-Treason My Lords I know you are so just that you would judg me as you would be judged your selves and whether any Man that hears
me would be content to have every word that falls in discourse betwixt man and man to be so severely interpreted I leave to every man's Breast what he finds in the closet of his own Heart and desire to be judged according to that My Lord went further and says I should say that the King was not to be mastered by the frowardness or disaffection of some particular men and conceives it be meant of the Parliament My Lords I say under favour these words are not within the Charge and therefore I am not to be accountable for them besides it is a single Testimony and by the proviso of that Statute cannot be made use of to the end and purpose for which they bring them My Lords the next Testimony offered for proving this Charge is the Testimony of my Lord of Newburg and he sayes That at the Council-Board or in the Gallery I did say that seeing the Parliament had not supplied the King His Majesty might take other courses for the defence of the Kingdom Truly My Lords under favour who doubts but he might for my part I see not where the offence is for another man to have said thus for if another man will not help me may not I therefore help my self under favour I conceive there is no great weight nor crime in these words but in these likewise he stands a single Testimony there is no man that joyns with him in it and there is this in the whole Cause concerning the words that I think there is not any one thing wherein two concurr The next Testimony is that of the Earl of Holland and he sayes That at the Council-Board I said The Parliament having denyed the King he had advantage to supply himself other wayes Truly My Lords I say still other wayes being lawful wayes and just wayes and such wayes as the goodness of the King can only walk in and in no other can he walk And therefore I conceive they be far from bringing it to sigh high a guilt as Treason and this likewise his Lordship expresses as the rest do singly on his own word as he conceives them and not on the particular word of any other person which is I say the case of every one that speaks in the business and therefore there being so great a difference in the Report and Conceiving of things it is very hard my words should be taken to my destruction when no Man agrees what they were My Lord of Northumberland is the next and he sayes I should say at a Committee for the Scotish affairs That in case of necessity and for Defence and Safety of the Kingdom every thing must be done for the Preservation of the King and his People And this is the Testimony of my Lord in that point if I take any thing short it is against my Will I give you my Notes as far as I have them and further I cannot remember them But my Lords I say this brings it to that which is indeed the great part of my Defence in this case There is another agreed in this too and it is Mr. Treasurer who sayes that in Argument for Offensive or Defensive War I should say That having tryed all ways and being refused the King might in extream necessity provide for the safety of himself and his People I say this brings it to that which is principally for my Defence that must qualifie if not absolutely free me from any blame and that is that which did proceed and follow after My Lords under favour I have heard some discourse of great weight and of great Authority and that is certain the Arguments that were used in the case of Ship-Money by those that Argued against the King in that Case say as much and will undertake if any man read those Arguments he shall find as much said there as I said at Council-Board for there you shall hear that there be certain Times and Seasons when Propriety ceases as in the case of Burning where a Man pulls down the next House to preserve the whole street from being set on fire In the case of building Forts on any man's Land where it is for the publique defence of the Kingdom in both these Cases Propriety doth cease nay he says that in War Inter Arma silent Leges Now my Lords these are as highly said as any thing you have heard by me and yet certainly is no subverting of the Fundamental Laws for all that and therefore if a man must be judged he must not be judged by pieces but by all together My Lords Whatsoever I said at Council-Board was led in by this Case what a King should do in case of a Forreign Invasion of an Enemy when the ordinary wayes and means of levying Money would not come in seasonably to prevent mischief for what a King may do in case of absolute necessity certainly in these cases the ordinary Rules do not take place as this was the Case that let in the Discourse so I most humbly beseech your Lordships for it is fully proved to remember what was the conclusion of that Discourse which was That after the present occasion provided for the King was obliged in Honour and Justice to vindicate and free the Liberty of the Subject from all prejudice and harm it might sustain in that extraordinary occasion and that this was to be done by a Parliament and no other way but a Parliament and the King and his People could never be happy till the Prerogative of the Crown and the Liberty of the Subject were so bounded and known that they might go hand in hand together mutually to the assistance of one another My Lords give me that which precedes and that which follows both being proved to be the Case in these words in the Charge I think considering these two I should be far from having committed any great crime or offence in saying these words But I say as I said before I shall be more wary for the time hereafter if it please God to give me that Grace and Life which I submit to him and shall readily and willingly resign to his good Will and pleasure I conceive therefore that as these words are accompanied they be not words that do amount to Treason and are so qualifiyed and so weakly proved that I trust they shall not stick with your Lordships The next words that I am charged withal in England be on the 25th Article and that is that I should say that the Aldermen that would not give in the names of the able men of the City deserved to be put to Fine and Ransome and that no good would be done with them till an example were made of them and they were laid by the heels and some of the Aldermen hanged up In the first part of the Article there is something concerning my advice for raising the Money but it is not proved that I did any thing therein but as others did and as in former years
proved by the Testimony of many Witnesses upon consideration of the precedent concurrent and subsequent Acts and Intentions of my Lord of Strafford I shall not now run over my Lord Primate's Testimony or my Lord Conwaye's or Master Treasurer's or my Lord of Bristol's but make use of them in their proper places when I shall put all together to shew his design and to prove his speaking of the words Then he comes to the Five and twentieth Article which I shall not insist on though he pretends it not proved I shall refer that to my recollection that I may not answer to his pieces but bring all together and then the horror of his Fact shall more speciously appear Only this under favour I cannot pass over when he comes to justify an Advice and Counsel of the King 's being loose and absolved from all rules of Government and that he might use his Prerogative as he pleases he is pleased to mention the Argument of the Judges in the Ship-Money and what they should deliver he makes the Warrant of his Counsel Now your Lordships may observe he would Justifie his Actions by Law in some cases where it is to his advantage but in other cases he must be ignorant of the Law But my Lords for him to mention any thing in the Argument of the Judges concerning the Ship-money which is now condemned and to make that a ground of his Counsel and advice to the King and not the Judgment in truth but the Argument of the Counsel at Bar that therefore he is loose and absolved from all rule of Government for him to make the Parliaments deferring to give supply to be that necessity which was insisted upon in the Counsels Argument and to be such an unavoidable necessity as to beget an Invasion upon Propriety and Liberty it rests in your Judgments and the Judgments of all that hear me what Argument this is and what he declares his opinion to be this day In the latter part let me close hands and agree with him he sayes Proofs must be taken by themselves they must not be Judged by pieces but together and now in good time I shall joyn with him and shall desire the same Judgment that things may not be taken asunder but Judged together according to his own words For the twentieth Article he is thereby charged with being an Incendiary between both Nations and an occasion of drawing two Armies into this Kingdom and to incense the War My Lords I remember if I did not mis-conceive and my memory mis-prompt me my Lord said He could have no occasion to incense a War being a man of an Estate and should have no benefit by it having sufficient to live without it but in due time I shall make it appear to my apprehension and I believe to your Lordships when you have heard it that the incensing of this War and provoking of it was the principal instrument of bringing to pass his design of subverting the Laws through the whole work of it My Lords in the passage of this he takes occasion to speak of the Testimony of Mr. Secretary Vane who testifies That my Lord was for an Offensive and himself for a Defensive War Whence my Lord argues here is no great difference for both were for a War But my Lord Is there no difference between an offensive and defensive War in case of Subjects that live under one King is there no difference to bring an Army to offend them and for the King to raise a force to defend himself truly I think there is a great difference and a very material one too but your Lordships see he makes no difference between them My Lords In the four and twentieth Article he mentions That he is charged with being an occasion to break the Parliament and lays hold of that as in the other Articles That it was not proved but declined My Lords when he shall hear the repetition of the Evidence though part of the Article was not particularly insisted upon yet I believe it will appear to your Lordships and the world that he was the occasion of breaking the last Parliament and it is expresly proved by Witnesses enough and though he sayes How should any body think him an occasion of it that did so often advise Parliaments yet I shall shew anon that when he did advise them it was to compass his own Design and Plot without which his ends could not be brought to pass He came from the four and twentieth Article to the Seven and twentieth and he answers â—â—â—iâ—st that Article That when Armies are in the Field men cannot walk so peaceably as an Attorney with his Box and Papers in Westminster Hall I know â—ot wâ—at he means but when two Armies are in the Field they may raise War against the King's People as well as the King for his just defence it is the way to make his people terrified with Armies and to avoid them as a Serpent and therefore it is a dangerous aspersion as I conceive With these he concluded except some things that he took by way of artificial insinuation to perswade your Lordships That it was dangerous to raise a Treason that had lain asleep I know not how many hundred years and create a Treason A strange thing indeed it is That a man shall be charged with a Treason for subverting the Law A strange thing that one should be charged with Treason for killing a Justice sitting in the Seat of Justice and yet it should be no Treason to destroy King and Kingdom and People and all all which are destroyed if the Law be subverted And now having touched upon what he hath spoken with your Lordships good favour I shall crave leave to run the course I have propounded with my self and that very briefly that is upon the whole matter to shew how far the Evidence produced on the Commons part doth prove the Charge My Lords That laid to his Charge is a design and purpose to subvert the fundamental Laws of two Kingdoms and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government not that he did effect it but that he did intend it for if he had done it it had been too late to question it he had left no rule whereby to call him to Tryal but his intention and his endeavour are his Charge My Lords How far this is proved if your Lordships be pleased to call to mind the Articles and the Evidences produced on the Commons part your Lordships will find I believe that his Words his Counsels and his Actions do sufficiently prove his endeavouring to destroy In the first Article where my Lord of Strafford hath the first opportunity offered him to put this endeavour in execution that is the first place of eminency amongst his other Places and Commands which I take it was his being made President of the North he is no sooner there but there be instructions procured to enable him to proceed in that Court almost in all
afterwards is very high but no thanks to him that the Sentence of Death was not executed it was the Grace and Goodness of His Majesty that would not suffer my Lord Mountnorris a Person of that Eminence to be put to death against Law But the other was hanged and as appears against Law and though my Lord pretends the party was burnt in the hand yet that was not proved nor material and for him to do this in time of Peace when the Courts of Justice were open it argues a desire in his Breast to arrogate a Power above Law And in truth I may not omit some observations that my Lord made this day He hopes His Majesty would be pleased to grant him a Pardon I perceive he harboured in his thoughts that he might hang the King's Subjects when he would and then get a Pardon of course for it The Lord bless me from his Jurisdiction My Lords give me leave to go back again here is Power over the Lives and Liberties of the Subject but he exercised likewise a Tyrannical Power over his Estate Your Lordships may be pleased to remember the fourth Article where he judges my Lord of Cork's Estate in neither Church-land nor Plantation-land and therefore had no pretence of a Jurisdiction for it is a Lay Fee devolved by Act of Parliament to the Crown yet he deprives him of his possession which he had continued for Twenty nine years upon a Paper-Petition without Rules of Law And whereas my Lord of Cork went about to redeem himself the Law being every man's Inheritance and that which he ought to enjoy he tells him He will lay him by the heels if he withdraw not his Process and so when he hath judged him against an express Act of Parliament and Instructions and bound up a great Peer of the Realm he will not suffer him to redeem that wrong without a threat of laying him by the heels and he will not have Law nor Lawyers question his Orders and would have them all know an Act of State should be equal to an Act of Parliament which are words of that nature that higher cannot be spoken to declare an intention to proceed in an Arbitrary way The next was my Lord Mountnorris his Case and Rolstone And here I must touch my Lord with misrepetition Rolstone preferred a Petition to my Lord-Deputy my Lord-Deputy himself Judges his Estate and deprived him of his possession though he cannot produce so much as one example or precedent though if he had it would not have warranted an illegal action but he cannot produce a precedent that ever any Deputy did determine concerning a man's private Estate and if he hath affirmed it he proved it not some Petitions have been preferred to him but what they be non constat But though never any knew the Deputy alone to determine matters of Land yet he did it To the Seventh Article was produce no Evidence but my Lord of Strafford cannot be content with that but he must take upon him to make defence for that which is not insisted upon as a charge but since he will do so I refer it to the Book in Print where he determines the Inheritance of a Nobleman in that Kingdom that is my Lord Dillon by a Case falsly drawn and contrary to his consent and though he deprives him not of his possession yet he causes the Land to be measured out and it is a danger that hangs over his head to this day And had we not known that we had matter enough against my Lord of Strafford this should have risen in judgment against him but I had not mentioned it now if he had not mentioned it himself The Eighth Article contains several charges as that of my Lord Chancellor How he imprisoned him upon a Judgment before himself and the Council how he inforced the Seal from him when he had no Authority nay though it were excepted by his Patent that he should no way dispose of it but he looked not to Authority further than might make way to his Will Another concerns the prime Earl of that Kingdom my Lord of Kildare whom he imprisoned and kept close prisoner contrary to the King 's express command for his deliverance and in his answer my Lord acknowledges it but sayes That that Command was obtained from the King upon a mis-information These things I would not have mentioned if he had passed them over but since he gives them in give me leave to mention and say we had a ground to put them into Charge and could have proved them if there had been need punctually and expresly and I believe little to my Lord's advantage But your Lordships I think do remember my Lady Hibbots Case where the Lady Hibbots contracts with Thomas Hibbots for his Inheritance for 2500 l. executes the Contract by a Deed and Fine levied deposits part of the Money and when a Petition was exhibited to the Lord-Deputy and Council for the very Estate your Lordships remember how this came in Judgment before my Lord-Deputy there was but a Petition delivered there was an answer made and all the suggestions of the Petition denyed yet my Lord spake to Hibbots himself that was willing to accept the Money not to decline the way that he was in by Petition Five hundred pound more will do him no hurt to carry into England with him and yet without examination of a Witness a Decree was made to deprive this Lady of her Estate and the purchasing of this Land by my Lord of Strafford was proved by two Witnesses though not absolutely yet by confession of Sir Robert Meredith and others whose names were used in Trust for my Lord of Strafford and that it proved according to my Lord of Strafford's Prophecy for the man had five hundred pounds gain above the Contract with my Lady Hibbots But after the Lands were sold for Seven Thousand Pounds so that the Lady Hibbots offence was her making of a bargain whereby to gain Five hundred pounds but there was no offence in my Lord to make a bargain for Three thousand pounds and to gain Four thousand pounds presently this you see proved by Hibbots the party and by Mr. Hoy the Son of the Lady Hibbots So that here is a determination of a Cause before the Council-Table touching Land which was neither Plantation nor Church-Land without colour of the Instructions contrary to Law to Statute to Practice and if this be not an exercising of an unlawful jurisdiction over the Land and Estates of the Subject I know not what is In his answer to this Case he did open it yet whether he mistook or no I know not that he had a Letter from the King but he produces none in evidence and that is another misrecital I am sorry he should mis-recite and fix it upon the Person of His Soveraign in a case of this nature Now he falls more immediately upon the Liberty of the Subject and that is by the Warrant
Corruptives of Judgment Mr. Speaker I do before God discharge my self to the uttermost of my Power And do with a clear Conscience wash my hands of this mans blood by this solemn Protestation That my Vote goes not to the taking of the Earl of Strafford 's Life Exceptions were taken at this Speech upon Friday following and the Lord Digby Explained himself but for the present there was nothing done in it though afterwards the sleeping Revenge roused it self to some purpose for upon the 15th of July to do him all the infamy they could this Speech was by Order of the House burnt by the hand of the Common Hangman in Smithfield Palace Yard and in the Royal Exchange The Lords made no great hast in dispatching the Bill of Attainder Saturday April 24. and therefore the Faction fell upon other Methods of quickening them one of which was a Petition from many Thousands of the City which was upon Saturday presented by them to both Houses thereby to make it appear the Desire of the City and to speak truth they had strangely Exasperated the City against him as will appear by the Petition which follows To the most Honourable Assembly of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament The humble Petition of divers Citizens of London SHEWETH THat notwithstanding His Majesties Gracious Answer The first Petition of the Citizens against the Earl of Strafford April 24. to the humble Petition of his Loyal Subjects in Summoning this Parliament with the great Care and Endeavoured pains taken by both Houses for the removing the heavy Grievances in Church and Common-wealth whereof the Petitioners have already received some Fruit for which they desire to return their most humble and utmost Thanks yet nevertheless they are enforced with all Humility to represent to this most Honourable Assembly some of those Obstructions which do still hinder that freedom and fulness of Trade in this City they have formerly had and which considering the numerous multitude thereupon depending they conceive it not able comfortably to subsist As the unsetled Condition of the Kingdom even since the Troubles in Scotland hath caused both Strangers and also some of our own who did furnish great summs of money to use to call it in and remit much of it by Exchange into Forraign Parts and stand now in expectation of what the Issue of things may be The stopping Money in the Mint which till then was accounted the safest place and surest Staple in these parts of the World still doth hinder the Importation of Bullion the Scots now disabled to pay such Debts as they owe to the Petitioners and others in the City and by reason of the Oppressions exercised in Ireland their Debts also are detained there The English Trade by reason of our general Distractions and Fears is so much decayed that Country Trades-men cannot pay their Debts in London as formerly The great Sums of Money unduly taken by His Majesties Officers and Farmers for Impositions upon Merchandize Exported and imported and the want of Relief in Courts of Justice against them The drawing out from the City great Sums of Money which is the Life and Spirit of Trade for His Majesties Service in the North and being there employed is not yet returned Besides all which from what strong and secret Opposition the Petitioners know not they have not received what so much time and pains might give and cause to hope but still Incendiaries of the Kingdoms and other Notorious Offenders remain unpunished The Affairs of the Church notwithstanding many Petitions concerning it and long Debate about it remains unsetled the Papists still Armed the Laws against them not Executed some of the most Active of them still at Court Priests and Jesuits not yet Banished the Irish Popish-Army not yet Disbanded Courts of Justice not yet reformed and the Earl of Strafford who as now appears hath Counselled the Plundring of this City and putting it to Fine and Ransom and said It would never be well till some of the Aldermen were hang'd up because they would not yield to Illegal Levies of Monies had so drawn out and spent this time in his business to the very great Charge of the whole Kingdom and his endeavour to obtain yet more all which makes us fear there may be practices now in hand to hinder the Birth of your great endeavours and that we lie under some more dangerous Plot than we can discover All which Premisses with their Fears and Distractions growing there-from and from things of the like nature the Petitioners humbly offer to the most grave Consideration of this most Honourable Assembly as being the true Causes of decay of Trade discouragement of Trades-men and of the great scarcity of Monies with the Consequences they labour under And do humbly pray That their sad Grievances may be Redressed the Causes of their Fears removed Justice executed upon the said Earl and other Incendiaries and Offenders the rather in regard till then the Petitioners humbly conceive neither Religion nor their Lives Liberties or Estates can be secured And as in Duty bound they shall ever pray c. But all they could do notwithstanding the frequent Conferences and Debates the Lords resolved to hear what the Councel would first say upon the Legality of the Bill upon which this Message was sent to the Commons by Judge Foster and Judge Heath That their Lordships will be ready to meet at a Conference by a Committee of both Houses at Nine of the Clock upon Thursday Morning in Westminster-Hall there to hear this House according to their own Offers when they brought up the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford Mr. Hide was this Day sent up to the Lords Widnesday April 28. to acquaint them with the Fears they have that the Earl of Strafford may design to Escape That he hath Ships at Sea at Command and the Guards weak and to desire he may be made a close Prisoner and the Guards strengthened To which the Lords answered They would take it into Examination and give Directions accordingly Upon Thursday the Houses being met at the Hall Thursday April 29. the King Prince and Queen being present Mr. St. Johns to whom that Province was consigned by the Commons made his Argument of the Legallity of the Bill of Attainder as followeth My Lords THE Knights Mr. St. John's Argument at Law for passing the Bill of Attainder April 29. Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament have passed a Bill for the Attainting of Thomas Earl of Strafford of High-Treason The Bill hath been transmitted from them to your Lordships it concerns not him alone but your Lordships and the Commons too though in different respects It concerns his Lordship the highest that can be in the Penal Part so it doth on the other side as highly concern your Lordships and the Commons in that which ought to be the tend'rest the Judicatory within that that Judge not them who Judge
200 l. These if done upon these private ends alone had not been a Treason as appears by the very words of the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. before mentioned of marching openly or secretly But my Lords these of Cambridge and Bridgewater they were of the conspiracy with the Villains as appears in the Parliament Roll of the First year of Richard the 2d Number 311. and 32. where the Towns of Cambridge and Bridgwater are expresly excepted out of the general Pardon made to the Villains this being done in reference to that design of the Villains of altering the Laws this was that which made it Treason If the design went no further than the enforcing Obedience to these Paper-Orders made by himself it was sufficient it was to subvert one fundamental part of the Law nay in effect the whole Law what use of Law if he might order and determine of Mens Estates at his own pleasure This was against the Law notoriously declared in Ireland In the close Roll in the Tower in the 25th year of Edward the 1. a Writ went to the Justices in Ireland that Kingdom at that time was governed by Justices declaring That upon Petitions they were not to determine any Titles between party and party upon any pretence of profit whatsoever to the King In the Eight and twentieth year of Hen. the 6th Chap. 2. Suits in Equity not before the Deputy but in Chancery Suits at Common-Law not before him but in cases of Life in the Kings-Bench for Title of Lands or Goods in the proper Courts of the Kings-Bench or Common-Pleas This declared in the Instructions for Ireland in the latter end of King James His time and by the Proclamation in His Majesties time my Lord took notice of them called the Commissioners narrow-hearted Commissioners The Law said He should not thus proceed in the subversion of it he saith he will and will enforce Obedience by the Army this is as much in respect of the end as to endeavour the overthrow of the Statutes of Labourers of Victuals or of Merton for Inclosures here is a Warrant against the King in respect of the end Secondly In respect of the Actions whether there be either a Levying of War or an open Deed or both My Lords There was an Army in Ireland at that time of Two thousand Horse and Foot by this Warrant there is a full designation of this whole Army and an Assignment of it over to Savil for this purpose The Warrant gives him power from time to time to take as many Soldiers Horse and Foot with an Officer throughout the whole Army as himself shall please here is the terror and awe of the whole Army to enforce Obedience My Lords If the Earl had Armed two thousand men Horse and Foot and formed them into Companies to this end your Lordships would have conceived that this had been a War It 's as much as in the Case of Sir Thomas Talbot who armed them in Assemblies This is the same with a breach of Trust added to it That Army which was first raised and afterwards committed to his Trust for the Defence of the People is now destined by him to their destruction This assignation of the Army by his Warrant under his Hand and Seal is an open Act. My Lords Here 's not only an open Act done but a Levying of War Soldiers both Horse and Foot with an Officer in Warlike manner assessed upon the Subject which killed their Cattel consumed and wasted their Goods Your Lordships observe a great difference where six men go upon a design alone and when sent from an Army of six hundred all engaged in the same service so many were sent as were sufficient to execute the Command if upon a poor man fewer more upon a rich if the six had not been able the whole Army must make it good The reason that the Sheriff directed alone or but with one Bayliff to do execution is because he hath the Command of the Law the King 's Writ and the Posse Comitatus in case of resistance Here 's the Warrant of a General of an Army Here 's the Posse Exercitus the Power of the Army under the awe of the whole Army six may force more then sixty without it and although never above six in one place yet in several parts of the Kingdom at the same time might be above sixty for sessing of Soldiers was frequent it was the ordinary course for execution of his Orders The Lord-Lieutenant of a County in England hath a design to alter the Laws and Government nay admit the design goes not so high he only declares thus much he will order the Freeholders and Estates of the Inhabitants of the County at his own will and Pleasure and doth accordingly proceed upon Paper-Petitions foreseeing there will be disobedience he grants out Warrants under his Hand and Seal to the Deputy-Lieutenants and Captains of the Trained-bands that upon refusal they will take such number of the Trained-bands through the County with Officers as they shall think good and lay them upon the Lands and Houses of the refusers Soldiers in a Warlike manner are frequently sessed upon them accordingly your Lordships do conceive that this is a Levying of War within the Statute The Case in question goes further in these two Respects That it is more against the declared Law in Ireland not only against the Common-Law but likewise against the Statute of 28 Hen. 6th against the Acts of the Commissioners against Proclamations in persuance of the Law against that himself took notice of narrow-hearted Commissioners In this that here was an Army the Soldiers by profession Acts of Hostility from them of greater terror than from Freeholders of the same County My Lords I have now done with the First of Levying of War The Second is the Machination the advising of a War The Case in this rests upon a Warrant to Savile and the advice in the 23 Article The Warrant shews a resolution of imploying the old Army of Ireland to the oppression of his Majesties Subjects and the Laws In the 23d Article having told his Majesty that he was loosed and absolved from Rules of Government and might do every thing which Power might admit he proceeded further in Speech to his Majesty in these words You have an Army in Ireland you may employ to reduce this Kingdom My Lords Both being put together there 's a Machination a practise and advice to Levy War and by force to oppress and destroy his Majesties Subjects It hath been said the Statute of the 25 Edw. 3. is a penal Law and cannot be taken by equity and construction there must be an actual War the Statute makes it Treason to counterfeit the King's Coin the conspiring the raising of Furnaces is no Treason unless he doth Nummum percutere actually Coin My Lords This is only said not proved the Law is otherwise the 19th Hen. 6. fol. 49. there adjudged That the conspiring and aiding to
Treasons are commited in Ireland therefore not tryable here Answ My Lords Sir John Parrot his Predecessor 24 Ed. was tryed in the Kings-Bench for Treason done in Ireland when he was Deputy and Oruche in the 33 year of Queen Elizabeth adjudged here for Treason done in Ireland Object But it will be said these Tryals were after the Statute of the 34th year of Henry the 8th which Enacts that Treasons beyond Sea may be tryed in England Answ My Lords his Predecessor my Lord Gray was tryed and adjudged here in the Kings-Bench that was in Trinity-Term in the 33 year of Henry the 8th this was before the making of that Statute Object To this again will we say That it was for Treason by the Laws and Statutes of England that this is not for any thing that 's Treason by the Law of England but an Irish Statute So that the question is only Whether your Lordships here in Parliament have cognizance of an offence made Treason by an Irish Statute in the ordinary way of Judicature without Bill for so is the present question For the clearing of this I shall propound two things to your Lordships consideration Whether the Rule for expounding the Irish Statute and Customs be one and the same in England as in Ireland That being admitted whether the Parliament in England have cognizance or jurisdiction of things there done in respect of the place because the Kings Writ runs not there For the first in respect of the place the Parliament here hath cognizance there And Secondly If the Rules for expounding the Irish Statutes and Customs be the same here as there this exception as I humbly conceive must fall away In England there is the Common Law the Statutes the Acts of Parliament and Customs peculiar to certain places differing from the Common-Law If any question arise concerning either a Custom or an Act of Parliament the Common-Law of England the First the Primitive and the General Law that 's the Rule and Expositor of them and of their several extents it is so here it is so in Ireland the Common-Law of England is the Common-Law of Ireland likewise the same here and there in all the parts of it It was introduced into Ireland by King John and afterwards by King Henry 3. by Act of Parliament held in England as appears by the Patent Rolls of the 30 year of King Henry 3. the first Membrana the Words are Quia pro Communi Vtilitate terrae Hiberniae unitate terrarum Regis Rex vult de Communi Concilio Regis Provisum est quod omnes Leges Consuetudines quae in Regno Angliae tenentur in Hibernia teneantur eadem terra eisdem legibus subjaceat per easdem Regatur sicut Dominus Johannes Rex cum ultimò esset in Hibernia statuit fieri mandavit quia c. Rex vult quòd omnia brevia de Communi Jure quae currunt in Anglia similiter currant in Hibernia sub novo sigillo Regis mundatum est Archiepiscopis c. quod pro pace tranquilitate ejusdem terrae per easdem leges eos regi deduci permittant eas in omnibus sequantur in cujus c. Teste Rege apud Woodstock Decimo nono die Septembris Here is an union of both Kingdoms and that by Act of Parliament and the same Laws to be used here as there in omnibus My Lords That nothing might be left here for an exception that is That in Treasons Felonies and other capital offences concerning Life the Irish Laws are not the same as here therefore it is enacted by a Parliament held in England in the 14th year of Edw. 2. it is not in print neither but in the Parliament Book that the Laws concerning Life and Member shall be the same in Ireland as in England And that no exception might yet remain in a Parliament held in England The 5th year of Edw. 3. it is Enacted Quod una eadem Lex fiat tam Hibernicis quam Anglicis This Act is enrolled in the Patent Rolls of the 5th year of Edw. 3. Parl. membr 25. The Irish therefore receiving their Laws from hence they send their Students at Law to the Inns of Courts in England where they receive their Degree and of them and of the Common Lawyers of this Kingdom are the Judges made The Petitions have been many from Ireland to send from hence some Judges more learned in the Laws than those they had there It hath been frequent in cases of difficulty there to send sometimes to the Parliament sometimes to the King by advice from the Judges here to send them resolutions of their doubts Amongst many I 'll cite your Lordships only one because it is in a case of Treason upon an Irish Statute and therefore full to this point By a Statute there made the fifth year of Edw. 4. there is a provision made for such us upon suggestions are committed to prison for Treason that the party committed if he can procure 24 Compurgators shall be bailed and let out of prison Two Citizens of Dublin were by a Grand-Jury presented to have committed Treason they desired benefit of this Statute that they might be let out of prison upon tender of their Compurgators The words of the Statute of the 5th year of Edward 4th in Ireland being obscure the Judges there being not satisfied what to do sent the case over to the Queen desired the opinion of the Judges here which was done accordingly The Judges here sent over their opinion which I have out of the Book of Justice Anderson one of the Judges consulted withal The Judges delivered their opinion upon an Irish Statute in Case of Treason If it be objected That in this Case the Judges here did not judge upon the party their opinions were only ad informandam Conscientiam of the Judges in Ireland that the Judgment belonged to the Judges there My Lords with submission this and the other Authorities prove that for which they were cited that is that no absurdity no failure of Justice would ensue if this great Judicatory should judge of Treason so made by an Irish Statute The Common-Law rules of Judging upon an Irish Statute the Pleas of the Crown for things of Life and Death are the same here and there this is all that yet hath been offered For the Second point That England hath no power of Judicature for things done in Ireland My Lords the constant practice of all ages proves the contrary Writs of Error in Pleas of the Crown as well as in Civil Causes have in all Kings Reigns been brought here even in the inferior Courts of Westminster-Hall upon Judgment given in the Courts of Ireland the practice is so frequent and so well known as that I shall cite none of them to your Lordships no president will I believe be produced to your Lordships that ever the Case was remanded back again into Ireland because the question arose upon an
France was in subjection to the Crown of England there were at the beginning of the Parliaments Receivers and Tryers of Petitions for those parts appointed I believe your Lordships will have no Case shewed of any Plea to the Jurisdiction of the Parliaments of England in any things done in any parts wheresoever in subjection to the Crown of England The last thing I shall offer to your Lordships is the Case of 19 Eliz. in my Lord Dyer 306. and Judge Crompton's Book of the Jurisdiction of Courts fol. 23. The opinion of both these Books is That an Irish Peer is not Tryable here it 's true a Scotch or French Nobleman is Tryable here as a common person the Law takes no notice of their Nobility because those Countreys are not governed by the Laws of England but Ireland being governed by the same Laws the Peers there are Tryable according to the Law of England only per pares By the same reason the Earl of Strafford not being a Peer of Ireland is not tryable by the Peers of Ireland so that if he be not tryable here he is tryable no where My Lords In case there be a Treason and a Traytor within the Statute and that he be not tryable here for it in the ordinary way of Judicature if that jurisdiction fail this by way of Bill doth not Attainders of Treason in Parliament are as legal as usual by Act of Parliament as by Judgment I have now done with the Statutes 25 Edw. 3. and 18 Hen. 6 My Lord of Strafford hath offended against both the Kingdoms and is guilty of High-Treason by the Laws of both My Lords In the fifth place I am come to the Treasons at the Common-Law the endeavouring to subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of the Kingdom and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government In this I shall not at all labour to prove That the endeavouring by Words Counsels and Actions to subvert the Laws is Treason at the Common-Law if there be any Common-Law Treasons at all left nothing is Treason if this be not to make a Kingdom no Kingdom take the Polity and Government away England is but a piece of Earth wherein so many men have their Commorancy and abode without ranks or distinction of men without property in any thing further than possession no Law to punish the Murthering or robbing one another That of 33 Hen. 8. of introducing the Imperial Law sticks not with your Lordships it was in case of an Appeal to Rome these Appeals in Cases of Marriages and other causes counted Ecclesiastical had been frequent had in most Kings Reigns been tolerated some in times of Popery put a conscience upon them the Statutes had limited the penalty to a Praemunire only neither was that a total subversion only an Appeal from the Ecclesiastical Court here in a single Cause to the Court of Rome and if Treason or not that Case proves not a Treason may be punished as a Felony a Felony as a Trespass if his Majesty so please The greater includes the less in the Case of Praemunire in the Irish Reports that which is there declared to be Treason was proceeded upon only as a Praemunire The things most considerable in this is Whether the Treasons at Common-Law are taken away by the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. which is to speak against both the direct words and scope of that Statute In it there 's this clause That because many other like Cases of Treason might fall out which are not there declared therefore it is enacted That if any such Case come before the Judges they shall not proceed to Judgment till the Case be declared in Parliament whether it ought to be adjudged Treason or not These words and the whole scope of that Statute shews that it was not the meaning to take away any Treasons that were so before but only to regulate the Jurisdiction and manner of Tryal Those that were single and certain Acts as conspiring the Kings Death Levying War Counterfeiting the Money or Great-Seal Killing a Judge these are left to the ordinary Courts of Justice The others not depending upon single Acts but upon constructions and necessary Inferences they thought it not fit to give the inferior Courts so great a latitude here as too dangerous to the Subject those they restrained to the Parliament This Statute was the great security of the Subjects made with such wisdom as all the succeeding Ages have approved it it hath often passed through the Furnace but like Gold hath left little or nothing The Statute of the First H. 4. Cap. 10. is in these words Whereas in the Parliament held the 21 year of Richard the 2. divers pains of Treason were ordained insomuch that no man did know how to behave himself to do say or speak It is accorded that in no time to come any Treason be adjudged otherwise than it was ordained by the Statute of 25th of Edw. 3. It hath been said To what end is this Statute made if it takes not away the Common-Law Treasons remaining after the Statute of the 25th of Edw. 3 There be two main things which this Statute doth First it takes away for the future all the Treasons made by any Statute since 25 Edw. 3. to the 1 H. 4. even to that time for in respect that by another Act in that Parliament the Statute of 21 Rich. 2. was repealed it will not be denyed but that this Statute repeals more Treasons than these of the 21 R. 2. It repeals all Statute-Treasons but those in 25 Edw. 3. Secondly It not only takes away the Statute-Treasons but likewise the declared Treasons in Parliament after the 25th of Edw. 3. as to the future after Declaration in Parliament the inferior Courts might judge these Treasons for the Declaration of a Treason in Parliament after it was made was sent to the inferior Courts that toties quoties the like Case fell out they might proceed therein the Subject for the future was secured against these so that this Statute was of great use But by the very words of it I shall refer all Treasons to the provision of 25 Edw. 3. it leaves that entire and upon the old bottom The Statute of 1 Queen Mary Cap. 1. saith That no offences made Treason by any Act of Parliament shall thenceforth be taken or adjudged to be Treason but only such as be declared and expressed to be Treason by the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. Concerning Treason or Declarat on of Treason and no others And further provides That no pains of Death penalties or forfeiture in any wise shall ensue for Committing any Treason other than such as be in the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. ordained and provided any Act of Parliament or any Declaration or matter to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding By the first of this Statute only offences made Treason by Act of Parliament are taken away the Common-Law-Treasons are no ways touched the words And no others
between the Chair of State and the Lord Keeper's Woolsack and the House of Commons with their Speaker being come up the Clerk of the Parliament delivered the Commission whereunto the Bills were annexed upon his knee Then the Lord Privy-Seal declared to both Houses that his Majesty had an intent to have come himself this Day to have given his Royal Assent to these two Bills but some important Occasions had prevented him and so his Majesty had granted a Commission for giving the Royal Assent which was delivered to the Clerk of the Parliament who carried it to his Table and read it this being done the Clerk of the Crown read the Titles of the Bills and the Clerk of the Parliament pronounced the Royal Assent to them both severally The Bill of Attainder was as follows WHereas the Knights Citizens The Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford passed May the 10th and Burgesses of the House of Commons in this present Parliament assembled have in the name of themselves and of all the Commons of England impeached Thomas Earl of Strafford of High-Treason for endeavouring to subvert the ancient and Fundamental Laws and Government of his Majesties Realms of England and Ireland and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law in the said Kingdoms and for exercising a Tyrannous and exorbitant power over and against the Laws of the said Kingdoms over the Liberties Estates and Lives of his Majesties Subjects and likewise for having by his own Authority commanded the laying and asseising of Soldiers upon his Majesties Subjects in Ireland against their consents to compel them to obey his unlawful Commands and Orders made upon Paper-Petitions in causes between Party and Party which accordingly was executed upon divers of his Majesties Subjects in a Warlike manner within the said Realm of Ireland and in so doing did levy War against the Kings Majesty and his liege people in that Kingdom And also for that he upon the unhappy Dissolution of the last Parliament did slander the House of Commons to his Majesty and did counsel and advise his Majesty that he was loose and absolved from the rules of Government and that he had an Army in Ireland by which he might reduce this Kingdom for which he deserves to undergo the pains and forfeitures of High-Treason And the said Earl hath been also an incendiary of the Wars between the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland all which offences have been sufficiently proved against the said Earl upon his impeachment Be it therefore enacted by the Kings most excellent Majesty and by the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by authority of the same That the said Earl of Strafford for the haynous crimes and offences aforesaid stand and be adjudged and attainted of High-Treason and shall suffer such pain of Death and incur the forfeitures of his Goods and Chattels Lands Tenements and Hereditaments of any estate of Free-hold or Inheritance in the said Kingdoms of England and Ireland which the said Earl or any other to his use or in trust for him have or had the day of the first sitting of this present Parliament or at any time since Provided that no Judge or Judges Justice or Justices whatsoever shall adjudge or interpret any Act or thing to be Treason nor in any other manner than he or they should or ought to have done before the making of this Act and as if this Act had never been had or made Saving alwayes unto all and singular persons and bodies politick and corporal their Heirs and Successors others than the said Earl and his Heirs and such as claim by from or under him all such right title and interest of in and to all and singular such of the said Lands Tenements and Hereditaments as he they or any of them had before the first day of this present Parliament any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding Provided that the passing of this present Act and his Majesties Assent thereunto shall not be any determination of this present Sessions of Parliament but that this present Sessions of Parliament and all Bills and matter whatsoever depending in Parliament and not fully enacted or determined And all Statutes and Acts of Parliament which have their continuance until the end of this present Session of Parliament shall remain continue and be in full force as if this Act had not been The Earl understanding that the Bill was passed did humbly Petition the House as follows SEeing it is the good Will and Pleasure of God The Earl of Strafford's Petition to the House of Peers that your Petitioner is now shortly to pay that Duty which we all owe to our frail Nature he shall in all Christian Patience and Charity conform and submit himself to your Justice in a comfortable assurance of the great hope laid up for us in the Mercy and Merits of our Saviour blessed for ever only he humbly craves to return your Lordships most humble thanks for your Noble Compassion towards those innocent Children whom now with his last blessing he must commit to the protection of Almighty God beseeching your Lordships to finish his Pious intention towards them and desiring that the Reward thereof may be fulfilled in you by him that is able to give above all that we are able ask or think wherein I trust the Honourable House of Commons will afford their Christian Assistance And so beseeching your Lordships charitably to forgive all his Omissions and infirmities he doth very heartily and truely recommend your Lordships to the Mercies of our Heavenly Father and that for his goodness he may perfect you in every good work Amen The next day being Tuesday May 11. Tuesday May 11. the King sent this Passionate Letter to the Lords in behalf of the Earl My Lords I Did yesterday satisfie the Justice of the Kingdom The Kings Letter to the Lords concerning the E. of Strafford by passing the Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford but Mercy being as inherent and inseperable to a King as Justice I desire at this time in some measure to shew that likewise by suffering that unfortunate Man to fulfil the Natural Course of his Life in a Close Imprisonment Yet so if ever he make the least offer to escape or offer directly or indirectly to meddle in any sort of publick business especially with me either by Message or Letter it shall cost him his Life without further Process This if it may be done without the Discontentment of my People will be an unspeakable contentment to me to which end as in the first place I by this Letter do earnestly desire your Approbation and to endear it more have chosen him to carry it that of all your House is most dear to me So I desire that by a Conference you will endeavour to give the House of Commons Contentment assuring you that the Exercise of Mercy is no more pleasing to me than to see
