Express a greater sence of Ireland than He had done That meerly to satisfie the City He had removed a Worthy Person from the Charge of the Tower And that the Tumults had caused Him to Fortifie White-Hall for the Security of His own Person That His going to the House of Commons was to Apprehend those Five Members for Treason to which the Priviledges of Parliament could not extend and that He would proceed against them no otherwise than Legally And now such numbers of ordinary People daily gathered about Westminster and White-Hall that the King doubting of their Intentions thought fit to withdraw to Hampton-Court taking with Him the Queen Prince and Duke of York where He and his Retinue and Guard quickly encreased by accession of divers of the Gentry But the next day the Five Members were Triumphantly Guarded to Westminster by a great number of Citizens and Sea-men with Hundreds of Boats and Barges with Guns in them shouting and hallowing as they passed by White-Hall and making large Protestations at Westminster of their constant Adherence and Fidelity to the Parliament About this time the Parliament had notice that the Lord Digby and Col. Lunsford were raising Troops of Horse at Kingston where the County Magazine was lodged Whereupon they order That the County Sheriffs Justices of Peace and the Trained-Bands shall take care to secure the Countries and their Magazines Lunsford was Seized and sent to the Tower but Digby escaped beyond Sea The King removed to Royston at which time Sir E. Herbert Attorny-General is questioned at the Lords-Bar to Answer concerning the Articles against the Five Members where it had gone hard with him if the King at his earnest Supplication had not taken him off by a Letter to the Lord-Keeper Littleton wherein the King clears the Attorny-General and takes the whole Business upon Himself yet concludes That finding Cause wholly to desist from Proceeding against the Persons Accused He had Commanded his Attorny-General to proceed no farther therein nor to produce nor discover any Proof concerning the same Jan. 20. The King sends a Message to the Parliament proposing the Security of his own just Rights and Royal Authority and That since particular Grievances and Distractions were too many and would be too great to be Presented by themselves that They would Comprize and Digest them into one entire Body and send them to Him And it should then appear how ready He would be to equal or exceed the greatest Examples of the most Indulgent Princes in their Acts of Grace and Favour to the People After this the Commons move the Lords to joyn with them in Petitioning for the Militia and the Command of the Tower but They not complying the House of Commons singly of themselves importune the King to put those things into the Hands of the Parliament as the only available Means for the removal of their Fears and Jealousies But the King not willing to part with the Principal Jewels of his Crown signified to them That He thought the Militia to be lawfully subject to no Commâ—nd but his Own and therefore would not let it go out of his Hands That he had preferred to the Lieutenancy of the Tower a Person of known Fortune and unquestionable Reputation and that he would Prefer none but such to the Command of his Forts and Castles Yet would not intrust the Power of Conferring those Places and Dignities from Himself it being derived to Him from his Ancestors by the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom Yet the Commons would not desist but again Petitioned and were again refused Soon after divers Petitions were delivered to the Parliament against the Votes of Popish Lords and Bishops in the House of Peers as One from Suffolk with 1500 Hands Another from London with 2000 Hands and a Third from the City-Dames To all which were Answered That the Commons had already endeavoured Relief from the Lords in their Requests and should so continue till Redress were obtained And shortly after the Lords Passed the Bill For disabling all Persons in Holy-Orders to have any place or Vote in Parliament or to exercise any Temporal Jurisdiction At the same time they Petition the King again for the Militia and for clearing Kimbolton and the Five Members By his Answer to Both they understood his Resolution Not to trust the Militia out of Himself nor to clear the Members but only by a general Pardon which was unsatisfactory The King now at Hampton-Court thought fit to send for all his Domestick Servants of either Houses of Parliament and particularly the Earls of Essex and Holland but they refused to come In the mean time Mr. Pym at a Conference complaining of the general flocking of Papists into Ireland affirmed That since the Lieutenant had ordered a stop upon the Ports against all Irish Papists many of the chief Commanders now in the head of the Rebels had been licensed to pass thither by his Majesty's immediate Warrant The King was highly offended at this Speech which He signified to the House who in their Answer to his Message justifie Mr. Pym's words to be the Sense of the House and that they had yet in safe Custody the Lord Delvin Sir G. Hamilton Col. Butler Brother to the Lord Miniard now in Rebellion and one of the Lord Nettervil's Sons To which the King replies That he thought Mr. Pym's Speech was not so well grounded as it ought to have been and that the aforementioned Persons had their Passages granted before he knew of the Parliaments Order of Restraint and therefore expected their Declaration for his Vindication from that odious Calumny of Conniving or underhand Favouring that Horrid Rebellion But the King's Desire proved fruitless for they next moved to have Sir J. Byron turned out from being Lieutenant of the Tower and at their nomination Sir J. Coniers Succeeded They then proceeded to Name fit Persons for Trust of the Militia of the several Counties And by Act of Parliament disabled all Clergy-Men from exercising Temporal Jurisdiction The Commons then drew up a Petition for Vindicating their Five Members wherein they desire the King to send them the Informers against the said Members or otherwise to desert their Prosecution would not suffice because the whole Parliament was concerned in the Charge And then they proceeded to settle the Militia for the defence of the Parliament Tower and City of London under the Command of Maj. General Skipton who had formerly been an experienced Soldier in the Low Countries The King had deferred His Answer to their Petition for settling the Militia of the Counties according to their nomination till His Return from Dover where He took leave of his Wife and Daughter and so returned to Greenwich from whence He sent to Hampton-Court for his Two Eldest Sons to come to him though contrary to the Mind of the Parliament who would have disswaded Him from it The King being now at Greenwich sends this Answer to the Petition about the Militia That he is
the House of Commons Voted That the Clergy in a Synod or Convocation have no Power to make Canons or Laws without Parliaments and that the Canons are against the Fundamental Laws of this Realm the King's Prerogative and the Property of the Subject the Right of Parliaments and tend to Faction and Sedition In pursuance hereof a Charge was ordered to be drawn up against Arch-Bishop Laud as the Principal Framer of those Canons and other Delinquencies which Impeachment was Seconded by another from the Scotch Commissioners Upon which he was Committed to the Black-Rod and Ten Weeks after Voted Guilty of High-Treason and sent to the Tower The Scots likewise preferred a Charge against the Earl of Strafford then in Custody requiring Justice against them both as the great Incendiaries and Disturbers both of Church and State The Lord-Keeper Finch was the next Person designed to be Censured and notwithstanding a Speech made in his own Vindication He was Voted a Traytor upon several Accounts But he fore-saw the Storm and went over into Holland Upon Monday March 26. 1640 the Earl of Strafford's Tryal began in Westminster-Hall the King Queen and Prince being present and the Commons being there likewise as a Committee at the managing their Accusation The Earl of Strafford though he had but short Warning yet made a Noble Defence The Accusation was managed by Mr. Pym consisting of Twenty eight Articles to most of which the Earl made particular Replies But the Commons were resolved to Prosecute him to Death and had therefore not only procured the Parliament of Ireland to Prosecute him there as Guilty of High-Treason but resolved to proceed against him by Bill of Attainder which they proceeded to dispatch And April 19. 