stand with Honour and Justice and are in a way of passing a Bill to give them satisfaction They have sought by many subtile practices to cause jealousies and divisions betwixt us and our brethren of Scotland by slandering their proceedings and intentions towards us and by secret endeavours to instigate and incense them and us one against another They have had such a party of Bishops and Popish Lords in the House of Peres as hath caused much opposition and delay in the prosecution of Delinquents hindred the proceeding of divers good Bills passed in the Commons house concerning the reformation of sundry great abuses and corruptions both in Church and State They have laboured to seduce and corrupt some of the Commons House to draw them into conspiracies and combinations against the liberty of the Parliament And by their instruments and agents they have attempted to disaffect and discontent his Majesties Army and to engage it for the maintainance of their wicked and traiterous designs the keeping up of Bishops in votes and functions and by force to compel the Parliament to order limit and dispose their proceedings in such manner as might best concur with the intentions of this dangerous and potent faction And when one mischeivous design and attempt of theirs to bring on the Army against the Parliament and the City of London had been discovered and prevented they presently undertook another of the same damnable nature with this addition to it to endeavour to make the Scotish Army neutral whilst the English Army which they had laboured to corrupt and invenome against us by their false and slanderous suggestions should execute their malice to the subversion of our Religion and the dissolution of our government Thus they have been continually practising to disturb the peace and plotting the destruction even of all the Kings Dominions and have employed their Emissaries and Agents in them all for the promoting of their divellish Designs which the vigilancy of those who were well affected hath still discovered and defeated before they were ripe for execution in England and Scotland only in Ireland which was farther off they have had time and opportunity to mould and prepare their work and had brought it to that perfection that they had possessed themselves of that whole Kingdom totally subverted the government of it rooted out Religion and destroyed all the Protestants whom the conscience of their duty to God their King and Country would not have permitted to â—oin with them if by Gods wonderful providence their main enterprise upon the City and Castle of Dublin had not been detected and prevented upon the very Eve before it should have been executed Notwithstanding they have in other parts of that Kingdom broken out into open Rebellion surprized Towns and Castles committed Murders Rapes and other Villanies and shaken off all bonds of obedience to his Majesty and the Laws of the Realm and in general have kindled such a fire as nothing but God's infinite blessing upon the wisdom and endeavours of this State will be able to quench it And certainly had not God in his great mercy unto this Land discovered and confounded their former designs we had been the Prologue to this Tragedy in Ireland and had by this time been made the lamentable spectacle of misery and confusion And now what hope have we but in God when as the only means of our subsistence and power of Reformation is under him in the Parliament but what can we the Commons without the conjuction of the House of Lords and what conjunction can we expect there when the Bishops and Recusant Lords are so numerous and prevalent that they are able to cross and interrupt our best endeavours for Reformation and by that means give advantage to this malignant party to traduce our proceedings They infuse into the People that we mean to abolish all Church-government and leave every man to his own fancy for the service and worship of God absolving him of that obedience which he owes under God unto his Majesty whom we know to be intrusted with the Ecclesiastical Law as well as with the Temporal to regulate all the Members of the Church of England by such rules of Order and Discipline as are established by Parliament which is his great Councel in all Affairs both in Church and State We confess our intention is and our endeavours have been to reduce within bounds that exorbitant power which the Prelates have assumed unto themselves so contrary both to the Word of God and to the Laws of the Land to which end we past the Bill for the removing them from their temporal power and employments that so the better they might with Meekness apply themselves to the discharge of their Functions which Bill themselves opposed and were the principal instruments of crossing it And we do here declare That it is far from our purpose or desire to let loose the Golden Reins of Discipline and Government in the Church to leave private persons or particular Congregations to take up what form of divine Service they please for we hold it requisite that there should be throughout the whole Realm a conformity to that Order which the Laws enjoyn according to the Word of God and we desire to unburthen the consciences of men of needless and superstitious Ceremonies suppress innovations and take away the monuments of Idolatry And the better to effect the intended Reformation we desire there may be a general Synod of the most grave pious learned and judicious Divines of this Island assisted with some from foreign parts professing the same Religion with us who may consider of all things necessary for the peace and good government of the Church and represent the results of their consultations unto the Parliament to be there allowed of and confirmed and receive the stamp of authority thereby to find passage and obedience throughout the Kingdom They have maliciously charged us that we intend to destroy and discourage Leâ—â—ning whereas it is our chiefest caâ—e and desire to advance it and to provide a competent maintenance for conscionable and preaching Ministers throughout the Kingdom which will be a great encouregement to Scholars and a certain means whereby the want meanness and ignorance to which a great part of the Clergy is now subject will be prevented And we intend likewise to reform and purge the Fountains of Learning the two Universities that the streams flowing from thence may be clear and pure and an honour and comfort to the whole Land They have strained to blast our proceedings in Parliament by wresting the Interpretations of our Orders from their genuine intention They tell the people that our medling with the power of Episcopacy hath caused Sectaries and Conventicles when Idolatry and Popish Ceremonies introduced into the Church by the command of the Bishops have not only debarred the people from thence but expelled them from the Kingdom Thus with Elijah we are called by this Malignant party the troublers of
to Confusion was nothing strange Nor was Serjeant Wild's Introduction at the opening of his Charge any thing but what might have been expected at such a time when he told the Lorâ—s That it might be said of the Great Cause of the Archbishop of Canterbury as it was in a like Case Repertum est hodierno die facinus quod nec Poeta fingere nec Histrio sonare nec Mimus imitari potuer it But it was indeed strange and none of the least of this Great Man's Misfortunes That Three Years before he should be declar'd by the House of Commons a Traytor Nemine contradicente at a time when there was not the least Misunderstanding betwixt the King and Parliament being within the first Month after they sat down And which was yet stranger That no body was more severe upon him than some of those that afterwards took the King's Part against the Parliament and were at last the chief Instruments of his Son's Restoration Whoever reads Sir Harbottle Grimstone's Speech upon voting his Impeachment or Pym's upon carrying it up to the Lords will be apt to think That scarce any Age has produc'd a Man whose Actions and Conduct have been more obnoxious to Obloquy or given greater occasion for it There was one Thread that run through his whole Accusation and upon which most of the Articles of his Impeachment turn'd and that was his Inclination to Popery and his design to introduce the Romish Religion Of which his Immortal Book against Fisher and his Declaration at his Death do sufficiently acquit him And yet not Protestants only but even Roman-Catholicks themselves were led into this Mistake otherwise they would not have dar'd to offer one in his Post a Cardinal's Cap as he confesses in his Diary they did twice The Introduction of a great many Pompous Ceremonies into the Church the Licensing some Books that spoke favourably of the Church of Rome and the refusing to License others that were writ against it were the principal Causes of his being thus misrepresented And indeed his Behaviour in some of these matters as likewise in the Star-Chamber and High-Commission-Court can hardly be accounted for and particularly his Theatrical manner of Consecrating a New Church in London Appendix Numb 7. related at length in the Appendix He was certainly in spite of Malice a Man of an elevated Capacity and vast Designs a great Encourager of Learning and Learned Men and spar'd no Pains nor Cost to enrich England with such a Noble Collection of Books and Manuscripts in most Languages as look'd rather like the Bounty of a King than of a Subject As he left behind him many lasting Monuments of his Beneficence to the Learned World so was he in a way to have carry'd it much further if his Misfortunes had not interven'd and depriv'd Learning of so powerful a Benefactor But after all as there is seldom found a Mind so Great but has some Allay so it seems Archbishop Laud notwithstanding his excellent Endowments was not Proof against either the Impression of Dreams or Revenge of Personal Affronts though never so trivial in themselves nor the Person never so mean Of the one witness his taking so particular notice in his Diary of several of his Dreams and of the other his carrying his Resentments so far against Archie the King's Fool for a mere Iest that he had him turn'd out of Court by an Order of Council Which being so unaccountable a piece of Weakness in so great a Man and done at a full Board the King and the Archbishop present the Order is plac'd in the Appendix Appendix Numb 8. for a remarkable Instance how far the Greatest of Men may at some times be left without a Guard against Passion To return to King Charles he did every thing that was possible to give satisfaction to the Parliament or could be reasonably expected from a Gracious and Beneficent Prince He pass'd the Bill for Attainting the Earl of Strafford though with reluctancy as believing he deserv'd not such hard measure He took away Monopolies that had been a great Discouragement to Trade He express'd himself to their Contentment in the matters of Loan Ship-money Tunnage and Poundage and other unwarrantable Methods that had been us'd in raising Money and show'd a settled Resolution to comply with them in every thing that might tend to the Ease and Security of the Subject As in the preceding Parliament he had past the Petition of Right so in the beginning of this he had agreed to the Acts for Triennial Parliaments and for abolishing the Star-Chamber and High Commission Courts which had been great Grievances and with Chearfulness pass'd that Act which seem'd inconsistent with his own just Prerogative That that Parliament should not be dissolv'd but by Act of Parliament nor prorogu'd or adjourn'd but by their own Consent The King having upon these Concessions receiv'd the Publick Thanks of Both Houses and the loud Applauses of his People took a Journey for Scotland in August 1641. to settle matters there that requir'd his Presence leaving the Parliament sitting which they continued to do for some time and then adjournâ—d themselves to October following At the King 's going away Affairs had been already settled betwixt the two Kingdoms by an Act of Pacification and both Armies order'd to be disbanded the Scots returning home for that purpose While the King was in Scotland The Irish Rebellion the Irish Rebellion broke out which became a new Bone of Contention between the King and the Parliaments of both Nations He took what Measures were possible in Scotland about suppressing that Rebellion and made what haste he could back to England to concert with the Parliament there what was further to be done towards it leaving the Scots as he said himself a contented People and every thing settled to their mind both in Church and State He return'd to London the latter end of November and was receiv'd with all demonstrations of Affection The Lord-Mayor and Aldermen the Nobility Gentry and Train'd-Bands met him without the City and conducted him in great State with the Acclamations of the People the City-Companies in their Formalities lining the Streets on each side to Guildhall where he was Royally Feasted and after Dinner conducted with the same Pomp to Whitehall What man that had seen a Prince thus receiv'd into his Capital City could have imagin'd that within less than Seven Weeks he should be oblig'd to leave it upon the account of Tumults never to see it again but as a Prisoner brought thither to dye upon a Scaffold Yet this was King Charles's hard Fortune And it 's here I would willingly draw a Veil over the remaining part of his Reign that ended in one of the most dismal Tragedies that ever was acted upon the English Stage His Virtues and Morals deserv'd a better Fate and he suffer'd for the Faults of others rather than Errors of his own The House of Commons had begun some