Members and Assistants of this House as they shall nominate may be Examined Whereupon it was Ordered That this House will joyn with the House of Commons in this Message Ordered That the same deputed Lords do take the Examination of Witnesses upon Oath in the Cause concerning the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury as were deputed in the Earl of Strafford 's and the same Oath to be Administred and the same Course to be observed in the rest of the Particulars Ordered That the now Earl of Bedford shall be added to the Deputed Lords in his Father's room and Mr. Attorney General and Mr. Serjeant Glanvile are appointed to write down the Examinations This afternoon A standing Order of the House it being a considerable time before there were Forty Members to make a House it was Ordered That so soon as the House Sits and that the Serjeant comes to any Committee then Sitting to signifie to them that the House is Sitting that the Chair-man shall immediately come away to attend the Service of the House Ordered That the Committee for the Bishop of Bath and Wells sit to morrow in the Afternoon at Two of the Clock in the Dutchy Chamber The Case of one Mr. Smith a Minister Votes in the Case of Mr. Smith a suspended Minister formerly suspended by Sir John Lamb being reported to the House it was Resolved c. That Mr. Smith was illegally suspended by Sir John Lamb and that Sir John Lamb ought to give him reparation and satisfaction for his damages sustain'd by that Suspension Mr. Hide reports the Articles against Sir John Bramston Knight Mr. Hide Reports the Articles against Lord Chief Justice Bramston The Controversy between the Lord Major and Commonalty of London about Election of one Sheriff heard Lord Chief Justice of the King's-Bench All which being singly Voted together with the Title were ordered to be ingrossed in order to their being carried up to the Lords Upon the opening of the Cause between the Lord Mayor and Aldermen and the Commonalty of London concerning the Election of one of the Sheriffs which formerly hath been chosen by the Lord Mayor and presented to the Commonalty on Midsummer-day for their Confirmation and likewise the differences concerning the Nomination and Election of other Officers now in question between the said Lord Mayor and the Commonalty the Lord Mayor alledging the said Sheriff and Officers to be Nominated and Confirmed by him according to the constant practice of the said City for 300 years last past without any contradiction or gain-saying But the Commonalty alledging on the behalf of the Commons that they had interest in the said Nomination and Elections It was thereupon Ordered by the Lords in Parliament That the said Lord Mayor shall call a Common-Hall on Friday 2 July 1641. Which Common-Hall is to consist of the Masters and Wardens and Livery-men of the several Companies of London and no other And that the Commonalty are then to Assemble in a peaceable and quiet manner to settle and compose the Dfferences between the said Lord Mayor and themselves if they can if not then to make choice of Six discreet persons of the said Commonalty to treat and debate this business between them and settle and compose all differences among themselves between this and Friday come seven-night being the Ninth of July 1641. But in case the said Differences cannot be composed then the pleasure of the House is that the said Cause shall be heard in open House at the Bar on the said Ninth of July And that in the mean time the said Persons so chosen as aforesaid shall have free liberty by themselves their Council and others that they shall employ to View and Transcribe such and so much of the Charters of the said City Acts of Common Council Books of Entries of Elections and Accompts and all such other Acts and Records as shall or may concernt the said Causes in Question and that all Clerks and others in whose Custody the said Instruments are shall be assisting to the said Searchers And lastly that if the Cause shall come before the Lords in Parliament that then the said six Persons so chosen as aforesaid shall attend the same before their Lordships Thus Early did the Faction grasp at every thing of Power and Authority and the Common-Halls indeavouring to divert the Lord Mayor of his Priviledges was but a fore-runner that the House of Commons would do the same and set up the Popular Authority above that of their Soveraign Lord the King of whom the Lord Mayor was the immediate Representative Then the Earl of Bristol Reported to the House The Earl of Bristol's Report of the Scots Commissioners Answer about the staying the Kings Journey June 29. 1641. That the Lords Commissioners had met with the Commissioners of Scotland and delivered unto them the Paper concerning the time of his Majesties Journey into Scotland Which was read in haec verba Viz. His Majesty hath Commanded us to let you know That whereas he hath been Petitioned by both Houses of Parliament for some stay of his Journey to Scotland until the Armies be Disbanded and that divers other things for the Peace and Good of this Kingdom be setled And whereas his Majesty doth acknowledg himself ingaged by his Promise and by his Letters as likewise by his late Proclamation declaring his Resolution to be present at the Holding of the Parliament in Scotland at the day in the Proclamation limited his Majesty being desirous to give Satisfaction to the Parliaments of both Kingdoms hath Commanded Us to declare unto you the Desire of the Parliament of England and to Treat with you how his Going may be best Fitted and Accommodated to the Convenience of both Kingdoms and the Desire of both Parliaments Then was read the Scottish Commissioners Answer hereunto which follows We do with all Thankfulness acknowledg his Majesties Royal and Tender Care of Settling the Affairs of his Ancient and Native Kingdome of Scotland and the Constancy of his Resolution according to his Royal Promise and Proclamation to be present at the Day appointed Our Affection also toward the Settling of the Affairs of England and the Desires of the Houses of Parliament that his Majesties Journey to Scotland may be stayed for some time to that Effect do so far prevail with us that we shall deal most Earnestly with the Parliament of Scotland That they Adjourn their Meeting till the 5th of August or if they shall find that a new Adjournment of the Parliament after so many Prorogations be so prejudicial to the present Condition of the Affairs of that Kingdom that it cannot be granted We will Endeavour That they may in their Meetings be only Exercised in preparing Matters for the Parliament and that they determine nothing nor make any Act till the day Designed for his Majesties coming But withall we must signifie That the present Constitution of that Kingdom for want of Councel Session and other Courts of
Humphrey Davenport did then also without any cause Imprison the said Robert Hoblins and bound him to the good behaviour That whereas in the Month of April Decimo sexto Caroli the Officers of the Custom-House having Seized a Ship of one Samuel Warner Laden with Tobacco being the Goods of the said Warner the Bulk of the said Ship not being broken and no Information Exhibited for the King according to the course of the Exchequer for any Duty the Barons were moved that the said Ship might be restored to the Proprietors giving security to pay such duties as did belong to the King but upon the allegation of the Kings Attorney that there needed no information because there was no penalty the said Sir Humphrey Davenport being then Lord Chief Baron of His Majesties Court of Exchequer together with the rest of the then Barons of the said Court did contrary to his Oath and contrary to the Laws of this Realm deny the restitution of the said Ship unless all the duties demanded by the Farmers of the Custom-House were first paid Hereupon the said Warner brought an Action of Trover in the Office of Pleas in the Exchequer against the said Officers that Seized his Ship and Goods Whereupon the Kings Attorney General exhibited an Information by English Bill in the Exchequer Chamber against the said Warner setting forth that Customs and Subsidies upon Merchandise were a great part of the Kings Revenue and payable to him And that the said Ship was Seized for non-payment of the aforesaid duties notwithstanding the said Warner then Proprietor Prosecuted the Officers upon a Suit at Law and prayes that he may answer the said Information before any further proceedings be had at Law Thereupon the said Sir Humphrey Davenport together with the rest of the then Barons of the said Court of Exchequer ordered that the Proprietor moving for the delivery of the said Goods should first answer to the Information after which the said Warner demurred to the said Information in regard no Title for any certain duty was set forth by the Information which demurrer yet remains not over-ruled but the said Sir Humphrey Davenport with the said other Barons without over-ruling the demurrer Ordered because Warner had put in a demurrer and not answered to the said Information that he should not proceed upon the Action of Trover The Proprietor being thus prevented of his remedy by Action at Law sued forth a Replevin and upon pretence of viewing the said Goods caused them to be brought forth of a Cellar hired by a Deputy to the Farmers to that use and being brought forth they were taken by the Sheriffs of London by vertue of the said Replevin and upon Oath made of the manner of the taking as aforesaid before the Barons and upon view of the President Inrolls the Case the said Sir Humphrey Davenport with the said other Barons adjudged that the said Goods were not Replevisable and granted an Injunction to maintain Possession of them as they were before And the said House of Commons by Protestation saving to themselves only the Liberties of Exhibiting at any time hereafter any other Accusation or Impeachment against the said Sir Humphrey Davenport and also of replying to the answer that he the said Sir Humphrey Davenport shall make unto the said Articles or any of them or of offering proof of the Premisses or any of their Impeachments or Accusations that shall be Exhibited by them as the Case shall according to the course of Parliaments require do pray that the said Sir Humphrey Davenport Lord Chief Baron of His Majesties Court of Exchequer may be put to answer to all and every the Premisses and that such Proceedings Examinations Tryals and Judgments may be upon every of them had and used as is agreeable to Law and Justice The ARTICLES against Mr. Justice Trevor were as followeth Articles of the House of Commons in the Name of themselves and of all the Commons of England against Sir Thomas Trevor Knight one of the Barons of His Majesties Court of Exchequer Impeaching him as followeth 1. THat in or about November 4. Car. divers Goods and Merchandises whereof John Rolls George Moore and other Merchants of London were Proprietors being Seized and conveyed into certain Store-Houses at the Custom-House by Sir John Worstenham Abraham Dawes and other the Farmers and Officers of the Customs and by them there detained because the said Proprietors refused to pay the Subsidy of Tonnage and Poundage pretended to be due and demanded by the said Farmers and Officers on His Majesties behalf for the said Merchandises whereas no such Subsidy or Duty of Tonnage or Poundage was due or payable for the same no Subsidy of Tonnage and Poundage having been granted by Parliament to His Majesty The said John Rolls and others the Proprietors of the said Goods having by reason of such unlawful Seizure and Detainer as aforesaid Sued forth one or more Writ or Writs of Replevin directed to the Sheriffs of London being the proper remedy provided by the Law to regain the Possession of Goods taken and with-held from the Owners contrary to Law the said Sir Thomas Trevor Knight then and yet one of the Barons of His Majesties said Court of Exchequer together with the rest of the then Barons of the said Court upon Information to them given That the said Proprietors or some of them had Sued forth and did Prosecute such Writ or Writs of Replevin for the delivery of the said Goods did order an Injunction under Seal of the said Court to Issue forth directed to the Sheriffs of London commanding them thereby not to Execute the said Writ or Writs of Replevin or any like Writ thereafter to be Sued forth by any Person or Persons for the delivery of any Goods in the like nature detained And it did declare and order publickly in the said Court of Exchequer that the said Goods by Law were not Replevisable alledging for cause that the said Goods were in the Kings own Possession whereas the same did not judicially appear to them and they did well know that the said Goods were at that time in the Possession of the Farmers and Lessees of the said Customs and no Lawful cause to them appearing or suggested of the taking and detaining of the said Goods which Injunctions and Declaration so granted and made were and are against the Laws of this Realm and in subversion of the common right and remedy of the Subject for regaining the Possession of his Goods being taken and with-holden from him without Lawful cause That the Sheriffs of London for the time being served with the said injunction did forbear to execute the said Writ or Writsof Replevin by means whereof the said Goods continued so detained as aforesaid contrary to Law from the Month of November till the Month of June following That the said Sir Thomas Trevor and other the Barons aforesaid knowing the said Goods to be unlawfully Seized and Detained for the pretended Duties and
for a Prohibition to stay Proceedings in the Court Christian at Norwich and delivered into the said Court of Kings-Bench his Suggestions that the said Cause in the said Court Christian was for Tythes for Rents of Houses in Norwich which was determinable by the Common Law only yet he the said Sir John Brampston being Chief Justice of the said Court of Kings-Bench and sitting the said Court deferred to grant a Prohibition to the said Court Christian in the said Cause although the Councel did move in the said Court several Times and several Terms for a Prohibition And he the said Sir John Brampston deferred to grant His Majesties Writs of Prohibition to several Courts on the Motions of divers others of His Majesties Subjects where the same by Laws of this Realm ought to have been granted contrary to the Laws of this Realm and his own knowledg And the said Commons by Protestation saving to themselves only the Liberties of Exhibiting at any time hereafter any other Accusation or Impeachment against the said Sir John Brampston and also of replying to the Answer that he the said Sir John Brampston shall make unto the said Articles or any of them or of offering Proofs of the Premisses or any of their Impeachments or Accusations that shall be exhibited by them as the Case shall according to the Course of Parliament require do pray that the said Sir John Brampston Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Kings-Bench may be put to answer to all and every the Premisses and that such Proceedings Examinations Tryals and Judgments may be upon every of them had and used as is agreeable to Law and Justice Mr. Hollis also according to the Order of the House of Commons at this Conference made application to their Lordships in the behalf of Sir Randal Crew in this manner My Lords THese Gentlemen have represented unto your Lordships the sad object of Justice perverted Liberty oppressed Mr. Denzil Hollis his Speech about Sir Randal Crew July 6. 1641. of Judgment turned into Worm-wood the Laws which should be the Bars of our Gates to protect us keep us and all that is ours in safety made weak and impotent to betray us unto the hands of violence instead of Props to support us become broken Reeds to deceive us and run into our sides when we lean upon them even so many snares to entrap and entangle us And all this by the perfidiousness of those who are entrusted with our Laws who call themselves the Guardians and the Interpreters of the Law but by their accursed Glosses have confounded the Text and made it speak another Language and another Sense than ever our Ancestors the Law-makers intended Our Ancestors made Laws to keep themselves their posterity after them in the possession of their Estates these Judges could make the Law it self rob us and despoil us of our Estates Were we invaded and persecuted at any time for pretended Crimes or rather because they were free from Crime And did we put our selves upon a legal defence and shelter our selves under the Buckler of the Law use those Lawful Weapons which Justice and Truth and the Common Right of the Subject did put into our hands would this avail us No these Judges would make the Law wrest our Weapons from us disarm us take away all our defence expunge our Answers even bind us hand and foot and so expose us naked and bound to the mercilesness of our Oppressors were our Persons forced and imprisoned by an Act of Power would the Law relieve us when we appealed unto it No it would joyn hands with violence and add bitterness to our sorrow these Judges would not hear us when we did cry no importunity could get a Habeas Corpus Nay our cryes would displease them and they would beat us for crying and over-do the unjust Judge in the Gospel with whom yet importunity could prevail My Lords The Commons of England finding themselves in this lamentable condition by the wickedness of these Judges It is no wonder that we complain of them it is no wonder if the Knights Citizens and Burgesses Assembled in Parliament have sent up some of their Members to stand upon Mount Ebal to Curse these Judges to denounce a Curse upon them who have removed our Land-marks have taken away the Bound-stones of the Propriety of the Subject have left no Meum Tuum but he that had most might had most right and the Law was sure to be on his side It hath been the part of these Gentlemen who have spoken before me to pray for justice upon those men who would not do justice to others My Lords I come upon another Errand and yet for justice too for there is justice upon Mount Gerezim as well as upon Mount Ebal It is as great a point of justice to give a blessing a reward where it is due as punishment where punishment is due For reward and punishment Praemium poena be the two legs that Justice walks on and reward is her right leg the more noble and the more glorius Supporter of that Sacred and Divine Body that which God himself the Foundation of Justice doth more delight in Tradior ad poenas Deus est ad praemia velox Punishment is good as Physick in the Consequence Reward as wholesome and nourishing Food in the Essence the one we do because we must do it as necessary the other because we love to do it as being pleasing and delightful Your Lordships then I doubt not will as willingly joyn with the Commons in doing good to a good Judge as in punishing of the bad My Lords We honour them and reckon them Martyrs for the Common-wealth who suffer any thing by defending the Common Right of the Subject when they will not part with their own Goods contrary to Law when indeed their private interest goes along with it or rather before it and the publick Concernment seems to come but in a second place such were those many whom these Judges have oppressed yet these Men we magnifie and judge worthy of Praise and Reward But what honour then is he worthy of who meerly for the publick hath suffered himself to be divested and deprived of his particular such a Judge as would lose his place rather than do that which his Conscience told him was prejudicial to the Common-wealth Is not he worthy of double honour And this did that Worthy Reverend Judge the chief Judge of England at that time Sir Randol Crew because he would not by subscribing countenance the Loan in the first year of the King contrary to his Oath and Conscience he drew upon himself the displeasure of some great Persons about his Majesty who put on that project which was afterwards condemned by the Petition of Right in the Parliament of Tertio as unjust and unlawful and by that means he lost his place of Chief Justice of the King's-Bench and hath these fourteen years by keeping his innocency lost the
bind us to it Wherefore Master Whitlock my humble Motion is That we may draw up a short and round Manifesto to wait upon and affirm the Kings Declaration to be still managed by Advice of Parliament which will be safe for our selves more powerful and effectual for the Prince Elector I cannot tell what the present Age thought of it and account it one of the greatest blessings of Heaven that I was not then capable of thinking but certainly Posterity will see by this Speech a most notorious and manifest Collusion in these People who notwithstanding all the glorious pretences and zeal for this deplorable Family in which the Honour and Interest of the King and Nation were by their own Confession so deeply concerned yet never intended any more assistance to this distressed Protestant Prince then a few good and great words which was a cheap way and still reserving to themselves a starting hole to assist the King in this Affair only so long as he would follow their advice Mr. Hide Reports the Results upon the Bill for abolishing Episcopacy whereupon it was Resolved Votes concerning the Bill for abolishing Episcopacy c. That all the Lands Possessions and Rights of the Deans Deans and Chapters shall be committed to the hands of Feoffees to be nominated by this Bill Resolved c. That the Lands and Possessions of the Arch-Bishops and Bishops of England and Wales except Impropriations and Advousons shall by this Bill be given to the King Resolved c. That the Impropriations and Advousons belonging to the Arch-Bishops and Bishops of England and Wales shall be committed to the hands of Feoffees in the same manner as the Lands of Deans and Chapters are appointed to be And because the Prelates and Papists were to be coupled together in the Opinions of these People both in Guilt and Sufferings it was by Vote Reselved Vote against Papists c. That the Committe of 48 propound to the Select Committee of the Lords that no Papist hereafter may have the keeping of any Castle Fort Chase Forrest Park or Walk within England or Wales and that such as are in possession of such Castles c. As aforesaid may be outed thereof according to Law Post Meridiem It was Ordered by the Commons Order about Mr. Randal a Minister formerly ordered to Bedlam That one Mr. Randal a Ministerâ— now in the Goal at Ailesbury in the County of Bucks for words spoken against the Honour of this House who was by a former Order appointed to be removed from thence to Bedlam it is now Ordered that the said Mr. Randal shall be discharged and set at liberty presently upon the sight hereof The further Debate upon Mr. Saturday July 10. Further Votes about the Bill for abolishing Episcopacy Hide 's Report about the Bill for abolishing Episcopacy was this day reassumed whereupon it was Resolved c. That a competent Maintenance shall be allowed out of the Lands and Possessions of the Cathedral Churches for the support of a fit number of Preaching Ministers for the Service of every such Church and a proportionable allowance for the Reparation of the said Churches Resolved c. That such Ecclesiastical Power as shall be Exercised for the Government of the Church shall be transferred by this Act unto the hands of Commissioners to be named by this Act. The further consideration of this matter to be referred till Monday 9 of the Clock Bill for Tonnage and Poundage being passed Mr. Solicitor was ordered to carry it up to the Lords and to move their Lordships that the Royal Assent may be had with as much speed as may be and to move the Lords to expedite the Bill against Pluralities and for disarming Recusants This day Thomas Pain the Attorney Breach of Priviledge giving the Lye to a Peer that gave the ill Language to the Earl of Thannet who charged the said Pain with some Words which were reported to be spoken by him he told the said Earl That it was False and a Lye divers times together which being proved upon Oath it was Ordered That the said Pain be committed to the Custody of the Gentleman-Vsher for the present and this House will take the misdemeanor into further consideration Report of the Conference about the Ten Heads The Earl of Bristol reported the effect of the last meeting with the Select Committee of both Houses concerning the 10 Heads and delivered some Queries and Propositions which the House of Commons made viz. Whether the Colledge of Capuchins at Somerset-House should be sent away out of this Kingdom for they are conceived to be busie Men in giving Intelligence to Forreign States and the House of Commons are induced to believe so because they understand That the Letters of the Capuchins which were Imported and Exported in one Week came to 3 l. 10 s. the Carriage Next they conceive That there are some things contained in the Articles of Treaty of Marriage with France which are contrary to Law Concerning the Education of the Prince they said they would consult further of it Concerning Licenses granted to Recusants They desire His Majesty may be moved that none may be granted hereafter Concerning the removing of the Popish Recusant Ladies from the Court they say they mentioned no particulars but spoke in the General Concerning Pensions They desire that the King may be moved That no Papist beyond the Seas may have any Pension Touching that which concerns the Queen they conceive they have had no full answer yet Concerning their Explanation who are Active Papists they mean those Recusants that are Rich and have most Power in the Countries where they Live as well Peers as others which they desire may be disarmed according to Law Concerning the Popes Nuncio they say the House of Commons are preparing a Bill Concerning the Lord Lieutenants and Deputy Lieutenants considering the State of this Kingdom as it now stands the House of Commons desires they may be such Persons as both Houses approve of and that they may be enabled the more for the defence of this Kingdom there will be a Course taken for Supplying them with Monies out of the Subsidies and the House of Commons desires that the King may be moved to let them have such Powder out of His Majesties Stores as may be spared and they will pay after the Rate of ten Pence per Pound for it as soon as they can get money and further to move His Majesty that the Arms which have been taken from the several Counties may be restored to them and if His Majesty can spare any Arms out of His Store they will buy them to furnish these Southern parts The new Bill for Tonnage and Poundage being read the Third time in the Lords House and being put to the Question Another Bill for Tonnage and Poundag passed the Lords House An Order of the Lords for Relief of a Feme-Covert and her Children against a Husband refusing to
Cohabit July 12. 1641. It was Resolved to pass as a Law Nemine Contradicente UPon Report this Day made unto the House from the Lords Committees for Petitions That William Walter was complained of by the Petition of Elizabeth Walter his Wife for refusing to Co-habit with her or allow her and her 3 Children Maintenance and Supportation for their Lively-hoods although he hath a Good and a Plentiful Estate It was thought fit and so ordered by the Lords in Parliament That the said William Walter shall settle Lands and Tenements cleared from all former Incumbrances other then Leases whereupon the usual Rent is reserved lying in the County of Pembroke upon such Trustees as the said Mrs. Walter shall Nominate to the use of her self and her said 3 Children during the time of her Life And Mr. Justice Foster and Mr Justice Heath's assistance to the said Lords Committees for Petitions are hereby desired by the Lords in Parliament to direct the Counsel of the said Mrs. Walter what security shall be taken in or out of the Premisses and how and in what manner an Estate of and in the Lands and Tenements or Tithes of the said William Walter shall be setled or charged and chargeable with the payment of sixty Pounds per An. to the use of the said Mrs. Walter and her 3 Children the first payment whereof to begin at Michaelmass next ensuing the Date hereof And in Case the said Mr. Walter 's Estate shall encrease by the Death of his Mother or Grandmother or otherwise it is their Lordships Pleasure that the Moiety of the same as it shall fall and accrew to him shall be settled and paid unto the said Feoffees to the use of the said Mrs. Walter and her 3 Children as aforesaid by the Advice of the Judges aforenamed And further that if the said William Walter shall refuse or delay by the space of a Month next ensuing to make such settlement in manner as aforesaid then it is their Lordships Pleasure that a Sequestration shall be awarded to such Person or Persons as the said Mrs. Walter shall nominate to take and receive so much of the Yearly Rent and Profits of the said Lands and Tenements of the said William Walter as shall amount to such proportions and allowances as aforesaid to be answered to the said Mrs. Walter or her Assigns half Yearly for the uses aforesaid UPon Report this Day made unto the House from the Lords Committees An Order of the Lords concerning a Vicaridge in Sir Peter Osborn's Case Plaintiff against Thomas Joyce Clerk July 12. 1641. for Petitions in the Cause of Sir Peter Osborn Knight Plaintiff and Thomas Joice Clerk it appeared unto their Lordships That Sir John Osborn Knight deceased Father of the said Sir Peter was seized in Fee of the Rectory of Hawnes in the County of Bedford to which the Advowson of the Vicaridge did consist only of eight Pounds per Ann. stipend That the said Sir John Osborn did in the 9th Year of King James convey the Inheritance of the said Rectory and Vicaridge together with a new House built upon his own Land to the now Bishop of Durham Sir Thomas Cheek and others for the Increase of Maintenance of such Vicar or Vicars as should be nominated by the said Sir John or his Heirs But before the Gift Sir John puts in Mr. Brightman and Mr. Wilson successively who injoyed the said House and Tythes and after the Gift nominated Mr. Sherley who was only Licensed by the Bishop but never Instituted or Inducted After the Death of the said Mr. Sherley the said Sir Peter Osborn nominated Mr. Buckley who was Licensed by the Bishop without being instituted or Inducted the Defendant Joyce obtains a Presentation by Lapse and gained a Decree in Chancery for the Rectory House and Tythes against which Decree Sir Peter Osborn objected that the Donor intended the said Rectory to him only that was to be nominated by himself or his Heirs and could not intend it to any that came in by Lapse it being then in Lapse when his Gift was made which was denied by the Defendant and affirmed that it was intended to the Incumbent whoever he was otherwise the Charity of the Donor would be overthrown Whereupon the Decree and Deed of the said Sir John Osborn was produced and read before the said Lords Committees who after long Debate by Councel on both Sides were fully satisfied That the Donor intended it to none but such as should come in by the Nomination of him or his Heirs Whereupon it is Ordered and Adjudged by the Lords in Parliament That the said Lay Fee Rectory and House together with all the said Donors Gift setled by the said Deed shall by virtue of this Order go to such Clergy-Man or Men as the said Sir Peter Osborne and his Heirs shall Nominate and Appoint according to the meaning of the said Donor and no other And that the Defendant Joyce that came into the vicaridge by Lapse shall have no Advantage of the Gift so made by Sir John Osborne but shall forthwith upon Notice hereof relinquish the same and shall also Answer to the Feoffees for all the Profits of the said House and Rectory by him taken ever since the said Decree and if the said Defendant Joyce conceives he hath any Right he is left to try the same at the Common Law without taking any advantage of the said Decree or of any thing done by Sir Peter Osborne in Obedience to the said Decree A Message was brought from the House of Commons by Sir Henry Vane Junior to desire that the Bill for Tonnage and Poundage may be delivered unto them to be brought up and presented by their Speaker with the Commission under the Great Seal annexed THeir Lordships taking this into Consideration Message from the Commons about the Bill of Tonage and Poundage and perusing the Commission found by the Tenor of the said Commission that the Bill of Tonnage and Poundage could not pass the Royal Assent by virtue of this Commission if they were separated therefore to avoid all Ambiguities Resolved to send some Lords to desire His Majesty would be pleased to come in Person to give the Royal Assent to the said Bill Hereupon the E. Bath E. Essex E. Cambridge E. Bristol Bill for Tonnage and Poundage passed the Royal Assent went presently to attend his Majesty therein who brought this Answer That the King will be here presently His Majesty being come and satt in the Chair of State the Commons were sent for who came and by their Speaker presented the Bill for Tonnage and Poundage then the Clerk of the Crown read the Title of the said Bill and the Clerk of the Parliament pronounced the Royal Assent thereunto in these words Le Roy remerciant ses bons Subjects accepte Leur Benevolence et ainsi le veult It was this day Ordered in the Commons House Munday July 12. Order for Aftornoon Sermons in all
said Propositions and Designs which said Propositions Designs and Consultations the said Henry Wilmot c. did not discover but consented to the same Resolved c. That the said Henry Wilmot William Ashburnham Hugh Pollard Sir John Berkley and Daniel Oneal being afterwards Lawfully Examined in Parliament upon their Oaths touching the Premisses did wholly deny the same and the said Sir John Berkley and Daniel Oneal being thereupon questioned did fly for the same The further Debate of this matter was put off until Wednesday at 8 of the Clock Munday July 26. Bill for Northern Counties passed the Lords Lord Majors Case about Electing one Sheriff c. heard The Earl of Bath Reported the Bill for securing of Mony to the Northern Counties c. And being put to the Question it was Resolved to pass The Petition of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London and the Petition of the Commonalty of the said City were read and after Councel on both sides had had a full hearing concerning the Election of a Sheriff and other Officers the House of Lords taking the whole business into consideration Ordered That this Cause should be determined on Saturday morning next in case the Lord Mayor and the Commonalty did not agree and compose the matter in Question in the mean time This was a very perplexing Case at this time for the Parliament were about to borrow 40000 l. of the City to disband the Armies and if the Cause had been determined either way in probability it would have given a stop to that Affair but more especially if it had been decided in favour of the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen who could not easily have raised that Sum without the Assistance of the most wealthy of the Commonalty The Lord Chamberlain signified to the House Letters about the Army That he had received divers Letters from the Lord General which he thought fit to acquaint the House with As a Letter desiring to know a certain day for disbanding of both Armies Likewise a Letter sent to the Lord General from the Gentlemen in the Bishoprick of Durham complaining of the burthen of the Soldiers there And also a List of the Number of the Five Regiments which are disbanded being 5817 Men All which being read the Lord Chamberlain had leave from this House to Communicate them to the House of Commons Tuesday July 27. Petition out of Oxfordshire against Bishops A Petition of the Ministers and People of Oxfordshire and Barkshire against Bishops was this day read in the Commons House and referred to the Committee for the Ministers Remonstrance A Message from the House of Commons by Sir John Culpeper 7 Bills brought up by Sir John Culpeper who brought up Seven Bills which had passed that House Viz. 1. An Act for the declaring unlawful and void the late proceedings touching Ship-mony and for vacating of all Records and Process concerning the same 2. An Act for the preventing of vexatious proceedings touching the Order of Knighthood 3. An Act for the free bringing in of Gun-Powder and Salt-Petre from forreign Parts and for the free making of Gun-Powder in this Realm 4. An Act to settle the Mannor of Belgraves and other Lands in the County of Leicester to and upon William Byerley Esq his Heirs and Assigns for and towards the payment of the Debts of William Davenport Esq Deceased 5. An Act to enable Sir Alexander Denton Knight to sell the Mannor of Barvard alias Barford St. Michael and other Lands in this present Act mentioned for the payment of his Debts and preferment of his younger Children 6. An Act for Alteration of the Estate and Tenure of some Lands within the Parish of Fulham in the County of Middlesex held of the Lord Bishop of London as of the Mannor of Fulham 7. An Act for the making of the Chappel of Hoole in the County of Lancaster a Parish Church and no part of the Parish of Crosston  l. s. d. Sir John Hotham Reports Report of the Charge of the Armies That to disband the Army requires 242619 11 03 Toward which there is paid 152119 11 03 Remains to be provided 90500 00 00 The Charge of the Garrisons 40000 00 00 Total 130500 00 00 When the Earl of Warwick hath Received and Paid the 50000 00 00 There will Remain due to the Scots 53000 00 00 Besides the Remainder of the Brotherly assistance 80000 00 00 Total due to the Scots 133000 00 00 The Engrossed Bill for Confirmation of His Majesties Letters Patents to the Town of Plymouth Plymonth Bill passed and for dividing the Parish and building a new Church there was read the Third time in the Lords House and being put to the Question it was Resolved to pass as a Law Then the Speaker signified Message from the King to the Lords about Commissions in his absence That His Majesty Commanded him to acquaint their Lordships that because he intends his Journey tawards Scotland upon Monday come Sevennight and in regard that in his absence heretofore he hath left behind him Two Commissions the one directed unto the Lords of the Privy Council for ordering of the Affairs of State and the issuing out of Proclamations upon Emergent Occasions and the other Authorising a Person of Honour to be Captain General for the levying of Forces on this side Trent if there should be any necessity for the safety of the Kingdom His Majesty now thinks it fit to issue out the like Commissions for the said Publick Services in his absence with some Variations and Omissions according to the Occasions and hath named the Lord Chamberlain to be Captain General on this side Trent but His Majesty would execute nothing therein until he had made the same known to both Houses of Parliament desiring their Concurrence and Assistance in all his great Affairs Further it was signified from His Majesty That the Spanish Ambassador did send a Writing unto His Majesty wherein he presseth His Majesty for some of the Irish Companies lately disbanded to be employed in the Service of the King of Spain and that His Majesty hath Commanded that the said Writing shall be Communicated to both Houses of Parliament and he desires their Advice therein Upon which a Conference was desired by the Lords at which the Lords declared their Resolution That they would do nothing in it till Three Points were cleared First That the Ambassadour should set down the particular number of Men he desires Secondly The time When. Thirdly The manner How and the Place from Whence he intends to Transport the Soldiers Mr. Hambden made a Report from the Earl of Pembroke Mr. Hambden Reports the Letter from the Queen of Bohemia That he had received Letters from the Queen of Bohemia wherein she gave humble thanks to the Parliament for their Regard and Consideration of her There was also another Letter read from the Earl of Holland to desire That both Armies might be disbanded together for
and misdemeanors before expressed and do therefore pray that they may be forthwith put to their answers in the presence of the Commons and that such further proceedings may be had against them as to Law and Justice shall appertain Whether the Lords were satisfied with this Declaration of the Commons Reasons about the Protestation is uncertain but however they were satisfied that the Commons were Resolved to have it so with or without their Consent month August 1641. and possibly they saw that had they opposed a thing then so Popular as this was the inraged Commons would have impeached the greatest number of them who had opposed it as well as they did the Bishops or at least have exposed them to the Popular Rage of the Tumults as they did the Straffordians and by that means have excluded them the House without the help of either a Votâ— or Bill And from this Speech I am assured the most Partial Reader may easily satisfy himself what was the Original Design and Intention of this Solemn Protestation which at first appeared so harmless and Innocent that even many of the Bishops themselves took it For that it was not Religion but a perfect Politick Stratagem to enable the Faction to accomplish their long intended Design of altering the Government this Speech makes evident beyond the Possibility of Doubting it was to be the Shibboleth of the Party and the Character of Persons fit to be trusted with Offices and Power both in Church and State Thus did these Politicians stalk with Religion and make use upon all Occasions of that Sacred and Venerable Name the better to gain the Esteem of the People and to be able by their power more effectually to accomplish their own Designs Mr. Pym Reports the Conference with the Lords about disbanding That the Earl of Bristol was pleased to say Report of the Conference about disbanding That the Business he was to speak of was of great Importance and that no other Business but would be delayed at less Charges then this might be That the Lords Commissioners propounded to the Scots Commissioners to march homewards the 9th of August but many of them being then out of Town their Answer was uncertain but now my Lord of Lowdon being returned out of Scotland the Commissioners met yesterday and they gave this Answer It is impossible for them to return the 9th of August or any other prefixed Day because the removal of their Army depends upon the whole Arrears due to them from Vs and of 80000 l. part of the Brotherly Assistance which was promised by Vs they should receive and without this they could not disband their Army yet undertake that though there be no prefixed Day yet within 48 Hours after Payment of the Monies at New Castle they would not stay under any Roof till they were out of the Kingdom It was proposed to them to receive the 80000 l. the 10th of September My Lord Lowdon returned this Answer That there is an absolute impossibility to give Satisfaction to their Army to march away unless they have with their Arrears the 80000 l. for that they are in debt to their own Army 30000 l. which must be paid now And he further added That nothing but an impossibility should make them stick at any thing the Parliament doth desire My Lord of Bristol said further in his own Name and the Name of the Lords Commissioners for England That it was fit for both Houses to joyn together to pluck up this Business by the Roots He said That whereas there is about 28000 l. Debt due from the Scots to the County Palatine of Durham and New-Castle Certified under the Commissaries Hands that they would be content that that Summ might be deducted out of the 80000 l. here if the Country will be Content to be paid by the Parliament and desired that a Letter might be sent to the Commissioners of those Counties to treat with the County to get their consent accordingly He said further That this matter did not stand upon one string there is another matter which is concerning the Treaty the Commissioners being now returned have brought word that the Parliament in Scotland have viewed and passed the Treaty only some few things of Explanation altered some other things there were wherein they were not fully satisfied â—n their demands yet have declared this should breed no difference but would leave it to be settled by Commissioners at better leizure And so they have agreed this day to meet to Collate the Treaty and have resolved to draw it into the form of an Act of Parliament and they hope to finish it within a day or two The next thing was for the Security of the 220000 l. behind of the Brotherly Assistance and this was yielded to in the general having formerly signed this therefore desire this House to hasten the Bill for the Security for the payment of this Mony and that some 5 or 6 be named of the Commissioners to whom they might resort for the same and the rather to hasten this because the King takes his Journey on Monday for Scotland This being after the Conference debated in the House of Commons Sir William Darcy Sir John Conyers Mr. Hallyman Mr. Selwin and Mr. Lilburn undertake that the Country would not only accept payment of the Billet from this House but will thank this House if they shall please to appoint any such Course for the payment of the Billet Whereupon it was agreed That the House will undertake it and pay 28000 l. in November next or sooner Mr. Speaker to write Letters to this purpose for the consent of those Counties It was also Ordered That the Knights Citizens and Burgesses endeavour to expedite the gathering in of the Poll-mony in their respective Counties and Places and the sending up what is received Upon the Petition of the Lady Margaret Wotton Baroness of Marleigh Order about the Lady Wotton a Recusant Peeress complaining of an Indictment and Conviction of Recusancy prosecuted against her contrary to the Priviledges of Parliament It is Ordered That a Certiorari do issue forth to Return the Indictment into this House and that a Writ of Errour may also be brought to Reverse the Conviction if any Error shall be found therein whereupon their Lordships will proceed according as they shall think fit The Report of the Conserence about the Impeachment of the Judges The Lord Bishop of Lincoln reported the Conference with the Commons concerning the Judges to this effect That the House of Commons had formerly brought up six Impeachments against six several Judges one whereof was for High-Treason the proofs of which Impeachment will not arise from Witnesses but out of Records which have been Voted by this House already to be illegal c. It was further said That the House of Commons do understand that several Commissions are lately made to these several Judges who are Impeached for several Misdemeanours to go Circuits in several
Counties in this Kingdom but they conceive that their Names will be unacceptable and their Persons unwelcome and being thus Impeached to become Judges of Mens Lives and Estates will be a thing of great offence and distraction Therefore the House of Commons desired that all the Commissions granted to the Peccant Judges may be superseded and that their Names may be no more Vsed in Commissions and when the great Affairs now in agitation be dispatched they desired their Lordships to take their Impeachments into Consideration and proceed therein according to Justice Ordered That this House Consents to both these Requests of the House of Commons touching the aforesaid Judges This day the Lord Bruce was introducted with the usual Ceremonies his Patent bearing Date Aug. 2. 1641. Lord Bruce introducted The Earl of March reported to this House The Kings Answer about the Irish Acts. That His Majesty is pleased to like well of the Advice of this House concerning the staying of the Acts of Grace and Favour which were to be passed for the Kingdom of Ireland and will give order it shall be done accordingly until this House hath considered of the Letter sent to the Lord Keeper from the Speaker of the Lords House in Ireland Propositions of the Scots Commissioners and Answers of the English Lords Commissioners August 5. 1641. Propositions for the concluding the Peace with the Scots The Earl of Bristol reported the Propositions and Articles given in by the Scots Commissioners after the Lord Lowdon's return from the Parliament of Scotland which were read as followeth That the Treaty of Peace may be brought to a speedy and happy Close we do offer to your Lordships Consideration the following Particulars I. That as soon as the Scottish Army shall remove out of England to Scotland the English Garrisons of Berwick and Carlisle may remove simul semel II. Lest Malefactors who have committed Murder and the like Crimes crave the Benefit of the Act of Pacification and Oblivion for whom it is no ways intended there would be an Exception from the said Acts of all Legal pursuits intended or to be intended within the space of one year after the Date of the Treaty against Thieves * A Scotch word for Excommunicate Persons Horners Out-lawers Fugitives Murderers Broken men or their Receptaries for whatsoever Thefts Rifes Hardships Oppressions Depredations or Murders done or committed by them and all Lawful Decrets given or to be given by the Parliament or any Commissioners to be appointed by them for that effect who shall have power to Dignosce and take Cognition whether the same falls within the said Act of Pacification or Oblivion or not III. It is desired that the demand concerning the not making or denouncing War with Forreigners without consent of both Parliaments may be condescended unto by the King and the Parliament of England which is Ordained and Universally observed in all mutual Leagues which are both Offensive and Defensive and because the Wars denounced by one of the Kingdoms with Forreigners although made without consent of the other Kingdom will Engage them by necessary Consequence Or if the Consideration of this Proposition shall require longer time then the present Condition of the Important Affairs of the Parliament may permit and lest the speedy Close of the Treaty be thereby impeded it is desired that this Demand with the other Two Articles of the same Nature the one concerning Leagues and Confederations and the other concerning mutual Supply in case of Forreign Invasion may all three be remitted to Commissioners to be chosen by both Parliaments who shall have Power to Advise and Treat thereupon for the good of both Kingdoms and Report to the Parliament Respectively IV. It is desired That the Articles concerning Trade and Commerce Naturalization mutual Priviledge and Capacity and others of that nature already demanded may be condescended unto by the King and Parliament of England and namely that demand anent the Pressing of Men and Ships by Sea or Land Or if shortness of time may not permit the present determination of these Demands it is desired that the same except so many of them as are already agreed unto by the Commissioners for Trade may be remitted to Commissioners to be chosen by both Parliaments who shall have Power to Treat and Advise thereof for the good of both Kingdoms and to make Reports to the Parliament respectively and that the Charters or Warrants of the Scottish Nation for freedom of Shipping in England or Ireland from all Customs Imports Duties and Fees more then are paid by the Natives of England or Ireland granted by King James under the Great Seal of England upon the 11th day of April in the 13th year of his Reign and Confirmed by King Charles upon the 19th of April in the 8th year of his Reign may be Enacted and Ratified in this Parliament V. That the Extracts of Bonds and Decrets upon Record and Registers in Scotland may have the like Faith and Execution as the French Tabellons have in England and Ireland seeing they are of a like Nature and deserves more Credit and if this cannot be done at this time that it be remitted to the former Commission from both Parliaments VI. The manner of Safe Conduct for Transporting the Monys from England or Scotland by Sea or Land would be condescended unto in such way as the Charges be not Exorbitant and may be presently known VII The Tenor of the Commission for Conserving of Peace would be condescended unto together with the Times and Places of meeting and whole frame thereof the draught whereof when it is drawn up in England is to be represented to the Parliament of Scotland that they may make the like Commission and name their Commissioners for that effect VIII The Parliament of Scotland do join their earnest and hearty desires and craves the Parliament of England's Concurrence that none be placed about the Prince's Highness but such as are of the Reformed Religion IX That an Act of Parliament of Publick Faith for payment of the 220000 l. which is Arrear of the Brotherly assistance may be presently framed and expedited according to the Terms agreed upon X. It is desired that the Quorum to whom the Scots should Address themselves for payment of the 220000 l. be condescended upon XI That the Order for recalling all Proclamations made against His Majesties Subjects of Scotland be drawn up and intimate in due Form and Time with the Public Thanksgiving at all the Parish Churches of His Majesties Dominions XII It is desired That the Articles concerning the Castle of Edinburgh and other Strengths of that Kingdom may be understood to be that the same shall be disposed of for the Weal of the Kingdom as the King and Parliament shall think Expedient The English Lords Commissioners Answers THat upon the disbanding the Scottish Army the Garrisons of Berwick and Carlisle shall be removed according to the Articles of the Treaty in that