1641. they Voted the Earl Guilty of High-Treason upon the Evidence of Secretary Vane and his Notes And upon the 25th they passed the Bill and sent it to the Lords for their Concurrence who a few Days after likewise agreed to it The Bill being finished and the K. fearing the Conclusion and being willing to do some good Office to the Earl His Majesty May 1. 1641 Calls both Honses together and in a Speech tells them That he had been present at the Hearing that great Cause and that in his Conscience possitively he could not Condemn him of High-Treason and yet could not clear him of Misdemeanours but hoped a way might be found out to Satisfie Justice and their Fears without oppressing his Conscience And so dismissed them to their great Discontent Which was propogated so far that May 3. were One thousand Citizens most of them Armed came thronging down to Westminster crying out for Justice against the Earl of Strafford The Commons had now finished a Bill for the Continuance of the Parliament which having passed the Lords was tendred to the King to be Signed together with the Bill for the Attainder of the E. of Strafford His Majesty Answered That on Monday following He would Satisfie them and on the Sunday the King spent the whole Day with the Judges and Bishops in Consulting The Judges told him That in Point of Law according to the Oath made by Sir Henry Vane he was Guilty of Treason The Bishops all agreed That the King might shew Mercy without Scruple and that he could not Condemn the Earl if he did not think him Guilty This was to matter of Fact but as to matter of Law He was to rest in the Opinion of the Judges Monday May 10. the King gives Commission to several Lords to Pass two Bills One The Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford The Other Fâ—r continuing the Parliament during the pleasure of both Houses Which last Act was occasioned for Satisfying the Scots The next Day the King being troubled about the Earl writes a Letter to the House of Lords telling them That whereas Justice had been satisfied in his Condemnation an intermixture of Mercy would not now be unseasonable and therefore He desired them that if it might be done without any Discontent to the People the Earl might be permitted to fulfil the Natural Course of his Life in close Imprisonment Sequestred from all Publick Affairs provided he never attempted to make an Escape However He thought it a Work of Charity to Reprieve him till Saturday But nothing could be Obtained in Favour of him The Fall of this Powerful Man so startled other great Officers of State that several Resigned their Places July 5. A Charge was brought into the House of Commons against Dr. Wren Bishop of Ely being Accused of Treasonable Misdemeanours in his Diocess August 6. Both the English and Scotch Armies were Disbanded and Four Days after the King went towards Scotland and was Entertained with great Demonstrations of Affection by that Nation and Conferred several Places of Honour and Power upon divers of them He Confirmed likewise the Treaty between the Two Nations by Act of Parliament October 23 1641. A Horrid and Notorious Rebellion broke out in Ireland which was in divers Places managed with such Secresie that it was not Discovered at Dublin till the Night before it was to be put in Execution but in most other Places of the Kingdom it was carried on with such Fury That two hundred thousand English Men Women and Children were in a short Space barbarously Murdered The Irish to Dishearten the English from any Resistance bragged That the Queen was with their Army That the King would come amongst them also and Assist them That they did but maintain His Cause against the Puritans That they had the King's Com-Commission for what they did The Lords Justices sent Sir H. Spotswood to the King then in Scotland with an Account of all that happened He dispatched Sir J. Stuart with Instructions to the Lords of the Privy-Council in Ireland and to carry all the Money his present Stores would supply He likewise sent an Express to the Parliament of England as being near for their Assistance but they excused it And indeed the Irish pretended that the Scots were in Confederacy with them and to seem to Confirm it they abstained for some time from destroying the Estates or Murdering any of that Nation And on the other-side to Encourage the Irish they produced pretended Letters wherein they said They were Informed from England That the Parliament had passed an Act that all the Irish should be Compelled to the Protestant Worship and for the First Offence in refusing to Forfeit all their Goods for the Second their Estates and for the Third their Lives And besides this they presented them with the Hopes of Liberty That the English Yoak should be shaken off That they should have a King of their own Nation and that then all the Goods and Estates of the English should be divided amongst them With these Motives of Spoil and Liberty which were strengthned by the Former of Religion the Rebellion was carried on throughout the whole Kingdom The King being returned out of Scotland December 2d Summoned both Houses
By this you see the advantage and benefit of one Wise Counsellor in a whole State and although Solomon says By the multitude of Councellors doth a Kingdom Flourish yet surely he intended they should be Wise Men that are Councellors for we had such a multitude of Councellors that a longer Table and a larger Council-Chamber was provided yet our State was so far from Flourishing that it had been almost utterly destroyed I shall now bring my Story to an end as I shall this King's Life although I have made some Digressions yet all pertinent to the Secret Intreagues of this King's Reign He now goes to his last Hunting-Journey I mean the last of the Year as well as his Life which He ever ended in Lent and was seized on by an extraordinary Tertian Ague which at that Season according to the Proverb was Physick for a King but King James did not find it so and poor King what was but Physick to any other was made Mortal to him Yet 't was not the Ague as himself Confessed to many of his Servants one of which crying Courage Sir this is but a small Fit the next will be none at all At which he most earnestly looked and said Ah! it is not the Ague afflicteth me but the black Plaster and Powder given me and laid to my Stomach and in truth the Plaster so troubled him that he was glad to have it pulled off and with it the Skin also Nor was it fair Dealing if he had sair Play which himself suspected often saying to Montgomery whom he trusted above all Men in his Sickness For God's sake look I have fair Play to bring in an Emperick to apply any Medicines whil'st those Physicians appointed to attend him were at Dinner nor could any but Buckingham Answer it with less than his Life Buckingham coming into the King's Chamber even when He was at the point of Death an honest Servant of the King 's crying Ah! my Lord you have Undone us all his poor Servants although you are so well provided you need not care At which Buckingham kickt at him who caught his Foot and made his Head first come to the Ground where Buckingham presently rising run to the Dying-King's Bed-side and cryed Justice Sir I am abused by your Servant and wrongfully Accused At which the poor King Mournfully fixed his Eyes on him as who would have said Not wrongfully yet without Speech or Sense It were worth the knowledge what his Confessions was or what other Expressions he made of himself or any other but that was only known to the dead Arch-Bishop Abbot and the then living Bishop Williams and the Lord-Keeper and it was thought Williams had blabbed something which incensed the King's Anger and Buckingham's Hatred so much against him that the loss of his Place could not be expiatory sufficient but his utter ruine must be determined and that for the great Crime of Lapsus Linguae Now having brought this King who was stiled the King of Peace to rest in all Peace the 27th of March his Son by Sound of the Trumpet was Proclaimed King by the Name of CHARLES the First His Father's Reign began with a great Plague and we have shewed what his Reign was His Son 's with a greater Plague the greatest that ever had been in these parts We come now to shew what his Reign was in the ensuing Discourse FINIS THE Secret History c. THE Misfortunes of this Monarch Son to King James with the uncouth dismal and unexpressible Calamities that happened thereupon appear yet so great a Sacrifice in the Opinions of all Interested by the Loss or Suborned by