any Age has produc'd and gave us a signal Instance how far it is possible for the same Person to be the Favourite of two Successive Monarchs He possess'd King Iames's Favour without a Rival and without any other Interruption but that Cloud which the Intrigues of Spain rais'd against him in the King's mind which has been already hinted at wherein the Son shar'd equally with the Favourite and which Bishop Williams's dexterity soon dissipated King Charles out-did his Father in his Kindness to Buckingham and had no Favourite after him He had all the Qualities that are requisite for a Court and fit to acquire and preserve his Master's Affection Notwithstanding he was in his Temper highly Generous and Beneficent and that there were few Great Families in England but he had some way or other oblig'd either in themselves or their Relations yet he fell under the Misfortune that attends Favourites but it must be own'd he was rather envied than hated He had the ill luck to be charg'd with a great many things of which he was innocent and particularly in relation to the Spanish Match By all that I have seen he deserv'd the Thanks of the Nation upon that account rather than an Impeachment in Parliament For it was he chiefly that broke off that Match when he saw how much King Iames suffer'd in his Honour through the manner he was treated in it which he found out sooner than the King did himself It 's none of the least Proofs of the Duke of Buckingham's Innocency in these matters that Spanhemius in his History of the Electrice Palatine writ long after Buckingham's Death speaks always honourably of him in the Business of the Palatinate whereas at the same time he exposes King Iames's Conduct It 's a vulgar mistake That he came to be the First Minister merely through the Caprice of King Iames for the Court unanimously promoted his Interest and recommended him to the highest Favour in opposition to Somerset whose Arrogancy Covetousness and Pride had disoblig'd every body and made both the King and the Court weary of him No Servant did his Master more Honour in the Magnificence of his Train and the splendid Manner of his living especially in his Embassy to France whâ—re in the Gracefulness of his Person and Nobleness of his Behaviour and Equipage he out-did any thing that ever was seen of that kind before He was more form'd for a Court than a Camp and though very Brave in his Person he was Unsuccessful in the only Military Expedition he was engag'd in which was that of Rochell And when he was upon the embarking a second time to repair that Disgrace he was basely murder'd amidst a Croud of his Friends and in the height of his Glory To return to King Charles's Character If he had any Personal Faults they were much over-weigh'd by his Virtues But an Immoderate Desire of Power beyond what the Constitution did allow of was the Rock he split upon He might have been happy if he had trusted more to his own Judgment than that of those about him for as in his nature he was an Enemy to all violent Measures so was he apt to submit his own Reason to that of others when any such things came under consideration There was another Error that run through the whole Management of his Affairs both Domestick and Publick and which occasion'd a great part of his Misfortunes He appear'd many times stiff and positive in denying at first what he granted afterwards out of time and too late to give satisfaction which encourag'd ambitious and interested Persons to ask more than they thought of at first and lost him the fruits of his former Concessions So that in the whole Conduct of his Life he verified this Maxim That Errors in Government have ruin'd more Princes than their Personal Vices I shall have done with this Melancholy Subject after the Reader has been acquainted with one remarkable Accident not hitherto mention'd with that Exactness it deserves by any Author I know of which considering its Consequences is an extraordinary Instance upon what small Hinges the greatest Revolutions may turn That the principal Rise of all King Charles's latter Troubles The true Cause of the Scots coming first into England was from the Second War with the Scots has been already show'd But what the Motives were that embolden'd the Scots to alter their Measures from those they had observ'd in the first War continues in great part a Mystery to this day In the first War they stood upon the Defensive only and came no further than their own Borders but in the second they acted so much in the offensive that they march'd into England as far as Durham and were coming on further if the Treaty that was set afoot at Rippon had not stopt them All the Accounts we have of this proceeding of the Scots do seem to be grounded upon the Informations they had of the Backwardness of England to assist the King in this War and that they were well assur'd of Friends all over the Kingdom and some of nearest access to the King's Person who they knew would interpose in their behalf rather than Matters should come to Extremities But these general Encouragements can hardly be thought to have had such weight with the Scots as to make them venture upon so bold an Attempt and therefore it 's but reasonable to believe they went upon surer Grounds when they made this Invasion This matter will be set in a clearer Light when the Reader is acquainted That a Forg'd Letter pretended to be sent from some of the most Leading Men of the Nobility of England came to have the same effects as if it had been a True One and really sign'd by the same Persons whose Names were affix'd to it Which fell out in this manner After the Pacification at Duns which put an end to the first War the King at his Return to London was prevail'd with upon the account of several things the Scots were said to have done contrary to the Articles of the Treaty and the Duty of Subjects to order the Pacification to be burnt by the hands of the Common Hangman To reduce them to obedience he was meditating a New War and in order thereto was levying another Army and was pleas'd to call a Parliament to assist him in it The Scots had their Commissioners at London at that time who wanted not Friends in both Houses to inform them of every thing that happen'd in Parliament and Council which they fail'd not to write home to their Countrey advising them to be on their Guard and to put themselves in a posture not to be surpriz'd The Scots knowing how matters went in England and that a new Storm was like to break out upon them were resolv'd to put themselves into a Posture of Defence and to the Forces they had not yet disbanded they added considerable new Levies both of Horse and Foot Their Preparations went faster on
than the King 's and with the more cheerfulness for by this time he had parted on ill terms with his Parliament and without obtaining a Supply While the King was advancing towards the North the Scots drew to their Borders and it was debated at several Councils of War where a Committee of Estates assisted Whether they should expect the King upon the Borders as they had done before or march into England and carry the War out of their own Countrey But they had taken no Resolution in the matter before the King was got as far as York In this nice Juncture there came a Gentleman to the English Border who sent a Message to the Earl of Rothes That he desir'd to acquaint him with a Matter of the greatest Importance and Secresy if he might privately and with safety speak with him alone Rothes thereupon sent a Trusty Servant with a Passport to conduct him to his Quarters where the Gentleman told him That he was directed particularly to him as a Person of great Honour and whom they could safely trust with a Message from several Great Men of England who were griev'd for the Ruin they foresaw must necessarily attend their Country if the King should make himself Absolute Master of Scotland seeing after that they were to expect the same Fate considering how little to the King's satisfaction things had been carried in the Parliament of England and how much he had resented their refusing a Subsidy to carry on this War He told him That nothing was so much desir'd in England as a Free Parliament to redress their Grievances And if the Scots would march immediately into England the King must necessarily be straitned to that degree in his Affairs as to be oblig'd to call a Parliament And that upon their March the City of London and the greatest part of the Nobility and Gentry would not only petition the King for a Free Parliament but likewise mediate between the King and them and bring matters to such an Accommodation as might be for the good of both Nations Adding withal That if the Scots slipt this Opportunity they were never to expect the like again The Gentleman having deliver'd this Message gave the Earl a Letter directed to him and sign'd by about Twelve Noblemen much to the same purpose but writ more cautiously and in more general terms desiring him for a further Explanation to give entire Credit to the Bearer whom they had fully inform'd of their Intentions Rothes with the Gentleman's leave acquainted General Lesley afterwards Earl of Leven and one or two of the most Leading Men of the Committee of Estates with this Message and upon solemn Promises of Secrecy show'd them the Letter both which agreeing so well in the main with the Intelligence they had receiv'd from England and suiting with their own Inclinations determin'd them in the Point And next morning in the Council of War It was resolv'd to march into England that Afternoon which accordingly they did Rothes in the mean time dispatch'd back the Messenger with an Answer to the Noblemen he suppos'd had writ to him Thanking them for their Advice and acquainting them with the Resolution had been taken thereupon It fell out afterwards at the Treaty of Rippon when the English and Scotch Commissioners grew familiar with one another that the Earl of Rothes came from Newcastle to the Place of Treaty and one of the English Noblemen making him a Visit they fell into Discourse about the present Juncture of Affairs The English Nobleman express'd how much he had been surpriz'd upon the first News of the Scots entring into England and told him That though he hop'd it would now turn to the Advantage of both Nations yet it was in it self a dangerous and rash Attempt and might have been fatal to the Scots if the King had not been pleas'd to enter into a Treaty for an Accommodation of Matâ—ers in dispute between them Rothes was at a stand what to make of this Discourse considering this Nobleman was one of those whose Name was to the Letter formerly mention'd and therefore answer'd That he wondred his Lordship was surpriz'd at an Action he had so much influenc'd And that if it had not been for the Invitation of himself and his Friends perhaps the Scots â—rmy might have continued still on the other side of Tweed The Two Lords being equally in the dark as to one another's meaning were at length upon producing of the Letter both of them undeceiv'd and found it was a mere Forgery which was afterwards acknowledg'd by the Contriver who was the Lord Savile created some time after Earl of Sussex This Letter though forgotten now was much talk'd of during the Civil Wars And I have seen several Original Papers of those Times that mention'd it A Noble Lord lately dead whose Name was to the Letter never made any scruple of telling this Passage to his Friends in the manner I have related it And I once had a Copy of the Letter it self from the Original which was then and I believe is still among the Papers of the Noble Family of Rothes which I have since lost I must confess I have dwelt longer upon this matter than consists with the Brevity I intended and that it might have been more properly mention'd in another place Yet thus it was that a Counterfeit Invitation brought the Scots into England in the Year 1640. And considering the Consequences it may be said That Providence many times seems to play with Human Affairs and influences the Fate of Kingdoms by Counsels and Measures the most improbable to succeed if he had not design'd them to be subservient to his great Ends. There is an Historian for whom I have the highest Veneration Bishop of Salisbury's Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton who in his Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton mentions a Passage not unlike to this and perhaps it may be the very same though his Relation and mine differ in the time and some other Circumstances And seeing I happen'd to look into that Book some time after I had writ these Sheets that I may do Justice to its Reverend Author whose Information I am willing to believe may be better than my own though I had mine from no common Hands I shall give his Account of it in his own words and the rather for that I do not remember the Date of the Letter upon which the Passage turns though I do the main Design and Contents of it But that the Reader may not be wholly in the dark says this Great Historian about the Grounds of this Confidence the Covenanters had I shall set down what I had from some Persons of Great Honour who were fully inform'd about it When the Earls of Dumfermling and Loudon came to London a Person of Quality of the English Nation whose Name is suppress'd because of the Infamy of this Action came to them and with great Vehemence press'd them to engage in a new War