three went immediately to the Lord Mandevilles Lodging where being set together the Lord Lowdon begun with very severe Expostulations charging the Earls of Bedford Essex and Warwick the Lord Viscount Say and Seal the Lord Brook Savile and himself with the highest breach of their Promises and Engagements professing that they had never invaded England but upon confidence of their keeping Faith with them according to those Articles which they had Signed and sent unto them When this Narrative was made by the Lord Lowdon and confirmed by Sir Archibald Johnston the Lord Mandeville stood amazed and protested with clear and solemn Asseverations that he was a Stranger and altogether ignorant of any such Designs Articles or Ingagement and he was very confident that he might affirm the like in the behalf of the rest of those Lords whom they thus charged with breach of Promise but this Denial was no way Satisfactory unto them but was taken as a disingenuous Denial and the Lord Lowdon urged it as an Act of great Ingratitude towards them that had hazzarded all that was dear unto them upon the pressing Perswasions and solemn Ingagements of those Lords and they told the Lord Mandeville that the Lord Saville had first treated with the Lord Lowdon when he was Prisoner in the Tower in the Names of a considerable Part of the Nobility and Gentry of England and that after he was released and had been some few Weeks in Scotland the Lord Saville sent the Articles of Agreement subscribed by those Lords into Scotland by Mr. Henry Darley and they did not doubt but the Lord Saville would avow all this to be true The Lord Mandeville willingly accepted of the Lord Savilles Testimony of the Truth of their Assertions and desired they might meet the next day with the Lord Saville but that in the Interim he might not know what had now passed between them which they promised and the next day they all met and when the Lord Lowdon had made his Narrative and urged his former Charge he in the presence of the Lord Mandeville with a surprized Countenance and other Expressions of Guilt confessed the Truth acknowledging that he had never acquainted any of those Lords with the least particular of the Design or of the Articles of Engagement and that he had counterfeited their Hands in subscribing their Names to the Declaration and Engagement which was sent into Scotland some Apologies he did offer as that he found the backwardness of the Covenanters to be such that they would not hazard a coming into England until they had a full Engagement from Persons of greater Interest in England then himself He began to consider what Persons of Honor were in greatest Esteem with the Covenanters and his Thoughts were fixed on these Lords yet knowing it impossible to gain them to consort with him in so Traiterous a Design he found it necessary to act in a way of Falshood rather then lose the advantage of so hopeful a Design He further added That since by the Providence of God the Success of their Enterprize had been so far above their Expectations thô few but himself knew of the Design at first yet he did believe now that the best part of England Providence intituled to the hopeful Success of Rebellion and sure a hopeful Reformation was like to succeed such a beginning did hope to find an happy Opportunity for the Redress of the Publick Grievances of both Kingdoms by the coming of the Army into England therefore he desired them to silence all Discourses tending either to the dislike or discovery of the Treachery or Falsness of his Design and that they would Act vigorously and unanimously in Order to the Advantage of both Kingdoms This was owned by the Lord Lowdon and Sir Archibald Johnston to be a just and a full clearing of the Honor and Honesty of those Lords whose Names had been subscribed but it made in them a deep Impression of that Lords falseness Proditionem amo Proditorem odi which shewed it self at that time by some sharp Reprehensions yet in such a conjuncture of their Affairs and ours they thought it not prudent to shew so great dissatisfaction as might give the Lord Saville a total Rejection therefore they concluded their Conference with this Assurance to the Lord Mandeville that they would give a true account of the Carriage of this Business to the Committees of Parliament then residing at New-Castle that so those Lords might be righted in their Honors and Faith which had received a blemish by the boldness and Treachery of the Lord Saville The Lord Mandeville then made these Requests unto them Had the King been acquainted with it as he ought in probability it might have conduced much to the good of the Nation First that he might acquaint some of the Lords which were equally concerned with himself And that the Declaration and Engagement under their feigned Names might be delivered to them The first was granted the second was promised and after a few Daies they received the Engagement from New-Castle and did in the Presence of the Lord Mandeville cut out all the Names and burnt them but they would not deliver the Declaration and Ingagement it self And in another Place speaking of this Affair he tells us that the Scots laboured under such Difficulties and Dangers by the failing of these Supplies which they expected from their supposed Confederates as that they had in their Thoughts to Retreat with their Army near to the Borders of their own County and to cast themselves upon his Majesties Grace and Favor by an Humble Petition and Remonstrance setting forth to him and the whole World the Invitation and Agreement which was delivered to them from some Lords in the behalf as they conceived of themselves and others in England who were cordially Affected to the True reformed Protestant Religion and the Publick Rights and Liberties of the Nation Thus far he by which it is evident that though the Scots were not in reality Invited into England by those Lords who favoured their Designs yet being come they were made Welcome and the Reformers closed in with them to bring about their intended Work of Reformation This Day the Lord Capell was with the usual Solemnity Saturday August 7. The L. Capel introducted introducted into the House of Lords his Writ bearing Date August 6.17 Car. Reg. A Message was brought from the Commons about disbanding and to move His Majesty for a Proclamation for the more peaceable Effecting of it Whereupon the Two Houses Petitioned his Majesty concerning it The Kings Answer to the desire of both Houses about disbanding the Horse to which He returned this Answer His Majesty hath ever since this Parliament taken the Advice of His Parliament concerning the Army therefore he gives his Consent concerning the Disbanding of the Horse and that He hath given Order that His Attorney shall issue out such a Proclamation as is desired And His Majesty doth
Act for prevention of vexatious Proceedings touching the Order of Knighthood 5 An Act for the better Ordering and Regulating of the Office of the Clerk of the Market allowed and confirmed by this Statute and for the Reformation of false Weights and Measures The Private Bill was An Act for the assuring a Messuage called Duresme House aliàs Durham House and certain Stables part of the Possessions of the Bishop of Duresme situate in the Parish of St. Martins in the Fields in the County of Middlesex unto the Right Honorable Philip Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery and his Heirs and of a yearly Rent of 200 l. per Annum to the said Bishop of Duresme and his Successors in lieu thereof Then his Majesty took his leave of the Parliament telling them He hoped to give good Expedition in disbanding both Armies and that he would make what haste he could if possible to return before Michaelmas Declared and Voted by this House Nemine contradicente Declaration of the Lords abount the choice of their Speaker That the certain and undoubted Right of this House to chuse their Speaker and that the Speaker is not to depart when this House sits without the leave of this House and that this Order be added to the standing Orders of this House The Lords Commissioners reported Propositions of the Scottish Commissioners about Difficulties of their Army marching away Aug. 10. 1641. That the Scottish Commissioners desire them to represent to the King's Majesty and the Parliament That in respect of the great Rain which hath fallen in the North whereby the Cannon cannot be carried through Kynsidmire nor can the Scottish Army cross the River Tweed his Majesty may be graciously pleased with consent of the Parliament to permit the Scottish Army to March through Berwick since there is no other Passage But for all they were our dear Brethren of Scotland neither the Lords nor Commons were without Jealousy of them as appears by these following Particulars The House of Lords taking this desire into Consideration did appoint the Lords Commissioners to speak with the Scots Commissioners and propose unto them the making of a Passage for their Army over the Tweed with a Bridge which the Lord General shall have Order to make The Old Proverb is Make a Retreating Enemy a Bridge of Gold they had made the Scots a Bridge of Silver which Cost England above a Million of Money and now they were very willing to see them gone To which purpose at a Conference this Day the Commons acquainted the Lords That whereas formerly it was intimated at a Conference Report of the Conference about the Scottish Army That the Scottish Commissioners declared that their Army would draw themselves into a Camp and begin to March away out of this Kingdom within 48 Hours after they had received the Monies of Arrears at New-Castle and the 80000 l. in part of the Brotherly Assistance and had Security for the Payment of the rest the House of Commons having now paid them all their Arrears at New-Castle and 80000 l. in London and have performed all that was agreed to be performed by them they desire that the Lords Commissioners may move the Scots Commissioners in the Name of both Houses of Parliament that their Army may march away according to their Promise And further that the House of Commons desires this House would joyn with them to write Letters to the Lord General of the Kings Army to disband the Horse and Foot presently that so Peace may be setled and all Jealousies removed Whereupon it was Ordered by the Lords Order of the Lords for Exemplifying the Acts for Pacification and Brotherly Assistance that this House will joyn with the Commons in the Desires of this whole Conference It was also this day Ordered That the two Acts of Parliament the one for the Brotherly Assistance the other for the Confirmation of the Treaty between the Two Kingdoms shall be transmitted into the Chancery by Writs of Certiorari directed to the Clerk of the Parliament and shall be Exemplified by the Clerks of the Petty Bagg in a Secretary Hand and this to be the Warrant in that behalf The House after their return from the Lords House Commissioners to be sent into Scotland fell into Debate about sending some Commissioners from either House into Scotland and accordingly it was Resolved c. That some Commissioners shall be sent into Scotland for these Purposes authorized by both Houses to see and take Care that the Acts that concern this Kingdom be perfected in the Parliament of Scotland and from time to time to give his Majesty a true understanding of the Proceedings of the Parliament here the Lords to be moved to joyn in Petition to move the King for it The Bill for Tonnage and Poundage passed and Mr. Solicitor was sent up with it to the Lords to desire That this Bill may pass by special Commission and that it may be so contrived that the Bill may pass before the King is gone out of the Kingdom And it was immediately read three times successively in the Lords House and passed as a Law Nemine contradicente This Day the King set forward in the Afternoon upon his Journey to Scotland accompanied with the Prince Elector the Duke of Lenox The King sets forward his Journey to Scotland Wednesday August 11. now created Duke of Richmond and the Marquiss Hamilton A Letter was this day read in the House of Commons to be sent to the Earl of Holland to give Order for the speedy disbanding of the rest of the Army both Horse and Foot Message to the Lords about the Bishops that were impeached A Message was sent to the Lords to desire That the Bishops may be put to a present Answer in the Presence of the Commons as was formerly desired the House of Commons being ready to make good their Accusation and Sir Arthur Haslerig to go up with this Message and to desire a Conference about it Mr. Glyn reports the Conference with the Lords about the Bishops That the Lord Privy Seal told them The Lords Answer about the Impeachment of the Bishops That some Daies since they had received an Impeachment against the Bishops delivered at the Bar by Word of Mouth accusing them of many great Crimes and Misdemeanors and that this House did desire that the Bishops may be put to a present Answer at the time when the Impeachment was delivered They were Matters of great Consequence and coming from the House of Commons they were very curious not to proceed but in a Parliamentary Way upon good Consideration whereas the Charges were in general only He said further There were two Ways of proceeding there by transmission from this House or by a Charge by Word of Mouth in this latter the Course is to appoint some of the Kings Council to draw up particular Charges out of the General that they would proceed no wayes till they had
of Parliament and is a restraint to the proceedings of other inferior Courts but is no restraint to the proceedings of Parliament and therefore seeing it may without in justice be denied this being the Case of the Common-wealth they conceive it ought not to be granted Whereupon it is desired that their Lordships will declare that all Priviledges shall be void in case of the Conviction or Disarming of Recusants and that all their Certioraris out of the King's Bench to hinder the Conviction of Recusants may be Superseeded That this direction may extend to Lords as well as to other Common Persons there being more cause of fear from them in regard of their Power and Greatness then from others That if any Popish Recusant of Quality shall be found not to be Convicted that such Pesons be commanded forthwith to attend the Parliament The Opinion of the House of Commons is That Popish Recusants as this Case is may be Disarmed by the Common-Law being Persons justly to be suspected for some dangerous design and that where there is cause of fear this may be extended to such Persons as have Wives Recusants or Children or any but considerable number of Servants as may give good Cause of Suspitions That in ordinary Cases if there be a Combination to do any mischief to commit a Riot Rob a House or hurt any private Person the Justices of the Peace may take security to prevent such damages much more in the Case where the danger of the Common-wealth is to be prevented Divers Presidents were remembred for the Disarming of Lords of Parliament the Marquess of Winchester Lord Peter Lord Vaux Lord Arundel of Wardour and divers others Then after some Consideration of this Conference It is Ordered That this House doth joyn with the House of Commons to send Commissioners to Disarm Recusants according to Law for the other part of it their Lordships will take it into consideration Sir William Armyn brings this Answer to the Message to the Lords The Lords Answer about the Commissioners for Scotland concerning the Commissioners designed for Scotland That the Lords are of Opinion that the Commission and Instructions be presently prepared together with a Petition to his Majesty and that this be sent away with all Speed and in the mean time the Commissioners may be going their Journey and those Instructions and Commission may meet them on the Way if this House thinks fit Mr. Pym reports the Petition and Instructions to the Commissioners for Scotland To the King 's Most Excellent Majesty The Humble Petition of your Majesties Loyal Subjects the Lords and Commons now Assembled in Parliament Most Gracious Sovereign YOur Majesties Absence at this time the Parliament sitting The Petition to the King concerning the Commissioners for Scotland doth not only afflict us with much Grief but hinders us in making such Provision for the Public Necessities and Dangers of the Kingdom as we desired to do for the Safety whereof We shall be often forced to resort to your Majesties Wisdom and Goodness Whereupon both Houses of Parliament have agreed to send William Earl of Bedford Edward Lord Howard Nathaniel Fiennes Esquire Sir William Armyn Baronet Sir Philip Stapleton Knight and John Hambden Esquire to attend your Majesty to convey to us your Majesties Commands and Directions and to present to your Majesty our Humble Petitions and Desires and likewise to see the Expediting of such Acts in the Parliament of Scotland and other Affairs as by the late Treaty or otherwise concern the Kingdom Wherefore our most Humble Suit to your Majesty is That you will be graciously pleased to admit the said William Earl of Bedford Edward Lord Howard Nathaniel Fiennes Sir William Armyn Sir Philip Stapleton and John Hambden Esquire to be your Majesties Commissioners for the dispatch of the Affairs aforementioned according to such Instructions as they have now received or shall from time to time receive from both Houses of Parliament with your Majesties Consent and Approbation The Instructions for the said Commissioners follow I. YOV shall take care that all those Acts that concern both Kingdoms of England and Scotland The Instructions for the Commissioners and are already agreed upon in the Treaty between the Commissioners of both Nations and which are Confirmed by an Act of Parliament passed in this present Session shall likewise be confirmed and ratified in the Parliament in Scotland and You shall take an authentique Exemplification thereof to bring home with you II. You are to take Care that the Commissions agreed upon in the same Treaty concerning the Trade of both Kingdoms and concerning the Publique Peace and Correspondency betwixt the Two Nations may be settled and dispatched accordingly III. You are to demand Satisfaction of such Debts as shall remain due to the Northern Counties of England for any Money or Provision taken up by the Scottish Army IV. You shall be Careful to clear the Proceedings of the Parliament of England towards the Scots if you find any false Reports or Imputations cast on those Proceedings by persons ill-affected to the Peace of both Kingdoms V. You shall upon all fit Occasions assure the Parliament of Scotland of the good Affections of his Majesties Subjects of the Parliament of England and all things which shall concern the Service of his Majesty and the Peace and Prosperity of both Nations VI. You shall be Careful to certify the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament from time to time of all Proceedings therein and of all Occurrences which shall concern the good of this Kingdom VII You shall put in Execution such further Instructions as you shall receive from the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament with his Majesties Approbation and Consent signified under his Royal Hand It was Ordered Mr. Nichols to go with the Petition c. 1000 l. advanced for the Charges of the Commissioners That Mr. Anthony Nichols a Member of this House shall go to his Majesty from this House with the Petition and Instructions It was likewise Ordered That a Thousand pounds shall be advanced by Sir Robert Pye Mr. Wheeler and the Treasurers of Money for Westminster for the Commissioners Charges and their Acquittance or any two of them to be a Discharge Sir Philip Stapleton and Mr. Hollis were also Ordered to attend Her Majesty Sir Ph. Stapleton and Mr. Hollis to attend the Q. before they go for Scotland to know what Commands her Majesty will lay upon the Members of this House that are to go to His Majesty in Scotland The Lord General as indeed any person moderately skilled in Martial Affairs would have done made some difficulty it seems of letting so powerful an Army though of our Dear Brethren of Scotland March through so Important a Pass as the Town of Barwick and upon this wrote to the Parliament concerning it Whereupon the Lord Keeper Littleton returned this Answer My Lord I Have received your Letter dated the 16th of this
present Month Letter to the Lord General for the Scots to March over Barwick Bridge concerning the Passage of the Scots over Barwick Bridge and have acquainted the Lords with the same they have Commanded me to signifie unto your Lordship That since it is a Resolution taken by both Houses and consented to by them they see no Cause to alter it or to give an Occasion to the Scots to hinder their March as is agreed and concluded on by the Treaty here and therefore they adhere to their first Order to your Lordship for their Passage over Barwick Bridge and do require your Lordship to obey the Order of the Houses only for the Manner and Onder they recommend it to your Lordships Care and Directions that it may be speedy and with Safety God have your Lordship in his Keeping Your c. His Majesty was now Safely Arrived in Scotland Monday Aug. 19. purposing with all Application imaginable to Settle and Quiet the Minds of his Subjects of that Kingdom in hopes that it might conduce very much to the Composure of the Affairs of England and for this purpose at his first appearance in the Parliament of Scotland being Thursday August 19th he made this following Speech My Lords and Gentlemen THere hath nothing been so displeasing to Me as those Vnlucky Differences which have happened between Me and My People His Majesties Speech to the Parliament of Scotland Aug. 19. 1641. and nothing that I have more desired than to see this Day wherein I hope not only to settle these Vnhappy Mistakings but rightly to know and to be known of My Native Countrey I need not tell you for I think it is well known to most what Difficulties I have passed through and overcome to be here at this present Yet this I will say If Love to My Native Countrey had not been a chief Motive to this Journey other respects might easily have found a shift to do that by a Commission which I am come to perform My Self And this considered I cannot doubt of such real Testimonies of your Affections for the maintenance of that Royal Power which I enjoy after an Hundred and eight Descents and which you have professed to maintain and to which your own National Oath doth oblige you that I shall not think any Pains ill bestowed Now the End of My Coming is shortly this to perfect whatsoever I have promised and withal to quiet the Distractions which have and may fall out amongst you And this I mind not superficially but fully and chearfully to perform For I assure you That I can do nothing with more chearfulness then to give My People a general Satisfaction Wherefore not offering to Endear My Self unto you in Words which indeed is not My way I desire in the first place to Settle that which concerns the Religion and Just Liberties of this My Native Countrey before I proceed to any other Act. Information of Arms in the Marquess of Winton's House at Basing-Stoke In the House of Commons one Mr. Sewer did this day give Information that he did see on Monday was seven-Night a great many Arms in the Marquiss of Winchester's House at Basingstoke a Recusant and that the Keepers of them told him there were Arms for a thousand five hundred Men. One Welsh an Irish Priest was ordered to be sent for and if he refused to come to be taken into Custody by the Serjeant It was also Ordered Order about disbanding That Mr. Arthur Goodwin Mr. Hotham and Sir Henry Anderson shall go into the North about disbanding the Army to whom Mr. Scowen was afterwards added by a Vote of the House The Copy of the Commission to be sent for his Majesty to Sign for the Commissioners to impower them to go into and Act in Scotland was also read which was as follows Commission for the Commissioners that are to go to Scotland CHARLES by the Grace of God of England Scotland France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith c. To Our Trusty and right well Beloved William Earl of Bedford and to Our trusty and right well Beloved Edward Lord Howard and also to Our trusty and well Beloved Nathaniel Fiennes Esquire Sir William Armyn Baronet Sir Ph ilip Stapleton Knight and John Hambden Esquire Greeting Know Ye that We reposing special Trust and Confidence in your approved Fidelity Wisdom and Discretions have Nominated and Appointed you to be Our Commissioners and by these said Presents give unto you or any three or more of you full Power and Authority to go into Our Kingdom of Scotland and there to Treat Confer and Concluds with such of Our Commissioners as shall be Named and Authorized in Our Parliament of Scotland according to the Instructions hereunto Annered And you or any three or more of you are likewise to Observe and Pursue all such further Instructions as you or any three or more of you as aforesaid shall from time to time receive from the Lords and Commons Assembled in Our Parliament of England with Our Consent and Approbation Signified under Our Royal Hand In Witness c. The House took into Consideration the Case of Mr. Votes about Mr. Cooper suspended by Dr. Rone and Sir John Lamb. Cooper Rector of Alton in Com. Huntington and it was Resolved c. That the Suspension of Mr. Cooper Rector of Alton in Com. Huntington for not reading the Book of Recreations is illegal Resolved c. That Doctor Rone and Sir John Lamb ought to give him Reparation for his Damages sustained and that his Suspension be taken off Post Meridiem Mr. Pym Reports the Order agreed upon by both Houses for the Disbanding in haec verba WHereas it was Ordered by the Lords and Commons in Parliament August 7. 1641. Order of both Houses for disbanding the Army That the Horse Troops of the King's Army be forthwith Disbanded whereunto his Majesty gave his Corsent and signified his gracious Pleasure to have it effected accordingly all which was certified to the Earl of Holland General of his Majesties Army by two several Letters from the Speakers of both Houses respectively and withal a Copy of the same sent unto him We understand by a Letter from the Lord General that none of the Horse are yet disbanded nor intended to be disbanded until the 24th of this Month and that it is propounded that some of the Foot shall then be disbanded before the rest of the Horse now both the Houses of Parliament expecting that this Order should have been performed accordingly do hereby expresly Order that the Lord General all further Delays and Excuses set apart shall forthwith disband all the Horse Troops of the Army before any of the Foot and commanded them and all the Officers of the said Horse Troops to depart from the Army which they do hereby declare to be a Matter of great Importance to the good of the Common-Wealth and therefore they do expect a quick and ready Obedience thereunto
who invaded England faithful and Loyal Subjects in all Churches and Chappels upon the Thanksgiving Day between the Kingdoms of England and Scotland it was desired by the Commissioners of Scotland that the Loyalty and Faithfulness of his Majesties Subjects might be made known at the time of the Publick Thanksgiving in all Places and particularly in all Parish Churches of his Majesties Dominions which Request was graciously condescended unto by his Majesty and confirmed by the aforesaid Act. It is now Ordered and Commanded by both Houses of Parliament that the same be effectually done in all Parish Churches throughout this Kingdom upon Tuesday the 7th day of September next coming at the time of Publick Thanksgiving by the several and respective Ministers of each Parish Church or by their Curates who are hereby required to read this present Order in the Church Thus did they resolve not only to conquer but to triumph and this was also to be a little kind of Shibboleth for the Clergy for who ever did either speak any thing against the Scots or declined this Declaration of their Loyalty and Fidelity to the King which it was very difficult for Men of sense to believe and therefore more hard for Men of Conscience to declare were certain to be esteemed Malignants and upon the least Complaint were sure to be sent for in the Custody as Delinquents It was also Ordered That Mr. Marshal and Dr. Marshal and Burgess to preach before the Commons upon the Thanksgiving Day A Petition of some Merchants to seize some Parts of America Burgess be desired to Preach before the House of Commons upon the Thanks-Giving Day at St. Margarets Church in Westminster A Petition was presented to the House by several Merchants about the Town consisting principally of three Heads 1 That there might be a certain number of Ships well appointed and stored with Ammunition and Provision for such a Service to be sent to America and some Part to Affrica whereby we might possess our Selves with the Riches of those Countries 2 That the Spanish Party is now grown weak which may induce us with greater alacrity to attempt it 3 That we may thereby become possessed of the Command of both the North and South Seas which will both increase Commerce Shipping Sea-Men and Trade at Home and render us Formidable and Powerful Abroad The Lord Keeper signified to the House that he had received a Letter from the King at Edenburgh by Mr. Anthony Nichols who was the Express sent from both Houses to His Majesty in Scotland The Letter was read in haec verba RIght Trusty and well Beloved We greet you well Whereas We have understood by the Petition of both Houses of Our Parliament in England The King's Letter to the L. Keeper about the Commission to the Committees of both Houses which Anthony Nichols Esquire hath been imployed to Vs from them that they are resolved to send down certain of their Members for to see the Ratification of the Treaty of Pacification by the Parliament here and to that end have desired a Commission under Our Great Seal We do not hold necessary to sign any such Commission but are hereby graciously pleased to give leave to the said Members to come and attend Vs here in Scotland to see the Ratification of the said Treaty and what else belongs thereunto and this We require you to signifie unto both Houses from Vs Given under Our Signet at Our Court of Edenburgh and the 25th Day of August in the 17 Year of Our Reign Such was the Ungovernable Insolence of the Rabble of those who called themselves the Well-Affected Party by their having been indulged because not severely Punished in the Case of the Earl of Strafford that upon every Occasion like a Fire ill quenched they broke out into Disorder and Outrages which was the Occasion of this following Order of the Lords UPon Information this Day to this House An Order of the Lords about the Tumults concerning the French Ambassador Aug. 30. 1641. that the French Ambassador and his Servants hath been lately Assaulted in his own House by a Company of Rude and Insolent People unto the great Dishonor of Our Nation and to his Lordships insufferable Wrong Injury and Dishonor whereof this House is very sensible and do intend that all possible Diligence be used for the finding out of the Malefactors for the Punishment of them to the Example and Terror of others that none may presume hereafter to commit the like Outrages to any Ambassadors of whom this House will always take regard It is therefore thought fit and Ordered by this House That Mr. Hooker Mr. Long Mr. Whittacre and Mr. Shepheard his Majesties Justices of the Peace or any two or more of them shall speedily take this Business into their Examination and by all Dilligence that may be used find out the said Malefactors and to Imprison them until they find out Sureties for their good Behavior and to appear in this House on Monday the 6th of September 1641. to undergo such Punishment as their Lordships shall think fit to inflict upon them for their said Offences and Misdemeanors so committed as aforesaid And that the said Justices of the Peace having throughly examined the Business shall make Certificate unto this House on the said sixth day of September next of all the whole Matter and how they find it that thereby their Lordships may proceed therein according to that which shall be Just And lastly That the aforesaid Justices shall give Order That there shall be Watch set according to Law for the better securing the Safety of the Ambassador and his House and for preventing Disorderly and Tumultuous Assemblies Ordered That the Lord Great Chamberlain Lord Chamberlain Earl Warwick Lord Kymbolton do acquaint the French Ambassador from this House that their Lordships have taken this Business into Consideration The House of Commons also took the Case of Sir John Corbet into debate whe for saying at a Quarter Sessions in the County of Salop That the Muster Masters Wages throughout England were illegal and against the Petition of Right c. had been Imprisoned and Fined by the High Commission Court and it was Ordered That the late Lord Keeper Coventry the Archbishop of Canterbury and others who were the Occasions of it shall make him Reparations for his Sufferings and Damages and a Conference was desired with the Lords upon it where the Managers of the Commons delivered to their Lordships a Transmission of an Impeachment concerning the Cause of Sir John Corbet a Member of the House of Commons against the Earl of Bridgwater the Lord Privy Seal the Archbishop of Canterbury the Lord Cottington the Lord Newburgh and the two Secretaries of State in which the House of Commons desire that the several Persons whom it concerns may be called to answer and that their Lordships would proceed therein according to Justice and that Sir John Corbet may have Reparation for his Imprisonment
c. Next the Bishop of Linclon reported that at the same Conference Mr. Nichols that was sent into Scotland to his Majesty from both Houses reported That he had delivered the Petition and the Draught of the Commission to his Majesty but his Majesty thought not fit to sign it for these Reasons which he commanded him to signify to the Parliament 1 That his Majesty conceives the Treaty of Pacification The King's Reasons for not signing the Commission sent into Scotland by Mr. Nichols from both Houses between the two Kingdoms is already ratified by the Parliament of Scotland 2 If this Commission should be granted it would beget new Matter 3 It would be a means to keep his Majesty longer there then he intended to stay 4 That the Scots Army is over the Tweed and that the Lord General hath almost Disbanded all Our Army and hath begun with the House A Letter from the Lord General was read declaring Contents of a Letter from the Lord General That he will pursue the Orders of Parliament in disbanding the Army but he understands that the Scots will keep 5000 Men undisbanded until our Army be all disbanded and our Fortifications at Barwick and Carlisle slighted and that to this purpose he had received Directions from his Majesty to demolish the Fortifications and remove the Ordnance and Munition from thence The Bishop of Lincoln Reported the Conference with the Commons concerning Disarming Recusants to this Effect THat the House of Commons had taken into consideration the Store of Arms in this Kingdom and they find The Conference about disarming Recusants Aug. 30. 1641. that there are many Arms in the hands of Popish Recusants for disarming of whom the House of Commons have frequently recommended to this House the disarming of them according to the Stat. of 3 Jac. but they have found that the good came not by this Statute as was intended for upon Indictments for Recusancy there were Certioraris's granted Therefore the House of Commons have taken these things into consideration again and the rather because of the Kings absence at this time in Scotland and that the time of the Recess draws nigh and considering the late Troubles of this Kingdom whch are not yet settled the House of Commons have considered of an Ordnance of Parliament and some Instructions to be given unto such Commissioners as they have named to see to the disarming of Popish Recusants according to the Statute of 3 Jacobi which Ordinance and Instruction they present to their Lordships desiring them to joyn with them herein Then the aforesaid Ordinance and Instructions were read in haec verba An Ordinance made and agreed by the Lords and Commons in Parliament for the speedy disarming of Popish Recusants and other dangerous Persons The Ordinance of Parliament for Disarming Recusants WHereas for the preventing and avoiding of dangers that might grow by Popish Recusants Provision hath been heretofore made by Act of Parliament for the disarming of all Popish Recusants convicted within this Realm which said Law hath not taken so good effect as was intended by Reason such Recusants and Persons Popishly affected have by subtle practices and indirect means kept themselves from being convicted or being outwardly conformable have caused or suffered their Children Grand-children and Servants to be bred up and maintained up in the Popish Religion and have otherways hindred the due Execution of the said Law to the great danger and grievance of the Common-wealth And for that it is too manifest that the said Popish Recusants have always had and still have and do practise most dangerous and pernicious designs against the Church and State and by the Laws of this Realm in times of imminent danger or of any forcible Attempts Designs or Practises against the Peace and Safety thereof all Armor Weapons and other Provisions that may tend or be imployed to the effecting of such mischievous Designs ought timely to be removed and taken away and all fit means used for the securing of the Peace and safety of the Realm And for the preventing of such further mischiefs as may happen by any Outrage or Violence to be offered It is therefore Ordained and Provided by the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled That all such Arms Gun-powder and Munition of what kind soever as any Popish Recusant convicted or any Person or other which is or shall be Indicted for such Recusancy and such Indictments either are or shall be removed by Certiorari or being not removed shall not by Appearance and Traverse or otherwise be Legally discharged before this Ordinance be put in execution or which shall not have repaired to Church more then once in every Month or shall not have received the Holy Communion according to the Rites of the Church of England within one whole year next before the making hereof and which shall refuse to take the Oaths of Supremacy or Allegiance upon Lawful Tender thereof made or whose Children or Grand-children or any of them being at his or her dispose or living in the House with them is or shall be bred up in the Popish Religion or have not repaired to Church within one year next before the making of this Ordinance according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm or whose Houshold Servants or any two or more of them is or shall be of the Popish Religion hath or shall have in his and their House or Houses or elsewhere or in the hands and possession of any other to his or their use or at his or their disposition other then such necessary Weapons as shall be thought fit by the Persons Authorized to take and Seize the said Munition to remain and be allowed Arms for the defence of the Person or House of such Recusant or Person aforesaid shall forthwith be taken from every such Popish Recusant or Person as aforesaid and from all others which shall have the same to the use of any such Popish Recusant or Person by such Person and Persons as are and shall be by this Ordinance appointed and authorized in that behalf for every Shire County and Riding within this Realm and Dominion of Wales that is to say For the County of Bedford Sir Oliver Luke Sir Beuchamp St. John Sir Roger Burgoigne Knight For the County of Lancaster John Moor Alexander Rigby Esquire Members of the House of Commons and the two Knights that Serve for that County For Cheshire Sir William Brereton Baronet Peter Vennables Esquire For the City of Chester Francis Gamull Esquire the Major for the time being For the County of Stafford Sir Edward Littleton and Sir Richard Levison For the County of Derby Sir John Curson William Allestre Esquire For the County of Nottingham Sir Thomas Hutchinson Robert Sutton Esquire For the Town and County of Nottingham Sir Thomas Hutchinson Robert Sutton Esquire and the Major for the time being For the County of Lincoln Thomas Hatcher Thomas Grantham and John Broxholm Esquires
auxi mesmes les Communes remercierment les seigneurs Espirituelx Temporelx de lour bon droiturell Jugment quils auoint fait come Piers du Parlement That the said Commons returned thanks to the Lords Temporal and Spiritual for the good and upright Judgment which they had made as Peers of Parliament In the 2 of H. 6 John Lord Talbot accused James Boteler Earl of Ormond Rot. Par. n. 9. 2 H. 6. in Parliament of sundry Treasons and the Record saith That De avisamento assensu Dominorum Spiritualium Temporalium ac Communitatis Regni Angliae in eodem Parliamento existent ' facta fuit quaedam Abolitio delationis nunciatonis Detectionis predict ' c. By the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons of England there was made a certain abolition of the said Accusation Relation and Discovery From which Presidents it is evident that the Lords the Bishops did Sit and Debate Vote and Determin in Causes Capital as well as the other Temporal Lords The third Position is that they are a third Estate in Parliament Which is proved both by undeniable Reason and undoubted Presidents and Records That there are three Estates in the Parliament of England is a matter on all hands allowed But some Persons who would bring down the Soveraignty to a Coordinacy do affirm that the King is the third Estate the Lords making one and the Commons the other which dangerous Position as it doth submit the Monarchy to great hazzards so it gave occasion and colour to the taking away of the Peerage of the Bishops the third Estate notwithstanding their Exclusion being according to this principle left as Intire in the Lords House as it was upon the Exclusion of the Lord Abbots in the time of King Henry the Eighth Now that the King is not one of the three Estates and consequently that the Lords the Bishops must be so and were ever accounted so evidently appears by the Records of our Parliaments which are cited to this purpose as follows In the Parliament of 1. H. 4. By the Roll it appears that King Richard the Second appointed two Procurators to declare his Resignation of the Crown coram omnibus Statibus Regni before all the States of the Realm and one of the Articles against him was concerning his Impeachment of Thomas Arch-Bishop of Canterbury coram Rege omnibus Statibus Regni before the King and all the Estates of the Realm And who all these Estates of the Realm were it most fully appears in that the Commissioners for the Sentence of this unfortunate Kings deposition are said to be appointed Per Pares Proceres Regni Anglia Spirituales Temporales ejusdem Regni Communitates omnes status ejusdem Regni representantes By the Peers and Nobility of the Kingdom of England Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons of the same representing all the Estates of the said Realm So that First the Bishops are declared Peers of the Realm in Parliament Secondly The Estates of the Parliament are to represent all the Estates of the Kingdom Clergy Nobility and Commons Thirdly The three Estates in Parliament are the Lords Spiritual the Lords Temporal and the Commons of the Realm In the Roll of Parliament Rot. Parl. 1. R. 3. 1. R. 3. it is Recorded That whereas before his Coronation certain Articles were delivered unto him in the name of the three Estates of the Realm that is to say of the Lords Spiritual Lords Temporal and of the Commons by name c. Now forasmuch as neither the said three Estates neither the said Persons which in their name presented and delivered as it is aforesaid the said Roll unto our Soveraign Lord the King were Assembled in Form of Parliament divers doubts have been moved c. Now by the said three Estates Assembled in this present Parliament and by Authority of the same be ratified and Enrolled c. Upon which Record Mr. Prinn himself makes this Marginal Note The three Estates must concur to make a Parliament no one or two of them being a full or Real Parliament but all conjoyned In the 3. H. 6. it is said in the Record Prinn Abridgments of Records p. 710. 714. the three Estates Assembled in this present Parliament In the Explanation of the Duke of Bedford's Power as Protector It is said it was advised and appointed by the Authority of the King Assenting the three Estates of this Realm so that it is plain that the King was not then accounted one of them Rot. Par. 3. H. 6. n. 19. 6. H. 6. n. 24. In the 11. H. 6. The Duke of Bedford appeared in Parliament and declared the Reason of his coming coram Domino Rege tribus Statibus Regni before the King and the three Estates of the Realm 11. Hen. 6. n. 10. and n. 2. n. 2. N. 11. Domino Rege tribus Regni Statibus in presenti Parliamento Existentibus Our Lord the King and the three Estates in Parliament being present where the King is plainly distinct from the three Estates 11. H. 6. N. 2. The Lord Cromwell Lord Treasurer Exhibits a Petition in Parliament wherein he saith that the Estate and necessity of the King and of the Realm have been notified to the three Estates of the Land Assembled in Parliament In the Appendix to the Rolls of Parliament that Year the Duke of Bedford saith in his Petition to the King How that in your last Parliament yit lyked your Hyghness by yaduis of three Estates of yis Land to will me c. 23. H. 6. N. 11. Presente Domino Rege 23. H. 6. n. 11. tribus Statibus in presenti Parliamento Existentibus c. Our Lord the King being present and the three Estates in the present Parliament Assembled 28. H. 6. N. 9. Domino Rege 28. H. 6. n. 9. tribus Regni Statibus in pleno Parliamento comparentibus c. Our Lord the King and the three Estates in full Parliament appearing c. 1. H. 6. 1. H. 6. The Queen Dowager in her Petition mentioning the Ratification made in Parliament 9. H. 5. saith it was not only sworn by the King but by the three Estates of the Kingdom of England Cest assavoir Les Prelatz Nobles Grands per les Comuns de mesm le Royalm Dengleterre That is to say by the Prelats Nobles and Great Men and by the Commons of the said Realm of England And since the Reformation In the 8 of Eliz. 1. 8. Eliz. 1. The Bishops are in Parliament called one of the greatest States of this Realm From all which Instances it plainly appears First That there are three Estates in the Fundamental Constitution of every Parliament Secondly That there are three Estates besides the King and consequently that he cannot be one of the three Thirdly that the Lords Spiritual the Bishops are a Third Estate of the Realm in Parliament
Quod erat probandum Object 1. It remains now to answer some Objections which are made against these Positions And First a Canon which they urge was made at Westminster by Richard Arch-Bishop of Canterbury that Persons in Holy-Orders should not agitare Judicium sanguinis To which it is Answered That this is part of one of the Canons of Toledo which never were any part of the Common or Statute Law of this Land even in times of Popery much less obliging now since the Reformation but however the very Canon it self is perverted for the Prohibition explains it self unde prohibemus ne aut per se Membrorum truncationes faciant aut inferendas Judicent they were prohibited personally to be the Executioners in dismembring or to pronounce the Judgment or Sentence in Cases of that Nature Two Offices of which neither the Lords the Bishops nor the most inferior of the Clergy will at this time contend for or be ambitious of Object 2. It is Objected Secondly that in the 11. of Richard the Second the Bishops in Cases of Blood entred a Solemn Protestation in Parliament which was Assented to by the King the Lords Temporal and Commons with these words Non licet nobis aut alicui eorum juxta Sacrorum Canonum instituta quomodolibet interesse That according to the Canon Law it was not lawful for them or any of them in any manner to be present To this it is answered That the Protestation saith as Peers they had Right as per Baroniam de Domino Rege tenentes in Parliamentis Regis quibuscunque personaliter interesse cum caeteris Paribus aliis de Regni negotiis consulere Tractare Ordinare Statuere definire ac caetera facere quae Parliamenti tempore ibidem imminent facienda holding of our Lord the King by Baronage to be personally present in all Parliaments of the King together with the rest of the Barons and others to Consult Treat Order Appoint and Determin of the Affairs of the Kingdom and to do all other things which in the time of Parliament were there to be done And it is plain the King Temporal Barons and Commons allowed they had this Right But it being a troublesome time the Kings Ministers being to be Impeached in that Parliament which was called Parliamentum sine Misericordia because the King gave up all his Court Ministers to be Sacrificed to the Animosities of the Potent Faction of the Lords binding himself not to pardon any without their consent the Bishops were willing to get out of harms way and therefore pleaded the Canons in excuse And possibly both sides might have their several ends in consenting to this protestation the King that so he might call in Question the Acts done without them as it happened 21. R. 2. when all done in this Parliament was Repealed and made void for this Reason the Lords might consent to the Bishops withdrawing that so their Affairs might proceed without opposition against the Kings Ministers But however as before these Canons being not the Law of the Land neither then nor now could be no real Barr to their Right Nor did they upon other occasions think them so as appears by several Instances beforementioned upon the second Position It is Objected in the third place Object 3 That there was a Parliament held 25 E. 1. at St. Edmonds-Bury Excluso clero And notwithstanding many good Laws were there made and that upon this Case in Kelway's Reports it is said to be the Opinion of the Judges that the King may hold his Parliament without the Bishops To this it is answered First That it is but one single Instance and an Extraordinary Case and that it is not only ill but dangerous arguing and concluding universally from one single president for if a Parliament may be good without one Estate why not without another and according to their Position who make the King Lords and Commons the three Estates any one of the three may be Excluded upon the same reason Secondly The Bishops in this Parliament were not Excluded by the King and the other two Estates but by their own voluntary action And the occasion of it was a Bull of Pope Boniface the 8. prohibiting the Clergy to give any more Subsidies which whatever Influence it had then can have none upon the Bishops since the Reformation And whereas it is said many good Laws were made in that Parliament never since questioned it is evident by the Rolls that all that was done in that Parliament was the granting of a 12th by the Laity to the King As for Kelway's reason in his Reports that they might be excluded because they have no places in Parliament by reason of their Spiritualty but only by reason of their Temporal Baronies it will hold as well against the other Barons And that this is but one President of a Parliament without Bishops agaâ—nst a Multiutde of others wherein they were present Et consuetudo Parlamenti est Lex Parlamenti and that Law is the Law of the Land It is Objected Object 4 That if they were a distinct Estate they would have a distinct-Negative I think the best answer to this is the former that Consuetudo Parlamenti est lex Parlamenti and though former Parliaments have ever owned them a distinct Estate yet as the Author observes they sit there now not in their Spiritual Capacity as formerly in the Saxon times before Baronies but in their Temporal Capacities as Barons by Tenures and they have ever Voted in Common with the other Lords according to Custom of Parliament which is the Law of Parliament In the last place it is Objected Object 5 if they were Peers of the Realm they would according to Magna Charta be tried by their Peers but they are in Capital Cases tried by Juries of the Commons To this it is answered First That they have challenged and had this Priviledg in Parliament So John Stratford Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Antiq. Brit. p. 223. Rot. Par. 15. E. 3. n. 7. tanquam major par Regni post Regem vocem primam in Parliamento habere debens put himself upon Trial by his Peers and after great debate it was at length resolved that the Peers should be tried only by Peers in Parliament and he had appointed to examin the Articles against him 4 Bishops viz. London Hereford Bath and Exceter 4 Earls Arundel Salisbury Huntington and Suffolk 4 Barons Percy Wake Basset and Nevil After which he was admitted to answer for himself in Parliament devant les Piers before his Peers 21. R. 2. Tho. 21. R. 2. Arundel Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was Impeached of High-Treason before the King and Lords in Parliament The Kings answer was that forasmuch as this Impeachment did concern so High a Person Pier de Son Roialm a Peer of the Realm he would be advised But soon after he was condemned for Treason by the House the Proxy of the Bishops Sir Thomas Percy giving his