that natural Propensity inherent in the most to expunge or palliate the Lapses of unhappy Princes whose Indulgence is not seldom so defensive as to expiate for the Faults of those standing in a far remoter Relation than that of a Father that they have hitherto stoped my Pen from making any farther Progress that way till led on by a Zeal to Truth and illuminated from the brighter Judgments of others I found not only the Imprudent Commissions but voluntary Omissions of King James so much instrumental in the promotion of our late Unnatural Wars As it may justly be said He like Adam by bringing the Crown into so great a Necessity through profuse Prodigality became the Original of his Son's Fall who was in a manner compelled to stretch out his Hands towards such Gatherings and Taxes as were contrary to Law by which He fell from the Paradice of a Prince to wit The Hearts of his People though the best Polititians extant might miscarry in their Calculation of a Civil-War immediately to follow upon the Death of Queen Elizabeth in Vindication of the number of Titles and Opinions then current Yet the Beggarly Rabble attending King James not only at his first coming out of Scotland but through his whole Reign like a fluent Spring found still crossing the River Tweed did so far justifie the former Conjecture as it was only thought mistaken in relation to Time King James departing this Life at Theobald's the 27th day of March 1625. in the Fifty Ninth Year of his Age when He had Reigned Twenty Two Years compleat In the Afternoon of the same day Charles Prince of Wales his only Son then living was Proclaimed King of Great Britain France and Ireland The first thing He did was performing the Ceremonies of his Father's Funeral in which the King himself in Person followed as Chief Mourner He then proceeded to consummate the Marriage with Hentietta Maria Younger Daughter of the great Henry the Fourth King of France whom He had formerly seen in his Journey through that Country into Spain The King then called a Parliament which Assembled the 18th of June following to whom He represented in a short Speech The urgent necessity of raising a Subsidy since it would not agree with his Kingly Honour to shrink from the War with Spain which his Father upon solid Consideration had by consent of Both Houses undertakeâ— although prevented by Death from putting it in Execution c. The Parliament would not resolve on raising of Money till they had first presented their Two Petitions concerning Reasons of Religion and Complaint of their Sufferings which Points had been offered to his Father King James in the close of his last Parliament and by his Death were left hitherto unanswered In Both which they received satisfaction and likewise an account of the Arrears which were due to the Forces by Sea and Land together with an estimate of the future Charge and Expence of the Spanish War Upon which the King obtained of the Laiety Two Subsidies to be paid by Protestants and Four from Papists and Three Subsidies from the Clergy In this Parliament Dr. Montague the King's Chaplain was questioned for certain Tenets in his Answer to a Book called the Romish Dagger Divers Laws were Enacted in this Parliament as one about the Observation of the Lord's-Day and another
for Restraint of Tippling in Inns and Ale-Houses On the 11th of July 1629. the Parliament by reason of the great Plague or Sickness that then raged Adjourned till August the 1st where the King first by Himself and next by his Secretaries the Lord Conway and Sir J. Cook declared to them the necessity of setting forth a Fleet for the Recovery of the Palatinate The Lord Treasurer likewise Instanced the several Summs of Money which King James Died Indepted to the City of London This occasioned very warm Debates in the House of Commons who alledged That Evil Counsels guided the King's Designs That the Treasury was misimployed That our Necessities arose through Improvidence That it would be necessary to Petition the King for a stricter Hand and abler Council to manage his Affairs That though a former Parliament engaged the King in a War yet if things were managed with contrary Designs and the Treasury were misimployed this Parliament was not bound to be carried blindfold in Designs not guided by sound Counsel That it was not usual to grant Subsidies upon Subsidies in one Parliament and no Grievances Redressed with many other Passages of the like nature They likewise very much reflected on the Miscarriages of the Duke of Buckingham who was then a Person of a very Considerable Trust They presented the King with a Petition against Popish Recusants c. Unto which a Satisfactory Answer was returned And thereupon there followed a Debate about Supplies Some were for Contributing presently Others Demurred as disliking the Design in Hand and in Conclusion the Major-part agreed not to give And then being Incensed against the Duke of Buckingham they began to think of Divesting Him of his Offices and to require an Account of the Publick Money c. To prevent which the King Dissolved the Parliament Now the War with Spain being intended both for the Recovery of the Palatinate and to prevent Disturbances in our Civil State but by reason of the Dissolving of the Parliament the King was Necessitated to take up Money upon Loan of such Persons as were of Ability to Lend And to that end he Directed his Letters to the Lord Lieutenants of the several Counties To return the Names of those Men they thought most Sufficient the Places of their Abodes and what Sums each might be judged able to Lend And to the Persons returned Letters were Issued forth in the King's Name shewing That His Majesty having Observed in the Precedents and Customs of former Times That all the Kings and Queens of this Realm upon Extraordinary Occasions have used either to Resort to those Contributions which arise from the Generality of the Subjects or to the Private Helps of some Well-affected in that Particular by way of Loan With many Cogent Reasons shewing How His present pressing Emergencies required His having Recourse to the Method of Raising Moneys Upon the Second of February was the Coronation at which the King did not pass through the City in State from the Tower as was usual but went by Water from White-Hall to Westminster for fear of the Danger of the Concourse of People the Pestilence which Raged the Year before not being quite ceased The King Summons a Parliament to Sit February the Sixth And being Met accordingly the King Chose Sir H. Finch for their Speaker Then they fell upon Debate of the Publick Grievances viz. The Miscarrying of the Fleet at Cadiz the Evil Counsellors about the King mis-employing the King's Revenue on account of the Subsidies and Three Fifteens Granted in the One and twentieth Year of King James Then the House of Commons were very busie in Searching the Signet-Office for the Original of a Letter under the Signet Written to the Mayor of York for Reprieving divers Priests and Jesuits This was Reported by Pim Chair-man to the Committee for Religion but their Proceedings therein was interrupted by a Message from the King sent by Sir R. Weston demanding a Supply for the English and Irish Forces This was so highly resented that one Sir Clement Cook one of the Members openly Protested That it was better to Dye by a Foreign Enemy than to be Destroyed at Home And Doctor Turner one of the House Seconded him with many Bold Expressions Which so Provoked the King that He immediately sent Sir R. Weston to demand Satisfaction of the House of Commons Whereupon Dr. Turner presently after made a Speech in Vindication and for Explaining himself which was Seconded by Sir W. Waller Sir J. Elliot and many other Members of the House But notwithstanding these Discourses the Commons taking the King's Necessities into Consideration Voted Three Subsidies and Three Fifteens and the Bill should be brought in as soon as the Grievances which were Represented were Redressed But the King Observing they did not make as much Hast as He expected to answer His last Message Summons both Houses together and by the Lord Keeper Complains to them For not punishing Dr. Turner and C. Cook and likewise for Searching his Signet-Office and also Justified the Duke of Buckingham to have Acted nothing of Publick Employment without His Special Warrant He blamed them for being too Sparing in the matter of Supply and for Ordering the Bill not to be brought in till their Grievances were Heard and Answered which He would not Admit of But the Commons in Answer present a Remonstrance and justifie