declare himself in his Life-time If he had any design of introducing Popery he knew the Temper of the Nation too well to imagine it could be brought about in a short time or by such open and barefac'd Methods as his Brother was pleas'd afterwards to put in practice But the truth is King Charles was neither Bigot enough to any Religion nor lov'd his Ease so little as to embark in a Business that must at least have disturb'd his Quiet if not hazarded his Crown The Romish Emissaries knowing this were resolv'd to make sure of one of the Brothers And the Duke was now the Rising Sun King Charles having no prospect of Issue by the Queen It was not the Roman-Catholiâ—ks alone that began to pay him their Early Devotions there were others that came nothing short of them in their Addresses to him He had in the time of his Banishment and after the Restoration acquir'd the Reputation of being Brave and skill'd in the Art of War Flanders and the Ocean were the Theatres on which he had given unquestionable Proofs of both having Commanded the Spanish Horse in the one and the English Fleet on the other From a Prince thus possess'd of a Warlike Character and thus devoted to the See of Rome it was no wonder the Roman Catholicks expected and the Protestants fear'd some extraordinary Change in England if ever he should come to wear the Crown And therefore as it was the Interest of the first to have him upon the Throne so it was equally the Interest of the latter to exclude him from it It 's said King Charles came in at first to the Bill of Exclusion or seem'd to do so The Favourite Mistress was prevail'd with from secret Motives and Prospects of her own to concur with others in persuading him to abandon his Brother and waving the Duke's Right to accept of an Act of Parliament in his own favour like that made in the Reign of Henry VIII by which he should have a Power invested in him to dispose of the Crown at his Death under such Restrictions and Limitations as should be agreed on Whether any such Act was really intended it 's hard to determine but it 's certain such an Offer was made to King Charles with a Promise of a considerable Sum of Money towards the supplying his pressing Wants It 's likewise certain that King Charles seem'd willing to accept of it till it happen'd that a Foreign Court whose Interest it was to support the Duke of York struck up a Bargain with the King to give him more Money for refusing than had been offer'd him for consenting to the Bill of Exclusion Some time before the Popish Plot came upon the Stage King Charles had been prevail'd with to Marry the Eldest of his Nieces to the Prince of Orange as he did afterwards the Youngest to the Prince of Denmark The happiest Actions of his Life and by which he made a sufficient Attonement for all the Errors of his Reign It were Ingratitude to enquire too narrowly into the Motives that induc'd him to these Matches It 's enough to entail a lasting Honour on his Name that he did it and did it against the Advice of his Brother and in spight of all the Sollicitations that were made to him from Abroad to marry them to Princes of the Romish Religion The Parliament had in their view the Princess of Orange in the Bill of Exclusion and it was She and the Prince her Husband that were to have fill'd the Throne upon the Death of their Uncle But King Charles either not daring or not willing to consent to the Bill he dissolv'd both that and the next Parliament at Oxford merely to ward off the Blow that threaten'd his Brother After the Dissolution of the Oxford Parliament King Charles shew'd but little Inclination to call any more and was prevail'd with to enter into harsher Measures than hitherto he had taken and which seem'd contrary to his Natural Goodness and Temper The Charters of the City of London and other Corporations stood in the way of an Absolute Government and it was resolv'd to break through this Barrier In order to which Quo Warranto's were brought against them and in progress of time they were either surrendred by the Corporations themselves or vacated in Westminster-Hall by a Set of Iudges pickt out for that purpose And it was resolv'd thereby to make one of the Estates of Parliament depend entirely upon the Will and Nomination of the Prince While these Quo Warranto's were going on whole Peals of Anathema's were rung out against those Patriots that had stood up for the Liberties of their Countrey in the preceding Parliaments And it was look'd upon as a Crime against the State for any one to regret the approaching Fate of his Countrey Even the Holy Scriptures themselves were made a Stale for Arbitrary Power and the Laws which were given to the Iews as they were a Political State were now brought in upon every occasion to countenance the Designs of the Court. As if those Laws which were intended only to support the Political Government of the Iews were the real Foundation of the Christian Religion or that the Constitution of England was founded upon the Iewish Doctrine All which was not much for the Honour of those Gentlemen that broach'd that Notion This was a Time never to be forgot when to wish well to our Countrey was a Crime and when Heaven it self was rank'd upon our Enemies side by some that pretended to expound its Will In some places a new kind of Funeral Harangues came in fashion Our Laws our Liberties our Parliaments our Native Rights were to be buried but instead of dropping a Tear at their Funeral fulsom Panegyricks were made upon their Murtherers and Curses denounc'd against those that would have retriev'd them from Destruction All these Transactions were attended with the Publick Disgrace of the Duke of Monmouth The Disgrace of the Duke of Monmouth and its Consequences This Gentleman stood possess'd of all the Qualities requisite to gain the Love of the People and stir up the Jealousy of the Duke of York King Charles had heap'd Honours upon him and nothing pleas'd him so much as to see him Great He had been sent to Scotland in the Year 1678 to suppress an Insurrection which the Severity of Lauderdale's Administration had occasion'd where his Lenity towards a People made by Oppression mad gain'd him the ill will of a Predominant Party at Court The Zeal he shew'd some time after in the prosecution of the Popish Plot and his Friendships with some that were profess'd Enemies to the Duke concurr'd to his Fall Yet King Charles still continued underhand the same Tenderness for him though he was declar'd in Publick to be in Disgrace The Duke's Faction at home and a Foreign Interest abroad were too powerful for King Charles to grapple with even though the Fortune of a Favourite Son was at stake The more he was
one Family The Breaches that have been sometimes made in the immediate Line not at all derogating from the nature of a Successive Monarchy so long as a due Respect is had to the Blood and for the most part the next immediate Heir except only upon great and urgent Difficulties and Emergencies The Crown being thus Hereditary it might have reasonably been expected That we should not only be strangers to the Inconveniences that arise naturally from Competitions in Elective Kingdoms but that it should be always the Interest of the Prince that 's in Possession of the Throne so to govern his People as not to put them upon the necessity at any time to break through the Succession and pass by the next Immediate Heir But such is the brittle state of human things that notwithstanding all the Advantages and Excellencies of the English Constitution scarce an Age has pass'd without some remarkable Struggle either between King and People for Prerogative and Liberty or between Competitors for the Crown it self The Glory of England was arriv'd to a high pitch in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth The Reign of Q. Elizabeth Her People liv'd at their Ease and were happy under her Auspicious Conduct and her opprest Neighbours felt the benign Influences of her great and bountiful Mind She it was that made Head against the then Paramount Power of Christendom and that in both the Old and New Worlds And it was in a great measure owing to her Conduct and Fortune that the Spaniard fell short of the Vniversal Monarchy To draw a Picture worthy of Queen Elizabeth Her Châ—ractâ—â— were a Task fit only for the Greatest Masters since all that ever was Great or Wise in Womankind did contribute to make up her Character As to her Person she had but little of a Regular Beauty in her Face but that was well proportion'd and in the main very agreeable Her Mien and Gait were Noble and in every thing she said or did there was something of Majesty that stâ—uck more Awe than Love Tho when she had a mind she could put on Charms that few were able to resist In her Features Person and Mien she had more of Henry the Eighth than of the Unfortunate Anna Bullen her Mother But they were his good and none of his ill Qualities which she deriv'd from her Father Her Youth was a continued Scene of Afflictions but she was happy in that she suffered one of the greatest before she was capable of feeling the weight of it for she was scarce Three Years old when her Mother was sacrific'd to the Rage and Jealousy of her Husband And she that had been the Year she was born declar'd not only Heir Apparent of the Crown but which was out of the ordinary Road Princess of Wales and that by Act of Parliament was now by another Act declar'd Illegitimate and excluded from the Succession Notwithstanding this strange Reverse of Fortune particular Care was taken of her Education especially by her Brother Edward the Sixth who lov'd her above all things and was scarce ever pleas'd but in her Company Before she was Seventeen Years of Age she understood perfectly well the Latin French and Italian Tongues and was so far Mistress of the Greek that she translated into Latin Two of Isocrates's Orations one of which I have seen of her own Hand-writing corrected by her Tutor but in Three places whereof one is an Error only in the Orthography She was indefatigable in the Study of Learning especially Philosophy History Divinity and Rhetorick not forgetting both Vocal and Instrumental Musick as far as it might become one of her Quality Being thus Learned it was no wonder she form'd her Tongue and Pen to a pure and elegant way of speaking and writing and her Mind to the Noblest Notions of Philosophy and the highest Practice of Virtue Her Brother dying Queen Mary's Hereditary Aversion to her upon the account of their Mothers broke out with all the marks of Ill-Nature and Revenge And Philip the Second who prov'd afterwards her greatest Enemy was the Person that preserv'd her Life but it was upon a mere political Design which however miscarried During all that Reign the Princess Elizabeth was tost from