Vote for them Secondly Temporal Barons have not always been tried by their Peers for 28. H. 6. William de la Poole Duke of Suffolk waved being tried by his Peers and submitted to the Kings mercy upon which the Lords Temporal and Spiritual entred a Protestation that this should not be or turn to the prejudice of them their Heirs nor Successors in time coming but that they might enjoy their freedom in case of their Peerages as largely as their Ancestors and Predecessors had done Thomas Lord Berkley being Arraigned for the Deâ—th of King E. Rot. Par. 4. E. 3. 2 before the Parliament put himself upon his Countrey and the Jury brought him in not Guilty Thus far the Learned Author from whom for the Readers ease and satisfaction in this important particular I have made these short Collections and refer the more Curious to the Book it self I should have given the Reader an account before of the great Complaints of the City against Protections Thursday October 28. but here I present him with the Report which Mr. Reynolds made in the House of Commons upon that Subject which was That the City of London did heretofore present a Petition in the Name of the whole City Report in the House of Commons concerning the Complaint of the City about Protections c. complaining of Protections and Priviledges claimed by Members of both Houses and by the Kings and Queens Servants and having no Redress by their Petition they called a Common Councel and upon a long Debate among themselves they did agree unanimously * This deserves to be taken Notice of for by this it is Easy to conjecture the Grievances of the Nation were aggravated far more then in truth they deserved That this Grievance was greater and more prejudicial to the City and the whole Kingdom than that of Salt Soap Leather and Ship-Money Thereupon they did agree to Address themselves by way of a second Petition to this House and that Petition was referred to a Committee to Regulate Protections this was done 6 July last and during the Sitting of that Committee they attended there two or three times and presented a Book in Folio of the Members of this House that have granted Protections as also the Names of those of the Kings Queens and Princes Servants that were Protected Upon all which they grounded their Complaint which Complaint was there presented in Writing And it was the Opinion of the Committee That it should be read in the House at this time of the Report being Reasons tendred by the Committee appointed by the Common-Councel of the City of London against Protections Priviledges and priviledged Places c. Upon the Reasons mentioned in the Paper and upon other Considerations and after a long Debate and being a tender point to trench upon the Priviledges of Parliament they proceeded unto these two Votes which they commanded me to Report 1. That all the Members of this House should be pleased during the pleasure of this House to wave all Protections for their Menial Servants or others 2. That during the Pleasure of this House all the Lands Estates and Goods of every Member of this House should be Lyable to the Payment of just Debts But for all the Complaints of the City and the greatness of the Grievance which Exceeded all the Monopolies of Salt Soap Leather and Ship-Money put together this was a point so necessarily tender that they made very slow steps toward the Redressing of it or joyning with Mr. Reynolds and his Committee in their Votes And nothing further was at present done in it more than barely to give the Complaint a hearing Had the King Queen and Prince only been concerned in Protections it had immediately been Voted Illegal Unjust against the Liberty of the Subject c. but it too nearly concerned some of them to comply with the Votes of the Committee for if they had particularly I instance in the late infamous Usurper Oliver Cromwell instead of Sitting in the Commons House they were in danger to take up their Lodgings in a Common Prison For had hâ— and many others in the House made all their Lands Estates and Goods lyable to the payment of their just debts they would have been quickly found Bankrupts in Estate then as much as they were afterwards in Honesty and Reputation and unless the Charity of the Faction who obtruded them upon the People for Representatives had maintained them out of the Common Stock they must have wanted Bread as well as they who set them up would have wanted Instruments to carry on their Blessed Work of Reformation which in reality was by many of these hungry and broken Fortunes only to Establish their own out of the Ruins of the Church And therefore to cut off all further Trouble on that side Order to Enter only upon Publick business by letting this Affair and Complaint of the City sleep sine die It was the 28 of October Ordered That in regard of the Weighty and Important Matters in agitation in the House this House will not enter upon any private Matters but into Publick Business only till further Order and this Order to be Printed and Published that so all persons may take Notice of it and regulate themselves accordingly And the truth is they were now deep upon Consultation of the Fatal Point which Ushered in the Rebellion and not only this but many others in former Ages Committee to prepare Heads for a Petition to the King against Evil Councellors c. for a Committee was appointed to prepare Heads out of the whole Debate that has been this day for a Petition to be preferred to his Majesty To prevent the Mischiefs that may happen to the Common-Wealth by the Choice and Imployment of Evil Councellors Ambassadors Judges Officers and other Ministers of State and they are to meet this Afternoon at 4. of the Clock in the Exchequer Chamber and have Power to send for Parties Witnesses Papers and Records and any thing else that may conduce to the Service This day the Certificate of the Two Chief Justices in the Case of Cook and Blackston Friday October 29. referred to them by Order of the House of Lords was Read viz. May it please your Lordships ACcording to your Lordships Order of the 9th of September last touching the business between John Cook Clerk Plaintiff A Case about Superinduction to a Rectory before the Lords and Benjamin Blackston Defendant We have heard the Parties and their Councel on both sides And we find that the said John Cook was Presented Instituted and Inducted into the Rectory of West Thorney in Sussex after the Death of Godfrey Blackston former Incumbent there who died in the Month of January 1637. And that Mr. Blackston procured a Super-institution to this Church and by colour thereof hath gotten the Possession from Mr. Cook We are of Opinion That the Super-institution of Mr. Blackston is void and that Mr. Cook ought
annum Pension untill Provision be made of Inheritance of a greater Value and to be recommended to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for some Preferment there A Message was then carried up from the House of Commons by Sir John Clotworthy Knight to desire a present Conference by a Committee of both Houses if it may stand with their Lordships Convenience touching the Troubles in Ireland and the Security of this Kingdom To which the Lords immediately consented and the Lord Keeper was Ordered to Report the Conference which he did to this Effect Mr. Report of the Conference about the troubles in Ireland Nov. 1. 1641. Pym said he was Commanded by the House of Commons to desire their Lordships to let the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland know That they take his Diligent and Timely acquainting the Parliament with his Intelligence concerning the Rebellion and Treason in Ireland very well for which he was Commanded to give his Lordship Thanks from the House of Commons for his good Service done therein to the King and Kingdome He said He was further to Acquaint their Lordships with some Resolutions which the House of Commons have made concerning the Affairs and the Securing of this Kingdom To which purpose they Resolved That 50000 l. shall be forthwith provided and they desire that a Select Committee of the Members of both Houses may be appointed to go to the City of London and to make a Declaration unto them of the State of the Business in Ireland and to acquaint them That it will be an Acceptable Service to the Commonwealth to Lend Money and that the Committees propose to the City the Loan of 50000 l and to assure them That they shall be Secured both for the Principal and Interest by Act of Parliament 2. That the House of Commons desires That a Select Committee of both Houses may be appointed to consider of the Affairs of Ireland and of the raising and sending of Men and Ammunition from hence into Ireland and of the Repair of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland thither and of a Declaration of both Houses of Parliament to be sent into Ireland and that Committee to have power from time to time to open Pacquets sent into Ireland or from Ireland 3. For a Reward for Owen Connelly ut supra in the Vote 4. That a Committee of Lords may be nominated to take the further Examination of Owen Connelly upon Oath upon such Interrogatories as shall be Offered by a Committee of the House of Commons and in the presence of that Committee 5. That the Custody of the Isle of Wight for the present may be sequestred into another hand 6. That the Persons of Papists of Quality in the several Counties where they reside may be secured and such English Papists as within one Year last past have removed themselves into Ireland Except the Earl of St. Albanes and such other Persons as have their Ancient Estates and Habitations there may by Proclamation be Commanded to return hither within one Month after the Proclamation there made or otherwise some Course to be taken by Act of Parliament for Confiscation of their Estates The Lords taking these Propositions into Consideration severally The Lords Answers to the Commons Propositions concerning Ireland c. Resolved as followeth 1. To the First It was Agreed That a Select Committee of Lords should joyn with a proportionable Number of the Commons to go to the City of London to Borrow 50000 l. for the Irish Affairs and the Lord Privy Seal Lord Admiral Earl of Warwick Earl of Bristol Lord Bishop of Winton Lord Bishop of Lincoln Lord Bishop of Glocester c. were named and Ordered to go to Morrow at 4 a Clock in the Afternoon 2. To the Second It was Agreed and the same Committee appointed this Day for Opening of Letters were Ordered to seâ—â—e for this matter 3. To the Third concerning a Reward to be given to Owen Connelly Agreed to 4. To the Fourth Agreed that the same Committee for opening Letters shall Examine Connelly with this Liberty That any Peer may be present unless he be forbidden by this House 5. The Fifth Proposition concerning the Isle of Wight laid aside for the present 6. Concerning the 6th Proposition It is agreed That such as are Convicted Recusants shall be secured according as the Law hath appointed for such as are not convicted Recusants it is referred to the Select Committee of both Houses to consider what Course is fit to be taken to secure their persons in those Cases where the Law is defective Concerning the Proclamation the Lords think fit That the Minutes or Draught of a Proclamation be sent to the King in Scotland that so he may from thence send his Warrants and Directions for issuing out a Proclamation to that Purpose in Ireland After which the Lord Keeper by Command gave Thanks in the Name of the House to the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as before Mr. Pym had done in the Name of the Commons And he was further desired speedily to write to the King and acquaint him with the Affairs of Ireland and the Danger that Kingdom is now in and to let His Majesty know What Course the Parliament here hath taken for to give Supply and Aid for the Reducing of the Rebels And also the Lord Lieutenant was commanded to write to the Lords Justices of Ireland and the Council there to let them know That the Parliament hath taken into their Care to send them a Supply of Men and of Money with all convenient speed and are Resolved to give them Assistance in this great Defection wishing them to persist in their Diligence and Care in defending that Kingdom against the Rebels until Succours can be sent them And that they give Intelligence with the first Opportunities how the State of that Kingdom is and how the Rebels behave themselves Before we proceed any further in this Parliamentary Account of these Transactions concerning this dismal Tragedy and Infamous Conspiracy acted by these Irish Papists I think it will be no less than both the Readers Curiosity and the Nature of the Matter obliges me to give a Succinct account of the Occasions Reasons and Grounds of this Horrid Treason and Rebellion leaving the following Series of it to be interwoven with the other Matters which will compose these Historical Collections and this I will endeavour with all the Truth and Impartiality I am capable of according to the best of my Judgment and the Sentiments of such Authorities as having been Actors in or at least Eye and Ear witnesses of the Management of the Affairs of Ireland during this Calamitous Storm or rather Hurricane of that Rebellion wherein whole Rivers of humane Blood were most inhumanely shed and the Fields of that Island formerly for its Renowned Piety called the Island of Saints blushed with so many Carnages as were capable of changing the name into the Island of Devils were it not that the better
found guilty of them be punished Yet we may not omit although no motive whatsoever could justifie their Vndertakings to represent That before they fell from their Obedience to the Government Sir William Parsons one of the Lords Justices that supplied the Deputy's place at a publique Entertainment before many Witnesses did positively declare That within a Twelvemonth no Catholick should be seen in Ireland Many hands were sought and Thousands were found to subscribe a Petition tending to the introducing a severe Persecution against Catholiques who were the far greater number of the Inhabitants of Ireland and the menace of an Invasion of a Scottish Army of which men did at that time frequently discourse bred frightful apprehensions So as these and other Grounds of suspition being improved by such among them whose particular Interests could be most favoured and better advanced in Vnquiet Times laid the Foundation of that Rebellion But even those Men and at that time when the Lords Justices did not appear to be prepared for Resistance by their Remonstrance humbly begg'd their Grievances might be redressed by the Advice of the Two Houses of Parliament then met at Dublin But the Lords Justices who by their Words and Actions not only Expressed their unwillingness to stop the farther growth of these Distempers but meant to increase them and were often heard to wish That the Number were greater of such as became Criminal by Proroguing the Parliament made them Desperate However the Nation by their Representatives in the two days which were only allowed them to Sit husbanded their time so as to leave to Posterity a Monument of their aversion to such attempts by declaring That those men had Trayterously and Rebelliously taken Arms and offering to employ their Lives and Fortunes in reducing them to their Obedience if they might be permitted then to Sit. But this was denyed them and by a strange change from the Ancient Form of Government a Parliament then Sitting was Prorogued whereas our Ancestors upon a far less occasion then quieting of so high distempers were usually called upon to Assist the King with their Advice To this may be added That the Earl of Ormond proposed at the Council-Board the raising of 5000 Men in the space of Three Weeks if he might be authorised so to do with which Strength he undertook to dissipate those then weak beginnings of the Ensuing Mischiefs and to prevent their farther growth but was refused it so as thus far we may observe who they were that widened the Wound instead of stanching the Blood This Foundation being thus laid that which at first was but a spark and might be easily quenched began to Flame And freedom of Rapine having suddenly drawn Numbers together the unrepress't Conspirators became a Formidable Army and besieged Tredah passing the River of Boyne which was the Rubicon of the Pale and had in all former Rebellions been maintained with their blood by those antient English Colonies planted there Now it was that the Times began to favour the Design of the Lords Justices and their Party in the Council which was as forward as they to foment the Distractions for the Ulster Army lying in the Bowels of the Country the Forces being not yet come out of England and the Natives themselves both unarm'd and distrusted by the State they were forced at first by their Regular Contribution to prevent the desolation which would have followed their refusal to supply them Hereupon such Contributors began to be looked upon and Character'd as Men fallen from the Government And a Party that was sent from Dublin having killed at Santry but three Miles distant from thence some innocent Husband-men among whom there was two Protestants and carried their heads as in Triumph to the City the neighbour Inhabitants alarm'd thereat had recourse to such Weapons as first came to hand and gathered in a Body whereupon the Lords Justices set forth a Proclamation in Nature of a safe Conduct by which these so in Arms and Mr. King of Clantarffe by special name had five days respite to come in and present their Grievances But before three Nights of the time prefixed were Expired Mr. King 's House was Pillaged and Burnt by direction of the Lords Justices Not long after supplies being arrived out of England and the Siege of Tredagh Raised and consequently the force removed which necessitated the Inhabitants to comply with the Ulster Army the Nobility and Gentry of the Pale prevailed with Sir John Read His Majesties Sworn Servant a stranger to the Country un-engaged and an Eye-witness of their proceedings then upon his Journey to England to take the pains to present their Remonstrance to His Majesty and to beg Pardon for what they were thus compelled to Act. But he poor Gentleman coming to Dublin was apprehended and not concealing the Message intrusted with him was put to the Rack the most part of the Questions which were then asked him in Torment being no other then such as might lead him to accuse the King and Queen to be Authors and Fomenters of that Rebellion Moreover the Two Houses of Parliament in England for the better inducing the Rebels to repent of their wicked attempts commended to the Lords Justices according to the Power granted them in that behalf to bestow His Majesties Gracious Pardon to all such as within a Convenient time c. should return to their Obedience The Lords Justices notwithstanding such Order and His Majesties Gracious Pleasure signified to that effect by their Proclamation dated in November 1641 limited such His Majesty's and the Parliament's of England their favourable and general intentions to the Inhabitants of a few Counties provided always they were not Free-holders and afforded them no longer time then Ten days after the Proclamation to receive benefit thereby But notwithstanding these Restrictions the Lord of Dunsany Sir John Netervill Patrick Barnewal of Kilbrue and many others who had notice of His Majesties Gracious Inclination towards the Nation and the Parliament of England 's Order in favour of them submitted to the Lord Marquess of Ormond then Lieutenant General of His Majesties Army who recommended them to the Lords Justices intimating that the good Vsage to be Extended to them would have an Influence on many others and be a great Motive to quiet the Distempers which then began to spread But the Lords Justices whose Design was not to be carried on by Mercy and Indulgence to prevent Submissions Imprisoned and Indicted by a Jury which did not consist of Freeholders those so Submitting and put the said Mr. Barnewal of the Age of 66 years to the Torture of the Rack This notwithstanding the Noblemen and Gentry inhabiting the Country next to Dublin applied themselves humbly by their Letter to the Lords Justices which when the Earl of Castlehaven a Nobleman of English Birth who freely before that time had access to Dublin came to present he was made a Prisoner Wherefore when the Nation observed That their advice in
nor any Security given therefore they desired their Lordships to take the same into Consideration for they relied more upon their Lordships Honor than their Security He said There was now such a slighting of the Government of the City that there is an Equality between the Mayor and the Commons the Power of the Mayor no more then that of the Commoners of the City they desired but Countenance from their Lordships and their Lordships shall have Service from them The Recorder delivered this as their Answer That they had hearty and good Affection to the Cause it being for Religion's sake the saving the Lives and Estates of Protestants the saving of a Kingdom and preserving it to the dependency of this Crown they would do their utmost Endeavours but would not promise any thing before every man had consulted with himself what he was able to do which they promised to do speedily and he hoped to give a further account thereof this Night Mr. Pierrepoint also in the Commons House made the Report about the same Proposition The Commons Report about the same which because it varies from the other in some particulars I will insert here as follows He said That according to the Commands of the House several of the Committee went to the Lord Major and Common Councel and delivered the Commands of this House how well this House took the former Lending of Money The Answer given us by Mr. Recorder was 1 That there were several Grievances they suffered under as first under the Protections which are granted which did not only hinder their lending of Money but did stop Trade To that Sir Henry Vane did give them satisfaction both of the Order lately made against Mr. Benson for granting of Protections and that this House had committed to the Care of a Committee to draw a Bill to prevent the Inconveniences that happen thereby Next Mr. Recorder propounded That 50000 l. heretofore lent to the Peerage of this Realm for the Publique Affairs is not yet paid Next the Common Council did find themselves aggrieved by a disrespect shewn to the Lord Mayor and the Magistrates of London by divers people who refuse to give any Obedience to any Warrant to appear before the Lord Mayor declaring they would not come and particularly in the Case of providing of Money and for their Loans of Money they will take into consideration and give an Answer this Day but the Security for the same is Expected to be by Act of Parliament The Commons then entred upon the consideration of the Irish affairs and several Votes were passed in order to the Relief of that Kingdom which were presented to the Lords for their Concurrence and which to avoid unnecessary repetitions the Reader will find when they come before the Lords An Information was brought to the House by one Richard Butch a Warder That there was great resort to Father Phillips in the Tower An Information against Phillips the Priest in the Tower Whereupon it was Ordered That Sir Gilbert Gerrard Sir John Franklyn Sir Thomas Barrington and Mr. Laurence Whittacre do forthwith repair to the Tower to Examine all such Strangers as they shall find there of their Dwelling and Business there and to tender them the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and the Warders are hereby required to suffer none to come out of the Tower till these Gentlemen are come forth again Mr. Maynard Reported the Case of Gatton in Surrey Mr. Owfield his Election to serve for that Place is settled Case of Gatton in Surrey upon Election of Members the difference resteth between Mr. Sandys and Mr. Sanders who are returned by two Indentures Mr. Sanders hath for him 14 Voices Mr. Sandys hath 8 Voices but of the 14 Voices for Mr. Sanders 8 of them are dwellers out of the Town and one of them a Minister yet all of them have Freehold in the Town and of Mr. Sandys 8 Voices one of them was a Recusant Convict another the Clerk of the Parish who receiveth Yearly Wages from the Parish and then if these two should be declared to have no Voices their Voices are Equal so the Question in Debate was Whether the Election belonged to the Burgesses by Common Right or that the Free-holders dwelling out of the Town who had Freeholds in the Town ought to have Voices by virtue of a Particular Prescription The Committee were of Opinion That there was a Prescription in this Case which was good against a Common Right It appears by a Record 33 H. 8. that a Return was made by one Inhabitant And 10 E. 6. 6 E. 6. Returns made by the Inhabitants and Burgesses But 18 Jac. a President was shewn on the behalf of the Freeholders And for the Parson of the Parish Whether he shall have a Voice that cannot Sit here if he were chosen and next whether by Law a Recusant Convict ought to have a Voice and thirdly to receive the Judgment of the House whether one that receives Alms of the Parish shall have a Voice and then whether the Clark of the Parish who receives 50 s. per annum of the Parish is one that lives of the Alms of the Parish These were doubts offered to the Committee in the debate of this Election Vpon the matter it was Resolved c. That there is no sufficient proof of a Prescription against the Common Right within the Burrough of Gatton in Com. Surrey Resolved c. That the Parish Clark of the Burrough of Gatton does not appear upon the Evidence given to this House to be an Alms-man Resolved c. That Mr. Sanders Election for the Burrough of Gatton is not good Resolved c. That Mr. Sandys Election for the Burrough of Gatton is good Resolved c. That Mr. Sandys is well Elected and ought to Sit as a Member of this House upon the Election for the Burrough of Gatton The Lord Keeper signified this Day Thursday Novem. 4. That he had received a Letter from Mr. Secretary Vane dated the 28th of October last from Holy-Rood House touching the Intelligence which his Majesty had received in Scotland concerning the Rebellion in Ireland which is by his Majesties Command to be communicated to both Houses of Parliament here to whom he hath recommended the Care of those Affairs and Expects their Advice what Course is fittest to be taken for the reducing of that Kingdom The King Informed in Scotland of the Irish Rebellion recommends it to the Care of the Parliament Marquess of Winton has leave to sell his Arms. Likewise his Lordship said he had received Copies of other Letters which were sent to his Majesty out of the North Parts of Ireland desiring his Majesty to send them speedy Supplies for the Saving of that Kingdom All which were referred to the Committee for Irish Affairs It was Ordered That the Lord Marquess of Winchester shall have liberty by vertue of this Order to sell off his Arms to such Tradesmen as
will buy the same The Lord Bishop of Lincoln gave this House an Account Bishop of Lincoln Reports the Votes about the Irish Affairs what the Committees for Irish Affairs had considered of and presented some Votes and Orders of the House of Commons in which they desire their Lordships to joyn with them which were read as follows Resolved upon the Question That the House of Commons holds it fit That 20000 l. shall be forthwith supplyed for the present Occasions of Ireland out of the Moneys that are now in ready Cash or shall first come in Resolved c. That a convenient number of Ships shall be provided for the Guarding of the Sea-Coasts of Ireland Resolved c. That the House of Commons holds it fit that Six Thousand Foot and Two Thousand Horse shall be raised with all convenient speed for the present Expedition into Ireland Resolved c. That such Officers shall be forthwith sent over into Ireland for the Commanding of Men there as shall be thought fit by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland with the approbation of both Houses of Parliament Resolved c. That a Magazine of Victuals shall be forthwith provided at West-Chester to be sent over to Dublin as the Occasion of that Kingdom shall require Resolved c. That the Magazin of Arms Ammunition and Powder at Carlisle shall be forthwith sent over to Knockfergus in Ireland Resolved c. That in Bristol and West-Chester and one other Port in Cumberland Magazines of Arms Ammunition Powder and Victuals shall be provided to be Transported into the next convenient Ports of Ireland as the Occasions of that Kingdom shall require Resolved c. That all Arms Ammunition and Powder in the Magazine at Hull Except such a proportion of Powder Bullet and Match as shall be thought fit for Supply of the Northern Counties as Occasion shall require be Transported to the Tower of London Resolved c. That a convenient Number of Engineers and Gunners shall be sent into Ireland Resolved c. That a Post shall be set up between Beaumarish and Holy-head Resolved c. That it be referred to the Kings Councel to consider of some fit way and to present it to the Houses for a Publication to be made of Rewards to be given to such as shall do Service in this Expedition into Ireland and for a Pardon of such of the Rebels in Ireland as shall come in by a time limited and of a Sum of Money to be appointed for a Reward to such as shall bring in the Heads of such principal Rebels as shall be nominated Resolved c. That Letters shall be forthwith sent to the Justices in Ireland to acquaint them how sensible this House is of the Affairs in Ireland and what Care they have taken for the Occasion of Ireland Resolved c. That the House of Commons holds it fit that a Drum shall be forthwith beaten for the calling in of Volunteers for this Service for Ireland Ordered That Directions be given for the Drawing a Bill for the Pressing of Men for this particular Service for Ireland and Mr. Serjeant Wild is desired to prepare a Bill for that purpose Ordered That the 11000 l. in ready Cash in the Chamber of London shall be forthwith paid over to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for the present Occasions of that Kingdom and that the Commissioners and Treasurers appointed in the Act grant forth their Warrants and Orders accordingly Ordered That the Officers and Customers of the several Ports of this Kingdom towards Ireland do make diligent Search in all Trunks and other Carriages that come to be Transported from England to Ireland that belong to any Papist or suspected person and particularly that those Trunks sent by Exeter shall be stayed and searched Ordered That the Committee for Irish Affairs of the House of Commons shall propound to the Committee of Lords to prepare Heads to be considered of how and in what manner this Kingdom shall make use of the Friendship and Assistance of Scotland in this business of Ireland After this the Lord Bishop of Lincoln acquainted the House with a draught of a Declaration to be sent into Ireland to the Lords Justices with a Letter from the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament which was read in haec verba The Declaration THe Lords and Commons in this present Parliament being advertized of the dangerous Conspiracy and Rebellion in Ireland The Declaration of the English Parliament about the Irish Rebellion by the treacherous and wicked Instigation of Romish Priests and Jesuits for the bloody Massacre and Destruction of all the Protestants living there and other his Majesties Loyal Subjects of English Blood though of the Romish Religion being antient Inhabitants within several Counties and Parts of that Realm who have alwayes in former Rebellions given Testimony of their Fidelity to this Crown and for the utter depriving of his Royal Majesty and the Crown of England from the Government of that Kingdom under pretence of setting up the Popish Religion have thereupon taken into their Serious Consideration how these Mischievous Attempts might be most Speedily and Effectually prevented wherein the Honour Safety and Interest of this Kingdom are most nearly and fully concerned Wherefore they do hereby Declare That they do intend to serve his Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes for the Suppressing of this Wicked Rebellion in such a way as shall be thought most Effectual by the Wisdom and Authority of Parliament And thereupon have ordered and provided for a present Supply of Moneys and raising the number of 6000 Foot and 2000 Horse to be sent from England being the full proportion desired by the Lords Justices and his Majesties Councel Resident in that Kingdom with a Resolution to add such further Succours as the Necessity of those Affairs shall require They have also resolved of providing Arms and Munition not only for those Men but likewise for his Majesties Faithful Subjects in that Kingdom with Stores of Victuals and other Necessaries as there shall be occasion and that these Provisions may more conveniently be Transported thither they have appointed Three several Ports of this Kingdom that is to say Bristol West-Chester and one other in Cumberland where the Magazines and Store-Houses shall be kept for the Supply of the several Parts of Ireland They have likewise Resolved to be humble Mediators to his Majesty for the Encouragement of those English or Irish who shall upon their own Charges raise any number of Horse or Foot for his Service against the Rebels that they shall be honourably rewarded with Lands of Inheritance in Ireland according to their Merits and for the inducing the Rebels to repent of their wicked Attempts they do hereby commend it to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or in his absence to the Lord Deputy or Lords Justices there according to the Power of the Commission granted them in that behalf to bestow his Majesties Gracious Pardon to all such as within
and thrie Borrowis to meet the Erle of Eglingtowne at thrie Howris afternoon to take to thair Consideration be way of Estimation or Conjecture the Nombre of Bottis or Lime Faddis which in the Partis of this Kingdom lying opposite to Ireland may be had in readiness and what Nombre of men may be Transported thairin and to report again to the Parliament Vera Copia GIBSON After which was read An Information from Chester against two Irish Men. a Packet of Letters directed to the Lords in Parliament sent from the Maior of Chester wherein was an Information upon Oath taken by the Maior and Aldermen of one Thomas Cremer of Graies-Inn Gent. Dated the 30th of October last That he meeting with a Gentleman that calleth himself by the Name of Magenes Brother to the Lord Magenes at the House of Widdow Belson in Weston upon some Conference betwixt them the said Magenes told the said Cremer that he was to go for Ireland being lately come from Spain to see my Lord Mac-guire and that he was sent for thither and further said That he hoped ere long that the Irish would drive out the Scots out of Ireland and that there is a Business that you would not think of And said to the said Cremer that he had returned 8 or 900 l. out of London into Ireland to raise Forces for the King of Spain And also saith that there was one other in Company of the said Magenes which called himself by the Name of Readmond Yesternight in the Company of the said Cremer who drunk a health to the Confusion of the Protestants in Ireland and that the aforesaid Magenes further said That since the Business was discovered he would go to London along with the said Cremer if he would lend him some Mony And further Cremer saith that the said Magenes hearing of the Rebellion in Ireland said That he was very glad and joyful of the News and that he liked very well of it and that he would give any thing to be in Ireland and did shew himself to be very angry with the Master of the Ship in which he intended to go for Ireland for neglecting the Wind saying he might meet with him in Ireland where a Man might be revenged on such Fellows but afterwards the said Magenes hearing that my Lord Macguire was taken seemed to be very sorrowful and said to the said Cremer That since it is discovered he would go to London along with him if he would lend him some Money Tho. Cowper Major Will. Gamull Tho. Cremer Nich. Ivie c. Whereupon it was Ordered That the said Arthur Magenes and Readmond Comyn being now under restraint in the City of Chester shall be forthwith brought in safe Custody by the Sheriffs of the said City and appear before the Lords in Parliament to answer the aforesaid Information and then this House will give such further Order and Directions therein as shall be agreeable to Justice The Lord Seymour Reported to the House That he had according to their Lordships Command presented the Message from this House to the Queen concerning Robert Phillips and Her Majesty returned this answer viz. My Lords THe Message I received from you by my Lord Seymour The Queens Answer concerning Father Phillips I have taken into serious Consideration and do not a little wonder that Father Phillips should so much forget himself as I find he hath done by the Message sent unto me which I am so far from approving as I cannot but be sorry he hath done it I must acknowledg your Respects unto me in giving Me Satisfaction of your Proceedings therein if I did not believe what is done by him is out of Simplicity I should not speak for him You all know how near he is unto me by that place which he holds and if it shall appear unto you that he hath not maliciously done any thing against the State if for my Sake you shall pass by his present Offence I shall take it as a further Testimony of your farther Respects unto me which I shall be ready to acknowledg upon all Occasions thaâ— shall be offered Whereupon it was Ordered to have a Conference with the House of Commons to acquaint them with this Answer of the Queens This day an Ordinance of Parliament to give Power to the L. Lieutenant of Ireland to give Commissions and to raise Men for Ireland having been read yesterday Saturday Novemb. 6. and passed in the Commons House was also read and passed by the Lords as followeth viz. THe Lords and Commons in Parliament An Ordinance of Lords and Commons to enable the E. of Leicester to raise men for Ireland being very sensible of the great Danger and Combustion in Ireland by reason of the multitude of Rebels now in Arms for the destruction of His Majesties Loyal Subjects there and the withdrawing that Kingdom from the Allegiance of His Majesty and the Crown of England and forasmuch as in this time of His Majesties absence his Royal Commission cannot be so soon obtained as the necessity of that Kingdom doth require and for more speedy opposing the wicked and Trayterous attempts of the Rebels there and for that His Majesty hath especially recommended the care of the preservation of that Kingdom unto both the Houses of Parliament do hereby Ordain and Authorize Robert Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by Warrant under his Hand and Seal to give one or more Commissions to such Captains Commanders and other Officers as to his Lordship shall seem Expedient for the Levying of 3500 Foot and 600 Horse by the beating of Drum of such Persons as shall voluntarily undertake the same Service by accepting of Prest-mony which persons are to be raised in such several Parts of the Kingdom as shall be most convenient for their passage into the Parts of Ireland which his Lordship shall think most necessary to be forthwith supplied and for the furnishing of the same Men as also of other of his Majesties Subjects in that Kingdom we have Ordained that the Earl of Newport Master of His Majesties Ordnance shall deliver a number of Arms Munition and Powder answerable unto the said Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to be disposed of as he shall think fit for the best defence of that Kingdom and for the Levying of the said number of Men this Ordinance of Parliament shall be his sufficient Warrant The Ordinance to enable the Lord Newport to deliver the Arms and Ammunition was also read and passed as the other in these Words FOrasmuch as it is held most expedient and necessary for the safety of His Majesties Kingdom of Ireland The Ordinance of the Lords and Commons to enable the Master of the Orduance to deliver Arms c. to the Lieutenant of Ireland and his Loyal Subjects there that such numbers of Soldiers both Horse and Foot as are forthwith to be raised for the defence of that Kingdom should be supplied with Arms and other Munition
which by reason of his Majesties absence out of the Kingdom cannot be done by His Majesties immediate Warrant so speedily as the imminent danger and necessity of that Kingdom doth require and for that His Majesty hath especially recommended the Care of the Preservation of that Kingdom unto both the Houses of Parliament It is Ordained by the Lords and Commons in Parliament That Mountjoy Earl of Newport Master of His Majesties Ordnance shall deliver to the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or to such other person or persons as he shall appoint to receive the same the full number of 1000 Arms for Horse-men and 8000 Arms for Foot and the quantity of 10 Last of Powder and such other Munition Tents and Provisions of all sorts as shall be needful for this Service according to a List to be agreed upon and allowed by the said Lords and Commons hereunto annexed out of His Majesties Stores and Magazines in the Tower of London the City of Carlisle the Town of Hull or elsewhere and for so doing this shall be a sufficient Warrant as well for his Lordship as for any of his Deputies or Vnder-Officers in that behalf An Ordinance also for providing Shipping for Transportation of Men and Munition was read and passed in haec verba WHereas by Order of Parliament Men Arms The Ordinance of the Lords and Commons to impower the L. High Admiral to provide Shipping c. Munition and other Provisions are suddenly to be transported from several Ports in this Realm viz. Bristol Chester and others for which Service it will be requisite that Ships be provided with all expedition It is this day Ordered by the Lords and Commons in Parliament that the Lord High Admiral of England be desired to take care that Ships be accordingly provided in the several Ports respectively within this Kingdom from whence the aforesaid Men Arms Ammunition and other Provisions are Ordered to be Transported into Ireland which is to be done with all expedition the Parliament having resolved to see Moneys supplied for the performance of this Service After this the Lord Keeper reported the Conference with the House of Commons to this effect That the House of Commons have presented to their Lordships some Propositions which have been Voted in their House The Report of the Conference about Capuchins c. and desires their Lordships to take them into Consideration and join with them therein 1. Concerning the Dissolving the House of the Capuchins and the speedy sending them away according the former desires of their House 2. That the Ambassadors may be sent to from both Houses to deliver up such Priests of the King's Subjects as are in their Houses 3. That a List may be brought in of the Queens Priests and other her Servants and that a List may be likewise brought in of the Prince's and other of the King's Childrens Servants 4. That a Proclamation may issue for the Commanding that all Strangers that are not of the Protestant Religion except such as are Men of Rank and Quality and live here in such a publick way whereby notice is taken of them and of the Cause of their aboad in this Kingdom do deliver in Tickets of their Names and an account of their stay here within two days after the issuing forth of the Proclamation or else depart the Kingdom forthwith And likewise requiring that all Inn-keepers or others that entertain Lodgers to give Tickets of the Names of such as lodge in their Houses within two days likewise after the issuing forth of the said Proclamation and that these Tickets be given by those in the City of London to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the Wards respectively where they reside and by those of Middlesex and Surrey and other Places within 10 Miles of London to the Justices of the Peace next adjoining to the place of their Residence and this Order to extend to the City of London and Ten Miles about 5. That the House of Commons had presented their Lordships with some Scottish Papers being Examinations concerning the late Design against the Lord Marquess Hamilton Earl of Arguile and the Earl of Lannerick Likewise they produced written from their Committees at Edinburgh Letters dated the 27th of October with an enclosed Paper containing as follows viz. The Paper of the 5th of October Exhibited by the English Committee October the 7th 1641. THE Committees of the Parliament of England have now sent down sufficient Moneys for the Total Disbanding of the Garrisons of Barwick and Carlisle Some Transactions between the English Committee at Edinburgh and the Scottish Parliament and have Ordered That it shall be Effected by the 10th of this present Month And have likewise taken a Course for removing the Ammunition and Ordnance and for slighting of the Works according to the Treaty We desire therefore That that part of the Army which is yet on foot may be forthwith Disbanded and that what new Fortifications have been made in Scotland by occasion of the late Troubles may be presently demolished according to the same Treaty The Answer to the Paper delivered in by the English Committees to the Committee of the Army Exhibited 7. Octobris 1641. THat the Regiments which are yet on foot may be speedily Disbanded they are drawn according to the Order already given near towards Edenburgh to the Effect they may with greater Conveniency be Mustered and thereafter money may be given for their Pay and forthwith disbanded And any new Fortifications which have been made in Scotland by Occasion of the late Troubles shall presently be demolished that every Condition on our part may to your full Satisfaction be performed according to the Treaty And we do no wise doubt to find mutual performances and that the Garrisons at Barwick and Carlisle according to the Orders of the Parliament be totally Disbanded which being shewn to the Parliament of England we hope will give them Satisfaction 22 October 1641. Produced by the Lord Chancellor and read in Audience of his Majesty and the Parliament who nominates the Lord Burgley in place of the Earl of Argyle to be upon the Committee for providing Money to pay the Regiments And also Ordains An Order to be given to the Lord General for causing the demolishing the Fortifications at Mordington which was accordingly done Alex. Gibsone 6. Concerning the putting the Custody of the Isle of Wight into another hand as formerly was desired 7. Concerning the securing of the persons of Papists upon the former Propositions 8. That the Earl of Essex may have Power from both Houses to Command the Trained Bands on this side Trent upon all Occasions for the Defence of the Kingdom and that this power may continue until the Parliament shall take further Order This Report being Ended the House caused those particulars to be distinctly read again and gave these Resolutions upon them Resolved upon the Question Nemine Contradicente That the House or Covent of Capuchins here
in England shall be dissolved Concerning the sending of the Capuchins out of the Kingdom The Votes of the Lords upon these Eight Propositions this House will suspend giving any Resolution therein until a List of the Queens Priests and Servants is brought in Resolved upon the Question That the Ambassadors be desired from the Parliament to dismiss out of their Houses such Priests as are the Kings Native born Subjects and in case they shall hereafter be found abroad they shall not have any protection but be proceeded in according to the Laws of this Kingdom Resolved c. That the Lord Chamberlain of the Queen shall bring in a List of the Queens Priests and Servants and the Lord Chamberlain of his Majesties Houshold shall bring in a List of the Names of the Servants belonging to the King Prince and the rest of the King's Children 4. To the Fourth It is Ordered That this House agrees to this Resolution but do refer the manner of issuing out the Proclamation until the Commission given to the Lords of the Councel for issuing out Proclamations be perused 6. Concerning the sequestring of the Isle of Wight into another Hand this House thought fit to return this Answer to the House of Commons That in regard they have offered no Reasons for the same their Lordships know not how to give an Answer But when they shall shew their Lordships Reasons for so doing they will take the business into Consideration 7. Concerning the securing the persons of Recusants It is Ordered To be debated on Monday Morning next 8. Concerning the Earl of Essex 's having Power over the Trained Bands this House defers their Resolutions concerning it until the Commission of the Earl of Essex for Captain General of the South be brought into this House and perused which is to be done on Munday next In the Commons House It was Ordered Connelly Ordered to have 500 l. paid presently That whereas Owen O Connelly who discovered the Treason in Ireland had 500 l. appointed him in part of Recompence that Sir Robert Pye and Mr. Wheeler the Treasurers for the Poll-money of Westminster do forthwith pay unto the said Connelly the said 500 l. The greatest part of the Morning was spent in preparing the Heads for the fore-mentioned Conference with the Lords But among all these great Affairs which were before them the Faction in the House was still at Leisure to fall upon the Loyal and Orthodox Clergy against whom they had a most irreconcileable Animosity For upon a Complaint and Information given in to the House by some of the Zealots without Doors who made it a great part of their Religion to Inform and Article against the Loyal and Orthodox Clergy It was this day Ordered That Dr. Fuller Dr. Fuller Dean of Ely sent for as a Delinquent for his Sermons Dean of Ely shall be sent for as a Delinquent for divers dangerous and scandalous matters delivered by him in several Sermons Thus did these persons who would not permit the Clergy to intermeddle in Secular Affairs boldly thrust their Sickle into the harvest of Spiritual Matters though by the Confession of One of their own Members in a Speech he saith he intended to have spoken as this day to arraign the Order of the 8th of September they were not Idonei Competentes Judices This day it seems was fixed for the Debating the Validity of that Order but by the intervening of other business it was put off and so lay sine die however I think it is not fit to let the Speech sleep so too which it may be was the best that Unfortunate Gentleman ever made or intended to speak in that place where swimming down the rapid Torrent of General Accusations of Fears and Jealousies he so far lost himself that when he would have done something to the stopping the Breaches in the Banks of the Government which he had helped to cut he found it as many others did out of his power to Effect and was himself in danger of being presently drowned in the Deluge which he had helped to raise with the Wind of Popular breath The Speech as I find it in his own Collections pag. 37. was in these Words Master Speaker ME thinks A Speech of Sir Edward Deering's about the Order of the Commons of Sept. 8. 1641. I am now going to Walk upon the Ridge of a House a dangerous Praecipice on either Hand On the one side I must take heed that I speak neither more nor less than the inward Dictate of my own Conscience on the other Hand I shall be afraid to presume above your better Judgments My Path is narrow I must look to my Footing Dixi custodiam vias meas c. I said I will look to my Waies that I Offend not in my Tongue Thus I preface because I foreknow that I shall speak to the dislike of some Worthy Members of this Honorable House Sir Two Questions are before us First in General how far an Order of this House is binding de foris not upon our own Members here but upon the People the King's Subjects abroad Secondly the Validity and Invalidity of your particular Order of the Eighth and Declaration of the ninth of September last For the First I am clear in this Opinion That we may enforce any thing that is undoubtedly grounded upon the Law of the Land Shew me that Foundation and I will concur with you in any Resolution We may also declare against any Thing that is introduced contrary to our Laws Farther than this I know no Way unless it be by Bill and then I know no Limitation no bound Thus in brief for the General I come now to your particular Order Master Speaker I shall be afraid to arraign your Orders I have already been Controlled not for doing so but as if I had done so yet Sir I have often heard it in this House that We are Masters of our own Orders and then I think we may in this Place arraign them that is Question them Try them Approve Alter Reject or Condemn them Was not our Protestation more sacred than an Order yet that was revised and to stop some Objections new Senced by us And I take it lawful in this Place to arraign if that be the Word even an Act of Parliament and then a fortiori an Order of this House Surely Sir I shall speak reverently of all your Orders when I am abroad I have done so of this I am resolved that my Obedience shall therein be found good although my particular Reason be rebellant to your Conclusions This is my Duty abroad but here in this House within these Walls freedome is my Inheritance and give me lieve I pray at this time to use a part of my Birth-right The Seasonableness and the Equity of your Order both are controverted You all know that this is a dangerous time to make any determinations in Matter of Religion whether it be in the