Themselves The King again Earnestly pressed the House of Commons for a speedy Supply by their Speaker Sir H. Finch giving them to understand That if they did not pass the Bill of Subsidy by the end of the Week following it would enforce Him to take other Resolutions and if by their Denial or Delay any thing of ill Consequences should fall out either at Home or Abroad He called God and Man to Witness That He had done his Part to prevent it by Calling his People together to Advise with Him whose Sitting if they dispatched This according to his Desire He resolved to continue for the Dispatch of other Affairs and after their Recess to bring Them again together the next Winter Before the Commons sent an Answer they drew up a Petition to His Majesty That He would be pleased to Remove from all Places of Trust and Authority all such Persons as were either Popish Recusants or according to the Directions of former Acts of State justly to be suspected to be such And herewith they likewise sent a large Scroul of the Names of all such Noblemen and others as continued in Places of High Trust in the several Counties of England Presently after the Commons drew up another Declaration of Grievances against the Duke of Buckingham whom they Resolved utterly to Overthrow though much contrary to the Inclination of the King who being thereat Incensed Dissolved the Parliament the very next Day June 15th 1626. After which the King Published a Declaration shewing the Grounds and Reasons of his Dissolving this and the former Parliament Then several ways were Resolved on for
Advancing the King's Revenue First Levying of Customs and Impost on all Merchandize supposed to be settled to the King by the Two last Parliaments Privy Seals also were Issued out and Benevolence proposed and at length a Commission for a General Loan was Resolved on Sir Randolph Crew for not appearing Vigorous in promoting the Loan was Displaced from being Lord-Chief-Justice the Bishop of Lincoln was likewise Informed against in the Star-Chamber by Sir J. Lamb and Dr. Sibthorp for speaking against the Loan and seeming to Favour the Puritans and Non-Conformists The Assessment of the Loan was generally Opposed whereupon the People of the lower Rank were ordered to Appear in the Millitary-Yard next St. Martins in the Fields before the Lieutenant of the Tower to be Listed for Souldiers it being thought Necessary that those which refused to Assist with their Purses in Common Defence should be forced to Serve in their Persons Others of better Quality were bound to Appear at the Council-Table several of whom were Committed Prisoners to the Fleet Marshalsea Gate-house c. and among others Sir J. Elliot who Petitioned His Majesty and repeated many Precedents That all manner of Taxes in former King's Reigns were never Levied but by the General Consent of the Nobility and Commons Assembled in Parliament However he was Committed Prisoner to the Gate-House and upon the same account Sir P. Haymon was Commanded to Serve the King in the Palatinate which he did accordingly Doctor Sibthorp and Dr. Maynwaring two Eminent Preachers at Court about this time Preached up the Necessity and Duty of the Loan One of them Asserting That the Prince had Power to Direct his Council and make Laws and that Subjects if they cannot exhibit Active Obedience in case the Thing commanded should be against the Law of God or Nature or more impossible yet nevertheless they ought to yield Passive Obedience and in all other Cases they were bound to Active Obedience The other Affirmed That the King 's Royal Command in Imposing of Laws and Taxes though without Common Consent in Parliament did Oblige the Subject's Conscience upon Pain of Eternal Damnation Which Position being entertain'd by the Court with Applause the Sermon of Dr. Sibthorp's call'd Apostolick Obedience was Licensed by Doctor Laud Bishop of London And an express Command was sent from the King to Arch-Bishop Abbot to Licence it which he refused Whereupon he was Suspended from his Archiepiscopal-Sea In 1627. being the Third Year of His Majesty's Reign the Duke of Buckingham to clear his Reputation as to the Charge of Negligence in his Admiralship with much ado Compleated his Naval Forces consisting of Six thousand Horse and Foot in Ten Ships Royal and Ninety Merchant-Men with which he set Sail from Portsmouth June 27th and Published a Manifesto of the K.'s Affections to the Reformed Churches in France But by several Accidents this Great Design miscarried At this Time the Exchequer was very low and several late Enterprizes having miscarried it was Resolved That a Parliament should be immediately Called and Writs were accordingly Issued out A Commission likewise passed under the Great Seal for raising Moneys through the Kingdom in nature of an Excise There was some Discourse of Levying of Ship-Money but it was declined at that Time because of the Parliament's approaching Upon the 17th of March 1627 the Parliament Assembled and the King with the Lord-Keeper in two Speeches earnestly Pressed them to Consider of some speedy way for Supplying His Majesty's Necessities The first Thing taken into Consideration by the Commons was the Grievance of the Kingdom and the first Thing insisted on was the Case of those Gentlemen for refusing the Loan and who notwithstanding their Habeas Corpus were remanded to Prison and it was Resolved in the House Nemine contradicente That no Man ought to be Restrained by the King or Privy-Council without some Cause of the Commitment Secondly That the Writ of Habeas Corpus ought to be Granted upon Request to every Man that is Restrained though by the Command of the King and Privy-Council or any other Thirdly That if a Free-man be Imprisoned by the Command of the King c. and no Cause of such Commitment expressed and the same be Returned upon an Habeas Corpus granted for the said Party then he ought to be Delivered or Bailed Then the Parliament proceeded to draw up a Petition against Popish Recusants to which the King gave them a Satisfactory Answer After which Five Subsidies were granted to the K. which gave so great Satisfaction to His Majesty that He sent them word He would deny them nothing of their Liberties which any of his Predecessors had granted Whereupon the Commons fell upon the Memorable Petition of Right and was afterwards agreed to by both Houses that it should be settled to the King And when the Petition was Presented to His Majesty the Answer following was quickly returned The King willeth that Right be done according to Law and Customs of the Realm and the Statutes be put in due Execution that His Subjects may have no Cause to complain of any Wrongs or Oppressions contrary to their just Rights and Liberties to the Preservation whereof He holds Himself in Conscience as well Obliged as to that of his Prerogative This Answer being read in the House of Commons was not judged Satisfactory and therefore upon their humble Petition His Majesty to shew how Free and Candid His Concessions were to His Subjects sent them this short but full Answer Soit Droit Fait come il est desire Let it be done according to your Desire Which Answer mightily pleased both Houses and His Majesty for further Satisfaction suffered the Commission of Loan and Excise to be Cancelled and received Abbot and Williams into his Favour again so that all Discontents on every side seemed to be Banished In 1628. the Fourth Year of His Majesty's Reign the Parliament drew up a Remonstrance against Buckingham and against Bishop Neal and Bishop Laud which they Presented to the King with the Bill of Subsidies His Majesty telling them That He expected not such a Return for His favourable Answer to the Petition of Right and as for the Grievances He would take time to Consider An Information being likewise exhibited against the Duke in the Star-Chamber an Order was made in that Court That all Proceedings thereupon should be taken off the File by the King 's express Will and Pleasure And the King being resolved to hold up the Duke sent so brisk an Answer to their Remonstrances as provoked the Commons to question his taking Tunnage and Poundage which being of too valuable a consideration to be hazarded His Majesty Obviated by Adjourning the Parliament to the 20. of Octob. following The Earl of Danby having Sailed with Fifty Ships to the Relief of Rochel was repelled with much Loss so that despairing of Success he returned back to Plimouth Whereupon another Expedition was resolved on with a more considerable Navy and the Duke