one Confinement to another being oblig'd many times to suffer Indignities far unworthy of her Birth till at last by the Death of Queen Mary she was call'd from a Prison to a Throne at the Age of Twenty five Years Upon receit of the News of her Sister's Death and that she her self was proclaim'd Queen it 's said she fell down upon her Knees and after a short silence broke out with these words of the Psalmist A Domino factum est isâ—ud est mirabile in oculis nostris Which Words she took afterwards for her Motto in some of her Gold Coin During all the time of her Reign she would never allow her Title to be debated or reason'd upon nor so much as explain'd or vindicated She thought it sufficient that she wore the Crown and was resolv'd and knew well how to maintain it upon her Head without the help of Paper-Arguments She receiv'd with Indignation a Proposition that was made to her to have her Title asseâ—ted in Parliament And scorn'd to Repeal even the Act which declar'd her Illegitimate and incapable to succeed Her Reign was long and glorious being lov'd of her People fear'd and admir'd by her Enemies and attended with constant Success in all her Enterprizes Never Prince was better serv'd nor more happy in the choice of her Servants and no Age can instance such a Set of Able Ministers as she had Her Court at home was the quiet and happy Seat of the Muses while her Fleets and Armies abroad gather'd Laurels every where for their Mistress and themselvts She had to perfection the Art of pleasing her Parliament and she and they never parted in discontent but with the highest proofs of mutual Confidence What sort of men they were that composed the House of Commons during her Reign and of how different a stamp from those in that of her Sucâ—essor Appendix Numb 1. The Character of the Members of Parliament in Q. Elizabâ—th's Reign is best express'd in the words of Sir Robert Nauntwell Secretary to King Iames who was a Member of Parliament in both Reigns which may not be improper to insert in the Appendix If Queen Elizabeth can be properly said to have had Favourites they were chiefly the Earls of Leicester and Essex but she never fail'd to humble them upon every occasion where they presum'd too much upon her Favour The one she recall'd with Ignominy from his Government of the Vnited Provinces for behaving himself haughtily in his Office And at another time upon his threatning Bower the Vsher of the Black Rod to have him turn'd out of his Place for stopping one of his Retinue at the Queen's Bed-Chamber Door she told him with a severe Frown accompanied with an Oath My Lord I had
Sheets But to return to King Iames as he was equally happy and unhappy in his Children he was for the most part unhappy in his Favourites being oblig'd to abandon one upon the account of Overbury's Murther and coming to hate another the latter part of his Life as much as he had ever lov'd him before In order to obtain of the Emperor the Restoration of his Son-in-Law The Spanish Match he was wheedled into that Inglorious Counsel of sending the Prince into Spain for a Match that was either never design'd him or too late And it was more owing to Philip the Third's Generosity than to King Iames's Politicks that he ever saw England again To this Friendship with Spain he sacrific'd his own Honour with the Life of that Excellent Person Sir Walter Releigh This Gentleman after Fourteen Years Imprisonment in the Tower upon the account of a Mysterious Treason during which time he did oblige the World with one of the best Histories that ever was writ came to be set at liberty and was sent with an ample Commission which was judg'd by Lawyers equivalent to a Pardon to discover and take possession of new Countries and Mines in America He gave King Iames the Plan of his Design and of the Place he was to land at which prov'd the Ruin of that Enterprize for before he could get ready to sail from England the Court of Spain had a Copy of it which Sir Walter Raleigh found to his sad Experience was got to America before him and had thereby enabled the Spaniards to baffle the Attempt At his return to please the Spanish Ambassador who had got a mighty Ascendent over King Iames this last of Queen Elizabeth's Favourites lost his Head upon the former Sentence of Treason there being no other way to reach it All our Histories have mention'd at large the business of the Spanish Match K. Iames's Conduct in the business of the Palatinate but few or none King Iames's Conduct in that of the Palatinate which can hardly be express'd under a softer name than one continued Infatuation on his part The Account of this Matter is writ with the greatest Exactness though as favourably for King Iames as was possible by the Learned Spanhemius in his History of Lowyse Iuliane Electrice Palatine Daughter of William Prince of Orange and Mother to the King of Bohemia who out-liv'd her Son and was one of the greatest Paterns of Virtue that any Age has produc'd Referring the Reader to the Book it self I shall only mention a few things out of it To make this Book and the matter of the Palatinate better understood it 's to be remembred That the Elector after his Marriage with King Iames's Daughter was elected King of Bohemia as the most powerful Prince at that time of the Empire to oppose the House of Austria and protect the Liberty of that Kingdom He was scarce Crown'd but he lost both his New Kingdom and his Ancient Inheritance of the Palatinate by the Battel of Prague where his Army was entirely defeated and he himself forc'd to fly leaving Bohemia and the Palatinate both a Prey to the Emperor Though the Parliament of England was zealous to restore the Palatine Family by Force of Arms as the most effectual means to do it and had offer'd great Supplies to that purpose yet King Iames was so lull'd asleep with the Insinuations of Gundamor the Spanish Ambassador that he could be brought to no other Methods but those of Treaty While he was sending one Embassy after another to Vienna and Brussels the poor King of Bohemia seeing how little was to be expected from them ventur'd to try his Fortune once more in the Palatinate and with the Assistance of Count Mansfield and the Duke of Brunswick beat the Imperialists in several Rencounters and repossess'd himself of several Towns But when he was in a fair way to be Master of the Whole he was obliged to retire and disband his Army merely to please King Iames who was possess'd of this wild Notion That to lay down his Arms was the only way to get good Terms from the Emperor Upon which a Treaty was set a foot at Brussels where King Iames consented by way of Preliminary That his Son-in-Law should not only wave the Title of the King of Bohemia but that of Elector Palatine which had not hitherto been question'd and which the poor Prince was forc'd to comply with This Treaty after a great many other Mortifications put upon the Palatine Family and upon K. Iames himself was by a Contrivance of the Emperor transferr'd to Ratisbon and came to nothing at last as all the other Treaties had done But while the Imperialists were thus amusing King Iames with Terms of Accommodation and that the King of Bohemia had disarm'd himself to please his Father-in-Law Heidleburgh and all the other places he had recover'd before together with the rest of the Palatinate were all seiz'd by the Emperor except only Frankendale which continued to make a vigorous Resistance It would look like a Dream to imagine that King Iames should oblige his Son-in-Law to quit this place also the only one left him of his whole Countrey and that as the only effectual way to get back all the rest Yet it 's true he did so and that at the very time that the Emperor had actually transferr'd the Electoral Dignity from the Palatine Family to the House of Bavaria For Frankendale being a Town then of great Strength The business of Frankendale and the Spaniards lying expos'd to the daily Excursions of its Garison they found a way to trick King Iames out of it in this manner Gundomar represents to him That it being the only place left in the Palatinate it could not hold out much longer and that there was but one way to save it for his Son-in-Law which was To put it into the hands of the Governor of Flanders for some time till things might be brought to an Accommodation by the Treaty then on foot and if there should happen any Interruption in it then the Town should be render'd back to King Iames for the use of his Son-in-Law in the same Condition together with a free Passage for Fifteen hundred Foot and Two hundred Horse to take possession of it and Six Months Provisions King Iames being willing to do any thing rather than break with Spain agreed to this strange Proposition and Frankendale was deliver'd up to the Governor of Flanders for Fifteen Months under these Conditions But the Treaty being once more broke off and the time elaps'd when King Iames demanded that Frankendale should be restor'd it was told him That he might have the Town but by the Terms of the Agreement he was to have a Passage for his Troops through the Spanish Low-Countries but that there was no Article That he should have a Passage through any other Places that were in their possession in Germany And thus King Iames was once more
Mitred Head that had got an Ascendant over his Master's Conscience and Counsels that both the Monarchy and Hierarchy ow'd afterwards their Fall The Division betwixt Archbishop Abboâ— and Bishop Laud. To trace this matter a little higher there arose in the preceding Reign two opposite Parties in the Church which became now more than ever exasperated against each other the one headed by Archbishop Abbot and the other by Bishop Laud. Abbot was a Person of wonderful Temper and Moderation and in all his Conduct shew'd an unwillingness to stretch the Act of Vniformity beyond what was absolutely necessary for the Peace of the Church or the Prerogative of the Crown any further than conduc'd to the good of the State Being not well turn'd for a Court though otherwise of considerable Learning and Gentile Education he either could not or would not stoop to the Humour of the Times and now and then by an unseasonable Stiffness gave occasion to his Enemies to represent him as not well-inclin'd to the Prerogative or too much addicted to a Popular Interest and therefore not fit to be employ'd in Matters of Government Upon the other hand Bishop Laud as he was a Man of greater Learning and yet greater Ambition and Natural Parts so he understood nicely the Art of pleasing a Court and finding no surer way to raise himself to the first Dignitices of the Church than by acting a quite contrary part to that of Archbishop Abbot he went into every thing that seem'd to favour the Prerogative of the Crown or enforce an Absolute Obedience upon the Subject The King 's urgent Necessities and the backwardness of the Parliament to supply them had forc'd him upon unwarrantable Methods of raising Money and the readiness the Roman-Catholicks express'd to assist him in his Wants did beget in him at first a Tenderness towards them and afterwards a Trust and Confidence in them which was unhappily mistaken by his other Subjects as if he inclin'd to their Religion Among other means of raising Money that of Loan was fallen upon which met with great difficulties and was generally taken to be illegal One Sibthorp an obscure Person in a Sermon preach'd at the Assizes at Northampton would make his Court by asserting not only the Lawfulness of this way of imposing Money by Loan but that it was the indispensible Duty of the Subject to comply with it At the same time Dr. Manwaring another Divine preach'd two Sermons before the King at Whitehall in which he advanc'd these Doctrines viz. That the King is not bound to observe the Laws of the Realm concerning the Subjects Rights and Liberties but that his Royal Word and Command in imposing Loans and Taxes without Consent of Parliament does oblige the Subject's Conscience upon pain of eternal Damnation That those who refus'd to pay this Loan did offend against the Law of God and became guilty of Impiety Disloyalty and Rebellion And that the Authority of Parliaments is not necessary for raising of Aids and Subsidies Every body knew Abbot was averse to such Doctrines And to seek an advantage against him Sibthorp's Sermon with a Dedication to the King was sent him by Order of his Majesty to License Abbot refus'd and gave his Reasons in writing which Bishop Laud answer'd and with his own hand Licens'd both Sibthorp's and Manwaring's Sermons Upon this Archbishop Abbot was confin'd to his Countrey-House and suspended from his