the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland making some scruple of raising Men to be imployed in the busness of Ireland without the King's Commission and his Lordship desiring to have the Authority of the Parliament for the same in the mean time It is thought fit and so Ordered by the Lords in Parliament according to the Power given unto them by His Majesty mentioned in an Order dated the sixth of November 1641. That the said Lord Lieutenant shall have full power by virtue of this Order to Levy Men according to the Order given him from the Parliament in the interim until His Majesty shall grant him a Commission under the Great Seal of England for his Warrant for so doing The House of Commons did also take notice of the Doubt of the Earl but notwithstanding did resolve and think fit that he should proceed to raise men for the Service by Virtue of the Ordinance of Parliament It was also Ordered by the Lords and Commons A Council of War for the Affairs of Ireland That the Lord Viscount Wilmot Sir John Conyers Sir Jacob Ashly Sir Simon Harcourt Sir John Heyden Sir Foulk Hunks Sir Thomas Glemham Sir Robert King Colonel Culpeper Colonel Vavasor Lieutenant Colonel Ballard and Captain Skippon shall be Assistants as a Council of War to the Committees of both Houses of Parliament appointed for the Affairs of Ireland and have full Power by virtue of this Order to meet and consider of the present state and condition of the said Kingdom and also of an Establishment for the Army Lords agree with the Commons to put the Laws against the Papists in Execution speedily The Lords then entred upon the Consideration of the Proposition sent from the Commons concerning securing the Persons of Popish Recusants and after a long Debate the Result was this That whereas the House of Commons desired that the persons of the Romish Recusants for the safety of the Kingdom might be secured this House doth consent with them therein and Orders That the Laws of this Kingdom shall be put into Execution against them presently Upon the desire of the Commons by Mr. Pym Letters from France and Antworp stopped it was Ordered by the Lords That the Foreign Letters from France and Antwerp be stopped and perused by the Lords Committees for opening Letters there being as Mr. Pym said ground and intelligence that those Letters will discover some Root of the Rebellion in Ireland The Declaration of the State of the Kingdom was also this day read and it was moved that a Consideration of these particulars might be added and which is very uncommon I find in the Margin of the Journal the Names of the Persons which made the several Motions which in regard it is to be supposed they did it in futuram rei Memoriam that Posterity might not hereafter be to seek for their Names I will take care to transmit them down to future Ages but whether they will have Statutes Erected for the Achievement I cannot promise unless it be of Infamy Moved That the last Expedition into Germany J. C. but whether Corbet or Clotworthy I cannot tell The Loans upon Privy Seals The Commission of Excise might be added The Additional Explanation to the Petition of Right Palmer I suppose The Declaration set forth upon the Breach of both Parliaments Strode The Proclamation set forth Wingate forbidding People so much as to talk of a Parliament Gun-Powder Monopoly J. C. as it was a Project for the disarming of the Kingdom The destruction of Timber Wildt especially in the Forrest of Dean by Recusants The Entituling the King to the Lands between High-Water J. C. and Low-Water mark The abuses of Purveyors and Salt-Petre men Whitlock The Commission of Sewers to be further Explained Cromwel The Court of Wards Smyth The Jurisdiction of the Council of the Marches The Council Table as they take Cognizance of Me Te. The Buying and Selling of Honours and Dignities The further Debate ordered to be resumed to Morrow The Lord Keeper Reported the Conference with the Commons Yesterday That Mr. Pym delivered by Command divers Heads agreed upon by the Commons Wednesday Novem. 10. which are Instructions to be sent to the Commissioners of both Houses now attending his Majesty in Scotland which they desire their Lordships to joyn with them in The Instructions were read in haec verba 1. YOu shall humbly inform his Majesty Instructions to the Commissioners in Scotland Nov. 10th 1641. That the Propositions made to the Parliament of Scotland concerning their Assistance for suppressing the Rebellion in Ireland hath been fully considered and debated by both Houses of Parliament here and their Wise and Brotherly Expressions and Proceedings are apprehended and Entertained here by us not only with Approbation but with Thankfulness Wherefore we desire that his Majesty will be pleased That You in the Name of the Lords and Commons of England give publick Thanks to the States of the Parliament of Scotland for their Care and Readiness to imploy the Forces of that Kingdom for the reducing the Rebellious Subjects of Ireland to their due Obedience to his Majesty and the Crown of England 2. You shall further make known to his Majesty That in the great and almost Vniversal Revolt of the Natives of Ireland cherished and fomented as we have Cause to doubt by the Secret Practices and Encouragements of some Forreign States ill-affected to the Crown and that the Northern Parts of that Kingdom may with much more Ease and Speed be supplied from Scotland than from England We humbly desire and beseech his Majesty to make Vse of the Assistance of his Parliament and Subjects of Scotland for the present Relief of those Parts of Ireland which lie nearest to them according to the Treaty agreed upon and confirmed in both Parliaments and this Affectionate und Friendly Disposition now lately Expressed as is more particularly specified in the 5th Article 3. You shall present to His Majesty the Copy Enclosed of the Declaration which We have sent into Ireland for the Encouragement of his good Subjects there and for the more speedy and Effectual opposing of the Rebels and in Execution and performance of our Expressions therein made of Zeal and Faithfulness to his Majesties Service We have already taken Care for 50000 l. to be presently Borrowed and Secured by Parliament We have likewise resolved to hasten the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland very speedily to repair thither and forthwith to raise a Convenient number of Horse and Foot for securing Dublin and the English Pale with such other Parts as remain in his Majesties subjection intending to second them with a far greater Supply 4. We have further Ordered and Directed That his Majesties Arms and Munition lying in the City of Carlisle shall be Transported into the North Parts of Ireland for the supply of Carrick-fergus and other his Majesties Forts and
Garrisons there and that a convenient Number of Men shall be sent from the North Parts of England for the better Guard and Defence of those Forts and Countries adjoyning and that a large proportion of Arms and other Munition shall be speedily conveyed out of his Majesties Stores to West-Chester to be disposed of according to the Direction of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for arming the Men to be sent from England and such other of his Majesties Loyal Subjects as may be raised in Ireland 5. And because we understand That the Rebels are like with great strength to attempt the ruin and destruction of the Brittish Plantation in Ulster we humbly Advise his Majesty by the Council and Authority of his Parliament in Scotland to provide that one Regiment consisting if 1000 men furnish't and accomplish't with all necessary Arms and Munition as shall seem best to their Great Wisdoms and Experience may with all possible speed be Transported into Ireland under the Command of some Worthy Person well affected to the Reformed Religion and the Peace of both Kingdoms and well Enabled with Skill Judgment and Reputation for such an Employment which Forces we desire may be Quartered in those Northern Parts for the Opposing the Rebels and Comfort and Assistance of his Majesties good Subjects there with Instructions from his Majesty and the Parliament of Scotland that they shall upon all Occasions pursue and observe the Directions of the Lord Lieutenant his Lieutenant General or the Governor of Ireland according to their Authority derived from his Majesty and the Crown of England 6. And as touching the Wages and other Charges needful which this Assistance will require We would have You in our Name to beseech His Majesty to commend it to our Brethren the Estates of the Parliament of Scotland to take it into their Care on the behalf of His Majesty and this Kingdom to make such agreements with all the Commanders and Soldiers to be imployed as they would do in the like Case for themselves and to let them know For Our parts We do wholly rely upon their Honorable and Friendly dealing with us and will take Care that Satisfaction be made accordingly 7. You shall represent to his most Excellent Majesty this our Humble and Faithful Declaration that we cannot without much grief remember the great Miseries Burthens and Distempers which have for divers Years afflicted all his Kingdoms and Dominions and brought them to the last point of Ruine and Destruction all which have issued from the Cunning False and Malicious Practices of some of those who have been admitted into very near Places of Council and Authority about him who have been Favourers of Popery Superstition and Innovation Subverters of Religion Honor and Justice Factors for promoting the Designs of Forreign Princes and States to the great and apparent danger of His Royal Person Crown and Dignity and of all his People Authors of False Scandals and Jealousies betwixt his Majesty and his Loyal Subjects Enemies to the Peace Vnion and Confidence betwixt Him and his Parliament which is the surest Foundation of Prosperity and Greatness to his Majesty and of Comfort and Hope to them That by their Councils and Endeavours those great Sums which have been lately drawn from the People have been either consumed unprofitably or in the maintenance of such Designs as have been Mischievous and Destructive to the State and whilest we have been labouring to Support his Majesty to purge out the Corruptions and restore the Decayes both of Church and State others of their Faction and Party have been contriving by Violence and Force to suppress the Liberty of Parliament and indanger the Safety of those who have opposed such wicked and pernicious Courses 8. That we have just Cause to believe That those Conspiracies and Commotions in Ireland are but the Effects of the same Councils and if persons of such Aims and Conditions shall still continue in Credit Authority and Imployment the great Aids which we shall be inforced to draw from his People for subduing the Rebellion in Ireland will be applied to the Fomenting and Cherishing of it there and Encouraging some such like attempt by the Papists and ill-affected Subjects in England and in the End to the Subversion of Religion and destruction of his Loyal Subjects in both Kingdoms And do therefore most humbly beseech his Majesty to change those Councils from which such ill Courses have proceeded and which have Caused so many Miseries and Dangers to himself and all his Dominions and that he will be graciously pleased to imploy such Councils and Ministers as shall be approved of by his Parliament who are his greatest and most Faithful Council that so his People may with Courage and Confidence undergo the Charge and Hazard of this War and by their Bounty and Faithful Endeavours with Gods Blessing restore to his Majesty and this Kingdom that Honor Peace Safety and Prosperity which they have Enjoyed in former times And if herein his Majesty shall not vouchsafe to condescend to our humble Supplication although we shall always continue with Reverence and Faithfulness to his Person and to his Crown to perform those Duties of Service and Obedience to which by the Laws of God and this Kingdom we are Obliged Yet we shall be forced in discharge of the Trust which we ow to the State and to those whom we represent to Resolve upon some such way of defending Ireland from the Rebels as may concur to the Securing our selves from such Mischievous Councils and Designs as have lately been and still are in practice and agitation against us as we have just cause to believe and to commend those Aids and Contributions which this great Necessity shall require to the Custody and Disposing of such Persons of Honor and Fidelity as we have Cause to confide in The Faction as the Reader may before have observed had upon all Occasions indeavoured to lay hold upon the Soveraign Power of the Sword and indeed nothing less could Protect them from their own Fears of a future Reckoning which they were affraid they must make if ever the King's Affairs came into a prosperous Condition and setled Posture But certainly next to the Execrable Rebellion in Ireland it was one of the most barbarous Outrages to a most Excellent Prince whose Indulgence was his greatest Crime not only to charge him with the Fomenting and in a manner Contriving this most wicked Rebellion as is evident by these Venemous Reflections they intended to do but to take this advantage of the Misfortune of his Affairs to wrest from him that little remainder of Power and Regal Authority which he had not hitherto divested himself of But this was the Resolution of these Ingrateful and Ungenerous Subjects whose unbounded Ambition all the Streams of Royal Bounty were not able to satisfie so long as the King was the Fountain of them and they were determined to make use of his Majesties extreme Necessity as they had
therefore expect from his Majesty in a more larger and bountiful Manner then at other times A time of great Agitation and Action their State is ready by preparation to annoy us and ill and false Councils at home may quickly bring us to Ruin as we have weakness at home so we ought to decern the Actions abroad where great Provisions are made and a carelesness and improvidence herein when our Neighbours are so provided and have such great Fleets at Sea as will open a Way to suddain Ruin and Destruction before we can be prepared and therefore now the fittest time to move the King 6 The seventh and last Step is That this Alteration of Councils will bring great Advantages to the King in his own Designs In all our Actions our Prayers to God should be that his Name should be Glorified so our Petitions to his Majesty should bring Honor and Profit and Advantage to him by a discouragement to the Rebels a great part of their Confidence resting in the Evil Counsels at home as by the Examinations appeareth it will be a great Encouragement to the King 's good Subjects at home who hazzard their Lives and give Aid and Contribution to have things governed for the Publick Good it will make Men afraid to prefer Servants to the King that are ill Counsellors when they shall come to the Examination of the Parliament for many times Servants are preferred to Princes for advantage of Forreign States This will put an Answer into the King's Mouth against all Importunities that he is to prefer none but such as will be approved on by Parliament those that are Honorable and most Ingenious are aptest to be troubled in this kind and not to deny therefore the King may Answer he hath promised his Parliament not to admit of any but by Advice in Parliament this will Answer them all These are Domestick Advantages but it will also make us fitter to enter into Union and Treaty with Foreign Nations and States and to be made partakers of the Strength and Assistance of others It will fortifie us against the Designs of Foreign Princes there hath been common Council at Rome and in Spain to reduce us to Popery if good Counsel at Home we shall be the better prepared to preserve Peace and Union and better Respect from Abroad Lastly it will make us fit for any Noble Design Abroad Let us but turn the Tables and imagine this Speech spoken by some Loyal Gentleman against Mr. Pym and his Confederates and we shall find all those mischiefs and dangers from ill Counsels and Evil Counsellors the Alteration of Religion and Subversion of Laws the Encouragement of the Irish Rebellion the Impoverishment of the Nation the Loss of Liberty and Property the Ruin of the King and Kingdom to be the Natural Effects of their Consultations and Actions But in Order to accomplish their Wicked Designs the People must be affrighted with the danger of approaching Popery the present Government traduced with intentions of re-introducing it and the King must be Wounded through the Sides of the most Faithful of his Friends These were the Popular Arts by which after they had by repeated Flatteries Importunities and Promises obtained from the King those Fatal Concessions before mentioned they pursued their Design and by Arming those People whom they had deluded with the pretence of Religion and hurrying them on into Actual Rebellion they sought by Violence to obtain that which they could not do by Fraud and Flattery But to proceed After this an Order was read in the House of Lords made by the House of Commons Dated Nov. 9. 1641. That an Ordinance of Parliament may pass to engage the Honor Credit and Authority of both Houses of Parliament for the securing and repaying to the City the 50000 l. with Interest desired to be borrowed of them for the Occasions of Ireland and that a provisional Act shall pass with all Speed for repayment of the said Summ with Interest within six Months Next an Ordinance of Parliament was read concerning the Irish Affairs in haec verba viz. WHEREAS there is just Cause to conceive The Ordinance of Parliament prohibiting any Irish to pass out of England without License c. that diverse ill Affected Persons here being Natives or Inhabitants of Ireland do intend to pass over thither to joyn with the Rebels It is Ordained by the Lords and Commons in Parliament that no Irish Man shall pass out of any the Parts of this Kingdom to return into Ireland without special License of the Committees of both Houses for Irish Affairs or the Lords of his Majesties most Honorable Privy Council or of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland It is further Ordered That no Arms Munition or Powder shall be transported without such License as is aforesaid It is likewise Ordeined by the said Lords and Commons That whereas upon the perusal of diverse Letters and other Intelligence here there is just Cause to suspect that diverse of his Majesties Subjects in Ireland had some Hand in the Conspiracy and Rebellions of the Irish That the Lord Lieutenant shall certifie from time to time during his Aboad in England into Ireland the Names of such suspected Persons and the the Grounds and Reasons of the Suspition and that thereupon the Lords Justices of Ireland and the rest of his Majesties Council there shall enter into Examination of the said Parties and shall have Power to commit them to Prison till the Truth may be fully discovered that so they may either be cleared if they be Innocent or if they be found Guilty they may be proceeded against according to the Laws And that this Ordinance of Parliament shall be a sufficient Warrant to the Lord Lieutenant Lords Justices and Council aforementioned The Lord Admiral then acquainted the House That he had Command and Directions from his Majesty to send some Ships for the Guuarding of the Irish Coasts and also some Ships to keep the Narrow Seas because his Majesty conceives that the Rebellion from Ireland is fomented from abroad and that they expect some Supply from Foreign Parts And his Lordship desires to have the Directions of the Parliament herein what to do Whereupon it was ordered to have a Conference with the Commons about it Divers Orders were read which were made by the House of Commons concerning the Irish Affairs to which they desired their Lordships concurrence that so they may be put in Execution That the Merchants Some Orders of the House of Commons concerning the Affairs of Ireland who have made the Proposition to their House of Transporting Spanish Money in specie into Ireland for the present Occasions of that Kingdom shall have Liberty to Transport so much only as the Lords and Commons in Parliament shall from time to time give them Order and Direction for paying it there as it passes by Proclamation and that all Sums so Transported shall be Registred in the Custom-House and that they shall bring Certificates
may be just causes of those fears 1. They therefore desire their Lordships Expedition of the Ordinance concerning the Earls of Essex and Holland 2. An Answer concerning the securing the Persons of Recusants 3. Concerning the Government of the Isle of Wight and the fortifying the Forts of the Kingdom 4. That the Magazines in the County of Montgomery may be Sequestred into other hands for better security they being now in the hands of a Servant of a great Recusant 5. That Milford Haven may be fortified 6. That Sir Simon Harcourt may have a Commission to levy Soldiers for the Service of Ireland and that Thursday next may be the longest time of his stay here To these particulars the Lords gave these Resolutions 1. The Lords Answers To the first The House will Debate the Ordinance about the Earls of Essex and Holland to Morrow Morning 2. To the securing of the Persons of Recusants agreed 3. Touching the sequestring of the Isle of Wight into another hand their Lordships will take the same into confideration when the House of Commons present their Reasons why it should be taken out of the hand where it is now To the Forts they have formerly given in an account of the state of them and of the Charge which will be requisite to repair them and that the Money must proceed from them 4. To the fourth Agreed to 5. To the Fifth This House thinks it fit that Milford Haven be secured by appointing some Ships to ride in the Haven 6. To the Sixth The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland is to bring the Commission to Morrow Morning which he is to give to Sir Simon Harcourt for levying Men for the Service of Ireland This being done the Lord Keeper was appointed to acquaint the Commons who stayed in the Painted Chamber with the aforesaid Answers to their Propositions Mr. Maxwell the Gentleman-Usher gave this House an account Mr. Maxwell upon search finds no Priests That according to their Lordships Order he had searched diligently the Earl of Worcester 's House for Priests and Jesuits but can find none In the Commons House they were taken up with this new Plot and preparing Heads for the forementioned Conference And which is omitted in the Lords Journal it was desired That the Information which Beal hath given may be published It was also Ordered That St. German the French-man St. German committed to the Gate-house be committed to the Prison of the Gate-house and that no Man be suffered to speak with him but in the presence and hearing of a Keeper They were still busie in Hammering and Filing of the Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom as appears by this Memorandum Memorandum That an Addition be made to the Declaration to this purpose to declare That this House intends to vindicate themselves from the Imputations laid upon them of discouraging of Learning and that they will advance Learning and the maintenance of Preaching Ministers They were very tender it seems of their Reputation but notwithstanding their Declaration it will remain an Eternal Riddle to Posterity how it can be possible to incourage Learning by taking away the Rewards of Industry And for their maintaining of Preaching Ministers they were as good as their Word indeed by suffering all that would to Preach and maintaining them in their Sacrilegious Usurpations upon the Sacred Function Report was made this day by the Lords Committees for the Irish Affairs That the Committees of both Houses for that business Wednesday Novemb. 17. have considered of these particulars That Power be given to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Irish Affairs for rewarding of secret services as is fit That convenient Posts be speedily set up between Beaumaris and Holy-Head And that the State of Scotland be moved to have the like care for Posts between Carlisle and Port-Patrick That Directions be sent by both Houses of Parliament to the Lords Justices of Ireland concerning the Prisoners Mac-Guire and Mac-Mahon to be Conveyed into England for their better security That the Protestation taken by both Houses be taken by all Officers and Commanders before they be employed in the service of Ireland which Propositions being read were Assented to It was Ordered Message to the Foreign Ambassadors concerning Jones and Andrews That the Right Honourable the Earl of Bristol the Earl of Holland and the Lord Brook shall forthwith Repair unto the several Ambassadors in and about the Cities of London and Westminster and desire them from the Parliament to dismiss out of their Houses such Priests as are the Kings Native Subjects and in case they shall be hereafter found abroad they shall not have any Protection but be Proceeded against according to the Laws of the Kingdom and to let them know That if the Persons of Father Jones and Father Andrews who were Accused for Treasâ—â— be received into their Houses the Parliament desires they may be presently delivered up Lord Lieutenant scruples the Validity of the Ordinance to Levy Men without the Great Seal Upon some Question made this day by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Ordinance of Parliament for the granting him Power to give Commissions to Levy men for the Service of Ireland be of sufficient Validity without a Confirmation from His Majesty Thereupon the House did undertake to be Suitors to his Majesty to consirm the Autherity given to his Lordship by the King and the Parliament under the Great Seal of England And do Promise That they will be always ready to avow his Proceedings upon their Lordships aforesaid Orders in the mean time The Lord Lieutenant delivered a Copy of a Commission to be given to Commanders for the Levying of Men for Ireland which was Read and Approved of the Contents were as follow Robert Earl of Leicester Copy of a Commission to Raise Men for Ireland Viscount Lisle Baron of Penhurst c. One of His Majestie 's Most Honourable Privy-Council Lieutenant General of the Kingdom of Ireland and General of His Majestie 's Army there To Collonel WHereas the Lords Justices and Council of Ireland have advertised our Soveraign Lord King Charles and his High Court of Parliament now here Assembled of a suddain Insurrection aâ—d Rebellion in Ireland and have Humbly besought His Majesty to send some Succours unto his good Subjects there And his Majesty being now Absent in his Kingdom of Scotland hath recommended the Care of the said Kingdom of Ireland unto his Parliament of England and that in pursuit of his Majestie 's Pleasure so signified for as much as in this time of His Majestie 's Absence his Royal Commission according to the usual form cannot be so soon obtained as the necessity of the Kingdom doth require The Lords and Commons of the said Parliament now Assembled have by their Ordinance of the 6th of this present Month of November Authorized me by Warrant under my Hand and Seal to give one or more Commissions to such Captains Commanders or other
Officers as to me shall seem expedient for the Levying of Forces for the Defence of the said Kingdom of Ireland of such Persons as shall voluntarily undertake the said Service I do hereby Constitute and Appoint you Collonel of a Regiment of Foot-men to serve in this present Expedition which Regiment you shall by Virtue of this Commission forthwith Levy in such parts of His Majestie 's Kingdom of England as you shall think fit for His Majestie 's Service in this urgent occasion And this Regiment being Levied you shall receive it into your Charge as Collonel and conduct it to the City of Chester where you shall Embarque it and Transport it with all possible speed unto the City of Dublin in His Majesties Kingdom of Ireland and diligently Exercise your Regiment Commanding all Officers and Soldiers of the said Regiment to obey you as their Collonel for His Majestie 's Service according to the Commission given you And you are likewise to observe and obey such Orders and Directions as you shall receive from my self and the superior Officers of the Army according to the Discipline of War Given c. After which the House entred upon the Debate of the Ordinance Ordinance to raise the Train Bands Assented to by the Lords for Enabling the Earl of Essex and Holland to raise the Trained-Bands And after a long Debate it was Assented to with some little Alterations and so sent down to the Commons It was this day Ordered That the Justices of Peace Order to put the Laws in Execution against Recusants and Depaty-Lieutenants and all other His Majestie 's Officers and Ministers in every County shall take Care to put the Laws in Execution against those Recusants That do not observe and obey the Order of this House made the 16th of this Instant November The Order was to Command them to depart from London to their several Places of abode in their respective Countries Mr. Wiseman the Remembrancer of the City of London No Priests to be found in the City gave the House an Account That there hath been a search made in London for Priests and Jesuits and they could find none but have Apprehended four Persons who refuse to take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy Whereupon it was Ordered That the Recorder of the City of the said City shall Proceed against those Persons according to Law In the House of Commons Commons Vote a second Plot of the Army they fell upon the Business of the Plot of the Army and the several Examinations being read which were taken by the Deputed Lords were transmitted to the Commons The Examinations were Mr. Daniel O Neal's taken November 13. Sir Jacob Asteleys Examination Sir John Conyer's his Examination Sir Charles Lucas his Examination October 29. A Second Examination of Sir John Conyer's which was taken October 30 which was twice read as was also that of Captain William Legg taken the same day The Examination of Sir Foulk Huncks taken 29 of October upon which the House proceeded to this Vote Resolved c. That upon the Examinations now read there is sufficient Evidence for this House to believe That there was a second Design to bring up the Army against the Parliament and an Intention to make the Scotch Army stand as Neutrals It was Ordered That Sir John Hippeslley and Sir John Franklyn shall appoint some Guards with Halberts to stand in places most convenient for the safety of this place It was also Ordered That Mr. Oneal shall be allowed 5 l. per Week out of the Arrears of his pay from the time of his Committment for his present maintenance That Sir Simon Harcourt shall have 20 s. per diem above his ordinary pay as Commander of the Forces in Dublin and that 457.6.8 being a months pay shall be advanced for his Officers and 101 l. for providing of Halberts Ensigns and Partisans Orders were also issued from this House to the Sergeant at Arms attending the House to search for Priests and Jesuits as also to the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of London to search diligently in the City this night The Lord Keeper did this day Report the Conference with the Commons Thursday Novemb. 18. That the House of Commons were of Opinion That there was reason enough for the Lords to joyn with them for securing the Persons of Popish Recusants and that they were not satisfied with their Lordships Answer at this time touching that business 1. Because they conceive the Popish Recusants are of as much danger The Commons Reasons for securing PoPish Recusants in the Country among their Friends and Neighbours of their Religion as they are here at this time especially when they have liberty to go abroad 2. That the Penalty is only against Convicted Recusants and the House of Commons desires it may be against suspected Persons and Favourers of Recusants 3. It would ask too much time to stay for the putting of the Laws in Execution at this time therefore the House of Commons desired that they may be secured by Imprisoning of their Persons and that for these Reasons 1. They always take security against the breach of the Peace if it concern only a private Person this is concerning the security of the whole Kingdom none is so fitting to be given as the Imprisonment of their Persons 2 That at this time they had reason to suspect the Papists and to secure them upon these Grounds 1 The Tye that lies upon their Consciences to secure the Kingdom when it is in so much danger 2 Considering the Rebellion now in Ireland for the Cause of Religion 3 Considering the Informations and Relations from sundry Parts of the danger of Recusants here and the Correspondency is conceived they have with the Business in Ireland 4 Considering both Houses had joyned by Ordinance to disarm Recusants according to Law This the House of Commons said had been done formerly upon Suspition of Danger as in 88. The House of Commons intend this should extend to the most Chief and Active Recusants of the greatest Quality and Danger a List of such Names as they desire may be secured they will bring up very speedily and they intend they should be as Hostages for the Peace and Security of the Kingdom no hurt being meant to their Persons If this were not done the House of Commons said They could not Answer for the Safety of the Kingdom Next was reported the Reasons of the Commons why they desired that the Government of the Isle of Wight being of so great Importance to this Kingdom may be Sequestred for the present into another Hand Because the Earl of Portland 's Father Mother and Wife were and are Recusants and that a Sister of his married a Recusant and if these Reasons did not satisfy their Lordships The Commons Reasons for removing the E. of Portland from the Government of the Isle of Wight The E. of Portland's defence they desired Liberty to bring up other
sorry for having administred unto their Lordships any Occasion of so high an Offence by letting fall Words touching the Bible of the Church of England and protesteth that his Design was not to affront their Lordships or the professed Religion of this Kingdom and he did assure their Lordships That as all Catholick Subjects have ever done so he did neither refuse to swear upon the English Bible nor held himself disobliged to Answer truely whatsoever was Demanded He therefore humbly beseecheth their Lordships to Pardon his great Offonce upon this his humble Submission and Acknowledgment and to grant his Inlargement assuring their Lordships he is most willing and ready not only to depose the Truth as by his Oath he is bound in whatsoever shall be Interrogated in this particular Cause but also shall ever Pray c. Upon which their Lordships sent a Message to the Commons giving them an account of this Petition and to let them know that having given this Satisfaction they were inclined to Pardon him but will not release him out of his Imprisonment before they had acquainted them therewith according to their Lordships former Ingagement Sir Henry Vane brought up a List of the Names of such Papists as the House of Commons desired should be secured as also an Order for the Lord Admiral to set forth 4 Ships for the Service of Ireland in which they desired the Lords to joyn with them Then were read two Letters from the Lords Justices in Ireland Letters from Ireland dated Nov. 13th 1641. the one to the Lord Keeper the other to the Lord Lieutenant the Purport of which was That some Ships may be appointed to Guard the Coasts of Ireland That the Rebels have taken divers Houses and Castles That they have spoiled the County of Cavan and have made a Remonstrance of the Ground of their Revolt They desire that 10000 Foot and 1000 Horse with Arms and Munition and 100000 l. be presently sent them with a Supply of Victuals and Oats for Horses And lastly they presented an Examination of one William Shales taken the 10th of November upon Oath ministred by the Clerk of the Council of Ireland by Direction of the Board which Examination was read in the House as followeth WIlliam Shales Shales's Accusation of Sir Henry Beddingfield of Oxborough Hall in Norfolk Sergeant of the Foot Company under the Command of Sir Arthur Loftus Knight saith That about the latter End of April last he being then in Norfolk at Oxborough Hall in the House of Sir Henry Beddingfield the said Sir Henry hearing that this Examinant was lately come out of Ireland sent for him in to his Garden whither when he came he found the said Sir Henry walking with one Poole whom this Examinant supposeth was a Priest and saith That as soon as he came into the said Garden the said Sir Henry asked him whether he knew how the state of Ireland then stood To which the Examinant said That he thought that all things were quiet and at Peace there Why quoth Sir Henry doth the Army there do nothing To which the Examinant Replied That they carried themselves quietly and that any man might walk in Ireland with a Thousand pounds and a Wand only in his hand He saith also That the said Sir Henry told him That he was about to take a House in Kilkenny of one of the Butlers for that there was no safety in England for any of his Religion and asked of the Examinant Whether there were any good Hawking thereabouts To which the Examinant said That there was Then the said Sir Henry said That now his Mind was altered and that he meant to stay in England and added That he did believe that before Christmass Day next there should be seen such Combustions in England and Ireland as the like were never seen before and thereupon Cursed the Scots as Authors of these Troubles Jurat Coram nobis Ja. Ware Rob. Meredith William Shales Whereupon it was Ordered That Sir Henry Beddingfield should be sent for in safe Custody by the Gentleman Vsher of the House and none permitted to speak with him but in the presence of the Messengers and that his Study should be sealed up by the two next Justices of the Peace till the further Pleasure of the House be known Sir Thomas Barington brought up a Message from the Commons to desire that Phillips the Priest may not be released of his Imprisonment until they be first made acquainted with it To which the Lords assented and appointed the Earl of Dorset the Queens Chamberlain to give her Majesty an account of these proceedings The List of the Prime Papists who were desired to be secured by the House of Commons Next the List of Recusants Names were read which the House of Commons desire may be secured which were as follows In the County of Lancaster Mr. Preston of the Mannor Mr. Clifton of Litham Mr. Chorley Sir William Gerrard Mr. James Anderton of Clayton Sen. Mr. Blundel of Crosby Mr. Robert Cranfield of Robbs Hall Sir John Talbott Sir Cecil Trafford Mr. Hugh Anderton of Eurton Sir Alexander Barlow In the County of Stafford Sir Richard Fleetwood Baronet Mr. Jo. Wells of Horecross Mr. Dreycott of Painsley Mr. Peter Gifford of Chillington Mr. Tho. Leveson of Ashburn Mr. Francis Harcott In the County of Southampton Lord Stourton Mr. Gage of Bawbridge Mr. John Bishop of Pilewell Lord Baltimore Mr. William Owen of Abberston John Arundell Esquire In the County of Sussex Lord Viscount Mountague In the County of Warwick Robert Throgmorton Esquire Mr. Morgan of Weston Mr. William Sheldon of Weston Sir Charles Smith In the County of Montgomery Sir Piercy Herbert Knight In the County of Worcester The Earl of Shrewsbury Francis Hanford Esquire Mr. Walter Blunt Edward Sheldon Esquire Mr. William Abbington Jun. In the County of Chester Mr. Poole of Poole Mr. Starkey of Darley Mr. Stanley In the County of Monmouth The Earl of Worcester Sir Charles Sommersett Mr. Morgan of Llantern In the County of Pembroke Sir Nicholas Lewis In the County of Suffolk Sir Robert Rookwood In the County of Salop. Thomas Vnton Esquire In the County of Northumberland Roger Widdrington Esquire In the County of Northampton The Lord Brudnell Mr. Poulton Mr. Sanders In the County of Dorsett John Webb of Cansford In the County of Lincoln Sir John Thimbleby Knight Ralph Evers of Washingborough Mr. Townley of Norton Edmond Thorold of Hough Esq Anthony Mounson The Lord Harris Lord Arundel of Wardour Sir Kenelm Digby Sir John Symonds Sir John Winter Sir William Mounteth Lord Herbert Sir Robert Lyme Sir Basil Brook Sir Alexander Gordon Sir William Mounson Sir Henry Gifford After which it was Ordered That the Consideration of this List should be debated upon Munday following In the House of Commons they were still upon the great work of the Declaration of the State of the Kingdom which was not so smoothly carried but that it met with great Opposition even
to the Custom of that Nation he told him that he had not deserved to be distrusted by him who could not but remember that when he was accused to him of High Treason yet he permitted him even then to lye in his Bed Chamber this made Hamilton outwardly appear much troubled for having given the King so just occasion of Displeasure but his great Interest in the Faction formerly mentioned out of the Earl of Manchester's Memoires notwithstanding all that hath been said by an able Pen in vindication of him seems not able to guard his Innocence from the common Fame which went of him that he betrayed the greatest Secrets of the King to the Junto which managed the two Houses of Parliament and that by the opportunity of being of the Bed-Chamber he took the Letters out of the King's Pockets and from them gave Informations of several things to the Party much to the disadvantage of the King's Affairs There is another thing which I cannot omit which is a Letter of His Majesties to Mr. Nicholas Clerk of the Council from Edinburgh which I found in the Paper Office which was as follows I Hear it is reported That at my Return The King's Letter to Mr. Nichols Clerk of the Council of his Resolution to maintain the Church of England I intend to alter the Government of the Church of England and to bring it to that Form as it is here Therefore I Command you To assure all my Servants that I will be constant to the Discipline and Doctrinâ— of the Church of England Established by Queen Elizabeth and my Father and that I resolve by the Grace of God to die in the maintenance of it Edinburgh Oct. 18. 1641. Charles R. Having made this little Holiday with the short gleam of Sun-shine in His Majesties Affairs we must now return to the old Trade again of diging the Quarries of Rebellion The King having sent for the Lord Keeper Friday Novemb. 26. the House gave him leave to attend upon his Majesty and appointed the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas to be Speaker of their House till he returned Upon his return he informed the House That his Majesty had Commanded him to let their Lordships know That whereas he intended this day to have come to this House his Majesty is diverted upon some important business at this time and withal he is very hoarse with a Cold but his Majesty intends very shortly to come to this House The Lord Chamberlain signified to this House E. of Essex delivers up his Commission of Cap. General on the South-side of Trent That the King being returned home his Lordship hath delivered up his Commission of Captain General of the South Parts of this Kingdom into his Majesties Hands so that his Lordship cannot now take any Order for the Guarding of the Parliament as was Ordered by the Parliament therefore he desired their Lordships to consider of what Course is fit to be taken herein he having now no Power to obey their Commands Hereupon it was Resolved to communicate the matter to the House of Commons at a Conference which was done accordingly The Lord Keeper declared A Message from the King concerning Guards of the Parliament That he had received a Command from the King that the Houses should be made acquainted That His Majesty hearing that the Parliament have appointed Guards for securing the Houses he presumes they did it upon some Reasons but his Majesty not knowing any Reasons It is his Majesties Pleasure That the said Guards be dissolved for now his Majesty hopes that his Presence will be a Protection to the Parliament But if there be Occasion and his Majesty sees Reasons for it he will be very forward to take Care there be sufficient Guards to secure the Parliament Which was also ordered to be added to the Conference which was to be with the Commons In the Commons Journal there is the same Message with this addition That if need be to have a Guard hereafter his Majesty will be as glad to have a Guard as any other A Message was also sent by George Goring Esq To let their Lordships know That the House of Commons desire their Lordships would be pleased to send some few Lords to Petition his Majesty in the name of both Houses That the Guards may be continued still and they will within a few dayes bring up some Reasons to satisfie his Majesty for the same For the debating of this the House was adjourned into a Committee during pleasure and the House being Resumed it was put to the Question Whether this Question should be put viz. Whether this House shall joyn with the House of Commons to Petition the King that the Guards may be continued for some few dayes within which time there may be some Reasons given for the further continuance of them And it was Resolved upon by the major part in the Negative Then the House agreed That the Message brought from the House of Commons should be the Question â—â—d be put in Terminis as it came up from them and the Lord Keeper was appointed to write as near as he could remember the very Words of the Message which his Lordship having read the House did conceive some words were Dubious for the satisfying whereof the Messengers of the House of Commons were called in and the Lord Keeper sitting in his place upon the Woolsack told them That there was some doubt of some Words in the Message which the House desired to be satisfied in and then the Lord Keeper going down to the Barr as Usually he does when he receives Messages the Messengers of the House of Commons repeated their Message again and the L. Keeper being returned to his place as Speaker reported the said Message in these Words viz. That the House of Commons desired that their Lordships would send some Lords to the King in the Names of both Houses To beseech his Majesty to continue the Guards till they may satisfie his Majesty of the Reasons why they conceive it necessary to have a Guard which they intend to do within a few dayes And then it was Resolved upon the Question by the Major part That this House doth joyn with the House of Commons in their desire And the Earl of Warwick and the Lord Digby were Ordered to attend his Majesty to move him in it according to the Message Saturday Novemb. 27. Reasons against single Troops for forming the Cavalry into Regiments The Lord Kimbolton Reported from the Committee for Irish Affairs a Paper containing the Reasons of the Assistants to the Committee for the Forming the Troops of Cavalry into Regiments under Colonels and Sergeant Majors 1. By reason of the continual Debate that would otherwise arise among the Officers and their want of Obedience of one to another 2. For the more speedy way as well in issuing as receiving the Orders for the better Executing of any Commands whatsoever 3. For the Exact