of Buckingham was designed Admiral who going to Portsmouth in order to hastening of Business one John Felton a Lieutenant Stabbed him to the Heart with a Knife Felton after he had committed the Fact did not Fly but voluntary acknowledged he was the Person and being asked What inclined him to commit so Barbarous an Act he boldly answered He Killed him for the Cause of God and his Country The Parliament was to have met in October but by reason of some ill News during this Expedition they were Adjourned to January 20. In which time the Merchants refusing to pay Custom had their Goods seized Complaint thereof being made to the Parliament the King Summons the Two Houses to the Banqueting-House at White-Hall and requires them to Pass the promised Bill of Tonnage and Poundage for ending all Differences since it was too precious a Jewel of the Crown to be so lightly forgone But the Commons answered That God's Cause was to be prefered before the King 's and that they would therefore in the first place consult about Religion And therefore they appointed one Committee for Religion and another for Civil Matters In the last was a Complaint about the Customs and the Farmers of the Customs were Challenged but the King excused them as acting by His Command Yet this being not clear to the Parliament they would have proceeded against them as Delinquents Whereupon the King sent them word That in Honour he could not nor would give way thereunto which so incensed the Parliament that they Adjourned themselves for some Days and then Meeting again the King Adjourned them till March 10. The Commons inraged thereat blamed their Speaker for admitting the Message and ordered Sir J. Elliot to draw up their Remonstrance which was in very high terms about the Tonnage and Poundage The Commons having prepared their Remonstrance about the Bill of Tonnage and Poundage they required their Speaker to put it to the Vote whether it should be Presented to the King or not but the Speaker refused it and according to the King's Order would have gone away but Mr. Hollis would not suffer him to stir till himself had read the Protestation of the House consisting of Three Heads I. Whosoever shall bring in any Innovation of Religion or by Favour seek to introduce Popery or Arminianism or other Opinions disagreeing to the Orthodox Church shall be reputed a Capital Enemy to this Kingdom and Common-Wealth II. Whosoever shall Counsel or Advise the Taking or Levying the Subsidies of Tonnage and Poundage without being granted by Parliament or shall be an Actor or Instrument therein shall be likewise reputed a Capital Enemy to the Common-Wealth III. If any shall yield voluntary or Pay the same not being granted by Parliament he shall be reputed a Betraver of the Liberties of England and an Enemy to the Common-Wealth These were so much disliked by the King that he immediately sent for the Serjeant of Mace out of the House of Commons but Sir M. Hobart took the Key from him and locking the Door would not suffer him to go forth At which the King being very much offended sends the Usher of the Black-Rod to Dissolve Them who was not admitted in Whereupon the King with his Guard of Pensioners were resolved to force their Entrance which the Commons having notice of they suddenly went all out of the House And this was the End of this Parliament After their Dissolution the King Published a Declaration setting forth the Cause thereof notwithstanding which it procured great Animosities in the People against the Prime Ministers of State which occasioned divers Libels to be dispersed abroad whereof one against Bishop Laud was found in the Dean of St. Paul's Yard to this effect Laud look to thy self to be sure thy Life is sought as thou art the Fountain of Wickedness Repent of thy Monstrous Sin before thou be taken out of the World And assure thy self that neither God nor the World can endure such a vile Whisperer and Councellor Some considering the unsuccessfulness of This and the Two former Parliaments advised the King never to Call any more And to that end the famous Book of Projects was Published and Addrest to the King proposing some Methods to prevent the Impertinency of Parliaments as he called them from time to time by the Example of Lewis XI of France who pretending that the Commons or Third part did encroach too much on the Nobility and Clergy Dissolved it and never after suffered the People freely to Elect their Representatives but nominated certain Eminent Persons himself instead thereof which is called L' Assembly des Notabiles or the Assembly of the Chief or Principal Men. Upon May 29. 1630. the Queen was Delivered of a Son at St. James's who was Christened Charles who afterwards Succeeded his Father in these Kingdoms by the Name of CHARLES the Second In the Year 1633. and the Ninth of His Majesty's Reign the King made a Journey into Scotland and was Solemnly Crowned at Edinborough June 18. And then the King Calls a Parliament and passed an Act for the Ratification of the Old Acts. In this Scotish Parliament that Nation shewed some sign of Disaffection to the King And the generality of the Common People would not suffer the Bishop of Dumblaine Dean of the King 's private Chapple there to perform Prayers twice a day after the English manner Neither durst they receive the Communion on their Knees nor wear a Surplice upon Sundays and Holy-Days In the Year 1634. the design of Ship-Money was first set on foot and Attorney-General Noy being consulted about it he pretends out of some Old Records to find an Ancient Precedent of raising a Tax on the Nation by the Authority of the King alone for setting out a Navy in case of Danger which was thereupon put in Execution And by this Tax the King raised by Writ above Twenty Thousand Pounds per Month though not without great Discontent both among the Clergy and Laiety The Discontent in Scotland began farther to increase and a Book was Published charging the King with indirect Proceedings in the last Parliament and a tendency to the Romish Belief And now to blow up these Scotch Sparks to a Flame Cardinal Richlieu sent over his Chaplain and another Gentleman to heighten their Discontents The Author of that Book was Seized and found to be abetted by the Lord Balmerino who was thereupon Arraigned by his Peers and Sentenced to Death but Pardoned by the King The latter end of the Year 1635. great Differences arose about Church Matters chiefly occasioned by Arch-Bishop Laud's strict and zealous enjoyning Ceremonies as placing the Communion-Table at the East-end of the Church upon an Ascent with Rails Altar-fashion with many other things not formerly insisted on and now vehemently opposed by those who were formerly called Puritans and Non-Conformists which caused them to be charged with Faction Yet some of the Episcopal Party asserted That the Communion-Table ought to stand in
the middle of the Quire according to the Primitive Example And a Book supposed to be Written by Dr. Williams Bishop of Lincoln was Published to this purpose Several Gentlemen of Quality had refused to Pay the Ship-Money and among the rest Mr. Hamden of Buckingham-shire upon which the King refers the whole Business to the Twelve Judges in Michaelmas-Term 1636. Ten of whom that is Brampton Finch Davenport Denham Jones Trever Vernon Berkly Crowly Weston gave their Judgments against Hamden but Hutton and Crook refused it His Majesty desiring an Uniformity in England and Scotland in pursuance thereof enjoyned the Scots the use of the English Liturgy the Surplice and other Habiliments and began first in his own Chapple And in this Year 1637. Proclamation was made That the same should be used throughout all Churches wherewith the Bishops were contented but not the Kirk nor the People who were so inraged thereat that in Edinborough and divers other Parts of that Kingdom where the Liturgy was begun to be read committed very great Outrages and Violences against the Persons that read it and could not be appeased by the Power of the Magistrate And some time after the Scots entred into a solemn League and Covenant to preserve the Religion there Profest This Covenant the Scots were resolved to maintain and to that purpose they sent for General Lesly and other great Officers from beyond Sea providing themselves likewise with Arms and Ammunition After this they Elect Commissioners for the general Assembly whom they cite to move the Arch-Bishops and Bishops to appear there as Guilty Persons which being refused the People present a Bill of Complaint against them to the Presbitery at Edinbrough who accordingly warned them to appear at the next General Assembly At their