Function the Administration of which was committed to Bishop Laud and some others of his Recommendation Archbishop Abbot died in disgrace and was succeeded in the See of Canterbury by Bishop Laud while in the mean time things went on from bad to worse and hasten'd to a Crisis The two first Parliaments King Charles had call'd pressing him hard for Redress of Grievances and pushing on the Resentments begun in the preceding Reign he was prevail'd with not only to dissolve them but to leave the Nation without Parliaments for Twelve Years together and all this contrary to the Advice of some of the best and wisest men about him who foresaw the ill consequences that might follow if ever any unlucky Iuncture of Affairs should necessitate him to call one Such a Iuncture fell out The Rise of King Charles's Troubles and the worst that could be the manner thus The Scots had been of a long time sowr'd by the Encroachments they said were made upon their Rights and Liberties and particularly in the matter of Church-Government Archbishop Laud's Zeal for an Vniformity between the two Nations in point of Liturgy prov'd the fatal Torch that put the Two Kingdoms into a flame And it was the sooner kindled there being so much Fuel laid up for many Years that the least Spark was enough to set fire to the Pile In the Year 1637. The Scotch Troubles the Scots had not only in a Tumultuous manner refus'd the Liturgy that was sent them from England of Archbishop Laud's composing but had afterwards assum'd to themselves the Liberty and Power of holding a General Assembly of their Church and in it to abolish Episcopacy and do several other things that were judg'd inconsistent with the Duty of Subjects Upon which they were declar'd Rebels and King Charles thought his Honour was concern'd to reduce them to Obedience by the Sword Instead of venturing to call a Parliament to enable him to prosecute this Design he was necessitated to levy Money another way Great Sums were rais'd by Loan and Benevolence to which the Roman Catholicks and the Clergy of Laud's Faction contributed most The King thus supplied march'd to the North with a Gallant Army and the Scots came as far as the Borders in a posture of Defence To prevent matters coming to extremity the Scots presented his Majesty with their humble Supplication and Remonstrance setting forth their inviolable Fidelity to the Crown and that they desir'd nothing more but the peaceable enjoyment of their Religion and Liberties and that all things may be determin'd and settled by a Free Parliament and General Assembly At length through the Intercession of the Moderate Party about the King and some of the highest Rank in both Kingdoms his Majesty was plea'd to comply with the desires of the Scots by a solemn Pacification sign'd in view of both Armies near Berwick in Iune 1638. This Treaty was but short-liv'd and but ill observ'd on either side The same men that counsell'd the King to the first push'd him on to a second War against the Scots Parliaments had been now discontinu'd for some Years together and there appear'd no great Inclination in the King to call any more if this emergent occasion had not fallen out But his pressing Necessities and this new War oblig'd him once more to try the Affections of his People in a Parliamentary way Accordingly a Parliament meets in April 1640. at the opening of which the King acquainted them with the Affronts he had receiv'd from the Scots and demanded a Supply to reduce
them to their Duty by force of Arms. Both Houses show'd a Willingness to relieve the King's Wants and offer'd him a considerable Supply but with this Condition That their Grievances may be first redress'd which had swell'd up to a considerable Bulk since the last Dissolution Not only so but the Scots had Friends enough in the Parliament to hinder any great matter to be done against them and the greater part both of Lords and Commons were but little inclin'd to a War of Archbishop Laud's kindling The King being thus disappointed dissolv'd this Parliament as he had done the rest when they had scarce sat a Month and made what shifts he could to raise a new Army against the Scots They upon the other hand being resolv'd not to be behind in their Preparations enter'd into England with a numerous Army compos'd for the most part of Veteran Officers and Troops that had serv'd in Germany under Gustavus Adolphus and taking Berwick and Newcastle push'd their way as far as Durham King Charles came in Person to York and there found himself inviron'd with perplexing Difficulties on all hands The Nobility and Gentry that attended him express'd on all occasions their dislike of the Cause and the War they were engag'd in The Scots stood firm to their ground being flesh'd with Success And the King was follow'd from the South with Petitions from the City of London from several Counties and from a considerable Number of Lords desiring him to call a Parliament as the only effectual Means to quiet the Minds of the People and compose the present War without Bloodshed To extricate himself out of this Labyrinth King Charles summon'd the Great Council of Peers to meet at York to consult what was fit to be done in this Juncture who advis'd him unanimously to enter into a Treaty with the Scots at Rippon and to summon a Parliament to meet at Westminster with both which Advices the King comply'd and immediately issu'd out Writs for a Parliament to sit down in November 1640. and adjourn'd the Treaty with the Scots to London No Age ever produc'd Greater Men than those that sat in this Parliament They had sufficient Abilities and Inclinations to have render'd the â—â—ing and their Countrey happy if England had not been through a Chain of concurring Accidents ripen'd for destruction At their sitting down The Parliament 1641. a Scene of Grievances under which the Nation had long groan'd was laid open and all Topicks made use of to paint them out in liveliest Colours The many Cruelties and Illegal Practices of the Star-Chamber and High-Comission-Court that had alienated Peoples Minds from the Hierarchy were now insisted on to throw down those two Arbitrary Tribunals and with them in some time after the Bishops out of the House of Peers and at length Episcopacy it self out of the Church It was not a few of either House but indeed all the Great Patriots that concurr'd at first to make Enquiry into the Grievances of this Reign Sir Edward Hyde afterwards Earl of Clarendon and Lord Chancellor of England the Lord Digby the Lord Falkland the Lord Capell Mr. Grimstone who was chosen afterwards Speaker of the House of Commons that brought in King Charles the Second and was Master of the Rolls Mr. Hollis since Lord Hollis all which suffer'd afterwards on the King's side and in general most of those that took the King's part in the succeeding War were the Men that appear'd with the greatest Zeal for the Redress of Grievances and made the sharpest Speeches upon those Subjects The Intentions of those Gentlemen were certainly Noble and Just and tended to the equal advantage of King and People But the Fate of England urg'd on its own Ruin step by step till an open Rupture between the King and Parliament made the Gap too wide ever to be made up again Sir Thomas Wentworth Earl of Strafford and Dr. Laud Archbishop of Canterbury had too great a share in the Ministry to escape being Censur'd and they were the first that felt the effects of a Popular Hatred These two Gentlemen and Iames Duke of Hamilton first advis'd King Charles to call this Parliament and all Three fell by it though not at the same time The Earl of Strafford was a Gentleman of extraordinary Parts The Fall and Character of the Earl of Strafford a great Orator and yet a greater Statesman He made a considerable Figure in the first Three Parliaments of King Charles and no man appear'd with greater Zeal against Ship-money Tunnage and Poundage and other Taxes illegally impos'd upon the Subject The Court bought him off and preferr'd him to great Honours and Places which lost him his former Friends and made the Breach irreconcilable There had been a long and intimate Friendship betwixt Mr. Pym and him and they had gone hand in hand in every thing in the House of Commons But when Sir Thomas Wentworth was upon making his Peace with the Court he sent to Pym to meet him alone at Greenwich where he began in a set Speech to sound Mr. Pym about the Dangers they were like to run by the Courses they were in and what Advantages they might have if they would but listen to some Offers would probably be made them from the Court Pym understanding his drift stopt him short with this expression You need not use all this Art to tell me that you have a mind to leave us But remember what I tell you You are going to be undone But remember That though you leave us now I will never leave you while your Head is upon your Shoulders He was as good as his word for it was Pym that first accus'd him of High Treason in the House of Commons he carried up his Impeachment to the House of Lords and was the chief Manager of his Tryal and Bill of Attainder There never was a more solemn Trial than that of the Earl of Strafford whether we consider the Accusers or the Person accus'd the Accusation or the Defence As in every thing else so in this more particularly he express'd a wonderful Presence of Mind and a vast Compass of Thought with such nervous and moving Flights of Eloquence as came nothing short of the most celebrated Pieces of Antiquity This did manifestly appear from his summing up the long Answer he made ex tempore to every one of the Articles against him with this Pathetick Conclusion My Lords said he I have troubled you longer than I should have done were it not for the Interest of these dear Pledges a Saint in Heaven hath left me At this word he stopt pointing to his Children that stood by him and dropt some Tears then went on What I forfeit for my self in nothing but that my Indiscretion should extend to my Posterity woundeth me to the very Soul You will pardon my Infirmity something I should have added but am not able therefore let it pass And now my Lords for my self I have been by the Blessing
few days before his Return to fall into new Heats about Innovations in Religion the Rebellion in Ireland Plots said to be laid in Scotland the disabling the Clergy to exercise Temporal Iurisdiction and excluding the Bishops from Votes in Parliament All which matters together with Reports that were buzz'd about of some Designs against the Parliament led the House into that Remarkable Petition and Remonstrance of the State of the Nation The Petition and Remonstrance of the II of Commons to King Charlâ—s in which they ript up again all the Mismanagements in the Government since the King 's coming to the Crown and attributed all to Evil Counsels and Counsellors and a Malignant Party about the King This Remonstrance was roughly penn'd both for Matter and Expression and met with great Opposition in the House the Debate lasting from Three a Clock in the Afternoon till Ten a Clock next Morning and was presented to his Majesty the Eighth Day after his Return from Scotland It was no wonder King Charles was surpriz'd at this Petition and Remonstrance considering how much he had done to comply with his Parliament in all they desired And since from these two Papers and from the King's Answer to it at its delivery and the Declaration he publish'd more at large afterwards to the same purpose the Reader will be better enabled to make a Judgment of the Cause and Arguments on both Sides for the Civil War that ensued I have plac'd all the Four in the Appendix Appendix Numb 9. The Length of them may be more easily pardon'd since upon the Matters contain'd in them the whole almost of all the Differences that came to be decided by the Sword happen'd to turn Things were now going fast on towards lessening the Confidence betwixt the King and Parliament K. Charles's coming to the II. of Commons to demand the Five Members And yet there were not wanting Endeavours on both Sides to accommodate Matters by soft and healing Methods when the King 's coming to the House of Commons in Person to demand Five of their Members whom he had order'd the day before to be impeach'd of High-Treason did put all into a Combustion and gave occasion to the House to assert their Privileges with a greater Warmth than ever This was the most unlucky Step King Charles could have made at that Juncture And the Indiscretion of some that attended the King to the Lobby of the House was insisted upon as an Argument that the King was resolv'd to use Violence upon the Parliament which it 