Government and Ordering of the Troops as well upon Service as at other times 4. For the better Encouragement of Worthy Men to undertake the Service in hope of Advancement and that at this very Instant Men of Merit that have had better Commands would be unwilling to serve in a more Inferior Condition than they have already 5. Though it be said That in Ireland Regiments will seldom come to fight in a Body yet it may fall out otherwise and then the inconvenience might prove of greater Consequence then the Charge 6. In Holland whilest their Troops were all single yet for the time they were to render Service in the Field they formed Regiments of them which had their Colonels and Majors appointed for that time which though they had no certain Pay by those Places Yet they had other Advantages by Governments Commanderies Companies of Foot Quarters and such like things to better their Condition and at last the Prince of Orange found it more convenient to settle the said Commands to Colonels and Majors although it were to the greater Charge of the State 7. Finally The General Practice of all Nations as the Germans Swedes French c. which have tryed all manner of wayes have for greater conveniency certainly formed their Cavalry into Regiments and most of them also allow a Lieutenant Colonel to every Regiment The Earl of Warwick and the Lord Digby Reported to the House the King's Answer touching the Petition of both Houses for continuing the Guards Viz. I Did Command the Guards to be dismissed The King's Answer concerning the Guards because I knew no Cause the Parliament had of Fears but I perceived the Molestation that the keeping of them would bring upon those Subjects of mine which were to perform that Service besides the General Apprehensions and Jealousies which thereby might disquiet all My People and I do Expect that when the Parliament shall desire of Me any thing like this Extraordinary and that which appears of ill consequence that they will give me such particular Reasons as may satisfie My Judgment if they expect I should grant their Desire Yet I am so tender of the Parliaments Safety to secure them not only from real but even imaginary Dangers That I will Command my Lord of Dorset to appoint some of the Train-Bands only for a few dayes to wait on both Houses in which time if I shall be satisfied that there is Just Reason I will continue them and likewise take such a Curse for the Safety of My Own Person as shall be fit of which I doubt not but that they have as Tender a Care as of their own It was then Ordered That this Answer shall be communicated to the House of Commons at a Conference An Order was this day made to put off all private business till the first day of Hillary Term Private Business set aside by Order of the House of Lords and to be Printed and Published to prevent the Charge and Trouble which otherwise Petitioners who have Causes depending might be put to in attending the House of Lords This day William Shelden Esquire Monday Novemb. 29. The two Sheldens acquitted of Beal's Plot. and Edward Shelden his Brother who had been taken up by virtue of an Order of the 27th of Novemb. upon suspition about Beal's Information of the 108 men who were to Kill the Parliament-Men appearing before the Lords and nothing of Complaint being against them It was thought fit and so Ordered That they should be forthwith discharged of any further attendance and be freed from any further Restraint Then a Letter was read written to the Lord Chamberlain from the Earl of St. Albans dated the 14th of November 1641. from Ireland the Principal Contents whereof were these THat the Town of Gallaway in Ireland is well Fortified Letter from the E. of St. Albans in Ireland and in Command of Mr. Willoughby That the Province wherein his Lordship lives doth utterly mislike the proceedings of the Rebels That the County of Mayo is quiet That 2000 Rebels are out in Levain but 4 Towns stand out That it is a thing of Consequence that Brian O Rourk here in England should be secured as conceiving him to be a dangerous person in this time of Rebellion in Ireland if he should Escape That the whole Province of Munster is yet quiet And lastly his Lordship ended with a Protestation of his Faith and Loyalty to the Crown of England while he lives and will dye in the same and will imploy all his Strength and Endeavours to assist the King for the Suppression of the Rebels Whereupon the Lord Chamberlain was Ordered to return him the Thanks of the House and the Letter to be communicated to the House of Commons The Bill for securing Recusants with amendments as also the Order for securing to the City the two fifty thousand pounds were carried up to the Lords In the House of Commons they were very busie upon a new Bill for Tonnage and Poundage for the Reader is to take notice that the Bills before mentioned were but from two Months to two Months It was also Voted That the Lords should be desired to move the King that the Earl of Salisbury may be Lord Treasurer and the Earl of Pembroke Lord High Steward of His Majesties Houshold The Amendments and Alterations in the Bill concerning the securing of Popish Recusants Tuesday Novemb. 30. were this day read and it was in the Debate taken into consideration whether the first Clause should stand which was That the Persons of Recusants should be restrained as the Lords in Parliament should think fit or whether it should be altered according as the House of Commons desired which was That the Lords should have power to dispose of the Persons of Lords and the Commons of Commoners And in conclusion it was agreed upon That for the alterations of the Names of the Persons in the Bill and the places of Dwellings and the Alterations of time this House agrees and consents to but for the rest the House adheres to the former Clause in the Bill The Bill for Tonnage and Poundage brought up from the Commons by Mr. Solliciter was read three times Successively Bill for Tonnage and Poundage passed the Lords and upon the Question it was Resolved to pass as a Law Nemine Contradicente The Order for securing the Mony borrowed of the City was likewise read and assented to which was as follows THe Lords and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled The Order for securing the Money borrowed of the City for the Northern expedition and Ireland having a due regard to the good Affections of the City of London expressed upon sundry Occasions by the advancing and lending of great Sums of Money for the service of this Common-wealth and particularly the Sum of 50000 l. for supplying the present Affairs in Ireland all which the said Lords and Commons do take in very good part and being resolved to make
Manner how full of Advantage it would be to himself to see his own Estate setled in a plentiful Condition to support his Honor to see his People united in Wayes of Duty to him and indeavours for the Publick Good to see Happiness Wealth Peace and Safety derived to his own Kingdom and procured to his Allies by the Influence of his own Power and Government That all good Courses may be taken to unite the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland to be mutually Aiding and Assisting one another for the common Good of the Island and the Honor of both to take away all Differences among our Selves for Matters indifferent in their own Nature concerning Religion and to unite our selves against the Common Enemies which are the better enabled by our Divisions to destroy us as they hope and have often indeavoured to labor by all Offices of Friendship to unite the Foreign Churches with us in the same Cause and to seek their Liberty Safety and Prosperity as bound thereunto both by Charity to them and by Wisdom for our own Good For by this means our Strength shall be increased and by a mutual concurrence to the same common end we shall be enabled to procure the good of the whole Body of the Protestant Profession If these things may be observed we doubt not but God will Crown this Parliament with such Success as shall be the Beginning and Foundation of more Honour and Happiness to his Majesty then ever yet was enjoyed by any of his Royal Predecessors A Habeas Corpus was this day also Ordered to be sent down to remove one William Chorley from Lancaster Goal Thursday December 2. to be Examined of Matters of great Consequence His Majesty came this day to the House of Lords to pass the Bill for Tonnage and Poundage and being sate in the Chair of State the King gave Command to the Gentleman-Usher to give the House of Commons notice to come up who being come after three Obeysances made their Speaker made this Speech as followeth Most Dread Sovereign THe Observation taken from the unlike Compositions The Speakers Speech at the Passing the Bill for Tonnage and Poundage Dec. 2. 1641. and various Motions of the World made the Philosophers conclude Tota hujus Mundi Concordia ex Discordibus constat The happy Conjuncture of both these Nations in the Triumph and Joy of your Sacred presence extracted from the different and divided Opinions give us cause to observe and admire these blessed Effects from such contrary Causes We may without Flattery commend your Sacred Majesty as the glorious Instrument of this happy Change whose Piety and Prudence directed by the hand of God hath contracted this Vnion from those various discords * * Most undoubtedly Especially that Rebellion should be esteemed Loyalty and the Ruin of the Church a Reformation The story of these times will seem Paradoxes in following Generations when they shall hear of Peace sprung from the Root of Dissention of Vnion planted upon the stock of Divisions two Armies in the Field both ready to strike the first blow and both united without a stroke Nothing can reduce these Truths into a belief but the knowledge of your Piety and Justice who have accomplished these Acts of Wonder by Goodness and Gentleness without Force or Violence This way of Conquest this Bellum Incruentum hath been the Rule of the most Valiant and Puissant Monarchs advancing Your Glory in the safeguard of one Subject more then in the Death of a Thousand Enemies Thus have you Erected a Monument of Glory to your Sacred Memory for all Generations And as your Care and Piety for the welfare of your Northern Kingdom called you to that Work for the great Comfort of your People which your wisdom hath so happily consummated so now the Distemper of your other Kingdom fomented by the same Spirit whose presence admits no Peace in Israel calls on your Providence to heal the Diseases of that Nation The one from whence you returned hath with Abel though the younger Brother offered an acceptable Sacrifice the other with Cain hath Erected Altars of Blood and Revenge the Innovations of Jesuitical Priesthood which Invokes the necessity of your Justice the one to a Natural hath added a Politic Brotherhood the other of Brothers I am sorry to say it are become Strangers The Fidelity of the one hath written a story of Admiration to the World the Disloyalty of the other hath Parallel'd that horrid Design matchless before amongst all Generations first their Intentions the destruction of a Kingdom even when Vnity and Peace was tying the knot of Religion and Safety In the Discovery a moment of time prevented the Execution In the Actors Jesuits and Priests without whom the malice of the Devil could not have found a Party in the World fitted to act over the like bloody Tragedy But this among our many Joys we receive by your happy return is not the least That that Providence which protected that Gracious King your most Religious Father from their bloody attempts and encreased the blessing of a long and happy Reign hath also defended your Sacred Throne from all their Machinations Thus we see Religion is the greatest Policy the never-failing support of King and Kingdom that which firms you and your Posterity to your Throne and our Duty and Obedience to it Give me leave here most Gracious Sovereign to sum up the sense of 11 Months Observation without intermission scarce of a day nay an hour in that day to the hazard of Life and Fortune and to reduce all into this Conclusion The endeavours of Your Commons Assembled guided by Your Pious and Religious Example is to preserve Religion in its Purity without Mixture or Composition against these subtile Invaders and with our Lives and Fortunes to Establish these Thrones to your Sacred Person and those Beams of Majesty Your Royal Progeny against all Treason and Rebellion The Way that conduces to this End are the Defence of the Land and Sea for the one we have already Voted to raise Mony for the other this Bill in some Measure will accomplish for a little time and to that end I by the Command of the Commons humbly beseech Your Royal Assent This being done the Bill was passed by His Majesty according to the usual and accustomed Form Then the King made this ensuing Speech My Lords and Gentlemen I Think it fit The King's Speech after his Return from Scotland Dec. 2. 1641. after so long absence at this first occasion to speak a few words unto you But it is no ways in Answer to Mr. Speaker's Learned Speech Albeit I have stayed longer than I expected to have done when I went away yet in this I have kept my promise with you that I have made all the haste back again that the setling of My Scotch Affairs could any ways permit In which I have had so good success that I will confidently affirm to you that I have
left that Nation a most peaceable and contented People So that although I have a little misreckoned in Time yet I was not deceived in My End But if I have deceived your expectations a little in the time of My return yet I am assured that My expectation is as much and more deceived in the condition wherein I hoped to have found some businesses at My return For since that before My going I setled the Liberties of My Subjects and gave the Law a free and orderly Course I expected to have found My People reaping the Fruits of these benefits by living in quietness and satisfaction of mind But instead of this I find them disturbed with Jealousies Frights and Alarms of dangerous Designs and Plots in Consequence of which Guards have been set to defend both Houses I say not this as in doubt that My Subjects Affections are any way lessened to Me in this time of My absence for I cannot but remember to My great comfort the joyful reception I had now at my Entry into London but rather as I hope that My presence will easily disperse these Fears For I bring as perfect and true Affections to My People as ever Prince did or as good Subjects can possibly desire And I am so far from repenting Me of any Act I have done this Session for the good of My People that I protest if it were to do again I would do it and will yet grant what else can be justly desired for satisfaction in point of Liberties or in maintenance of the True Religion that is here Established Now I have but one particular to recommend unto you at this time it is Ireland for which though I doubt not your care yet methinks the preparations for it go but slowly on The occasion is the fitter for Me now to mention it because of the Arrival of two Lords from Scotland who come instructed from My Council there who now by Act of Parliament have full Power for that purpose to Answer that Demand which it pleased both Houses to make of Me by way of Petition that met Me at Berwick and which the Duke of Richmond sent back by My Command to my Scotch Council Therefore My desire is That both Houses would appoint a Select Committee to end this business with these Noblemen I must conclude in telling you That I seek My Peoples Happyness For their Flourishing is My greatest Glory and their Affections My greatest Strength The King having Ended his Speech he departed and the Commons returned to their House Bishop of Hereford excused from paying some part of his Pol-mony Upon the Petition of the Bishop of Hereford It was Ordered That he having paid 60 l. for Poll-money shall be freed from any further Payments for the same and shall not pay after the Rate of Tenths because he is freed from paying of Tenths under the Great Seal of England and that upon good and valuable Considerations divers Mannors having been taken from the Bishoprick of Hereford in the beginning of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth Judges Report the Statutes in force against Riots Routs c. The Lord Chief Justice of the Kings-Bench Reported That the Judges have considered the Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom for preventing of Riots Routs and unlawful Assemblies and they are of Opinion That the best way is to issue forth Writs according to the Statute of 2 H. 5. cap. 8. Which Statute was presently read and it was Ordered That the Lord Keeper should forthwith issue forth Writs to the Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace of the City of London and the Counties of Middlesex and Surrey and to the Justices of the Peace of the City of Westminster according to the aforesaid Statute concerning Riots Routs c. and the Judges to be advised withall for the Form of the said Writs But the Tumults found too much Countenance among the Faction in the Commons House The Tumults incouraged by the Faction of the Commons where they were indeed promoted and incouraged as is Evident by the adjournment of the consideration of them this day in their House that having been yesterday ordered to be debated and so they were adjourned de die in diem which plainly manifests the tenderness they had for the Bioters and the Use they intended to make of these Tumultuous and Unlawful Assemblies which was to Terrifie the Lords to a compliance with their desires in cutting off a Limb from the Body of their House by Excluding the Bishops as before they had by the same Method prevailed in passing the Bill to cut off the Wise and Noble Head of the Earl of Strafford Sir Ralph Hopton Reported The Report how the King received the Petition and Declaration That last Night in the Evening the Committee appointed to attend His Majesty with the Petition of the House of Commons and the Declaration annexed came to Hampton-Court and Sir Richard Wiâ—n I may name him upon this Occasion gave his Majesty Notice of our being there and within a quarter of an hour the King sent a Gentleman to call us in with Directions that none should come in but the Committee alone who did all of them present themselves upon their Knees and my self in obedience to the Order of the House in the Absence of * Sir Ed. Deering upon whom they had imposed this ingrateful Task he being now fallen into their displeasure another designed for that Service did begin to read the Petition kneeling but his Majesty would not permit us to kneel but commanded us all to rise and so read it the first Observation His Majesty made was at that part of the Petition that charges the Malignant Party with the design to change Religion To which His Majesty said with a great deal of fervency The Devil take him whomsoever he be that had a Design to change Religion I then proceeded and when I came to that part of the Petition for reserving the disposal of the Lands of the Rebels in Ireland c. his Majesty was pleased to say We must not dispose of the Bears Skin till he be dead After the Petition was read his Majesty desired to ask us some Questions we answered We had no Commission to speak any thing concerning this business Then said he you may speak as particular men and said Doth the House intend to publish this Declaration * And yet it was carried before against Printing it but by 124 to 101 Votes upon Munday 22 No. We answered We could give no Answer unto it Well then said He I suppose you do not now Expect an Answer unto so long a Petition And this let me tell you I have left Scotland well and in Peace they are all satisfied with me and I with them and thô I staid longer there than I Expected yet I think if I had not gone you had not been rid so soon of the Armies I shall give you an Answer to this business with as much
Consideration of the House by which means I may hope of some satisfaction but this is totally left to your Honor's Consideration as opportunity offers and your Honor thinks fit in your own Judgment Thus humbly Craving pardon for this great Presumption I can safely say no man lives that is more Your Honors most humble Servant William Lenthall The Lord Keeper being indisposed Saturday Decemb. 1. craved leave of the House to retire for some time for the Recovery of his health which being granted this day the Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas by the Command of the House sate as Speaker the Lord Privy Seal having performed the Office for some part of the day preceding And little of moment passed this day more then that the Lord Chamberlain was appointed to move his Majesty to Command the Sheriffs of the several Counties through which the Arms and Munition were to pass to Chester to take Care of the Safe Guarding of them In the Commons House Mr. Chillingworth sent to the Tower for words spoken in the House Chillingworth a Member was sent to the Tower for speaking some words which gave offence to the House by declaring his judgment in offering at his Instances concerning deposing of Princes It was too early day yet to broach these Doctrines and the Gentleman was to be made an Example for this rash Intemperance of his Tongue and certainly the Faction could not if it had been a forelaid occasion have done themselves a more Serviceable and Popular kindness for this was to let the whole Nation know that they had such a tenderness of Loyalty and Duty for the King that their chast Ears could not indure the ingrateful sound of Deposing Kings though in Instances of the remotest distance and then the natural Consequence of this must be That they who had such aversions and abhorrency to Treasonous Positions and Presidents at such a Distance could have no evil Intentions against their King though they asked of him to divest himself of the Power of the Sword and other Royal Prerogatives and in effect all that made him an Actual or more then a Titular King Mr. Daniel O Neal was this day again Examined concerning the Plot of bringing up the Army against the Parliament The consideration of the Tumults was this day also put off again Little was done this day in the House of Lords Monday Decemb. 6. more then reading of the Bill for Captives taken by Turkish Pyrats and the Bill for Raising Men for the defence of England and Ireland which received many alterations and amendments which were to be delivered to the Commons at a Conference In the Commons House Mr. Glyn Reported from the Committee the Reasons to be offered to the Lords for admitting this House to bring their proof against the 13 Bishops formerly Impeached That the Committee conceive this Course to be most fit to be held in the management of this Conference The Reasons of the Commons to come to a hearing against the Bishops notwithstanding their Demurrer to make a Narration of the Proceedings since the first Impeachment and of the Votes of both Houses concerning the Canons First That it is Voted by both Houses That the Canons c. made by the late Convocation do contain in them matters contrary to the King's Prerogative to the Fundamental Laws of the Land against the Liberty of the Subject the Property of their Estate and tending to Sedition and of dangerous Consequence That these Canons being thus Voted by both Houses of Parliament and to bring the Principal of the Persons in the making of those Canons to Judgment according to their demerit The House of Commons did the 4th of August last by word of Mouth Impeach at the Bar of the House of Lords these 13 Bishops by name and then desired That they might be put to Answer in the presence of the Commons That because some Objections were made That that Impeachment was too general the House of Commons did the 13th of the same Month Impeach the said Bishops at the Bar of the Lords House and this Impeachment to be read at the Conference which did declare That All and every the said Canons c. were and are contrary to the King's Prerogative and the Fundamental Laws of the Land c. And were so contrived made and promulged by them c. And that therefore they might be put to Answer in the presence of the Commons That in both these Charges the Commons did desire that the 13 Bishops might be put to Answer in the presence of the Commons That afterwards the Bishops had several days given them to Answer and at last the 10th of November last was appointed peremptorily unto them to Answer That when the 10th of November came these Bishops put in a Writing which they call A Plea and Demurrer which Writing the Lords sent down to the House of Commons upon notice of which Writing which they term A Plea and Demurrer wherein they neither confess nor deny the Fact this House did desire the Lords to appoint a Day when they might come and make good their Charge against them That the Lords sent a Message to this House that they had Ordered to Morrow to hear the Council of the Bishops upon their Plea and Demurrer and that such Members of this House as the House shall think fitting may be there present This for the matter of the Narration That upon this the Committee have drawn these Conclusions That it appeareth by the Message from the Lords they were Impeached 4to Augusti and that divers days were given them to Answer and peremptorily the 10th of November 1641. That they made no Answer but put in a Plea and Demurrer as they call it And that therefore their Demurrer ought not to be admitted because their Defence ought not to be made to the Impeachment of the House of Commons but in their presence and that the Commons ought to be thereunto called And that in all Courts of Justice it is so that the Party concerned ought to be called to all Answers Pleas and Demurrers for otherwise mistakes might arise which by being present might be rectified as in this Case for if the Commons had been present when the Bishops made their Answer there would not have been that mistake for that upon search it appears in the Lords Book that the second Impeachment whereby all Arguments of incertainty were taken away and which supplied any defects in the first as in this particular All and Every the said Canons were so Expressed in the second Charge and yet not so entred in the Lords Book of Journals which would have been rectified if the Commons had been present at their Answer So in regard of this inconveniency the Commons ought to have been admitted to be there present Next that the Charge consisting of meer matter of Fact not done above a year before they ought to be called to Answer to the matter of Fact and
not to tender a thing called a Plea and Demurrer As also that the Commons conceive they ought to have been called in this Case for that they have desired it in both their Charges to be present at their Answer and that it was their Right to have been called Further They observe the long delay to the Commons for that they having charged these 13 Bishops long since for meer matter of Fact to be brought so late to Answer may introduce great inconveniencies in this particular and in the Consequences and is not Exampled by former Precedents That therefore upon these Grounds the Commons desire the Lords they may be admitted to make good their proof against these 13 Bishops and that they may be brought to Judgment It was this day Ordered by the Lords Tuesday Decemb. 7. Some Causes in Parliament determinable in no other Court That Forasmuch as the Cause between Smith and Busby in a Writ of Error decidable in no other Court but in Parliament in regard the Suit was Commenced by Original Writ and depending long before the Lords here it having been sundry days attended for Argument with Counsel And being it is a matter in Law the presence of the Judges is thought needful and so cannot be heard in the Term without prejudice to the several Courts of Westminster-Hall It is therefore Ordered by this House That the said Case shall be argued at this Bar on Thursday Sevennight next being the 16th of this Instant December and the Judges are desired to be present at the said Argument And further That the Parties of either side or their Council are to attend and come prepared for arguing and debating the Points in the said Case at their perils The following Commission to give Power to the English Commissioners of both Houses to Treat with the Scots Commissioners touching the Affairs of Ireland was read viz. CHARLES by the Grace of God The King's Commission to several Lords and Commons to treat with the Scots Commissioners concerning assistance for Ireland c. To Our right Trusty and right Well-beloved Cousin William Earl of Bedford and to Our right Trusty and right Well-beloved Cousin and Councellor Robert Earl of Leicester Lieutenant General and Governor General of Our Realm of Ireland as also to Our Trusty and right Well-beloved Edward Lord Howard of Escrick and likewise to Our Trusty and right Well-beloved Nathanael Fines Esq Sir William Armyn Baronet Sir Philip Stapleton Knight John Hampden Esq Greeting Know ye That We reposing assured Trust and Confidence in your approved Wisdoms Fidelities and great Abilities have Nominated Constituted and Appointed you to be our Commissioners and by these presents do give full Power and Authority unto you or any Three or more of you whereof the said Earl of Bedford Earl of Leicester or Lord Howard to be one to Treat and Consult with Our Right Trusty and Right Well beloved Cosins William Earl of Lothian and John Earl of Lindsay Our Commissioners of Our Scottish Nation of and concerning Our Irish Affairs for the quieting and suppressing of all Tumults Insurrections and Rebellions moved and raised in Our Realm of Ireland and settling Peace and Tranquillity therein according to such Instructions and Directions as you shall hereafter from time to time receive from Vs in that behalf Wherefore We Will Require and Command you or any three or more of you whereof the said Earl of Bedford Earl of Leicester and Lord Howard to be one forthwith with all diligence to attend the Execution of this Our Commission accordingly And whatsoever you shall do in this behalf according to the Tenor hereof this Our Commission shall be your sufficient Warrant and Discharge for the same Witness Our Self at Westminster the 7th day of December in the 17th Year of Our Reign c. The late Bishop of Lincoln now Archbishop of York Late Bishop of Lincoln now Archbishop of York Reports the Conference concerning the Bishops Impeached Reported the Conference with the Commons Yesterday concerning the Impeached Bishops which because it differs from the Heads Reported for that purpose by Mr. Glyn in the Commons Journal I thought it not amiss to insert His Grace Reported That Mr. Glyn said That the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons having lately received a Message from their Lordships that their Lordships had appointed this day to hear the Plea and Demurrer of the Bishops and that such of the House of Commons might be there as they thought fitting commanded him to deliver unto their Lordships these Particulars That the Canons and Constitutions in Question were voted by both Houses to contain Matters contrary to the King's Prerogative the Laws of the Land the Right of Parliament the Propriety and Liberty of the Subject and many matters tending to Sedition and of dangerous Consequence That thereupon the House of Commons to the intent to bring this Matter to Judgment brought up their Impeachment of the 13 Bishops 4th Augusti last which was read verbatim This was all that was acted 4o. Augusti But least this Impeachment might prove too general they brought up a second Charge or Impeachment 13 Augusti which was read in haec verba Whereas the Knights Citizens c. which to avoid Tautologies the Reader may see before in the Transactions of the 13 August By the bringing of this second Impeachment the House of Commons conceive they had satisfied two main Objections 1. That the Book of Canons and Constitutions was not particularly instanced upon in the first which now they punctually deliver with the Impeachment 2. That they had not before charged any thing in particular but now they did That all and every the said Canons and Constitutions and Grants of Benevolence c. were and are contrary c. as in the Vote And hereupon they desired the 13 Bishops might be put to their Answers and yet for all this Desire of the Commons 13. Augusti they had several times which spent almost a Quarter of a Year given them to answer in Their last and peremptory day was the 10th of November last and then they put in no Answer at all but a certain Writing which they are pleased to call a Plea and Demurrer Vpon notice hereof the House of Commons returned an Answer That whereas they had impeached 13 Bishops whereof one of them had pleaded Not Guilty and the rest had neither confessed nor denyed the Impeachment they desired a prefixed day to descend to Proofs and make good the Charge Soon after they received a Message from their Lordships That their Lordships had appointed this day to hear the Demurrer argued Hence it appears That notwithstanding divers daies are given to the Bishops to answer nothing is brought in but a Plea and Demurrer which was not to be admitted for two several Reasons 1. No Defence ought to be made to an Impeachment brought in by the Commons but in the presence of the Commons and it ought to be
enter into the hearts of this Wise and Honorable Assembly We will not presume to dispute the Right of Episcopacy whether it be Divine or not it sufficeth us to know That the Church Government by Bishops is ancient even near to the Apostles Days and that it hath pleased God from time to time to make them most Glorious Instruments for the Propagation and Preservation of Christian Religion which with their Blood they have frequently sealed to Posterity And how much this Kingdom in particular is indebted to them for their Piety their Wisdoms and Sufferings we trust shall never be forgotten Our Hearts desire therefore is That the Precious may be separated from the Vile that the Bad may be rejected and the Good retained Furthermore having heard that our Common Prayer hath been interrupted and despised of some mis-understanding or mis-led People to the Great Scandal of the Religion professed in our Church We humbly beseech you to take into your Care the Redress thereof as of an Impiety not to be endured as also to take Order for the severe punishment of those Men if they may be discovered who frequently publish Pamphlets under a Veil of Religion yet conducing to Confusion and Rebellion All which we humbly offer to your Wisdoms as the thoughts and desires of this County and as we are persuaded of multitudes of sound Members of the Church of England and his Sacred Majesties most Loyal Subjects Beseeching God to direct and prosper your Counsels and ye to pardon our Errors we rest At your Commands Knights Esquires Divines Gentlemen Free-holders Inhabitants of the County of Somerset none of them Papists but all Protestants of the Church of England and his Majesties Loyal Subjects 14350. Whereof Knights Esquires and Gentlemen 200 Divines 221 Jo. BrowneCler Parliament After which the Huntingtonshire Petition to the same Effect which had been tendred to the House upon Wednesday the 8th of December but then laid aside was also read This being done the High Constable The High Constable and Sheriff questioned concerning the Guards who was sent for to attend the House was brought in and asked by what Authority he gave Order for the Watchmen to Guard this House Who answered That he received Order from the Justices of the Peace Then the Under-Sheriff of Middlesex was called in and demanded by what Warrant the Watch-men are here he said he had received a Warrant from the Justices of Peace of Middlesex which they sent forth by virtue of the Kings Writ directed to them for preventing of Riots Routs and unlawful Assemblies according to the Statute of 2 H. 5. Whereupon the House appointed the Lord Chamberlain Lord Wharton Lord Brook and Lord Roberts to go into Westminster-Hall and other places near this House to see what Company there is whether any unlawful Assemblies or Routs there and these Lords Reported That there was no Face of any Routs or Assemblies nor any greater Number of People then Vsually Whereupon the House discharged the Guards in the King's Name And in regard it appeared that it was the precipitation of the Justices that Caused these Men to come by virtue of their Warrants It was Ordered That those Justices of the Peace for Middlesex and Westminster that subscribed the Warrant be sent for to attend the House to morrow to give a Reason why they sent forth those Warrants and what induced them to believe That there would be a Tumult this day in Westminster This day Inigo Jones Esq appeared before the Lords according to an Order of their Lordships to hear the Declaration read which was brought up against him from the House of Commons which was read in his presence in haec verba The Declaration of the Commons upon the Complaint and in thebehalf of the Parishioners of St. Gregories London against Inigo Jones Esquire THE Parish Church of St. Gregories The Declaration of the Commons against Inigo Jones concerning St. Gregories Church by St. Pauls adjoyning to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's in London aforesaid is and from the time whereof the Memory of Man is not to the contrary hath been the Parish Church for the Inhabitants of that Parish lately computed to be 3000 persons for the administration of Divine Service and Sacraments The said Inigo Jones being Surveyor of His Majesties Works and particularly those to be designed for the re-edifying of the said Church of St. Pauls would not undertake the Work unless he might be as he termed it the Sole Monarch or might have the Principality thereof conceiving that the Work would not well be done without pulling down the said Church of St. Gregories presented a Plott to his Majesty accordingly The said Inigo Jones having presented the said Plott his Majesty hereupon signified his Pleasure and in pursuance thereof several Orders also were made at the Council-Board That the said Church should be taken down by the Parishioners for the more convenient Repairing of the Cathedral Church of St. Pauls which the Parishioners refusing to obey as was lawful for them to do the said Inigo Jones in Execution of the Plot and Design by him presented as aforesaid and of his Majesties signification and the Orders at the Council-Board thereupon had in or about March 1639 did pull down and caused to be pulled down part of the said Church and did also threaten That if the Parishioners would not take down the rest of it then the Galleries should be sawed down and with Skrews the Materials of the said Church should be thrown down into the Street And the said Inigo Jones did further threaten the Parishioners That if they did not take down the said Church they should be laid by the Heels Whereby the Parishioners being thus affrighted and to save the Materials which not long before had cost them 1500 l. were inforced to take down some part of the said Church insomuch as it thereby was made altogether useless and the said Parishoners to that great number have been wholly destitute of any Place within their own Parish for the Publick exercising of Religion The Damages the Parishioners have hereby sustained is very great and the Charge of Re-edifying the said Church and restoring it to as good plight as it was in before it was so wrongfully taken down will amount at the least to 3000 l. all which the said Parishioners are ready to prove and Maintain For Remedy therefore and Redress herein and chiefly to the end that the said Church of St. Gregories may be fully repaired and restored to the Plight and Condition wherein it formerly was by and at the Charge of him and them by whose undue Means it was in part taken down or caused to be taken down as aforesaid It is desired That such Proceedings may be used and had against the Offenders herein as to Right and Justice doth appertain This being read the said Inigo Jones desired That he might have some time to answer by his Councel Whereupon It was Ordered That he
they do with all dutiful Reverence to Your most Excellent Majesty declare That it is their Ancient and Vndoubted Right that Your Majesty ought not to take notice of any matter in Agitation and Debate in either Houses of Parliament but by their information and agreement And that Your Majesty ought not to propound any Condition Provision or Limitation to any Bill or Act in Debate or preparation in either Houses of Parliament or to manifest or declare your consent or dissent approbation or dislike of the same before it be presented to Your Majesty in due course of Parliament And that every particular Member of either House hath free liberty of Speech to propound or debate any matter according to the order and course of Parliament And that Your Majesty ought not to conceive displeasure against any Man for such Opinions and Propositions as shall be delivered in such debate it belonging to the several Houses of Parliament respectively to judge and determine such Errors and Offences in Words or Actions as shall be committed by any their Members in the handling or debating any matters depending They do further declare That all the Priviledges above-mentioned have been lately broken to the great sorrow and grievance of your most humble and faithful Subjects in that Speech which Your Majesty made in Parliament to both Houses upon Tuesday last the 14th of this present Month of December in that Your Majesty did therein take notice of a Bill for impressing of Soldiers being in Agitation in the said Houses and not agreed upon And that Your Majesty did therein offer a Salvo Jure or provisional Clause to be added to that Bill before it was presented to Your Majesty by the Consent of both Houses and did at the same time declare Your displeasure against such Persons as had moved some Doubt or Question concerning the same Bill All which they do affirm and declare to be against the Ancient Lawful and Vndoubted Priviledges and Liberties of Parliament And therefore they most humbly beseech Your Majesty by Your Royal Power and Authority to maintain and protect them in these and all other the Priviledges of Your High Court of Parliament that You will not for the time to come break or interrupt the same And that none of Your Loyal Subjects may suffer or sustain any prejudice in Your Majesties favour or good opinion for any thing done or spoken in Parliament And for the reparation of Your Loyal Subjects in this their just Grievance and Complaint for the Breaches of their Priviledges above-mentioned and prevention of the like for the time to come That Your Majesty will be pleased to declare and make known the Name or Names of the Person or Persons by whose mis-information and evil Counsel Your Majesty was induced to the same that so he or they may receive such condigne punishment as shall appertain to Justice in that behalf And this they most humbly desire and as Your greatest and most faithful Councel shall advise Your Majesty to perform as that which will be not only a comfort to themselves but likewise a great advantage to Your Majesty by procuring and confirming such a Confidence and Vnity betwixt Your Majesty and Your People as may be a foundation of Honour Safety and Happiness to Your Person and Throne as they stand bound always to pray for and endeavour Which being done it was Resolved upon the Question That this Petition and Remonstrance now read shall be presented to the King and these Lords following were appointed to go along with such Members as the House of Commons should appoint to attend the King accordingly Viz. Arch-Bishop of York Lord Steward Earl Marshal Lord Admiral Earl of Bath Earl of Dorset Earl of Cambridge Earl of Bristol Earl of Holland Lord Wharton The Commons appointed the same Committee for this Service which are before named to whom were added Sir Henry Vane Senior Mr. Lisle Sir Ralph Hopton Lord Crompton Lord Buckhurst Mr. Jones Sir Edward Patherich Mr. Palmer Sir Rich. Buller Sir Sam. Oldfield Sir Simon D'Ewes Mr. Cary Sir Jo. Culpeper Sir Rob. Harley Sir John Clotworthy The Lord Steward and the Earl of Holland were appointed presently to attend the King To know what time he will please to appoint the Select Committees of both Houses may wait upon him for this purpose To which the Lord Steward brought Answer That the King appoints to morrow at two of the Clock at White-Hall In the Commons House Orders to the Mayor of Berwick Hull and New-Castle to take care of those Places after the Reading and Voting of the Protestation Petition and Declaration It was Ordered That Mr. Speaker do write his Letters to the Mayor of Berwick enjoyning him to require such Papists and suspected Persons as reside in Berwick or make their Constant repair thither forthwith to depart the Town and such as shall refuse to tender the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance unto them and to proceed against them according to Law And to require him that a Guard be kept at the several Gates of that Town and that the Arms of that place be in readiness And Mr. Speaker is likewise to write to the Mayor of Newcastle and to the Mayor of Hull requiring them to have a special Care in the disarming of Recusants and injoining them to depart those places and such as shall refuse to tender unto them the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance and to proceed against them according to Law and to have the Arms of those Towns in a Readiness and good Condition for the defence of these Places especially the Mayor of Hull to provide well for the safety of the Magazine there And that Sir Robert Harley and Mr. Littleton do repair to the Lord Keeper and to desire him to issue out Commissions to the Mayors of Berwick Hull and Newcastle enabling them to tender the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance to Papists and suspected Persons After which it was Resolved upon the Question Sir James Douglas to be sent for as a Delinquent That Sir James Douglass shall be sent for as a Delinquent by the Serjeant at Arms attending the House A Petition of the Knights and Gentlemen of the County of Hertford on the behalf of themselves and divers others was this day read and it was Ordered That the same shall be taken into Consideration on Saturday next and also at the same time to Debate such other Matters as shall be necessary for the defence of the Kingdom and of putting the Kingdom into a Posture of Defence And Mr. Speaker is to put the House in mind of this Order I have not been able to recover this Petition but it is easie by the Order that treads upon the Heels of it to know that the Matter was putting the Bishops out and the Kingdom into a Posture of Defence which Two Topicks were by the indefatigable Emissaries of the Faction laboured for night and day To say the truth they were the most industrious
Sollicitors to promote mischief that ever the Sun saw and used the utmost diligence to set such Petitions on foot and by all the Arts imaginable but more particularly by threatening the Timerous with the Parliaments displeasure so procure hands to such Petitions which were to be presented to the Houses as the Sense of the Nation by which way of procedure they endeavoured to put a fair Countenance upon their Actions as being the Results of the Desires of the People when as in reality they were their own Contrivances and those Petitions were most of them framed by a Juncto of the Faction at London and then by their Agents sent down and set afoot in the Country It was also Ordered That Sir Robert Cooke do repair to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and to desire him for the Expediting of the Service of that Kingdom to issue forth Commissions for the Raising of two Regiments in Ulster and also to hasten all other Commissions for the Raising of Men for that Kingdom and to acquaint him with the Two Orders for the Impressing of 3000 l. for the Raising Conducting and Transporting 2 Regiments of 1500 Men and to the Master of the Ordnance to deliver unto him such quantities of Powder as shall be thought necessary for the present Expedition to be sent into Munster in Ireland The Arch-Bishop of York Reports Friday Decemb. 17. That the Committee of this House met with the Select Committee of the House of Commons and waited on the King at White-Hall and delivered unto his Majesty the Petition and Remonstrance of both Houses touching the Priviledge of Parliament and his Majesty returns this Answer That he will send an Answer in convenient time in Writing The House of Lords then fell into debate about several Amendments to the Declaration to be offered to the King not to Tolerate the Popish Religion in Ireland or any other of His Majesties Dominions and it being moved That a Clause might be added That no Religion might be Tolerated but what is Established by the Laws of this Kingdom The Lords of the Faction being aware of the Consequence and being as much resolved to destroy the Religion by Law Established as the Papists could be for the hearts of them therefore stoutly opposed it and after a long Debate It was Ordered That this House approves of and confirms the Report with the Amendments and Alterations and that the Clause against Tolleration of Popish Religion shall go singly as it is and that the Amendments and Alterations be communicated to the House of Commons And it was further Ordered That the Earl of Bristol do draw a Declaration to this Effect That no Religion shall be Tolerated in his Majesties Dominions of England and Ireland but what is or shall be Established by the Laws of this Kingdom and present the same to the Committee for Religion who are to meet on Tuesday next at such time and Place as the House shall appoint on Monday A Message was brought from the House of Commons by Sir Arthur Hazlerigg The Fast for Ireland to let their Lordship know That the Commons do fully agree to the three Days appointed for the Fast The Days were Wednesday next for both Houses of Parliament and London Thursday next for the City of Westminster and Thursday come Month for the whole Kingdom Then the House appointed the Lord Arch-Bishop of York to Preach the Fast Sermon in the Abby before the Lords in the Morning and the Lord Primate of Armagh to Preach in the Afternoon and Tuesday was appointed to be the day for gathering the Collection of the Lords towards the Relief of the poor distressed English who had been stripped and despoiled by the Rebels The Commons fell upon the Revived Affair of the Plot of the Army Mr. Daniel O Neal and Mr. Jermyn and Mr. Percy to be Impeached of High Treason and first the Impeachment of the Commons House of Parliament against Daniel O Neal Esq for High Treason was this Day read and Re-Committed to the same Committee to prepare it in such a way as that all the Evidence may be brought in Then it was Resolved c. That Mr. Jermyn Mr. Percy and Sir John Suckling shall be Accused by this House for the present and Impeached of High Treason The Question was propounded Whether Sir John Berkley shall be bailed upon the tender of such Bail as this House shall allow of and then the Question was put Whether this Question should be now put the House was divided the Yeas went forth with the Yeas 104 with the No. 98 so it passed in the Affirmative then the Question was put Whether Sir John Berkley should be bailed the House was divided again and the Yeas went out with the Yeas 122 with the No 84. Sir John Berkley ordered to be Bailed Whereupon it was Ordered That Sir John Berkely should be bailed A Petition from the County of Surrey was read and such Gentlemen as did attend were called in and did avow it and Mr. Speaker told them That this House did accept it in good Part and did not doubt of the Truth of it that they might get more Hands as is alledged in the Petition they are satisfied with those already gotten and for the procuring of more the House referred it to their Judgment Mr. Pym's report of the delivery of the Petition to his Majesty Mr. Pym Reported That the Committee who attended his Majesty had a suddain admittance and a gracious acceptance that the Lord Arch-bishop of York read the Petition and his Majesty said That as it had taken some time to prepare so he would take some time to answer it and that lest there might be some Mistakes in Words he would give his Aswer in Writing Then the House fell upon the Business of Ireland Votes concerning Ireland and it was Resolved c. That the Pay to the Officers of the new Levies shall continue for six Months according to the proportions formerly resolved upon if the Wars shall so long continue Resolved c. That the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland shall be directed to pay 562 l. 17. s. 4 d. according to the Rate agreed upon being a Months Pay for the Officers of his own Regiment Resolved That the Lord Dungaruan 's Troop shall have a Months Pay according to the Rate agreed upon Resolved c. That 114 l. 16 s. o. being a Months Pay shall be paid to the Officers of the four hundred Fire-locks consisting of two Companies Resolved c. That 800 l. shall be imprested for the Raising Conducting and Transporting into Ireland the said 400 Fire-locks and keeping them there till the first Muster Resolved c. That the Sum of 214 l. 13 s. 4 d. shall be paid to the Officers of the 500 Men in five Companies which are to go to Knockfergus for a Months Pay Resolved c. That the Sum of 1000 l. shall be paid for the Levying Conducting and Transporting