Meeting the Bishops sent in a Protestation against their Assembly which the Covenanters would not vouchsafe to read And soon after they abolished Episcopacy and then prepared for a War On which the King of England prepares an Army for Scotland with which in the Year 1639. He Marched in Person into the North but by the Mediation of some Persons a Treaty of Peace was begun and soon finished but a while after broke by the Scots The King therefore resolved since fair means would not prevail to force the Scots to Reason And to that end considers how to make Provisions for Men and Money and calling a Secret Cabinet Council consisting only of Arch-Bishop Laud the Earl of Strafford and Duke Hamilton it was concluded That for the King's Supply a Parliament must be called in England and another in Ireland but because the Debates of Parliament would take up some time it was resolved That the Lords should Subscribe to Lend the King Money The Earl of Strafford Subscribed 20000 l. the Duke of Richmond as much The rest of the Lords Judges and Gentry contributed according to their Ability The Scots on the other side foreseeing the Storm prepared for their own Defence making Treaties in Sweeden Denmark Holland and Poland And the Jesuits who are never Idle endeavour to Foment the Differences to which end Con the Pope's Nuncio Sir Tob. Matthews Read and Maxwel Two Scots endeavoured to perswade the Discontented People That the King designed to Enslave them to his Will and Pleasure In the Year 1640. and the Sixteenth of the King's Reign a Parliament was called at Westminster April 13. In which the King presses them for a speedy Supply to Suppress the Violences of the Scots But whil'st the Parliament were Debating whether the Grievances of the People or the King's Supply should be first considered and Matters were in some hopeful Posture Secretary Vane either accidentally or on purpose overthrew all at once by declaring That the King required Twelve Subsidies whereas at that time he only desired Six which so enraged the House and made things so ill that by the advice of the Juncto the Parliament was Dissolved having only Sate Twenty Two Days Arch-Bishop Laud by his earnest Proceedings against the Puritans and by his strict enjoyning of Ceremonies especially reviving Old Ceremonies which had not been lately observed procured to himself much Hatred from the People That upon May 9. 1640. a Paper was fixed on the Gate of the Royal-Exchange inciting the Prentices to go and Sack his House at Lambeth the Monday after but the Arch-Bishop had notice of their Design and provided accordingly that at the time when they came endeavouring to enter his House they were Repulsed The King grew daily more offended against the Scots and calls a Select Juncto to consult about them where the Earl of Strafford delivered his Mind in such terms as were afterwards made use of to his Destruction War against them was resolved on and Money was to be procured one way or other The City was Invited to Lend but refused The Gentry contributed indifferent freely So that with their Assistance the Army was compleated The King himself being Generalissimo the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Strafford Lieutenant-Generals And Marching the Army into the North between New-Castle and Berwick there was some Action between the Two Armies in which the Scots had the Better A Treaty is then set on Foot and to that end the King receives a Petition from the Scots complaining of their Grievances To which He Answers by his Secretary of Scotland That he expects their particular Demands which he receives in Three days all tending to Call a Parliament in England without which there could be no Redress for them They had likewise before their March into England Published a Declaration called The Intentions of the Army viz. Not to lay down Arms till the Reformed Religion were settled in both Nations upon sure grounds and the Causers and Abettors of their present Troubles that is Arch-Bishop Laud and the Earl of Strafford were brought to Publick Justice in Parliament At the same time Twelve English Peers drew up a Petition which they delivered to the King for the Sitting of the Parliament To which the King condescends And now the time approaching for the Sitting of the Parliament who accordingly Met Novemb. 3. 1640. Mr. W. Lenthal was Chosen Speaker of the House of Commons And the King in a Speech tells them That the Scottish Troubles were the cause of their Meeting and therefore requires them to consider of the most expedient Means for casting them out and desired a Supply from them for the maintaining of his Army The Commons began with the Voting down all Monopolies and all such Members as had any Benefit by them were Vottd out of the House They then Voted down Ship-Money with the Opinion of the Judges thereupon to be Illegal and a Charge of High-Treason was ordered to be Drawn up against Eight of them and they resolved to begin with the Lord-Keeper Finch December 11th Alderman Pennington and some hundreds of Citizens presented a Petition Subscribed by Fifteen thousand Hands against Church-Discipline and Ceremonies and a while after
together and tells them That he had staid in Scotland longer than He expected yet not fruitlesly for He had given full Satisfaction to the Nation but cannot choose but take Notice of and Wonder at the unexpected Distractions He finds at Home and then Commends to them the State of Ireland After which the Commons Ordered a Select Committee to draw up a Petition and Remonstrance to the King The One was against the Bishops and Oppressions in Church-Government and for Punishing the Authors of it In the Other was Contained all the Miscarriages and Misfortunes since the beginning of His Majesty's Reign The King Issued out a Declaration in Answer to the Remonstrance the Summ of which was That He thought He had given sufficient Satisfaction to his People's Fears and Jealousies concerning Religion Liberties and Civil Interests by the Bills which He hath Passed this Parliament Desiring the Misunderstandings might be removed on either Side and that the Bleeding Condition of Ireland might perswade them to Unity for the Relief of that Unhappy Kingdom Not long after happened the Insolent Tumults of the London Apprentices at White-Hall and Westminster December 28. the King sends a Message to the Lords That He would raise ten Thousand Volunteers for Ireland if the Commons would undertake to Pay them Sometime after the King upon Information that the Lord Kimbolton and Five of the House of Commons viz. Hollis Sir Arthur Haslerig Mr. Pim Mr. Hambden and Mr. Stroud had Correspondence with the Scots and Countenanced the late City-Tumults He thereupon Ordered their Trunks Studies and Chambers to be Sealed up and their Persons Seized the Former of which was done but having timely Notice they went aside Upon which the Commons the same Day Voted high against these Actions of the King Hereupon the King Charges the Lord Kimbolton and the Five Members with several Articles and Acquaints both Houses That He did intend to Prosecute them for High-Treason and required that their Persons might be Secured And the next Day the King Attended with His Guard of Pensioners and some Hundreds of Gentlemen went to the House of Commons and the Guard staying without the King with the Palsgrave entred the House at whose Entrance the Speaker rises out of the Chair and the King sitting down therein views the Houses round and perceives the Birds He aimed at were flown whereupon He tells them That He came to look for those Five Members whom He had Accused of High-Treason and was resolved to have them where-ever He found them and expected to have them sent to Him as soon as they should come to the House but would not have them think that this Act of His was any Violation of Parliament This Act of the King 's was so highly resented by the House that the next day Jan. 5. the Commons Voted it a Breach of Priviledge And Reports were raised in the City That He intended Violence against the House of Commons and came thither with Force to Murther several Members and used threatning Speeches against the Parliament with which the City was so possessed that the Guards and Watches were Set as if some desperate Assault were to be made upon the City And Both Houses Adjourned till the Tuesday following appointing a Committee in the mean time to sit at Guild-Hall to consider of the most effectual Means for their Security And then they Published a Declaration That whosoever shall Arrest any Member of Parliament by Warrant from the