's to be presum'd was a thing far from his thoughts The Five Members had hardly time to make their Escape just when the King was entring and upon his going away the House adjourn'd in a Flame for some days ordering a Committee to sit in Guildhall in the mean time as if they were not safe at Westminster Whoever they were that advis'd the King to this rash Attempt are justly chargeable with all the Blood that was afterwards spilt for this sudden Action was the first and visible Ground of all our following Miseries It was believ'd That if the King had found the Five Members in the House and had call'd in his Guards to seize them the House would have endeavour'd their defence and oppos'd Force to Force which might have endanger'd the King's Person But the Consequences were bad enough without this for immediately upon it there was nothing but Confusion and Tumults Fears and Iealousies every where which spread themselves to Whitehall in the rudest manner so that his Majesty thinking himself not safe there he retir'd with his Family to Hampton Court The King leaving the Parliament in this manner there were scarce any hopes of a thorough Reconciliation But when after a great many Removes from place to place The Beginning of the Civil Wars his Majesty came to set up his Standard at Nottingham there ensued a Fatal and Bloody War which it's reasonable to believe was never design'd at first by either Side Each Party blam'd the other for beginning this War and it 's not easy to determine which of them began it Though the King made the first Steps that seem'd to tend that way such as raising a Troop for a Guard to his Person summoning the Gentlemen and Freeholders of several Counties to attend him in his Progress to the North and ordering Arms and Ammunition to be bought in Holland for his use Yet the Parliament did as much at the same time for they likewise rais'd Guards of their own and took care that the Magazine of Hull should not fall into the King's hands So that the King and Parliament prepar'd themselves insensibly for War without considering that these Preparations must gradually and inevitably come to Blows in the end The King 's setting up his Standard at Nottingham was not the first publick Notice of this War as has been commonly reported by Historians that should have known better for that was not done till August 22. 1642. and yet the House of Commons past these Two Votes the 12 th of Iuly before 1. That an Army should be forthwith rais'd for the Safety of the King's Person Defence of both Houses of Parliament and of those who have obey'd their Orders and Commands and preserving of the true Religion Laws Liberty and Peace of the Kingdom And 2. That the Earl of Essex should be General and the Earl of Bedford General of the Horse To which Votes the House of Lords agreed Whoever begun the War it was carried on in the beginning with equal Success and it was hard to determine which Side had the better Till in the Sequel the Loss of Essex's Army in the West and other disadvantages brought the Parliaments Affairs to a low Ebb and seem'd to promise the King an entire Mastery To retrieve their sinking Fortune the Parliament was oblig'd to call in the Scots to their Assistance which so far turn'd the Scale that the King lost ground every day after And the Defeat of his Army at the Battels of Marston-Moor and Naseby put him out of capacity to keep the Field and broke entirely all his Measures During the whole Course of this Vnnatural War it was hard to divine what would be the Fate of England whether an Absolute Vnlimited Monarchy a new huddled-up Commonwealth or a downright Anarchy If the king should prevâ—il the first was to â—e fearâ—d considering that the many Indignities put upon him might imbitter him against the Parlâ—ament If the Parliament should prevail the second was to be apprehended And if the Army should set up for themselves as afterwards they did the last was inevitably to follow All which some of the best men about the King wisely foresaw and trembled at the Event of every Battel that was fought whoever happen'd to be Victors It was the dread of these Misfortunes that hinder'd the Lords and Commons whom the King call'd to Oxford to assume to themselves the Name of The Parliament
thee That even now I have received certain Intelligence of a great Defeat given by Montross to Argyle who upon surprize totally routed those Rebels and kill'd Fifteen hundred upon the place And it 's remarkable That in the same Letter to the Queen immediately after the mentioning Montross's Victory the King adds That as for trusting the Rebels either by going to London or disbanding my Army before a Peace do no ways fear my hazarding so cheaply or foâ—lishly for I esteem the Interest thou hast in me at a far dearer rate and pretend to have a little more Wit at least by the Sympathy that 's betwixt us than to put my self into the Reverence of Persidious Rebels Which Words being compar'd with Montross's Letter it will be found the one is a Commentary upon the other I have plac'd Montross ' s Letter it self in the Appendix Appendix Numb 10. and cannot leave it without making this Observation That considering the time it was writ the Critical Minute it was deliver'd with the sad Consequences that attended it it makes this Axiom true That oftentimes the Fate of Princes and States is chiefly owing to very minute and unforeseen Accidents The Treaty of Vxbridge being thus broke off the War was renew'd with greater Fury than ever till at last the Parliament's Army having beaten the King out of the Field came to kick their Masters out of the House and having modell'd the Parliament and Army to their own minds did set up for themselves and at one Blow compleated the Ruin of their Countrey in the Murther of King Charles I. and the Extirpation of Monarchy In short a continued Series of Misfortunes attended the Royal Cause and several favourable Accidents that seem'd from time to time to promise better Events did concur in the end to the King 's undoing Till at last that Unhappy Prince in being brought before a Tribunal of his own Subjects and submitting his Neck to the Stroke of a Common Executioner taught the World an astonishing Example of the Instability of Human Greatness and in that and the rest of his Sufferings a lasting Patern of Christian Magnanimity and Patience The Character of King Charles I. The Character of King Charles I. may be taken in a great part from what has been already said and I shall only add a few things more He was a Prince of a Comely Presence of a Sweet Grave but Melancholy Aspect His Face was Regular Handsome and well-complexion'd his Body Strong Healthy and well-made and though of a low Stature was capable to endure the greatest Fatigues His Face contrary to that of his Son 's Charles II. was easily taken either in Painting or Sculpture and scarce any one though never so indifferently skill'd in their Art fail'd do hit it He had something in the Lines and Features which Physiognomists account unfortunate And it 's commonly reported that his Picture being sent to Rome to have a Busto done by it a famous Statuary not knowing whose it was told the Gentleman that brought it He was sorry if it was the Face of any Relation of his for it was one of the most Vnfortunate he ever saw and according to all the Rules of Art the Person whose it was must dye a violent Death In his Temper he was Brave Magnificent Liberal and Constant but more affable to Strangers than his own Subjects It was his Noble and Generous Behaviour that took so much with the King of Spain when he went thither to court the Infanta that he rejected the repeated Solicitations of his Council to seize him and paid him more Respect than could have been well expected if he had been King of England at that time Of his Composure of Mind in time of greatest danger he gave a Noble Instance in his Behaviour in that great Storm in the Road of St. Andrees which was worthy the Ancient Philosophers Nor did he fall short of the Bravest in Personal Courage having expos'd his Person in every Battel he was in and oftentimes charging at the Head of his Squadrons He had a good Taste of Learning and a more than ordinary Skill in the Liberal Arts especially Painting Sculpture Architecture and Medals and being a Generous Benefactor to the most Celebrated Masters in those Arts he acquir'd the Noblest Collection of any Prince in his time and more than all the Kings of England had done before him It 's said notwithstanding his Natural Generosity That he bestow'd Favours with a worse Grace than his Son King Charles the Second denied them and many times obliterated the sense of the Obligation by the manner of it But indeed he had seldom much to give being kept short of Money a great part of his Reign The Essentials of Divinity he was as much Master of as ever his Father had been but without the Allay of Pedantry Of this among other things the Papers that past betwixt him and Mr. Henderson at Newcastle will be a lasting Monument He was a great Patron of the Clergy but his employing them in the highest Offices of Trust in State Matters created Envy against them and lessen'd the Love of the Nobility towards him Yet such was the Honesty and Integrity of one of them in the greatest and most obnoxious Post in the Kingdom that when some Years after he had resign'd the Treasurer's Staff and when the Parliament wanted not Will to crush him they could not find upon the narrowest Scrutiny any one thing to object either against his Accounts or his Behaviour in that Place King Charles was a passionate Lover of his Queen who was a Beautiful Lady and in all things very well accomplish'd insomuch that his Friends regretted the Ascendant she had over him on some occasions while others tax'd him with the Character of an Uxorious Husband He was fond of his Children and kind to his Servants though these last felt sometimes the hasty Sallies of his Passion He was not mistaken of himself when he said before the High-Court of Justice That he understood as much Law as any private Gentleman in England And pity it was that any of his Ministers should have advis'd him to make Breaches in what he so well understood He spoke several Languages very well and with a singular good Grace though now and then when he was warm in Discourse he was inclinable to stammer He writ a tolerable Hand for a King but his Sense was strong and his Stile Laconick and yet he seldom wrote in any Language but English Some of his Manifestoes Declarations and other Publick Papers he drew himself and most of them he Corrected In comparing those of the King 's with the Parliament's one will be easily inclin'd to prefer for the most part the King 's for the Strength of Reasoning and the Force of Expression I have seen several Pieces of his own Hand and therefore may the better affirm That both for Matter and Form they surpass those of his Ablest Ministers and come