The Commons staying in the Painted Chamber all this while for an Answer to the Message the Lords went to acquaint the House of Commons with what was Voted In the Commons House Mr. Justice Long discharged from the Tower Dr. Gray sent for as a Delinquent Long who had been sent to the Tower for signing the Warrant for the Halberdeers to Guard the Parliament was upon his Petition this Day released A Complaint having been Exhibited against him It was Resolved That Dr. Gray Parson of Ponteland in the County of Northumberland shall be forthwith sent for as a Delinquent by the Serjeant at Arms attending on this House Several Letters were then read from Ireland one from Sir William Brereton Volunteers for Ireland giving Information That Sir Simon Harcout 's Regiment is compleat and that there are 4 or 500 more cheerful Volunteers which are ready to go if they had Commission This plainly confirms what before was said That the Necessity of the Bill for pressing Men was only to oppress the Royal Prerogative Mr. Pym informed the House That this was moved at the Committee last Night and that the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland had assured them he would take Care for the speedy Transporting of these Volunteers The House then fell upon the Consideration of the Bill for raising 400000 l. for the Affairs of Ireland c. The Officers of the late Army having also Petitioned for their Arrears there was an Order to pay them 13000 l. being the Moiety of what was due to them Amidst all this Heat of Publick Affairs and the great Zeal for Ireland still the Faction found leisure to persecute the Loyal and Orthodox Clergy upon the Informations of their implacable and restless Enemies the Non-Conformists and Schismaticks for this Day the Committee for scandalous Ministers was revived and appointed to meet upon Thursday Morning at Eight of the Clock so that Wednesday being the Fast was to be the Prologue to their Smiting with the Fist of Wickedness It was also Ordered That Alderman Pennington do take Care to bring in the Witnesses of the Parish of Grace Church to testify that Information he gave the House this Day against the Minister of that Parish Alderman Pennington an Informer against the Minister of Grace-Church Dr. Beal referred to the Committee for Scandalous Ministers Thursday Decemb. 23. Also it was Ordered That the Committe for the Bill for Scandalous Ministers do take into Consideration the Matter informed of against Dr. Beal on Thursday next The Lord Keeper this day reported a Conference had with the Commons That the House of Commons have brought up to their Lordships a Proposition of the Scots dated 20th Dec. 1641. concerning the 2500 Men as also the Resolution of the Commons thereupon which they desired their Lordships to joyn with them in Then the said Proposition was read as also the Resolution of the Commons That they do undertake to pay the 2500 Men already entertained in Scotland from the 8th of December to the end of the Treaty according to the Pay setled them in Scotland which being read the House of Lords assented to it After which a Message was brought from the House of Commons by Mr. Waller That the House of Commons conceive some Cause to Examine Daniel O Neal further as a Delinquent but not upon Oath and seeing he is their Lordships Prisoner committed to the Gate-House upon an Accusation of High Treason That their Lordships would please to give way that some Members of the House of Commons may Examine him and also to desire their Lordships to sit a while for that the House of Commons will come up to their Lordships with some Business concerning the Safety of the City To which the Answer was That their Lordships do give way that some Members of the House of Commons may ask Mr. O Neal any Questions as they shall think fit and that this House will sit a convenient time as is desired This Matter of the Safety of the City Conference concerning displacing Belfour and making Lunsford Lieutenant of the Tower was delivered at a Conference That the House of Commons represented to their Lordships that they had received Information That Sir William Belfour Knight Lieutenant of the Tower of London approved for his Fidelity is put out of his Place and one Colonel Lunsford put into his Place concerning whom the House of Commons had received a Petition which they desired their Lordships to consider of The Faction were resolved to dislike what ever the King should do and to give countenance to their Proceedings they had Petitions and Petitioners still in a Readiness to make it appear that they moved upon that Foot when in reality they themselves and their Agents were the Ingineers of those very Petitions The Petition was read in the House of Lords and was in haec Verba To the Honorable the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament The Humble Petition of divers Common-Council Men and others of the City of London The Factious Londoners Petition concerning the placing Lunsford in the Tower Sheweth THat whereas the Tower of London was originally ordained for Defence of this City and to be the Chief Magazine of the Kingdom and that the whole State is deeply interessed in the safe Custody thereof but more especially the said City which lately hath been put into Fears of some dangerous Design from that Cittadel whereupon it pleased this High Court to mediate with his Majesty for removing of those Fears And whereas the Petitioners are informed that Sir William Belfour a Person of Honor and Trust is displaced from the Office of Lieutenant and the same Place beslowed upon a Man Out-lawed and most Notorious for Outrages Colonel Lunsford and therefore fit for any dangerous Attempt the Petitioners and many more who have Intelligence thereof are thereby put into such a hight of Fear and Jealousy as makes them restless till they have discharged their Duty in representing the same to this Honorable House May it therefore please this Honorable Assembly to take the Premisses into such Consideration as may secure both the City and Kingdom against the Mischiefs which may happen as to your great Wisdom shall be found most fitting And your Petitioners shall pray c. Randal Manwaring Maximilian Beard Edw. Gitting Jo. Pocock Sam. Warner Geo. Thomson Stephen Estwick Ric. Price Ric. Turner The House of Commons do further say That the said Colonel Lunsford is an unfit Person to be Lieutenant of the Tower For 1. They say he is a Man of a decayed and desperate Fortune The Commons Reasons against Lunsford's being Lieutenant of the Tower and so may be tempted to undertake any ill Design and they conceive it will be very prejudicial to the King and Kingdom for him to be in that place in this time of Fears and Jealousies especially to the Mint in this time of great occasions to use Monies for it
They find ill Consequences already by his being Lieutenant for Merchants have already withdrawn their Bullion out of the Mint and Strangers which have Ships lately come with great store of Bullion do forbear to bring it into the Mint because he is Lieutenant of the Tower and by this Means Money will be scarce to come by which will be prejudicial and obstructive to the pressing Affairs of Ireland The House of Commons took it much to Heart that their Lordships did not joyn with them to Petition his Majesty Hereupon they have made a Declaration for themselves and desired That the same may be entred into the Journal Book of this House as they have done the like in their House Which was read in these Words WE the Knights The Declaration of the Commons concerning the Tower Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament being very sensible of the great and emminent Danger of the Kingdom through the Designs of the Papists and other Persons disaffected to the Publick Peace and finding by frequent and emminet Symptomes that the same groweth very near to maturity amongst which We reckon this not to be the least that the Tower being a Place of such Importance to the safety of the City and of the whole Kingdom should be put into the Hands of a Man so unworthy and of so dangerous a Disposition as by divers Testimonies Colonel Lunsford is affirmed to be which caused Us yesterday upon the Petition of the Citizens of London to desire your Lordships to joyn with us in an humble Suit to his Majesty that a Place of that great Consequence might not be disposed in such a manner as to hazzard the Safety Peace and Content of the City and of the whole Kingdom and perceiving that your Lordships have refused to joyn with us in so important and necessary Request do hereby declare before God and the whole Kingdom that from the beginning of this Parliament we have done our uttermost to preserve the State from Ruine and having through God's Blessing prevailed so far that the Design of the Irish Army of Papists the other Designs of bringing up the English Army several times attempted a former Plot of Possessing the Tower without which Treason could not be so mischievous to the State were all prevented although strongly bent to the Destruction of Religion the Parliament and the Common-Wealth do now find themselves incountred with as great Difficulty as ever the Papists Rebellion in Ireland giving such Encouragement to the Malignant Party here that they likewise receiving such advantage by the Delays and Interruptions which we have received in the House of Peers as we conceive by the great number of Bishops and Papists notoriously disaffected to the Common Good And do therefore hold our Selves bound in Conscience to declare and protest that we are Innocent of the Blood which is like to be spilt and of the Confusions which may overwhelm this State if this Person be continued in his Charge and do intend to resort to his Majesty in an humble Petition that he will be pleased to afford us his Royal Protection that the Kingdom and our Selves may be preserved from this wicked and dangerous Design and that he will grant Commissions and Instructions as may inable us to defend his Royal Person and his Loyal Subjects from the Cruelty and Rage of the Papists who have long Plotted and Endeavoured to bring in a bloody Change of Religion to the apparent Ruine of the whole Kingdom and if any of your Lordships have the same Apprehensions that we have we hope they will likewise take some Course to make the same known to his Majesty and will further do what appertains to Persons of Honor and Fidelity for the common Good After the reading of this Paper it was moved to adjourn the debate of this Matter till Monday by some that it might be debated presently Hereupon the Question was put Whether the Debate upon this Report shall be put off until Monday next or not and it was resolved to be put off until Monday next Which being done these Lords following did disassent to this Vote and before the putting of the Question did claim their Right to enter their Protestation against it which was as followeth The Protestation In respect the Conference brought up The Protestation of divers Lords against the Vote to put off the debate of the Message concerning the Tower and reported from the House of Commons doth as it thereby declared concern the instant Good and Safety of the King and Kingdoms I do protest against the deferring of the Debate thereof until Monday to the end to discharge my self of any ill Consequence that may happen Lo. Admiral Similiter Lo. Chamberlain E. Pembroke E. Bedford E. Warwick E. Bolingbroke E. Newport Viscount Say and Seal E. Suffolk E. Carlisle E. Holland E. Clare E. Stamford Lo. Wharton Lo. St. Johns Lo. Spencer Lo. North Lo. Kymbolton Lo. Brook Lo. Grey de Werke Lo. Roberts Lo. Howard de Escrick After which upon reading of the Petition of the Lord Bishop of London William Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells and Matthew Lord Bishop of Ely The Bishops of London Ely Bath and Wells released concerning Tenths upon the Poll Bill shewing that they had paied 60 l. apiece for the Poll-Money and deposited other Monies according to a Proportion of the double Tenths of their Bishopricks But because their Bishopricks are freed by Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England from paying or accompting for any Tenths It was Ordered by the Lords in Parliament That Mr. Parramour with whom the said Monies were deposited shall forthwith upon sight thereof if he hath so much in his Hands of the Poll-Money and if not then as soon as so much Money shall come in unto him repay unto the said Lords the Bishops their Assigns or Agents all such Sums of Money as he hath received from their Lordships respectively above the 60 l. apiece as is aforesaid In the House of Commons the same Petition from the Merchants c. was read which was preferred to the Lords also upon the Lords refusing to joyn with them to Petition the King for Lunsford's removal they presently came to this Vote Resolved Vote against Colonel Lunsford c. That this House holds Colonel Lunsford unfit to be or continue Lieutenant of the Tower of London as a Person in whom the Commons of England cannot confide in Then Mr. Hollis Mr. Pym Mr. Strode Sir Edmond Montfort Mr. Glyn Sir Philip Stapleton Mr. Martin and Sir John Hotham were Ordered to draw Heads for the Conference before recited This Day it was moved that Sir John Berkley might be bailed Sir John Berkley bailed and thereupon Resolved c. That this House doth approve and allow of the Earls of Dorset and Stamford to be Bail for Sir John Berkley a Prisoner in the Tower the principal to be bound in the Sum of 10000 l. the Security in the
Sum of 5000 l. Resolved Captain Legg bailed c. That this House doth approve and allow of the Earls of Cumberland and Newport to be Bail for Captain William Legg ut supra Mr. Mr. Williamson a Minister bailed Williamson a Minister in Custody of the Serjeant for a Sermon preached on Sunday was 7 Night in the Parish Church of St. Martins in the Fields shall be bailed and the Consideration of the Sermon was referred to Mr. Peard Then Sir Edward Hungerford Sir Henry Mildmay Sir Thomas Barrington Sir Henry Vane Sir Robert Pye Alderman Pennington Alderman Soame were appointed to treat with the Merchant Adventurers or any others concerning the Loan of 50000 l. for the Affairs of Ireland and to offer them Security out of the 400000 l. Bill and 8 l. per Cent for forbearance of their Money It was also Ordered That Sir Thomas Barrington and Mr. Martin do this Night repair unto the Constable of the Tower and desire him from this House to lodge and reside within the Tower and take the Custody and Guard of that Place Information was this Day given to the House of Lords Mâ—nday Decemb. 27. That some Members of this House have had false Rumors reported of them That during the time of the King 's being last in Scotland it was told the Queen That at a Meeting at Kensington where the Earl of Essex the Earl of Newport the Lord Viscount Say and Seal the Lord Mandevil the Lord Wharton Members of this House and the Lord Dungaruan Mr. Nathaniel Fines Sir John Clotworthy and Mr. John Pym Members of the House of Commons were present upon a discourse of Plots that should be done in this Kingdom or in Scotland the Earl of Newport should say If there be such a Plot yet here are his Wife and Children meaning that the Person of the Queen and her Children should be seized upon Vpon this the Earl of Newport stood up E. of Newport concerning a report of his speaking of seizing the Queen c. and gave the House this Account That hearing of such an Information which had been presented to the Queen he went with some other Lords and waited on the Queen and with many Protestations assured the Queen That never any such Words were spoken nor the least thought thereof conceived of any such Fact with which the Queen seemed to rest satisfied But upon Friday last his Majesty asked him Whether he heard any Debate at Kinsington about seizing upon the Queen and her Children which his Lordship denying his Majesty replyed again That he was sorry for his Lordships ill Memory The House considering this Information to be of Consequence and because several Members of the Commons were concerned in it resolved to have a Conference with the Commons concerning it that so they might search into this Business and that the Bottom of it might be found out and the Reporter of this false Rumor brought to condign Punishment And the Lord Archbishop of York Lord Admiral E. Bristol E. Holland Lord Roberts Lord Savil were ordered to draw Heads for the Conference Tumults The Tumults now began upon this little Clash of the Two Houses and the Lords refusing to joyn with the Commons to petition out Lunsford to assemble in great Multitudes to Force the Bishops by affronts to quit their station in Parliament which hitherto could not legally be obtained and there being a great Concourse of People about the Parliament Door and the Places adjoyning the Gentleman-Usher was directed to go and Command them in the King's Name to be gone and repair to their respective places of Aboad or they should be proceeded against according to Law who returned with this account That the People are willing to depart but say they dare not because there is Colonel Lunsford with other Soldiers in Westminster-Hall that lye in wait for them with their Swords drawn and that some of them who were going through Westminster-Hall home have been Wounded and Cut in their Heads by the said Souldiers Whereupon the House appointed the Lord Steward A Committee of Lords appointed to consider of the Tumults the Lord Great Chamberlain Lord Chamberlain E. Bedford E. Southampton E. Pembroke E. Sarum E. Warwick E. Clare to Examin what Warrant hath been given to Soldiers to come down this day unto the Parliament House and likewise what Notice hath been given to any others to come down to Westminster in Multitudes and who gave the Occasion that Swords were drawn and blows given in Westminster-Hall and near thereabouts among the People And to Enquire why the Justices of Peace and other his Majesties Officers did not prevent the Tumults this Day according to Law and the Commands formerly given them Their Lordships or any 7. of them to meet on Tuesday the 28 of Decemb. 1641 at 9 of the Clock in the Morning in the Painted Chamber and when after they please After this the Lords Commissioners delivered in all the Scots Commissioners Propositions as follows SInce it is desired that we should give in all our Propositions concerning the 10000 Men that are to be sent out of Scotland into Ireland We do offer to your Consideration these following Propositions to those we have already given in 1. In respect that the Country is for the most part Wasted by the Rebels and that it is necessary for the better Provision and Safety of our Army That there be delivered unto Us some Places convenient for the preserving of our Victuals and for Retreat in case of Necessity It is therefore desired That the Town and Castle of Carrickfergus Colraine and London-Derry be put into our hands wherein we may plant Garrisons and make Use of them for Magazins of Victuals Arms and Munition and for Retreat upon any Occasion And that the Magistrates and Inhabitants thereof be ordeined to carry themselves to any of our Commanders there as is fit and ordinary in such Cases We giving Assurance to use them with all Brotherly Kindness and Respect and to give full Satisfaction for what we shall receive from them and that we shall make Use of the said Places for the Honor and Advantage of his Majesty and the Crown of England and faithfully restore them to any having Commission from the King and Parliament when the War shall End or that our Army shall be by them discharged and satisfied of all Dues and Conditions made in this present Treaty 2. That the Towns of Carrickfergus Colrain and London-Derry be instantly provided with Victuals of all kinds necessary for Soldiers both for the Garrisons and to furnish the Army or any part thereof in Expeditions into any part of the Province or where they shall go for payment upon such reasonable Prices as shall be agreed upon And likewise that Powder Bullet and Match be sufficiently provided for at least 6000 Musketeers and 24 or 30 Piece of good Ordnance and that there be Gun-Smiths and ingenious Carpenters sent thither for the mending
and disorders about the Houses of Parliament 2. To joyn with them in a Petition to his Majesty that the Houses of Parliament may have a Guard But the Faction of the Commons had other imployment for these Tumults Favoured by the Faction of the Commons and were so far from thinking fit to discourage them that some of these insolent People being laid hold on and Committed to the Gate-house their Friends in the Commons House receiving quick advertisement of it immediately dispatched Sir Robert Pye Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Glyn to inquire upon what Grounds those Citizens are Committed to the Gate-house and by whose Authority and to discharge them if they shall see Cause And when this Conference was reported by Mr. Hollis they were not at leisure to consider of it that night it was too late and therefore it was deferred till the next day and the next day when it was moved the Question being put whether the Question shall be put at this present concerning the joyning with the Lords in a Declaration as is desired it past in the Negative they being it seems so unwilling to disoblige the Rabble that they would not so much as permit the Question to be put concerning it and it is easie to conjecture with what courage this inspired those Rude and Insolent People Porters Watermen c. when they saw themselves out of the reach of the Law the only thing those mean and sordid spirits are capable of being kept in order with and that they had nothing to fear when their Guardians of the Commons House would not suffer the tenderest part of the Law a Proclamation to be awarded against them Sir Thomas Barrington this day Reported in the House of Commons ' That according to the Command of the House E. of Newport discharged from being Constable of the Tower not being able to meet with the Constable of the Tower he wrote a Letter unto him that yesterday he came to him and told him that his Majesty was pleased to discharge him of the Constableship of the Tower and to tell him he did it because it was cause of Jealousie The Reader will from hence gain a clear Light into the Mystery of all this Bustle about the Scandal which took up so great a part of this and the following Days Debate and will easily perceive the displeasure of this Lords being displaced raised all this Dust which however blanched as a Scandal upon him and others yet is so like the sayings of some in that Company at Kensington that one can difficultly be perswaded to believe but that with all this Smoak there was some Fire that the King spake what he did upon good assurance but that such was the Fury and Violence of the headstrong Faction that to have produced any Witness in a matter which concerned them so nearly and would have exposed their Designs would have been to have thrown a Man into a Den of half starved Lyons and it had been impossible to have escaped their fury without the help of Daniels Miracle in the Sacred Story The Lord Dillon and Col. L. Dillon and Colonel Taaf Imprisoned Taaf having by Order of the House been taken into Custody their Papers were searched and ordered by a Committee to be perused and they to remain in Custody till the House takes further Order therein It was also Ordered That Col. Lunsford summoned to the Commons House Lunsford be summoned to attend this House to morrow morning at 10 of the Clock and that Mr. Thraile be required to be here at the same time as also Capt. Hide Capt. Scrimshire Mr. Butler Mr. Brooks and Mr. Moore and that the Citizens who gave the Information at the Bar against Colonel Lunsford be required to be here at the same time The Reader may here see the terrible Army under Colonel Lunsford which frighted the Citizens as they pretended in Excuse to the Lords that they durst not go through Westminster-Hall A Committee was appointed to joyn with the Lords Committee for the Petition concerning L. Newport to draw the Petition concerning the Lord Newport viz. Sir Henry Vane Senior Mr. Glyn Sir Edward Hungerford Sir Gilbert Gerrard Sir John Culpeper Sir Thomas Barrington Sir Philip Stapleton Sir Robert Cooke Mr. Strode Mr. Long Sir Benjamin Rudyard and Mr. Hollis The Tumults as the Reader may have observed Tuesday Decemb. 28. begun now to be Frequent Dangerous and Insolent which occasioned his Majesty this Day to Issue out his Royal Proclamation against them as followeth By the KING HIs Majesty taking into His Princely Consideration A Proclamation against Tumults the manifold Inconveniencies and Mischiefs that may arise and happen by the Riotous and Tumultuous Assemblies in and about the Cities of London and Westminster not only to the violation of His Majesties Peace and Scandal of Government but to the Disturbance of His Houses of Parliament now Assembled doth strictly Charge and Command all the Inhabitants of His Cities of London and Westminster and the Liberties thereof and also of the Suburbs and Confines of the said Cities and Places adjoyning that upon no Occasion they do not Assemble themselves in any Tumultuous or Riotous manner in any Part or Place in or near the said Cities or Liberties and that all Perlons now Assembled in any Numbers without his Majesties Authority do forthwith upon Publishing this His Majesties Proclamation dissolve their Assemblies and Companies and repair to their Dwellings or Places of aboad upon their Perils of being proceéded against as Violaters of the Publick Peace of this his Majesties Kingdom and of being punished according to the Severity of the Laws and Statutes of the same Given at Our Court at White-Hall this 28th day of December in the Seventeenth Year of Our Reign God save the King The Lord Keeper was this Day ordered to wait on the King The King to be moved for a Monthly Fast for Ireland and move his Majesty from both Houses of Parliament that a Monthly Fast may be kept throughout the whole Kingdom during the Troubles of Ireland and that his Majesty will be pleased that a Proclamation may issue forth for this purpose and likewise for the keeping of the 20th of January next as a Fast throughout the whole Kingdom except London and Westminster where it hath been already Solemnized Then the Lord Admiral reported the draught of the Petition drawn up by the Committee of both Houses in the Kensington business which was read as follows To the King 's most Excellent Majesty The Humble Petition of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled WHereas The Petition of the Lords and Commons about the Kensington business during Your Majesties last being in Scotland the Queens Majesty received Information that at a meeting in Kensington where the Earl of Essex the Earl of Newport and Lord Viscount Say and Seal the Lord Mandevile the Lord Wharton Members of the Lords House the Lord Dungaruen
together he and his Fellows came quietly away * * This Michaelson was a Dr. in Divinity John Michaelson But Mr. Kirton gave in an Information more particularly as follows WEdnesday 24th of November Mr. Lavender 's Man came in the Evening to one Farlow 's House in Woodstreet where his Master with other Company was taking Tobacco and told him that Captain Ven had sent for him presently to repair to Westminster with his Arms for there was an Vprore in the Parliament House and Swords drawn in the Parliament House whereupon the said Lavender suddenly went away and threw his Pipe on the Table and the Company was much amazed Mr. Laurence Ruddyard Mr. Farlow of Cambridg Mr. Farlow of Wood-Street P. Bradswawe After this A Message from the Commons concerning the Lord Digby a Message was brought from the Commons by Sir Philip Stapleton Knight to let their Lordships know That the House of Commons finds by common Fame that it hath been said in this House by the Lord Digby and offered to be justified by him That the House of Commons have invaded the Priviledges of the Lords House and the Liberty of the Subject and that he did likewise say in this House This was no free Parliament the House of Commons desires That if those Words have been spoken by him that Right may be done to the Commons of England against the Lord Digby and that if no such Words were spoken by him That then a Declaration may be set forth to acquit the House of Commons of that Scandal The Consideration of the Words in the said Message were referred to the Committee appointed to keep a good Correspondency between the two Houses From this Message the Reader may observe the Reason of the Vote last Night concerning this being a free Parliament and how quick Intelligence the Commons had of particular Persons and Things that at that time passed in the House of Lords they had long had a dormant Pique against the Lord Digby for his franck Expressions in the Speech he made concerning the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford and the Revenge of the Party Slept as old Pliny saith Lions do with their Eyes open to watch the most convenient opportunity for Execution A Message was brought from the House of Commons by Mr. Jepson to desire a present Conference by a Committee of both Houses if it may stand with their Lordships convenience concerning Ireland which Conference was thus reported by the Lord Keeper The House of Commons expressed the great danger Lord Keeper's Report of the Conference with the Commons concerning Ireland Decemb 29. 1641. that the Province of Munster is in and the ill Consequence that may come to that Kingdom if the Rebels should gain it The House of Commons therefore present these Propositions to their Lordships and desire they would joyn with them in it Then the Propositions were read being certain Votes of the Commons 1 Resolved upon the Question That there shall be forthwith sent from hence 1500 Muskets and 500 Corslets to Bristol to be with all speed Transported to Youghall in Munster to be disposed of by the President there for the Defence and Security of that Province 2 That a proportionable Provision of Match and Bullet be made and provided for the Relief of the Province of Munster and the Bullets to be provided at Bristol 3 That 10 Lasts of Powder be forthwith speeded by Carts to Bristol for Youghall 4 That two Regiments of 1000 Foot in a Regiment be forthwith raised for Volunteers out of the Western Countries and that the Colonels may be contracted with at 30 s. for every Soldier for the raising and transporting them into Munster 5 That their Entertainment may be the same that the House hath allowed for other Officers and that they may be Mustered at their Landing in Munster and that the Officers Pay then begin 6. That Arms and Munition may be sent from hence for those 2 Regiments and that Sir Charles Vavasor be required to hasten the raising of his 500 Men appointed by the House for Munster 7. That the Lords be desired to joyn with the House herein That his Majesty may be moved from both Houses for the Arms and Munition 8. That 2 Ships about 200 Tun apiece Rigged and provided as Men of War may be hired at Bristol for the present Guarding of the Coasts of Munster and to Transport Men Arms and Munition from hence 9. It is likewise Ordered That Levy-Mony shall be allowed to the Lord Inchequin and Mr. Jepson for the Raising 2 Troops of Horse each of them consisting of 100 Men after the Rate of 10 l. a Horse and that Arms shall be provided both for the aforesaid 2 Troops and likewise for a third of 100 Men to be Raised and Commanded by Sir William Courtney all which 3 Troops are to be Payed by the Province of Munster according to the Rate allowed to other Troops in the Irish Army 10. It is desired That the Lords would joyn with this House to move his Majesty to Grant a general Warrant to the Earl of Newport for the Issuing of such Arms and Ammunition from time to time as shall be thought fit by both Houses of Parliament the King being made acquainted therewith And likewise to move his Majesty to grant a General Warrant to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for the transporting from time to time such Men Horse and Ammunition as shall be thought fit by the King and Parliament Then the Sheriffs of Middlesex and London The Sheriffs of London and Middlesex and Justices of Westminster ordered to suppress the Tumults and some of the Justices of the Peace for Westminster were called in and the Statute of 13 H. 4. c. 7. was read unto them and they were commanded to do their Duty according to this Statute now read at their own Perils and if they doubted of any thing then they are to resort to this House for advice and directions therein The Lords did what lay in their Power to repress the Insolence of the Rabble but it was to no manner of purpose for this very day a Roll of Apprentices with one Barnardiston in the head of them in a menacing and insulting Tumult Marched down to Westminster and some scuffling there was about the very Gates at White-hall and the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex having drawn together such a Guard as they could Tumults supported and encouraged by the Commons seized some of them and committed them to Prison and the House of Commons being informed thereof immediately It was Ordered That Sir Robert Pye Mr. Laurence Whittaker Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Alderman Pennington do call the Officers and such others unto them that have Committed some Apprentices and examine the Grounds of their Commitment and by whose Authority they were Committed and Report them to the House And Mr. Hollis was posted up to the Lords with a Message to let their Lordships know That the House
but to rest most confident and assured that the Safety the Protection and the Prosperity of the City shall ever be with us a principal care After the reading of which most Gracious Message whereby is fully manifested and expressed his Majesties Gracious Goodness and great care for the safety and prosperity of this City the Lord Newburgh having withdrawn himself this Common-Council took the same into their serious consideration and how for the present to return by this Honourable Person unto his Majesty an Answer with all humility and thankfulness and after much debate it was fully agreed and resolved of by this Common-Council That in the first place should be returned and rendred unto his Majesty from this Common-Council as the Representative Body of the whole City their humble duty in all thankful manner for his goodness and gracious love and care manifested to this City Secondly That it should be signified unto his Majesty this Court nor any particular Member thereof hath had any hand in these Tumultuous and Riotous proceedings and that they and every of them do disavow and disclaim the same Thirdly That it may be likewise signified That this Court as the Representative Body of the whole City doth promise from hence-forth their best endeavours to prevent and suppress in time to come as far as in them lyeth all such or the like Tumultuous Assemblies and all Mutinous and Rebellious persons And lastly That the humble desire of this Court may be presented unto his Majesty to be graciously pleased that all the Delinquents and Causers of these Tumults whatsoever they be being apprehended may be brought into Examination and receive condign punishment according to the Law And these four things thus agreed upon were by direction of this Common-Council here openly declared and delivered by the Mouth of Master Recorder unto that Honourable Person the Lord Newburgh here present with desire that the same should be by his Lordship accordingly presented unto his Majesty the which he promised to perform with trust And afterwards this Court entred into further consultation and debate touching the Tumultuous and Riotous Assemblies lately spread night and day in several parts of this City to the great trouble and affrightment of his Majesties good Subjects and also touching the great neglect of that due respect which ought to be given by the Inhabitants of this City to the several Precepts lately issued out by my Lord Major for a continual Watch and Ward day and night for prevention and suppression of such Tumults and Distempers And likewise touching the great neglect in appearance of the Trained Bands of this City to their Colours at the beat of the Drum especially in these times of danger in contempt of Authority being a matter of exceeding great consequence and not fit to be suffered And thereupon this Common-Council Taking much to heart that such disobedience should grow and be found in the Inhabitants of this City to the great disrespect of Magistracy and Contempt of Government And that such Disorders and Tumultuary Assemblies should be permitted in such a City as this formerly famous for the good and quiet Government thereof hath thought it very expedient and behovâ—ful for redress and remedy to be had in these abuses being not fit to be any longer endured That every Member of the Common-Council now Assembled shall in their several Precincts spread it abroad and make it known That if any person or persons shall from hence-forth neglect his duty and service to be performed as aforesaid and shall not do his best endeavour to suppress or prevent any Tumults or Riotous Assemblies that shall hereafter be attempted within this City or Liberties thereof that then he or they offending shall receive condign punishment according to his or their demerits And it is further thought fit and so agreed by this Common-Council that my Lord Major may send out his Precepts in such manner and to such purpose as his Lordship and his Brethren the Aldermen shall think fit for Watch and Ward raising of Arms or otherwise for the safety and preservation of this City to which this Court and all the Members thereof promise all due and cheerful obedience And that Posterity may see his Majesty had great reason for what he did I will present the Reader with one of those Sheets then Printed giving an account of the Rudeness and Insolence of the Rabble from whence thô written as partially as may be and in favour of them yet it will be easie to observe both theirs and the Calumniating temper of the Parliamentarian Scriblers of that Age who made all men Atheists and Papists that were not Seditious Rebels The Paper is in these words THE Apprentices waiting there days at the Parliament House An Act for the Tumult of the Apprentices Dec. 31. 1641. without giving affront or ill Language to any they did only with a full consent Cry down Bishops and Popish Lords But coming scattering home by slender Companies were set upon by divers Caviliers who did cut many and misused most with base Language not only Apprentices but Men of good Rank and Quality calling them Ram-headed Rogues to the great disparaging and disheartning of them in their Trades and Callings for by this means many Tradesmen have shut up Shops and given over their Trades because they are so abused And the adverse Party Papists and their Adherents greatly countenanced and incouraged which makes them so bold and insolent that they care not what outrages they commit against honest men of good report and the Kings loyal and good Subjects and without some speedy redress and suppressing of them by the good Laws of the Land against such as do so insolently fall upon the Kings Majesties Subjects without cause there is like to be many thousand lives spilt and taken away The Apprentices being many of them committed and the other discountenanced made the Apprentices to swell in Blood to the adventure of the loss of their lives met on Wednesday night last to the number of two thousand with Clubs Swords Halberts and were resolved to go to the White-Lyon and others cryed out To my Lord Major's but by the providence of God and the grave wisdom of Captain Ven they were prevented by the grave Speech that followeth Gentlemen Let me intreat you to be at peace and quietness and return every one to his own habitation and you shall find we will be as ready to do any favour for you and relieve you in any of your just Grievances as you can or shall your selves and as you shew your willingness to us so shall we with our lives be willing and ready to help you therefore pray depart every man to his own home in Peace that it may not be said of you they are rude and tumultuous but that you may shew your selves to be discreet in all your affairs to the advancing of the Cause you have in hand and refer the Cause to us which will be ready
Mr. John Pym Mr. John Hampden and Mr. Will. Strode I. THat they have Traiterously endeavoured to Subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of the Kingdom of England Articles of High Treason against the L. Kymbolton Mr. Denzil Hollis c. to deprive the King of his Royal Power and to place in Subjects an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Power over the Lives Liberties and Estates of his Majesties Liege People II. That they have Traiterously endeavoured by many Foul Aspersions upon his Majesty and his Government to Alienate the Affections of his People and to make his Majesty odious unto them III. That they have endeavoured to draw his Majesties late Army to difobedience to his Majesties Command and to side with them in their Traiterous Designs IV. That they have Traiterously Invited and Encouraged a Forreign Power to Invade his Majesties Kingdom of England V. That they have Traiterously Endeavoured to Subvert the Rights and very being of Parliaments VI. That for the Compleating of their Traiterous Designs they have endeavoured so far as in them lay by Force and Terror to compel the Parliament to joyn with them in their Traiterous Designs and to that End have Actually Raised and Countenanced Tumults against the King and Parliament VII And they have Traiterously Conspired to Levy and actually have Levied War against the King After which Mr. Attorney declared That he was farther charged to desire certain things on his Majesties behalf 1. That a Select Committee of Lords may be appointed to take the Examinations of such Witnesses as the King will produce in this business as formerly hath been done in Cases of the like Nature according to the Justice of this House and this Committee to be under a Command of Secresy as formerly 2. And his Majesty Commanded him to ask Libenty to add and alter if there should be Cause according to Justice 3. By the like Commandement he desired that their Lordships would take care for the securing of the Persons as in Justice there should be Cause Hereupon the Lord Kymbolton being present in the House offered himself to obey whatsoever it should please this House to Impose upon him and what course their Lordships would please to take with him he would submit thereunto but as he had a Publick Charge so he desired he might have a publick Clearing Hereupon it was Ordered That this business shall be taken into Consideration by a Committee of the whole House and to consider whether this Accusation of Mr. Attorney General of the Lord Kymbolton and others of High Treason and High Misdemeanors be a Regular proceeding according to Law and whether there were any such Proceedings ever before in this House and whether an Accusation of Treason may be brought into this House by the Kings Attorney against a Peer of Parliament and whether any Person ought to be Committed to Custody upon a general Accusation from the King or the House of Commons before it be reduced into Particulars And these Lords following were appointed Committees to peruse and consider of Presidents and Records concerning the aforesaid Particulars and Report the same to the House Lord Steward Lord Chamberlain Earl of Bath Earl of Southampton Earl of Warwick Earl of Bristol Earl of Holland Mr. Serjeant Whitfield and Mr. Serjeant Glanvile Assistants their Lordships or any five of them to meet and search Records when and where they please After this a Petition of the twelve Bishops that are Impeached by the House of Commons of High Treason was read Desiring that they may have Council Assigned them by this House to advise them in their defence and in particular They desired these Councellors following Mr. Counsel Assigned for the Bishops Lane the Princes Attorney Sir Thomas Gardner Recorder of London Mr. Herne Mr. Chute Mr. Fountain Mr. Hales Mr. Trevor who were thereupon by the Lord Assigned to be of Council for the Bishops It was also Ordered That this House layes no restraint upon any Member of this House but any Peer may go and see the Bishops in the Tower if he please Then the House Ordered That in regard of the many Occasions at this present the House cannot take the Propositions brought last from the Scotch Commissioners concerning Ireland into so speedy Consideration as the Necessity of the Kingdom requires That the Lords Commissioners do Treat with the Scotch Commissioners about the said Propositions and bring them to as low Terms and Conditions as they think fit for this House to grant and to Report the same to the House The King in Prosecution of his Impeachment of the aforesaid Gentlemen of the House of Commons had Commanded their Chambers Studies and Trunks to be Searched and had Issued out Warrants for their Apprehension in order to bring them to a Fair and Legal Tryal but this Procedure did so fire and Irritate the Faction that they fell to Voting and out-cries of the Breach of Priviledge of Parliament as if those very Walls had been a Protection against Treason as indeed they afterwards proved For it was Immediately Resolved c. That the several Parties now Sealing up of the Trunks or Doors or Seizing the Keyes of Mr. Pym Mr. Hollis or any other Members of this House that the Serjeant shall be informed of Votes concerning Sealing of Trunks Doors c. shall be forthwith Apprehended and brought hither as Delinquents and that the Serjeant shall have Power to break open the Doors and to break the Seales off from the Trunks Resolved c. That Mr. Speaker shall Issue a Warrant directed to the Serjeant at Armes attending on this House to the Effect of the Order abovesaid Resolved c. That if any Persons whatsoever shall come to the Lodgings of any Member of this House and there do offer to Seal the Trunks Doors or Papers of any Members of this House or to Seize upon their Persons that then such Members shall Require the Aide of the Constable to keep such Persons in safe Custody till this House do give further Order and this House doth declare That if any Person whatsoever shall offer to Arrest or Detain the Person of any Member of this House without first acquainting this House therewith and receiving further Order from this House that it is lawful for such Member or any Person Assisting him to stand upon his and their Guard of Defence and to make resistance according to the Protestation taken to defend the Priviledge of Parliament And Mr. Conference about Breach of Priviledge in Sealing Studies c. Walter Long was sent up with a Message to the Lords for a Conference by a Committee of both Houses touching the Breach of Priviledge of Parliament which the Lord Keeper Reported as follows That the House of Commons apprehended the Parliament to be the great Council and the Representative Body of the Kingdom and both Houses are but one Body of the Realm the Priviledges are as the Walls and Sinews of the Parliament which being cut
Destruction will speedily follow That both Houses have lately taken a Protestation for the Maintainance of their Priviledges Persons and Goods a High Breach whereof is at this Instant for divers Members of the House of Commons have their Persons Assaulted and laid in wait for their Chambers Studies and Trunks have been Ransacked and Sealed up as Mr. Hollis Mr. Pym and Mr. Hampden Besides the House of Commons understands that there are Guards of Souldiers set near the Parliament Houses as at White-Hall which being done without consent of the Parliament they hold it to be a Breach of the Priviledges of Parliament The House of Commons therefore desires their Lordships would joyn with them in an Humble Desire to his Majesty that the Guards at White-Hall may be removed and that the Parliament may have such a Guard as shall be approved of by the King and both Houses of Parliament And also the House of Commons desires their Lordships to joyn with them to Vindicate the Breaches of the Priviledges of Parliament and if a Guard cannot be obtained then they desire their Lordships to take into Consideration to Adjourn to another place where they may sit in Security Whereupon it was Ordered by the Lords That all Chambers Studies and Trunks that are Sealed up or Locked belonging to Mr Hollis Mr. Pym Mr. Hampden or to any Members of Parliament shall be forthwith unsealed and unlocked and left to their free Vse and Dispose And it was likewise Ordered That this House will joyn with the House of Commons in an humble Petition to his Majesty to desire such a Guard as himself and both Houses of Parliament shall approve of and the same is to continue so long as the King and both Houses of Parliament shall think fit And the Lord Steward and the Lord Chamberlain were appointed to attend the King from both Houses of Parliament with the aforesaid Order concerning Guards and humbly to desire his Answer therein In the Commons House immediately after this Conference Mr. Francis a Serjeant at Arms sending in Notice The King demands the five Members by a Serjeant at Arms. That he was Commanded to deliver a Message from his Majesty to Mr. Speaker he was called in to the Bar without his Mace and there he delivered this Message I am Commanded by the Kings Majesty my Master upon my Allegiance that I should come and repair to the House of Commons where Mr. Speaker is and there to require of Mr. Speaker five Gentlemen Members of the House of Commons And that these Gentlemen being delivered I am commanded to Arrest them in his Majesties Name of High Treason Their Names are Mr. Hollis Sir Arthur Haslerigg Mr. Pym Mr. Hampden and Mr. William Strode Whereupon Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Falkland Sir Philip Stapelton and Sir John Hotham were appointed to attend his Majesty and to acquaint his Majesty That this Message from his Majesty is a matter of great Consequence it concerns the Priviledge of Parliament and therein the Priviledge of all the Commons of England That this House will take it into Consideration and will attend his Majesty with Answer in all Humility and Duty with as much Speed as the greatness of the Business will permit And in the mean time this House will take Care that those Gentlemen mentioned in the Message shall be ready to Answer to any Legal Charge laid against them And Mr. Speaker did by Command of the House enjoyn these five Members particularly one by one to give their attendance on this House de die in diem till the House take further Order But notwithstanding all their fair words how much they intended to abide a fair and legal Tryal a little patience will inform the Reader for immediately Sir William Flemming and another Gentleman who had in obedience to the Kings Warrant Sealed up the Studies and Trunks of those five Members were apprehended by Mr. Speakers Warrant as Delinquents and ordered to remain in the Serjeants Custody till further Order Message about the King Queen and Princes Servants taking Oaths of Supremacy c. A Message was also this day sent up to the Lords by Mr. Strode to desire their Lordships That whereas upon the Request of the House of Commons their Lordships have agreed with the House of Commons that the Servants belonging to the King Queen Prince or to any of the Kings Children shall according to the Law take the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance the House of Commons desire that the Lord Keeper may be Ordered to Issue forth Writs for that purpose to Persons of Honour to see it done accordingly Next that their Lordships would joyn with them to take a Course that the Colledge of Cappuchin-Friers at Sommerset-House may be Dissolved And lastly That their Lordships would move his Majesty that the seven Romish Priests Condemned in London may be Executed according to the Laws To which the Answer of the Lords was That they will take the first part of the Message into Consideration in convenient time To the second Their Lordships agree and will send to move the King in it And that they have already sent to the King concerning the Execution of the seven Priests And accordingly the Lord Steward and the Lord Chamberlain were appointed to attend the King and move him from both Houses of Parliament That the Colledge of Cappuchins at Sommerset-House may be dissolved I cannot find the following Speech in the Journal and by its being addressed to Mr. Speaker and not to their Lordships as is usual in Speeches made in the Lords House I am apt to suspect the Publisher not well versed in matters of that Nature and that it may be a Surreptitious Copy But whether it were Spoken by his Lordship or not it was made Publick and Printed under his Name and did all the Mischief a Real Speech could have done in Exasperating the Multitude against the King upon this Occasion And the Bishops who were certainly to be loaded with their share of the Obloquie in whatever went cross to the Faction The Speech was thus A Judicious Speech made by the Right Honourable the Lord Kymbolton in Parliament Jan. 3. 1641. Concerning the Articles of High Treason exhibited against his Lordship Sir Arthur Haslerig Mr. Pym Mr. Stroud Mr. Hollis and Mr. Hampden by His Majesty Mr. Speaker The Lord Kymbolton's Speech upon his Impeachment January 3. 1641. THere hath already been so much spoken by the other Gentlemen concerning this Accusation of High Treason even sufficient as I conceive to clear us all that are Impeached that I know not what to say more touching the same Onely under favour give me leave to speak what I conceive of the cause of the procuring of this Accusation the Authors that procured it and of the effects which I perceive will follow upon the same Mr. Speaker It is not long since this Honourable House accused of High Treason the Twelve Bishops for their Illegal and Trayterous