King only is guilty of the Breach of Priviledges of Parliament And likewise That all those who Attended the King when He came to Demand the Five Members were guilty of a Traiterous Design against the King and Parliament That the Proclamation for Apprehending and Imprisoning the said Members was False Scandalous and Illegal and not of Validity enough to hinder them from Attending the House Wherefore They intreat His Majesty to discover the Names of those Informers and Evil Councellors declaring all such Persons to be Publick Enemies to the State In the mean time the Londoners came thronging to Westminster with Petitions inveighing Bitterly against some of the Peers but especially the Bishops whom they Affronted as they went to the House Upon which they were so affrighted that Twelve Bishops absent themselves from the House of Lords drawing up a Protestation against all Laws Orders Votes Resolutions and Determinations as in themselves Null and of none Effect which had Passed or should Pass during their forced Absence Presently after which at a Conference between Both Houses it was agreed That this Protestation of the Twelve Bishops did extend to the deep intrenching on the Fundamental Priviledges and Being of Parliaments And in a short time they were Accused of High-Treason Seized and brought on their Knees at the Lords-Bar Ten of whom were Committed to the Tower and the other Two in regard of their Age to the Black-Rod The King at this Time thinking Himself unsafe without a Guard accepted of the offer of some Gentlemen of the Inns of Court to be a Guard to Him which instead of Security was by Subtil Men made more prejudicial to the King by taking this occasion to raise the Rage and Jealousie of the City against Him For at Midnight there were cries made in the Streets of London That all the People should rise to their Defence for the King with His Papists were come to Fire the City and Cut their Throats in their Beds The People by often receiving such Alarms being terrified from Sleep the Impressions of those Night-fears lay long upon their Spirits in the Day and filled them almost with Madness of which the King Complained to the Common-Council of London But the Commons to obviate this upon Suspicion of some Design upon their Persons Petition the King for a Guard to be Commanded by the Earl of Essex of whose Fidelity to the King and State no question was ever made This Petition was denied by the King as not willing to have them too strong yet promised to take such Care for their Security from Violence as He would for the Preservation of Himself and Children This Answer being unsatisfactory the City joyns with them and in their Common-Council drew up a Petition complaining That the Trade of the City was decayed to the utter Ruine of the Protestant Religion and the Lives and Liberties of the Subjects by the Design of Papists Foreigners and Domesticks more particularly their fomenting the Irish Rebellion by changing the Constable of the Tower and making Preparation there by the Fortifying of White-Hall and the King 's late Invasion of the House of Commons Whereupon they Pray That by the Parliament's Advice the Protestants in Ireland may be Relieved The Tower to be put into the Hands of Persons of Trust A Guard appointed for the Safety of the Parliament And that the Five Members may not be Restrained nor Proceeded against but by the Priviledges of Parliament To their Petition the King returned Answer That He could not
willing to condescend to all the Proposals about the Militia of the Counties and the Persons mentioned but not of London and other Corporations whose Government in that particular he thought it neither Justice nor Policy to alter but would not consent to divest Himself of the Power of the County Militia for an indesinite Time but for some limited Space This Answer did not satisfie so that the Breach growing every day wider the King declined these Parts and the Parliament and removed to Theobald's taking with Him the Prince and Duke of York About the beginning of March He receives a Petition from the Parliament wherein they require the Militia more resolutely than before affirming That in case of denial the Eminent Dangers would constrain them to dispose of it by the Authority of Parliament desiring also That he would make his Abode near London and the Parliament and continue the Prince at some of his Houses near the City for the better carrying on of Affairs and preventing the Peoples Jealousies and Fears All which being refused They presently Order That the Kingdom be put into a posture of Defence in such a way as was agreed upon by Parliament and a Committee to prepare a publick Declaration from these Heads 1. The Just Causes of the Fears and Jealousies given to the Parliament at the same time clearing themselves from any Jealousies conceived against Himself 2. To Consider of all Matters arising from his Majesty's Message and what was fit to be done And now began our Troubles and all the Miseries of a Civil-War The Parliament every day entertaining new Jealousies and Suspicions of the King's Actions which howsoever in Complement they made shew of imputing only to his Evil Council yet obliquely had too great a Reflection on his Person They now proceed on a suddain to make great Preparations both by Sea and Land And the Earl of Northumberland Admiral of England is commanded to Rig the King's Ships and fit them for Sea And likewise all Masters and Owners of Ships were perswaded to do the like The Beacons were prepared Sea-Marks set up and extraordinary Postings up and down with Pacquets All sad Prognosticks of the Calamities ensuing August 22. 1642. The King comes to Nottingham and there Erects His Standard to which some Numbers resorted but far short of what was Expected And three Days after the King sends a Message to the Parliament to propose a Treaty The Messengers were the Earls of Southampton and Dorset Sir John Culpeper and Sir W. Udal None of which were suffered to Set in the House to deliver their Errand therefore it was sent in by the Usher of the Black-Rod to which the Parliament Answered That until His Majesty shall recal His Proclamations and Declarations of Treason against the Earl of Essex and Them and their Adherents And unless the King's Standard now Set up in pursuance thereof be taken down They cannot by the Fundamental Priviledges of Parliament give His Majesty another Answer The King Replies That He never intended to Declare the Parliament Traytors or Set up his Standard against them but if they Resolve to Treat either Party shall Revoke their Declarations against all persons as Traytors and the same Day to take down his Standard To this they Answer That the Difference could not any ways be concluded unless He would forsake his Evil Counsellors and return to his Parliament And accordingly September 6th They Order and Declare That the Armswhich they have or shall take up for the Parliament Religion Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom shall not be laid down until the King withdraw his Protection from such Persons as are or shall be Voted Delinquents and shall leave them to Justice The War being now begun the New-raised Souldiers committed many Outrages upon the Country-people which both King and Parliament upon Complaint endeavour to Rectifie The King Himself was now Generalissimo over his Own His Captain-General was first the Marquess of Hartford and afterwards the Earl of Lindsey and the Earl of Essex for the Parliament The King's Forces received the first Repulse at Hull by Sir John Hotham and Sir John Meldrum and the King takes up his Quarters at Shrewsbury Portsmouth was next Surrendred to the Parliament and presently after Sir John Byron takes Worcester for the King In September the two Princes Palatines Rupert and Maurice Arrived in England who were presently Entertained and put into Command by the King This uncivil Civil-War was carried on in General with all the Ruines and Desolations imaginable wherein all Bonds of Religion Alliance and Friendship were utterly destroyed Wherein Fathers and Children Kindred and Acquaintances became unnatural Enemies to each other In which miserable Condition this Nation continued for near Four Years viz. From August the 22d 1642. the Time the King Set up his Standard at Nottingham to May the 6th 1646. the time when the King quitting all Hopes put Himself into the Protection of the Scotch-Army at Newark During this process of Time several Messages past divers Treaties set on foot and other Overtures of Accommodation but all came to no Effect The War in England being now after so much Blood-shed and Ruine brought to some End the Parliament were at leisure to Dispute with the Scots concerning the Keeping of the King who fearing lest Fairfax should fall upon them and compel them to Deliver Him up Retreated further Northwards towards New-Castle The Parliament sent an Invitation to the Prince of Wales to come to London with promise of Honour and Safety but He did not think fit to venture The King sends from New-castle to the Army about a Treaty and the House of Commons Vote That the King ' s Person should be demanded of the Scots and that their whole Army return home upon Receipt of part of their Arrears the rest to be sent after them And a Committee is appointed to Treat with the Scotch Commissioners about drawing up Propositions to be sent to the King wherein much Time was spent in Wrangling whilst the English deny the Scots to have any Right in the Disposal of the King of England and the Scots as stifly alledged He was their King as much as of the English and they had as good Right to Dispose of the King in England as the English could Challenge in Scotland But at last they agreed on Sixteen General Propositions which were presented to the King at New-castle July the 27. 