and among other Motives brought them Engagements in writing from most of the greatest Peers of England to join with them and assist them when they should come into England with their Army This did much animate them for they had not the least doubt of the Papers brought them But all this was discover'd at the Treaty of Rippon to have been a base Forgery For there the Scâ—ttish Lords looking very sullenly upon some of the English Lords as on Persons of no Faith or Truth the Lord Mandevil came to the Earl of Rothes and asked the reason of that change of their Countenances and Behaviour in them who after some high Reflections at length challeng'd him and the other Lords of not keeping what they engag'd to them Upon which that Lord stood amaz'd and told him and so did the other Lords there That they had sent no such Messages nor Papers to them and that they had been abus'd by the blackest Imposture that ever was Thus it appear'd concludes this Author how dangerous it may be to receive some things that seem to have the highest probabilities in them easily and upon trust To leave this Subject it may not be improper to add another Passage out of the same Book where that Reverend Prelate speaking of the Inâ—lucements that prevail'd with the Scots to come into the Assistance of the Parliament Three Years after tells us That among other Arguments That Paper which was sent down in the Year 1640 as the Engagement of Twenty eight of the Peers of England for their Concurrence with the Scottish Army that Year was shown to divers to engage them into a grateful Return to those to whom it was pretended they were so highly oblig'd For though the Earl of Rothes and a few more were well satisfied about the Forgery of that Paper yet they thought that a Secret of too great Importance to be generally known therefore it was still kept up from the Body of the Nation To shut up what relates to K. Charles I. K. Charles's thoughts of Resigning the Crown to his Son After the Treaty of Newport was broke off and he once more carried away by the Army he found his Case was desperate and thereupon began to have some Thoughts of Resigning the Crown to the Prince of Wales as the only means in that unhappy Condition to preserve it for his Family But before he had time to digest this Resolution or an opportunity to acquaint the Parliament with it he was hurried on to his Trial. The last day of that Trial he earnestly propos'd That before Sentence pass'd he might be heard before the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber where he had something to offer for the Peace of the Kingdom and the Liberty of the Subject which might settle all differences It is probable he meant by this to have resign'd the Crown which his Enemies having some Intimation of and fearing it might be accepted they were the more forward to proceed to Sentence and Execution Likewise some days before his Death About setting up the Duke of Gloucester King the prevailing Party had thoughts of setting up the Duke of Gloucester King This was not kept so secret but King Charies had some notice of it for the Duke and his Sister having leave to wait upon him the Night before the Execution he took the Young Duke in his Arms and told him They were going to take off his Father's Head and may be they would set the Crown upon his Head which he forbad him to accept of while his Two Elder Brothers were Living There befel him an Accident which though a Trifle in it self and that no Weight is to be laid upon any thing of that nature yet since the best Authors both Ancient and Modern have not thought it below the Majesty of History to mention the like it may be the more excusable to insert it The King being at Oxford during the Civil Wars went one day to see the Publick Library where he was show'd among other Books a Virgil nobly Printed and exquisitely bound The Lord Falkland to divert the King would have his Majesty make a Trial of his Fortune by the Sortes Virgilianae His consulting the Sortes Virgilianae which every body knows was an usual kind of Augury some Ages past Whereupon the King opening the Book the Period which happen'd to come up was that part of Dido's Imprecation against Aeneas which Mr. Dryden translates thus Yet let a Race untam'd and haughty Foes His peaceful Entrance with dire Arms oppose Oppress'd with Numbers in th' unequal Field His Men discourag'd and himself expell'd Let him for Succonr sue from place to place Torn from his Subjects and his Son's embrace First let him see his Friends in Battel slain And their untimely Fate lament in vain And when at length the cruel War shall cease On hard Conditions may he buy his Peace Nor let him then enjoy Supreme Command But fall untimely by some hostile Hand And lye unburi'd in the common Sand. It is said K. Charles seem'd concern'd at this Accident and that the Lord Falkland observing it would likewise try his own Fortune in the same manner hoping he might fall upon some Passage that could have no relation to his Case and thereby divert the King's Thoughts from any Impression the other might have upon him But the place that Falkland stumbled upon was yet more suited to his Destiny than the other had been to the King 's being the following Expressions of Evander upon the untimely Death of his Son Pallas as they are translated by the same Hand O Pallas thou hast fail'd thy plighted Word To fight with Reason not to tempt the Sword I warn'd thee but in vain for well I knew What Perils Youthful Ardor would pursue That boiling Blood would carry thee too far Young as thou were 't in Dangers raw to War O curst Essay of Arms disast'rous Doom Prelude of Bloody Fields and Fights to come To return to our History Upon the Death of King Charles I. there was a Total Eclipse of the Royal Family for Twelve Years During a great part of which time an unusual Meteor fill'd the English Orb and with its surprizing Influences over-aw'd not only Three Kingdoms but the powerfullest Princes and States about us A Great Man he was and Posterity might have paid a just Homage to his Memory if he had not embrued his Hands in the Blood of his Prince or had not usurp'd upon the Liberties of his Countrey It being as natural a Curiosity in mankind to know the Character of a Fortunate Vsurper as of a Lawful King it may not perhaps be much amiss to say something of Oliver Cromwell By Birth he was a Gentleman The Usurpation and Character of Oliver Cromwell and bred up for some time at the Vniversity though nothing of a Scholar When the Civil Wars broke out he took the Parliaments Side and his first Employment in the Army was a Captain
that Revolution he was no less in the Sense King Charles continued to express of so great an Obligation And it show'd him to be a Man of true Judgmen That the Duke of Albemarle behav'd himself in such a manner to the Prince he had thus oblig'd as never to seem to overvalue the Services of General Monk King Charles the Second prov'd one of the Finest Gentlemen of the Age and had Abilities to make one of the Best of Kings The first Years of his Reign were a continued Iubilee And while we were reaping the Fruits of Peace at Home after the Miseries of a long Civil War a Potent Neighbour was laying the Foundation of a Power Abroad that has since been the Envy and Terror of Europe One might have thought that his Parliament had glutted his Ambition to the full by heaping those Prerogatives upon him which had been contested for with his Father at the Expence of so much Blood and Treasure But he grasp'd early after more and from his first Accession to the Croâ—n show'd but little Inclination to depend upon Parliaments Of which we have a remarkable Instance in an Affair that was one of the true Causes of the Disgrace of that Great Man Chancellor Clarendon which happen'd a few Years after It looks as if Heaven took a more than ordinary Care of England that we did not throw up our Liberties all at once upon the Restoration of that King for though some were for bringing him back upon Terms yet after he was once come he possess'd so entirely the Hearts of his People that they thought nothing was too much for them to grant or for him to receive Among other Designs to please him there was one form'd at Court to settle such a Revenue upon him by Parliament during Life as should place him beyond the Necessity of asking more except in the Case of a War or some such extraordinary Occasion The Earl of Southampton Lord High Treasurer came heartily into it out of a mere Principle of Honour and Affection to the King but Chancellor Clarendon secretly opposâ—d it It happenâ—d that they two had a private Conference about the matter and the Chancellor being earnest to bring the Treasurer to his Opinion took the freedom to tell him That he was better acquainted with the King's Temper and Inclinations than Southampton could reasonably expect to be having had long and intimate Acquaintance with his Majesty abroad and that he knew him so well that if such a Revenue was once settled upon him for Life neither of them Two would be of any further use and that they were not in probability to see many more Sessions of Parliament during that Reign Southampton was brought over but this Passage could not be kept so secret but it came to King Charles his Ears which together with other things wherein Clarendon was misrepresented to him prov'd the true reason why he abandon'd him to his Enemies Notwithstanding this disappointment King Charles made a shift partly by his obliging Carriage partly by other Inducements to get more Money from his first Parliament towards the Expence of his Pleasures than all his Predecessors of the Norman Race had obtain'd before towards the Charges of their Wars This Parliament had like to have been Perpetual if the Vigor wherewith they began to prosecute the Popish Plot and the Resentment they express'd against his Brother had not oblig'd him much against his Will to part with them after they had sat near Nineteen Years That there was at that time a Popish Plot The Discovery of the Popish Plot. and that there always has been one since the Reformation to support if not restore the Romish Religion in England scarce any body calls in question How far the near Prospect of a Popish Successor ripen'd the Hopes and gave new Vigor to the Designs of that Party and what Methods they were then upon to bring those Designs about Coleman's Letters alone without any other concurring Evidence are more than sufficient to put the matter out of doubt But what Superstructures might have been afterwards built upon an unquestionable Foundation and how far some of the Witnesses of that Plot might come to darken Truth by subsequent Addttions of their own must be deferr'd till the Great Account to be made before a Higher Tribunal And till then a great part of the Popish Plot as it was then sworn to will in all human probability lye among the darkest Scenes of our English History However this is certain the Discovery of the Popish Plot had great and various Effects upon the Nation And it 's from this remarkable Period of Time we may justly reckon a New Aera in the English Account In the first place Its Effects it awaken'd the Nation out of a deep Lethargy they had been in for Nineteen Years together and alarm'd them with Fears and Iealousies that have been found to our sad Experience but too well grounded In the next it gave the Rise too at least settled that unhappy distinction of Whig and Tory among the People of England that has since occasion'd so many Mischiefs And lastly the Discovery of the Popish Plot began that open Struggle between King Charles and his People that occasion'd him not only to dissolve his first Favourite Parliament and the Three others that succeeded but likewise to call no more during the rest of his Reign All which made way for bringing in question the Charters of London and other Corporations with a great many dismal Effects that follow'd It was likewise about this time that a certain Set of Men began a second time to adopt into our Religion a Mahomet an Principle under the Names of Passive Obedience and Non-Resistance which since the time of the Impostor that first broach'd it has been the means to Enslave a great part of the World The great share which the Duke of York was suppos'd to have had very early The Bill of Exclusion in a Design to overturn our Religion and Liberties and the mighty Hopes which the near Prospect of a Popish Successor gave the Romanâ— Catholicks of bringing about their Grand Project of rooting out the Northern Heresy were the Reasons why a great part of Both Houses of Parliament had recourse to a Bill of Exclusion against the Duke as the only effectual means they could think on in that Juncture to prevent our intended Ruin This Prince had been privately reconcil'd to Rome in the time of his Exile But it seems it was not thought convenient he should declare himself till several Years after And though he had abandon'd the Worship of the Church of England it was accounted a heinous Crime to say he was a Roman-Catholick when every body knew that he was one and some were Fin'd in great Sums of Money for saying it King Charle's Conversion if we believe Huddleston the Priest was of an older Date But if true he either wanted Courage or thought it not his Interest to