then the very Act which this Parliament obtained from the King that they should not be dissolved or prorogued by the King without their own Consent which was a plain Confession that till his Majesty had in this Particular by giving the Royal Assent to that fatal Bill limited the undoubted Power of his Prerogative it was an inherent Right annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm that the King was the sole Judg of the Calling Continuance and Dissolution of Parliaments And though some Seditious Pens and particularly the Apostate Author of the Life of Julian the Apostate have taken great Pains to revive and furbish up this Opinion and to reflect upon his present Majesty as the Rebels of this Parliament did upon his Royal Father for breaking up of some Mutinous and Troublesome Parliaments in the beginning of his Reign which plainly shews them to be of the Temper of the ill Men of those ill times yet I think they ought to stay before they Preach this Doctrine to the People for a true Privilege of Parliament till they have got such another Act of Perpetuation in one Hand and a Sword to maintain it in the other which is the only Argument that at long run such Seditious People must have Recourse to and I hope it may be some time before such another Act will be obtained and longer before they can get the Power of the Sword to maintain it And certainly were there no other Inconveniences yet the dismal Effects which the continuance of this Parliament brought upon the King and Kingdom to the intire Ruin of the Government Laws Liberty and Property of the English Nation are sufficient to give all Loyal and Honest Subjects very terrible Apprehensions not only of the thing it self but that the Persons who revive and propagate such Opinions must have Designs to compass and effect the same Mischiefs over again which like an Inundation drowned the Kingdom in Blood by the Breach of this Bank of Royal Prerogative of the Kings being the sole Judg of the continuance and dissolving of Parliaments Mr. Glyn's Speech upon this Subject was as followeth Mr. Speaker WE sit now upon that grand business of the Breaches of the Rights and Priviledges of Parliaments which are so many and great Mr. Glyn's Speech about Breach of Priviledges Jan. 5. 1641. so carefully preserved and defended and having in former times severely punished the infringers thereof that I had thought and conceived that no Subject of what degree or dignity soever would either in their own persons or by misinforming his Majesty concerning the same would have presumed to have intrenched in the least measure upon the free Liberty Rights and very Beings of Parliaments or tending to the Breach thereof But Mr. Speaker I perceive the perverseness of divers persons in places of Authority that they dare not only presume to provoke his Majesty by their politick mis-informations but dare attempt of themselves to resist the lawful power both of the King and his high Court of Parliament Mr. Speaker These Men notwithstanding they apparently perceive that their wicked practices and malicious designs cannot take effect according to their expectation but are rejected and detected as well by his Sacred Majesty as his Lords and his whole Council dare venture to endeavour by casting aspersions and spreading abroad evil reports not only of the Members but of the Proceedings of the House of Commons against them and others of their Adherents and Favourits in their wicked and desperate Actions and Designs against their lawful Soveraign and his Liege People I conceive Mr. Speaker did these persons but remember the many Presidents yet extant of the just and deserved punishments inflicted by former Parliaments upon such Miscreants as witness the Arch-Bishop of York the Duke of Suffolk Chief Justice Belknap and the rest of that Conspiracy in the Reign of King Edward the Second they would have prejudged to themselves the like danger would follow upon them for their evil Actions Nay Mr. Speaker did these men but consider with themselves the just judgments of God that have immediately lighted upon the necks of such as have been the troublers of Kingdoms and Common-wealth whereof they have been Members as well recorded in Sacred Writ as of late times in this Kingdom yet still in fresh Memory they would have laid their hands upon their Mouths and hearts when they went about to speak or do any thing tending to the dishonour of Almighty God in innovating of his true Religion corrupting the sincere Doctrine and discipline of Christ and his Apostles as also any thing tending to the dishonour and perpetual destruction of his Royal Majesty however otherwise they may pretend the Fundamental Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom the Rights and Priviledges of Parliaments and the very being thereof but surely Mr. Speaker they are altogether benummed and stupified their Consciences dead and seared their Lives and Conversations altogether devoted to the works of darkness and impurity their desires altogether sensual carnal and devilish forgetting God kicking and spurring with maliciousness against all Piety and Godliness or else they would never have adventured to practice such things as it is too too manifest they have done Mr. Speaker I intend to be brief in that which I am to speak concerning the Breaches of the Priviledges of Parliament First To inform his Majesty of any Proceedings in the House of Commons upon any businesses whatsoever before they have concluded finished and made ready the same to present to his Majesty for his Royal Assent thereunto is a Breach of the Priviledges of Parliament Secondly To mis-inform his Majesty contrary to the Proceedings in Parliament thereby to incense and provoke him against the same is a Breach of Priviledge of Parliament Thirdly To cause or procure any Information or Accusation to be brought or preferred without the knowledge or consent of the Parliament into the House against any of the Members thereof is a Breach of Priviledge of Parliament Fourthly To apprehend any such Accused to imprison their persons to seize upon their Goods or Estates to prosecute and proceed against them to their Tryal and Judgment to Condemn or Execute them upon such Accusation without the consent or advice of the Parliament is a Breach of the Priviledges thereof Fifthly To endeavour to cast an evil opinion of such Members Accused into the hearts of his Majesties Loyal Subjects whereby they disaffecting them may be ready and willing to put in execution any Command or Warrant for their apprehension and imprisonment is a Breach of the Priviledges of Parliament Sixthly To come in open Parliament for any Officer or Serjeant to demand and arrest any such Member accused be it of high Treason or any other Crime whatsoever without the knowledge of the whole House is a Breach of the Priviledges of Parliament Seventhly to come to a Parliament sitting in free consultation assisted and guarded with Armed Men and with them be sitting the
Published in all Market Towns in the Kingdom A Message was then brought up from the Commons Messa geconcerning the Prince and the Marquiss of Hertford by Sir Gilbert Gerrard to desire their Lordships To joyn with the House of Commons to injoyn the Marquiss of Hertford appointed by his Majesty to be Governor to the Prince as he will answer the Breach of that Trust that doth so immediately concern the present and future Peace and Safety of the three Kingdoms forthwith to repair to the Prince and according to the Duty of his Place to take care of him and to give his Personal Attendance on his Highness and to be very watchful to prevent that he be not carried out of the Kingdom And the House of Commons do further declare and desires the Lords will do the like That whatsoever Person shall be advising or assistant to the conveying of the Prince out of the Kingdom or attend his Highness in his Journey shall be declared and reputed a Publick Enemy to the Protestant Religion and the Peace and Safety of the three Kingdoms And that the Lords be likewise moved to joyn with the House of Commons in an humble Desire to his Majesty That he will not for any Cause whatsoever permit the Prince to be carried out of the Kingdom without the humble Advice and Consent of Parliament Thereupon It was Ordered That this House agrees with the House of Commons in all the aforesaid Particulars and will joyn with them in the whole as is desired And this Vote was drawn into an Order and the Marquiss of Hertford ordered to acquaint the King with it The Lord Marquiss of Hertford being in the House gave their Lordships this Account That when the King went to Hampton-Court he demanded the Prince of him and took him away with him in his Coach in the Afternoon and his Majesty commanded his Lordship to stay here his Lordship therefore desired this House would require no more of him then he is able to perform and as far as in him lay he would obey their Lordships Command to attend the Prince and if there be cause of Fear as the Parliament Apprehends he will give Advice thereof to the Parliament Then the Earl of Bath Reported Dutch Ambassador desired to order the States Ships to stay Ships at Dunkirk going for Ireland That he had been with the States Ambassador to desire him That he would give present Order to the States Ships that lie before Dunkirk and other Ports of Flanders for the staying of all Ships as are laden with Arms Ammunition or Provisions and bound for the Relief and Assistance of the Rebels of Ireland The Ambassador saith he had alrerdy received Intimation from the Committee of the House of Commons to this purpose and accordingly hath sent Order to their General Van Trompe but he desires he may have the desires of the Parliament in Writing that upon all Occasions he may know the better what to do therein A Message was brought up from the House of Commons to desire that their Lordships would proceed upon the Bill depending before them for taking away the Votes of the Bishops out of their House and dis-inabling all persons in Holy Orders for Exercising any Temporal Jurisdiction or Authority To which the answer was returned That the House will proceed therein with Convenient Expedition Declaration for putting the Kingdom into a posture of Defence rejected by the Lords After this the Declaration brought up Yesterday from the House of Commons concerning the putting of the Kingdom into a Posture of Defence was taken into Consideration and the House was adjourned into a Committee during Pleasure to debate the Preamble of it and after much Debate the House was resumed and the Question was put Whether that the Narrative in this Declaration shall be referred to a Committee to be so penned as that it may appear to be the Narrative onely of the House of Commons and thereupon to be so published But it was Resolved by the Major part Negatively Whereupon their Lordships resolved to have a Conference to morrow with the House of Commons to hear the Reasons that induced them to make this Narrative in this Declaration Then the Lord Keeper signified to the House That he had now received a Letter from the King with a Message which his Majesty hath commanded him to deliver presently to both Houses of Parliament The King's Letter was then read in these Words My Lord Keeper The King's Letter to the L. Keeper with a Message to both Houses Jan. 14. 1641. THis is to Command you to deliver that which is contained within this inclosed Paper as a Message from Me to both Houses and that instantly without delay And so I rest Windsor Jan. 14. 1641. Your Assured Friend Charles R. The Message was as followeth HIs Majesty being no less tender of the Privileges of Parliament and thinking himself no less concerned that they be not broken and that they be asserted and vindicated whensoever they are so then the Parliament it self hath thought fit to add to his last Message this Profession That in all his Proceedings against the Lord Kymbolton Mr. Hollis Sir Arthur Haslerigg Mr. Pym Mr. Hampden and Mr. Strode he had never the least Intention of Violating the least Privilege of Parliament and in case any doubt of Privileges remain will be willing to clear that and assert those by any reasonable Way that His Parliament shall advise him to Vpon Confidence of which He no way doubts His Parliament will forthwith lay by all Jealousies and apply themselves to the Publick and Pressing Affairs and especially to those of Ireland wherein the Good of this Kingdom and the true Religion which shall ever be his Majesties first Care are so highly and so nearly concerned And his Majesty assures himself that his Care of their Privileges will increase their tenderness of his lawful Prerogative which are so necessary to the mutual Defence of each other and both which will be the Foundation of a perpetual perfect Intelligence between his Majesty and Parliament and of the Happyness and Prosperity of His People Hereupon he sent Justice Foster and Justice Mallet to desire a Conference with them concerning this Message from the King Thus did this Admirable Prince by continual and repeated endeavors seek to bring the differences between him and the Parliament to a happy composure but without any Effect for the Heads of the Faction whom he had accused and many others who were of the Confederacy were too well acquainted with their own Guilt to trust to a Fair and Legal Trial and could not think themselves in any condition of Security so long as the King was undevested of his Royal Authority and in a capacity by being possessed of the Sword of Power to turn the Sword of Law and Justice against such high Criminals as had been the contrivers and fomenters of all the Troubles and Disorders in the two Kingdoms In the
will continually disturb the Peace of that Kingdom as well from hence as from Forreign Powers for no way will be left unattempted by them whereby the Peace of that Kingdom may be disturbed and then of necessity England must be forced to undertake a new conquest of this Kingdom for a politick Reformation will then become impossible and to make a new Conquest will be now more difficult and chargeable then in any former times in reguard the Ports and Inland Towns and the Principal Strengths will be immediately lost as some of them already are which are now more in number by much then were here in former times and the People better disciplined in the rules of War besides many other advantages they have as well by the return hither of Commanders of the Irish who served in Forreign Nations as otherwise which they wanted in the time of former Rebellions there and besides all the meer Irish now in the Service of the King of Spain will undoubtedly return hither to joyn with the Rebels And so we humbly take leave and remain from his Majesties Castle of Dublin 5. November 1641. Your most Honourable Lordships humbly at Commandment Will. Parsons Jo. Borlase J. Dillon Ant. Midensis Jon. Kaphâ—e Cha. Lambart Ad. Loftus J. Temple Cha. Coote P. Crosbie Tho. Rotherham Ja. Ware Rob. Meredith A Letter of the same Date was also sent to the Speaker of the House of Commons A Letter from the Lords Justices Council in Ireland to the Speaker of the H. of Commons No. â—th 1641. in these words SIR SVch are the present Calamities under which all the English and Proâ—â—stants in Ireland do now suffer as if Supplies of Men Money and Arms come not speedily forth of England hither it cannot be avoided but the Kingdom must be lost and all the English and Protestants here destroyed wherefore as we have now humbly represented the same more fully to the Lords of his Majesties most Honourable Privy Council and formerly to his Majesty and to the Lord Lieutenant of this Kingdom so we adjudge it fit by these our Letters to you to make it known to the Honourable the Commons House of Parliament there who cannot but foresee the many other grievous and Lamentable Consequences which the loosening of this Kingdom must unavoidably bring to England and certainly this Kingdom and the Lives of Vs all here and all the Protestants in the Kingdom were never in so great Danger to be lost as at this instant no age having produced in this Kingdom an example of so much Mischief done in so short a time as now we find acted here in less then a fortnights space by Killing and Destroying so many English and Protestants in several Parts by Robing and Spoyling of them and many thousands more of his Majesties good Subjects by Seizing so many Castles Houses and Places of Strength in several Parts of the Kingdom by threatning the English to depart or otherwise that they will destroy them utterly and all their Wickedness acted against the English and Protestants with so much Inhumanity and Cruelty as cannot be imagined to come from Christians even towards Infidels We comfort our selves with this hope That by the Blessing of God on the Wisdom of that Honourable House we may have sudden and full Supply from thence whereby we may be enabled to preserve the Kingdom and consequently prevent the further Lamentable Mischiefs which may otherwise follow And so we remain from his Majesties Castle of Dublin 5. November 1641. Your very assured Loving Friends Will. Parsons Jo. Borlase J. Dillon Ant. Midensis Joh. Raphoe Cha. Lambart Ad. Loftus J. Temple P. Crosbie Cha. Coote T. Rotherham Ja. Ware Rob. Meredith Sp. of Com. And after this another Letter was dispatched to the Speaker of the House of Commons which spoke this Language A Letter from the Lords Justices Council of Ireland to the Speaker of the H. of Commons No. 13th 1641. SIR BY Letters from the Lord Lieutenant of this Kingdom we observe how sensible the Honourable Commons House of Parliament there is of the Insolencies of the Rebels here and of the present danger of the whole State and Kingdom and the readiness and forwardness wherewith that Honourable House hath ordeined Aids and Supplies for us which exceedingly Comfort us amidst the Distresses wherein we now stand And we crave leave as to acknowledg with most hearty thanks to that Honourable House the High Favour we have therein received and our joyful apprehension thereof so to intreat most earnestly that the Supplies may be hastened unto us with all possible speed in such a proportion as by our Letters of the fifth of November to the Lord Lieutenant we humbly moved and in such manner as by our Letters now sent to his Lordship we humbly desire wherein if all possible speed be not used the deliverance intended by that Honourable House to this State and Kingdom may be prevented and so the Cruel and Barbarous Rebels become possessed of the Kingdom which we Submit to the deep Judgement of that Honourable House And so we remain from his Majesties Castle of Dublin 13. November 1641. Your very assured Loving Friends Will. Parsons Jo. Borlase Ormond Ossery J Dillon Cha. Lambart Ad. Loftus Gerrard Lowther P. Crosbie Ja. Ware Rob. Meredith Sp. of Com. House But the Parliament of England as may be observed before in the preceeding Transactions of the two Houses though they made a mighty bustle and noise about relieving of Ireland made but very slow steps towards the Suppressing of the Rebellion in good Earnest And notwithstanding the pressing instances and repeated Messages of his Majesty to forward that Affair they were two much taken up with the Management of their own Designs to assist that distressed Kingdom to any purpose They gave a great many good words and sent over Letters full of Promises of Men Money and Provisions but all the course they took was to borrow Money of the City of London and the Merchants which was not considerable for such a Work and for Men though the King offered presently to raise 10000. Volunteers if the two Houses would undertake to pay them they would by no means hear of it but did all they could to discourage those Levies by questioning such as beat up Drums for Volunteers for that Service By this means and by some other Actions before recounted this Rebellion which was at first but a few Sparks and might without difficulty have been Extinguished grew to be an Universal Flame And nothing can be more evident then that how general soever the Conspiracy was many of the Irish stood at Gaze to see what would become of the First Commotions but observing the little Force which was in Ireland to oppose them the little probability of Succors from England the great Animosities and Dissentions and a Prospect of a Civil War in England between the King and the two Houses and being incouraged with hopes of Forreign Assistance
mentioned in the Ninth Article to be issued to the Bishop of Down and Conner whereby he gives power to him and his Officers to apprehend any of the King's Subjects that appeared not upon Process out of his Ecclesiastical Courts expresly contrary to Law and your Lordships have heard how miserably the King's Subjects were used by this Warrant as hath been proved by a Gentleman of Quality Sir James Montgomery and howsoever he pretends it was called in it was three whole years in execution before it was called in and though he pretends his Predecessors did ordinarily grant Warrants of that nature yet he proves no such thing My Lord Primate was examined and he sayes that Bishop Montgomery did tell him there was such a Warrant and one Witness more speaks of one Warrant and that is all the Witnesses produced and that but to be a Copy too Your Lordships have heard how he exercises his jurisdiction and power over particulars and that in a numerous manner now your Lordships shall find it universal and spread over the face of that Kingdom that was under his jurisdiction and that is in the tenth Article which concerns the Customs where he doth impose upon the King's Subjects a Rate and Tax against Law and enforces them to pay it or else punishes them for it which is expresly an arrogating to himself of a jurisdiction above the Law My Lords in his answer he pretends that this is rather a matter of Fraud than otherwise in truth and so it is and that a great one too But as it is a fraud a dis-service and deceit to his Majesty so it is likewise an exercise of a Tyrannical Jurisdiction over his Subjects That it is a fraud to his Majesty it plainly appears for the King lost exceedingly by it whereas before the Rent afforded the King was 11050 l. there was improved by the new Lease that my Lord of Strafford took but 1350 l. and I beseech your Lordships observe how much the King lost by it for my Lord had comprehended in his new Lease the Impost of Wine for which the King before that time received 1400 l. a year and likewise the Custom of London-derry Colerane and Knockfergus for which the King haâ— reserved 1700 l a year besides the moity of the seisures so here is 5000 l. that the King lost of the old Rent expresly and if your Lordships please observe the gain and benefit my Lord of Strafford made by it in one year he and his sharers received 39000 l. and in the last year 51000 l. and that expresly proved upon two accounts and if this be his dealings where is his service to the King in his pretence to advance the Customs It is true he says The King has five eighth parts but it was but within these two years the King had it not before And I would very gladly have heard whether the King received his part of an account of 55000 l. if he had received it I believe we should have heard of it My Lords There is something more here is a new imposition on the King's People without Law and yet I will do my Lord of Strafford no injury but I tell you how the proof stands It was a Book of Rates framed before he came to the farm for the Book of Rates was in March and the date of his Assignment was in April following and therefore my Lord saith It could not be for his benefit But my Lords all this while my Lord of Strafford was in England and in agitation for the procuring of it and they come one upon the heels of another and I beseech you observe cui bono the Book of Rates was procured within a month of the Patent but God knows whether it were not within the compass of his intentions to take the Patent and therefore whether he were not the Instrument of raising Rates it rests in your Lordships Judgment and all that hear me I am sure the benefit redounded to himself and so here is an Arbitrary Government in imposing and forcing to pay for that I desire your Lordships to take with you and he might as well have raised Nineteen shillings on a pound as nine pence or three pence by the same rule of Law The next Article in number was the Eleventh and I would be glad my Lord had not mentioned it it concerns the Pipe-staves wherein he pretends he did the King great Service and that he says was the reason of our passing over it but that was not the reason it had been a foul business if we had opened it but having enough besides we made not use of it for the substance of the proofs by multiplicity of Witnesses had been that the parties themselves that bought the Pipe-staves for Four pound odd money were fain to sell them to his Instruments for Six pounds and after to buy them again for Ten pounds else there must be no Licence to Export them but that I would not have mentioned if he had let it slip over I come to the Twelfth Article and that is concerning the Tobacco wherein he pretends the King's Service and if my memory fail me not the desire of the Parliament that he should take this into his hands for the King My Lords Therein under his favour he hath mis-recited the Evidence and spoken that he cannot justifie for he can shew no such desire of the Parliament It is true there was a desire of the Parliament that the King would be pleased to take his Customs into his hands for the advancement of his Revenue that it might go to maintain himself and he might not be abused and others live by it but to take the Tobacco into his hands he never did nor can produce a Witness to prove such their desire and therefore under favour he fixes a wrong upon the Parliament and injures your Lordships by his reciting that he neither did nor can make good for there was no such thing But if you observe the course he takes he makes Proclamation to hinder the importing of Tobacco into Ireland that if it be imported it must be sold to him at his own rate and by these means he first hinders the liberty of the Subject from doing what the Law allows him and so takes on him an Arbitrary Power And Secondly he ingrosses this commodity to himself deceiving His Majesty to whom he professeth so much fidelity for whereas there is 5000 l. Rent to the King he by the computation of Merchants receives near 14000 l. a year And because their computations are not alwayes true I do not care if I allow him 40000 l. mistaken and then he will gain near 100000 l. so that if he intends the King's benefit it is wonder he told not his Majesty of the great profit that might thereby have risen and let him partake of it as in Justice he should have done according to the Trust reposed in him but you have heard of no such matter And
surely my Lord of Strafford would not have omitted it if it had been for his advantage especially in this presence where he omits nothing to clear himself or to insinuate with his Majesty Now I come to the Thirteenth Article the Article concerning Flax which I know is fresh in your Lordships memories and I believe will be so in the memories of the Subjects of Ireland for many years how he ingrossed it into his hands and interrupted the Trade of the poor people whereby such miseries and calamities befell many of that Nation that as you have heard it proved thousands dye in ditches for want of Bread to put in their mouths And whereas he pretends that this was proved but by one Witness and that man to be imprisoned and of no Credit though he was his own instrument your Lordships remember Sir John Clotworthy his testimony and anothers and his own Warrant produced and acknowledged here to justifie the execution of it and such a thing was thereby taken into his own hands that I profess I never heard the like that the poor people should be constrained to use their own as he pleased and that pleasing of himself laid an impossibility on the people to execute his pleasure which was a bondage exceeding that of the Israelites under the Egyptians for there was not laid so much upon the Children of Israel but there was a possibility to perform they might with much labour perchance get stubble to burn their Brick but the Natives here must have a charge laid upon them without possibility to perform and the disobedience must cost them no less than the loss of their Goods which drew with it even the loss of their lives for want of bread This was not proved by only one Witness but by many And your Lordships remember the remonstrance of that Parliament of Ireland which declares it to a greater height than I have opened it The Fifteenth Article is that of Levying War upon the King's Subjects expresly within the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. and 18 H. 6. Your Lordships have heard the Warrant proved by the party himself to whom it was directed whereby Power was given to lay Soldiers upon any party that did not obey my Lord of Strafford's Orders at the Council-Table but not to circumscribe him to a certain number but the Sergeant at Arms and his Ministers might lay as many as they would It is true this Warrant was not it self produced but a copy was offered which was not read and therefore I will not offer it to be proved but the party that executed the Warrant it self proves it to be under the Hand and Seal of my Lord of Strafford he proves the express authority of it which was to the effect I opened three or four more who saw and read it proved the same and that it was under the Hand and Seal of my Lord of Strafford that accordingly it was executed upon divers of the King's Subjects it was proved by three Witnesses expresly in the point how by colour of this Warrant the Sergeant at Arms and his Officers sent Soldiers to lye in the Houses and Lands of the King's Subjects how the Owners were thereby forced out from their own Habitation how their Goods were wasted and devoured their Corn and Victuals eaten up and the Soldiers never left them as long as any part of their Estates remained to maintain them My Lord of Strafford's defence is That it hath been used before his time in Ireland wherein he hath again misrecited for he did not offer a proof nor a particle of a proof that ever any man did know Soldiers laid upon any party for refusing to appear to a Warrant or for other contempt at Council-Table before himself did it but he offered to prove That formerly Soldiers were sent against Rebels and that after they were declared to be Rebels and that justly too and he proved an use and custom to force men to pay Contribution-money due to the King but that was by consent of the people who granted a Contribution of 20000 l. a year for increase of the King's Revenue and that it might not be upon Record in the Exchequer and so claimed as due in time to come they consented that Soldiers should be laid upon them that refused it and the word Consent is within the Statute of 18 H. 6. Again did he prove all manner of Rents were levyed by Soldiers no such thing but such Rents as were designed for the payment of the Army he proved by Sir Arthur Terringham the laying of Soldiers once for the payment of a summ of Money but Sir Arthur being demanded whether it were the King's Rents or comprehended within the same general Rule he could make no answer thereunto Your Lordships remember he says He did not know it and therefore probably it was the King's Rents and doubtless it was so But if he had produced Precedents it could not be an authority for Treason that if people did not appear to his Orders he must levy War against the King's Subjects and for his extenuation of the War that the same was of no great danger there being not above five or six Soldiers laid at a time I would to God the people oppressed by it had cause to undervalue it I am sure four or six Musqueteers are as strong to oppress a man as four thousand so the matter of Fact is strongly and expresly proved Besides though there came not above four or five to a house yet the authority given to the Sergeant was general he might have brought more if he had listed and in truth he brought as many as the Estate of the party would maintain And as to the not producing of the Warrant I have already answered it If it were in the Case of a Deed wherein men call for Witnesses it were something but God forbid that the Treason should be gone and the Traytor not questionable if his Warrant can be once put out of the way The next Article which is laid to his Charge is For issuing out a Proclamation and Warrant of restraint to inhibit the King's Subjects to come to the Fountain their Soveraign to deliver their complaints of their wrongs and oppressions Your Lordships have heard how he hath exercised his jurisdiction and now he raises a battery to secure and make it safe If he do wrong perhaps the complaint may come to the Gracious Ears of a King who is ready to give relief and therefore he must stop these cries and prevent these means that he may go on without interruption and to that end he makes Propositions here That the King's Subjects in Ireland should not come over to make complaint against Ministers of State before an Address first made to himself It is true he makes a fair pretence and shew for it and had just cause of approbation if he intended what he pretended But as soon as he came into Ireland what use made he of it he ingrosses
the 18th year of Hen. 6th that both Person and thing are within the Statute That the Statute remains in force to this day that the parliament here hath cognizance of it and that even in the ordinary way of Judicature that if there be a Treason and a Traitor that the want of Jurisdiction in the judicial way may justly be supplied by Bill 5. That his endeavouring to subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of the Realms of England and Ireland and instead thereof to introduce a Tyrannical Government against Law is Treason by the Common-Law That Treasons at the Common-Law are not taken away by the Statute of 25th Edw. 3 1 Hen. 4th c. nor any of them 6. That as this case stands it 's just and necessary to resort to the Supream Power in Parliament in case all the rest should fail Of these six five of them are Treason within the compass of the Laws already established Three within the Statute of 25th Edw. 3. and one within the Irish Statute the other by the Common-Law of England If but any one of these Six Considerations hold the Commons conceive that upon the whole matter they had good cause to pass the Bill My Lords For the first of Levying War I shall make bold to read the case to your Lordships before I speak to it It 's thus The Earl did by Warrant under his Hand and Seal give Authority to Robert Savil a Sergeant at Arms and his Deputies to Sess such numbers of Soldiers Horse and Foot of the Army in Ireland together with an Officer as the Sergeant should think fit upon His Majesties Subjects of Ireland against their Will this Warrant was granted by the Earl to the end to compel the Subjects of Ireland to submit to the unlawful Summons and Orders made by the Earl upon Paper Petitions exhibited to him in case of private interest between party and party this Warrant was executed by Savil and his Deputies by Sessing of Soldiers both Horse and Foot upon divers of the Subjects of Ireland against their Wills in Warlike manner and at divers times the Soldiers continued upon the parties upon whom they were sefsed and wasted their Goods until such time as they had submitted themselves unto those Summons and Orders My Lords This is a Levying War within the Statute of 25th Edw. 3. The words of the Statute are If any man do Levy War against our Lord the King in His Realm this is declared Treason I shall endeavour in this to make clear to your Lordships 1. What shall be Levying of War in respect of the motive or cause of it 2. What shall be said a Levying of War in respect of the action or thing done 3. And in the third place I shall apply them to the present case It will be granted in this Levying of War that Forces may be raised and likewise used in Warlike manner and yet no Levying of War within the Statute that is when the Forces are raised and employed upon private ends either of revenge or interest Before the Statute in Edw. the 1 time the Title of a Castle was in difference between the Earls of Hereford and Gloucester for the maintaining of the possession on the one side and gaining of it on the other Forces were raised on either side of many hundred Men they marched with Banners displayed one against another In the Parliament in the 20th of Edward 1. this was adjudged only Trespass and either of the Earls Fined 1000 Marks apiece After the Statute in Hillary Term in the 15th year of Edw. the 3. in the King's-Bench Rot. 3. Nicholas Huntercome in Warlike manner with 40 men armed amongst other weapons with Guns so ancient as appears by that Record they were did much spoil in the Mannor of the Abby of Dorchester in the County of Oxford this was accounted no Treason and so it hath been held by the Judges That if one or more Town-ship upon pretence of saving their Commons do in a forcible and Warlike manner throw in inclosers this is only a Riot no Treason The words of the Statute 25 Edw. 3. clear this point that if any man ride Armed openly or secretly with men at Arms against any other to kill and rob or to detain him until he hath made Fine and Ransome for his deliverance this is declared not to be Treason but Felony or Trespass as the Case shall require all the printed Statutes which have it covertly or secret are misprinted for the words in the Parliament Roll as appears in the 17th are Discovertment ou Secretement Open or Secretly Object So that my Lords in this of Levying War the Act is not so much to be considered but as in all other Treasons and Felonies quo animo with what intent and purpose My Lords If the end be considerable in Levying War it may be said that it cannot be a War unless against the King for the words of the Statute are If any man Levy War against the King Answ That these words extend further than to the person of the King appears by the words of the Statute which in the beginning declares it to be Treason to compass and imagine the death of the King and after other Treasons this is to be declared to be Treason to Levy War against the King If Levying of War extend no further than to the person of the King these words of the Statute are to no purpose for then the first Treason of compassing the King's death had fully included it before because that he which Levies War against the Person of the King doth necessarily compass his death It 's a War against the King when intended for alteration of the Laws or Government in any part of them or to destroy any of the great Officers of the Kingdom This is a Levying War against the King 1. Because the King doth protect and maintain the Laws in every part of them and the great Officers to whose care he hath in his own stead delegated the execution of them 2. Because they are the King's Laws he is the Fountain from whence in their several Channels they are derived to the Subject all our Indictments run thus Trespasses laid to be done Contra pacem Domini Regis the King's Peace for exorbitant offences though not intended against the King's Person against the King His Crown and Dignity My Lords this construction is made good by divers Authorities of great weight ever since the Statute of 25th of Edw. 3. downwards In Richard the 2d time Sir Thomas Talbot conspired the death of the Dukes of Gloucester and Lancaster and some other of the Peers for the effecting of it he had caused several People in the County of Chester to be Armed in Warlike manner in Assemblies in the Parliament held in the 17th year of R. 2. No 20. Sir Thomas Talbot being Accused of High-Treason for this It 's there declared insomuch as one of them was Lord High Steward of England
and the other High Constable that this was done in destruction of the Estates of the Realm and of the Laws of the Kingdom and therefore adjudged Treason and the Judgment sent down into the King's Bench as appears Easter Term in the 17th year of R. 2. in the King's-Bench Rot. 16th These two Lords had appeared in the 11th of R. 2. in maintainance of the Act of Parliament made in the year before one of them was of the Commissioners appointed by Parliament and one of the Appealors of those who would have overthrown it The Duke of Lancaster likewise was one of the Lords that was to have been Indicted of Treason for endeavouring the maintenance of it and therefore conspiring of their deaths is said to be in destruction of their Laws This there is declared to be Treason that concerned the Person of the King and Common-wealth In that great insurrection of the Villains and meaner People in Richard the II. time they took an Oath Quod Regi Communibus fidelitatem servarent to be true to the King and Commons and that they would take nothing but what they paid for punished all theft with death here 's no Intendment against the Person of the King The intent was to establish the Laws of Villanage and Servitude to burn all the Records to kill the Judges This in the Parliament of the 5th year of R. 2. No 31 32. the First Part is declared to be Treason against the King and against the Law In the 11th year of R. 2. in Parliament the raising of Forces against the Commissioners appointed by Act of Parliament the year before adjudged Treason by the Judges The Statute Jmo Mary Cap. 12. Enacts That if 12 or more shall endeavour by force to alter any of the Laws or Statutes of the Kingdom he shall from such a time there limited be adjudged only as a Felon This Act was to continue but to the next Parliament it is expired it shews by the words only that the offence was higher before the making it My Lords In Queen Elizabeths time Grant and divers Apprentices of London to the number of 200. rose and assembled at Tower-hill carried a Cloak upon a Pole instead of a Banner their intent was to deliver divers Apprentices out of Prison that had been committed upon a Sentence in the Star-Chamber for Riots to kill the Lord Major of London and for setting prizes on Victuals In Trinity Term 37 Eliz. divers of the Judges were consulted withal and resolved That this was a Levying of War against the Queen being intended against the Government and Officers of the Queen and therefore Grant and others were executed as Traytors Afterwards in that Queens time divers of the County of Oxford consulted to go together from House to House in that County and thence to London and other parts to excite them to take up Arms for the throwing in of all inclosures throughout England Nothing was done nor no assembly Yet the Statute of 13 Eliz. Cap. 1. during the Queens Life made it Treason to intend or advise to Levy War against the Queen In Easter Term 39 of Eliz. all the Judges of England met about the Case it was resolved by them that this was a War intended against the Queen they agreed That if it had been of one Township or more upon private interest and claim of right of Common it had not been Treason but this was to throw in all Inclosures through the Kingdom whereunto these parties should pretend no claim That it was against the Law in regard that the Statute of Merton gave power of Inclosures in many Cases upon this resolution Bradsaw and Burton were executed at Aynestowhill in Oxfordshire the place where they intended the first Rendezvous So that my Lords if the end of it be to overthrow any of the Statutes any part of the Law and setled Government or any of the great Officers intrusted with the execution of them This is a War against the King My Lords It will be further considerable what shall be accounted a Levying of War in respect of the Actions and things done there 's a design to alter some part of the Laws and present Government for the effecting thereof People be provided of Arms gathered together into Troops but afterwards march not with Banners displayed nor do Bellum percutere whether the Army themselves and gathering together upon this design be a War or such prosecution of the Design with force as makes it Treason within the Statute First If this be not a War in respect that it necessarily occasions hostile preparations on the other side Secondly From the words of the Statute shall Levy War and be thereof probably Attainted of open Deed by People of their condition although the bare conspiring be not an open Deed yet whether the Arming and drawing of men together be not an open Declaration of War In Sir Thomas Talbot's Case before cited in the Seventeenth year of R. II. the Acts of Force are expressed in the Parliament Roll That he caused divers of the People of the County of Chester to be Armed in a Warlike manner in Assemblies here is no Marching no Banners displayed In the Eighth year of Hen. VIII William Bell and Thomas Lacy in Com. Kanc. conspired with Thomas Cheyney called the Hermet of the Queen of Faries to overthrow the Law and Customs of the Realm and for the effecting of it they with Two hundred more met together and concluded upon a course of raising greater Forces in the County of Kent and the adjacent Shires This adjudged Treason these were open Acts. My Lords For the application of both these to the case in question First In respect of the end of it here was a War against the King it was to subvert the Laws this being the design for the effecting of it he assumed to his own Person an Arbitrary Power over the Lives Liberties and Estates of His Majesties Subjects and determined Causes upon Paper-Petitions at his own Will and Pleasure Obedience must be forced by the Army this is declared by the Warrant My Lords If it be said that the Warrant expresseth not any intent of subverting the Laws It expresseth fully one of the principal means whereby this was to be done that is obedience to his Arbitrary Orders upon Paper-Petitions This was done in reference to the main design In the cases of the Town of Cambridge and Sir William Cogan they have formerly been cited to your Lordships upon other occasions the things in themselves were not Treason they were not a Levying of War In that of Cambridge the Town met together and in a forcible manner broke up the University-Treasury and took of it the Records and Evidences of the Liberties of the University over the Town In the other they of Bridgewater marched to the Hospital and compelled the Master of the Hospital to deliver unto them certain Evidences that concerned the Town and forced him to enter into a Bond of
a Convenient time to be declared by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Councel of that Kingdom shall return to their due Obedience the greatest part whereof they conceive have been seduced upon false Grounds by cunning and subtile Practices of some of the most malignant Rebels Enemies to this State and to the Reformed Religion and likewise to bestow such Rewards as shall be thought fit and published by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Council upon all those who shall arrest the persons or bring in the Heads of such Traytors as shall be personally named in any Proclamation published by the State there And they do hereby Exhort and Require all his Majesties loving Subjects both in this and that Kingdom to remember their Duty and Conscience to God and his Religion and the great and Eminent Danger which will involve this whole Kingdom in General and themselves in Particular if this abominable Treason be not timely suppressed and therefore with all Readiness Bounty and Chearfulness to confer their Assistance in their Persons or Estates to this so important and necessary a Service for the Common Good of all The Letter to be sent along with this Declaration was in these words MY Lords Justices The Letter from the Speakers of both Houses to the Lords Justices of Ireland and the rest of his Majesties Council of his Majesties Kingdom of Ireland I have received a Command from the Lords House in this present Parliament to send unto you this inclosed Declaration of the Lords and Commons in Parliament for the better Encouragement of his Majesties Faithful Subjects to unite and imploy themselves in opposing and suppressing the Rebels of this and that Kingdom the publishing whereof I am to commend to your Care and Wisdom and rest c. The Resolutions being again read over the House consented to them and ordered the Lord Keeper to take Care to see them sent to Ireland as also to send Copies of them to his Majesty that he may see the Care of his Parliament in his absence concerning the Affairs of Ireland The Lord Admiral was also Ordered to give Command for the stoping of the Posts towards Ireland Order to stop the Posts towards Ireland upon such as are now going from Flanders into the Kingdom of Ireland It was also Ordered Order to take Care to guard the City against Tumults That the Lord Chamberlain of his Majesties Household Captain General of the South Parts of this Kingdom during his Majesties being out of this Kingdom shall give Order to the Lord Mayor of the City of London to safe guard the said City as there shall be Cause against all Tumults and Disorders that shall happen in or about the said City and the Liberties of the same upon any occasion whatsoever In the Commons House it was upon the Question Resolved That the Conference with the Lords shall be renewed concerning the securing of the Persons of Papists It was also Ordered That a Warrant be drawn to pass both Houses to the Master of the Ordnance for the delivery of the Arms and Powder and Ammunition at Carlisle to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or such as he shall appoint This day the Lord Keeper signified to the House of Lords Friday Novemb. 5. That he had received a Letter from the Lord Howard at Edenburgh dated the 30th of October 1641 which was commanded to be read the Effect whereof was THat meeting with the Instructions of the Parliament beyond Anwick in his return to London his Lordship and Mr. Fiennes returned back again to Edenburgh to present them to his Majesty which having done his Majesty told them That for the Business of Barwick be hoped by this time the Parliament had received Satisfaction Concerning the Rebellion in Ireland his Majesty upon the first Notice thereof moved the Parliament of Scotland to take this business into Consideration which accordingly they did and appointed a Committee for this very purpose which made Report whereof a Copy is Enclosed together with a Ratification thereof in Parliament wherein they have testified their Affection and respect to this Kingdom The Report of the Committee in the Parliament of Scotland Rege praesente 28 Octobris 1641. HIS Majesty produced a Letter written to him by the Lord Viscount Chichester anent some Commotions in Ireland The Resolutions of Scottish Parliament concerning the Irish Rebellion which was publiquely read in Audience of the Kings Majesty and Parliament And his Majesty desired that some may be appointed to think upon the Business so far as may concern his Majesty and the Kingdom And the Estates nominated the Lord Chancellor Lord General Lord Lothian Lord Amond the Lardis of Wedderburn Kinhault and Murthill the Commissioners of Edinburgh Glascow and Aire to think upon some Course necessary to be done anent the said Letters and what is incumbent to be done by this Kingdom thereupon and Report again to the Parliament To meet in the General his House this Afternoon at two Hours 28 Octobris 1641. This Day in the Afternoon the Committee above nominated appointed for taking into Consideration the Report of the Commotions in Ireland being met in the Lord Generals House and having read the Letter directed to the King's Majesty from the Lord Chichester Dated at Belfast the 24th of October 1641 hath Considered That his Majesty out of His Wisdom and Royal Care of the Peace of His Kingdoms hath already acquainted the Parliament of England with the Intelligence from Ireland and has sent to Ireland to know the certainty of the Commotions and of the Affairs of that Combination which till it be perfectly known there can be no particular Course taken for Suppressing thereof and the Kingdom of Ireland being dependant upon the Crown and Kingdom of England the English may conceive Jealousies and mistake our Forwardness when they shall hear of our Preparations without thair Knowledg in this whairin they are first and more properly concerned And if the Insurrections be of that Importaince as the British within Ireland are not Powerful enough to Suppress it without Assistance of greater Forces * * Scotish for than nor thair Allies and that his Majesty and Parliament of England shall think our Aid necessary to joyn with thaim We conceive That the Assistance which we can contribute may be in readiness as soon as England and if after Resolution taken by his Majesty with Advice of both Parliaments it shall be found necessary that we give our present Assistance we shall go about it with that speed which may Witness our dutiful Respects to his Majesties Service and our Affections to our Brethren his Majesties Loyal Subjects of England and Ireland 29 Die Octob. 1641. Read in Audience of his Majesty and Estates of Parliament ad futuram rei memoriam as ane Testimony of their Affections to his Majesties Service and the Good of the Neighbor Kingdoms and appoints thrie of the Baronis