me and having formerly serv'd me on several Occasions and always approv'd the Loyalty of their Principles by their Practices I think them now fit to be Employ'd under me and will deal plainly with you That after having had the benefit of their Services in such time of need and danger I will neither expose them to Disgrace nor my self to the Want of them if there should be another Rebellion to make them necessary to me And at last he tells them That he was afraid some may hope that a difference might happen betwixt Him and his Parliament on that occasion which he cannot apprehend can befal him or that any thing can shake them in their Loyalty to him who will ever make all returns of kindness and protection and venture his Life in the Defence of the true Interest of the Nation It was no wonder That this Speech surpriz'd a people who valu'd themselves so much upon their Liberties and thought themselves secure of them both from the Constitution of their Government and the solemn repeated promises of their Prince They found too late that their fears in the former Reign of a Popish Successor were too well grounded and how inconsistent a Roman Catholick King is with a Protestant Kingdom The Parliament did in humble manner represent the inconvenience that might attend such Measures The Parliaments Address to K. Iames upon that Speech at least to render him inexcusable for what might Ensue And that they might not be wanting to themselves and their Posterity they Voted an Address wherein they told him That they had with all duty and readiness taken into Consideration His Majesty's Gracious Speech And as to that part of it relating to the Officers of the Army not qualified for their Employment according to the Act of Parliament they did out of their bounden duty humbly Represent to His Majesty That these Officers could not by Law be capable of their Employments and that the Incapacities they bring upon themselves that way could no ways be taken off but by an Act of Parliament Therefore out of that great Reverence and Duty they ow'd to His Majesty they were preparing a Bill to indemnify them from the inconveniences they had now incurr'd And because the continuing them in their Employments may be taken to be a dispensing with Law without an Act of Parliament the consequence of which was of the greatest concern to the Rights of all his Subjects and to all the Laws made for the security of their Religion Therefore they most humbly beseech His Majesty That he would be graciously pleas'd to give such Directions therein that no Apprehensions or Iealousies might remain in the hearts of his Subjects Over and above what was contain'd in this Address the House of Commons were willing to capacitate by an Act of Parliament such a Number of the Roman Catholick Officers as King Iames should give a List of But both this Offer and the Address was highly resented and notwithstanding that they were preparing a Bill for a considerable Supply to Answer his extraordinary Occasions and had sent to the Tower one of their Members for speaking indecently of his Speech King Iames was influenc'd to part with this his first and only Parliament in displeasure upon the Fourth day after they presented the Address As his former Speeches to his Council and Parliament had put a Foreign Court to a Stand what to think of him so this last put them out of pain and convinc'd them he was intirely Theirs Their sense of it can hardly be better express'd than in a Letter from Abroad contain'd in the Appendix Appendix Numb 17. which by its Stile though in another Hand seems to be from the same Minister that writ the two former In which he tells the Ambassador here That he needed not a surer Character of King James and his Intentions than this last Speech to the Parliament by which they were convinc'd of his former Resolution to throw off the Fetters which Hereticks would impose upon him and to act for the time to come En Maistre as Master A word till then altogether Foreign to the English Constitution What other Effects this Speech had upon the Minds of People at Home and Abroad may be easily guess'd from the different Interests they had in it Nor is it to be pass'd over without some Remark That the Revocation of the Edict of Nants which probably had been some time under Consideration before was now put in Execution to the Astonishment of all Europe The Parliament being dissolv'd and no visible means left to retrieve the Liberties of England King Iames made haste to accomplish the Grand Design which a head strong Party about him push'd on as the certain way in their opinion to Eternize his Name in this World and to merit an Eternal Crown in the other They foresaw that this was the Critical Iuncture and the only one that happen'd since the days of Queen Mary to Restore their Religion in England And if they were wanting to themselves in making use of it the prospect of a Protestant Successor would infallibly prevent their having any such opportunity for the future King Iames was pretty far advanc'd in years and what was to be done requir'd Expedition for all their labour would be lost if he should die before the accomplishment If he had been Younger or the next presumptive Heir had not been a Protestant there had been no such absolute necessity for Dispatch But the Uncertainty of the King's Life call'd for more than ordinary diligence in a Design that depended meerly upon it The Party being resolv'd for these Reasons to bring about in the Compass of one Single Life and that already far spent what seem'd to be the Work of a whole Age they made large steps towards it Roman-Catholicks were not only Employ'd in the Army but brought into Places of greatest Trust in the State The Earl of Clarendon was forthwith remov'd from the Office of Privy-Seal and the Government of Ireland to make room for the Earl of Tyrconel in the one and the Lord Arundel in the other Father Peters a Iesuit was sworn of the Privy Council And though by the Laws it was High-Treason for any to assume the Character of the Pope's Nuncio A Pope's Nuncio in England yet these were become too slender Cobwebs to hinder a Roman Prelate to appear publickly at London in that Quality Duke of Somerset and one of the greatest Peers of England was disgrac'd for not paying him that Respect which the Laws of the Land made Criminal To bear the Publick Character of Ambassador to the Pope An Ambâ—ssador sent to Rome was likewise an open Violation of the Laws But so fond was the governing Party about King Iames to show their new-acquir'd Trophies at Rome that the Earl of Castlemain was dispatch'd thither Extraordinary Ambassador with a Magnificent Train and a most Sumptuous Equipage What his Secret Instructions were may be
his Majesty that he forthwith prepared again for War And such was their Confidence that having corrupted and distempered the whole Frame and Government of the Kingdom they did now hope to corrupt that which was the only means to restore all to a right frame and temper again to which end they persuaded his Majesty to call a Parliament not to seek Counsel and Advice of them but to draw Countenance and Supply from them and engage the whole Kingdom in their Quarrel and in the mean time continued all their unjust Levies of Money resolving either to make the Parliament pliant to their Will and to establish mischief by a Law or else to break it And with more colour to go on by Violence to take what they could not obtain by Consent the Ground alledged for the Justification of this War was this That the undutiful Demands of the Parliament of Scotland was a sufficient Reason for his Majesty to take Arms against them without hearing the Reason of those Demands And thereupon a new Army was prepared against them their Ships were seized in all Ports both of England and Ireland and at Sea their Petitions rejected their Commissioners refused Audience This whole Kingdom most miserably distemper'd with Levies of Men and Money and Imprisonments of those who denied to submit to those Levies The Earl of Strafford pass'd into Ireland caused the Parliament there to declare against the Scots to give four Subsidies towards that War and to engage themselves their Lives and Fortunes for the prosecution of it and gave directions for an Army of Eight thousand Foot and One thousand Horse to be levied there which were for the most part Papists The Parliament met upon the 13 th of April 1640. The Earl of Strafford and Archbishop of Canterbury with their Party so prevailed with his Majesty that the House of Commons was prest to yield to a Supply for maintenance of the War with Scotland before they had provided any Relief for the great and pressing Grievances of the People which being against the Fundamental Privilege and proceeding of Parliament was yet in humble Respect to his Majesty so far admitted as that they agreed to take the matter of Supply into Consideration and two several days it was debated Twelve Subsidies were demanded for the Release of Ship-money alone a third day was appointed for conclusion when the Heads of that Party begun to fear the People might close with the King in satisfying his desire of Money but that withal they were like to blast their malicious designs against Scotland finding them very much indisposed to give any countenance to that War Thereupon they wickedly advised the King to break off the Parliament and to return to the ways of Confusion in which their own evil Intentions were most like to prosper and succeed After the Parliament ended the fifth of May 1640 this Party grew so bold as to counsel the King to supply himself out of his Subjects Estates by his own Power at his own Will without their Consent The very next day some Members of both Houses had their Studies and Cabinets yea their Pockets searched Another of them not long after was committed close Prisoner for not delivering some Petitions which he received by Authority of that House And if harsher courses were intended as was reported it is very probable that the sickness of the Earl of Strafford and the Tumultuous Rising in Southwark and about Lambeth were the Causes that such violent Intentions were not brought to execution A false and scandalous Declaration against the House of Commons was published in his Majesty's Name which yet wrought little effect with the People but only to manifest the Impudence of those who were Authors of it A forced Loan of Money was attempted in the City of London The Lord Mayor and Aldermen in their several Wards enjoined to bring in a List of the Names of such Persons as they judged fit to lend and of the Sum they should lend And such Aldermen as refused so to do were committed to Prison The Archbishop and the other Bishops and Clergy continued the Convocation and by a new Commission turned it to a Provincial Synod in which by an unheard-of presumption they made Canons that contain in them many matters contrary to the King's Prerogative to the Fundamental Laws and Statutes of the Realm to the Right of Parliaments to the Property and Liberty of the Subject and matters tending to Sedition and of dangerous consequence thereby establishing their own Usurpations justifying their Altar-Worship and those other Superstitious Innovations which they formerly introduced without warrant of Law They imposed a new Oath upon divers of his Majesty's Subjects both Ecclesiastical and Lay for maintenance of their own Tyranny and laid a great Tax upon the Clergy for Supply of his Majesty and generally they shewed themselves very affectionate to the War with Scotland which was by some of them stiled Bellum Episcopale and a Prayer composed and enjoined to be read in all Churches calling the Scots Rebels to put the two Nations into Blood and make them irreconcileable All those pretended Canons and Constitutions were armed with the several Censures of Suspension Excommunication Deprivation by which they would have thrust out all the good Ministers and most of the well-affected People of the Kingdom and left an easy Passage to their own Design of Reconciliation with Rome The Popish Party enjoined such Exemptions from the Penal Laws as amounted to a Toleration besides many other Encouragements and Court-Favours They had a Secretary of State Sir Francis Windebank a powerful Agent for the speeding of all their desires a Pope's Nuncio residing here to act and govern them according to such influences as he received from Rome and to intercede for them with the most powerful concurrence of the Foreign Princes of that Religion By his Authority the Papists of all sorts Nobility Gentry and Clergy were convocated after the manner of a Parliament new Jurisdictions were erected of Romish Archbishops Taxes levied another State moulded within this State independent in Government contrary in Interest and Affection secretly corrupting the ignorant or negligent Professors of our Religion and closely uniting and combining themselves against such as were sound in this posture waiting for an opportunity by force to destroy those whom they could not hope to seduce For the effecting whereof they were strengthen'd with Arms and Munition encouraged by superstitious Prayers enjoined by the Nuncio to be Weekly made for the prosperity of some great design And such power had they at Court that secretly a Commission was issued out intended to be issued to some Great Men of that Profession for the levying of Soldiers and to command and employ them according to private Instructions which we doubt were framed for the advantage of those who were the Contrivers of them His Majesty's Treasure was consumed his Revenue anticipated his Servants and Officers compelled to lend great Sums of Money