1646. But these Propositions were such that the King did not think fit to Comply withal The Scots General Assembly sent a Remonstrance to the King Desiring Him to settle Matters in England according to the Covenant c. But all this could not prevail and therefore the Scots who had hitherto so sharply Disputed about the Disposal of the King's Person are Content upon the Receipt of Two hundred thousand Pounds to depart Home and leave the King in the Power of the Parliament who Voted Him to Holmby-House and sent their Commissioners to receive Him from the Scots at Newcastle To whom February the 8th 1646 He was accordingly Delivered and the Scots returned home Feb. the 8th the King sets forward with the Commissioners for Holmby and after a Fortnight came to His Journeys-end being met by the way by General Fairfax and many of his Officers Some Petitions from Essex and other Places are Presented to the Parliament inveighing against the Proceedings of the Army which much vexed the Souldiers who sharply Apologize for themselves And now the Army to the great Terror of the Parliament March towards London and came as far as St. Alban's notwithstanding a Message from Both Houses not to come within Twenty Five Miles of the City which the General excused saying That the Army was come thither before they received the Parliament's Desire And here he obtains a Month's Pay The Parliament Vote That the General be required to deliver the Person of the King to the former Commissioners who were to bring him to Richmond that Propositions of Peace might be speedily Presented to His Majesty and that Collonel Rossiter and his Regiment might Guard His Person The Army being much behind-hand in Arrears Petition the Parliament who upon consideration order them some Money at the present and then drew up Propositions of Peace to be sent to the King at Hampton-Court the same in substance with those offered at New-Castle and had the like effect The business of Episcopacy being always the main Objection which the Parliament were resolved to Abolish and the King preferring That before all other Respects would rather lose All than consent thereunto The Scots Commissioners send a Letter Novemb. 6. 1647. to the Speaker of the House of Commons and require That the KING may be admitted to a Personal Treaty or at least That He should not be carried from Hampton-Court violently but that Commissioners of Both Parliaments may freely pass to and from Him to Treat for the Settlement of the Kingdom After which divers Messages past between the King and the Parliament and several Conferences and Treaties were set on Foot particularly that of Heuderson's but they proving fruitless the Parliament with most of the Officers of the Army that joyned with them brought the KING to Tryal by a Judicature of their own setting-up which proved His Ruine FINIS
THE Secret History OF K. JAMES I. AND K. CHARLES I. Compleating the Reigns OF THE Four last Monarchs By the Author of the Secret History of K. Charles II. and K. James II. Printed in the Year 1690. THE PREFACE THO' we ought not rashly to rake into the Ashes of Princes and expose either their Personal Miscarriages or their Failures in Management of the Government yet no doubt but the making them Publick may sometimes contribute not a little to the General Good This is evident from the Effects of our Secret History of the Two last Monarchs since by it the most wilfully Blind may be convinced how infinitely Happy we are under their present Majesty's Government beyond what we were in the late Reigns which were but a very inconsiderable matter if any thing below the French Tyranny and by setting the unparallel'd Vertues that are so Resplendent in our Gracious Soveraigns in opposition to those Ignominious Vices that reigned in the Other we may with all the reason in the World assure our selves of a lasting Peace and as much Happiness under Them Now as we had Troubles and Confusions under the Former For Their Religion Integrity and Moderation which must always be in conjunction with Princes that are truly Patres Patriae are as Notorious to the World so that Their greatest Enemies cannot deny them as were the Atheism and furious Bigottism of the Two former Reigns Vices much of the same pernicious Consequences to a Kingdom if the latter be not the more dangerous since the greatest Villanies that ever were perpetrated in the World have been Masqued with seeming Zeal for Religion But since there are not a few who tho' they seem to decry the Tyrannies of the Two late Kings yet approve of much the same Actions of the Two that Preceded Them One of whom some Men have Vainly if not Blasphemously compared to the King of Kings I thought it not amiss to Communicate a few Passages of Their Reigns that do not so commonly occur especially since they laid the Foundations of that Tyranny which the Others brought to so great a Perfection As to the former of Them viz. K. James I. it will easily appear from this following History what great steps He made towards Tyranny It is certain That the reason He gave for setting up Episcopacy in Scotland was That He might have so many Friends to rely upon in Parliament i. e. That by them as the Dead-Weight He might the better carry on His Designs there And herein His Politicks did not deceive Him for by their Means He and his Successors found it no hard matter to reduce that Kingdom to as great Slavery as any Europe hath groaned under of late Years How great a Proficient He was in the Art of Dissimulation or King-Craft will be no less apparent I shall only insert one Instance of it Here which I omitted in the History especially because I think it may not be ungrateful to the Reader viz. That after His return from Denmark to Scotland seeming mightily satisfied with the Care the Kirk-Party had taken to preserve the Kingdom in Peace during his Absence He was pleased to express himself thus in a general Assembly That He blest God that He was Born at sike a Time of the Gospel and to be King of sike a Kirk the purest Kirk in the World The Kirk of Geneva says He keep Yeul and Pasch What have they from the Word of God for that And for our Neighbour Kirk of England What is their Service but an ill said Mass in English And concluded with the Solemnest Promises to Maintain Preserve the Kirk when in the mean while He was taking all underhand Methods to Supplant it as He did a few Years after And as to His Successor tho' a Kalender'd Saint yet after all the lying Insinuations of Self-designing and ridden Persons of that Princes singular Religion that very Act of Instituting Plays and Sports on the Lord's-Day is no extraordinary Proof of it Nay it would be as easie to perswade a Person of any Religion to believe that the Alcharon is the Word of God as that a Prince of any Religion could be guilty of so Irreligious an Act as that was But I will not weary the Reader 's Patience with a large Preface since the very Subject of the following History will recommend it self sufficiently to the Perusal of all Lovers of ouâ— English Liberties THE Secret History c. QUEEN Elizabeth of Glorious and Happy Memory Dying the 24th of March 1602 about Three in the Morning to the great grief of all Her loving Subjects in general About Nine in the Morning of the same day was Proclaimed King James by the Name of JAMES the First And now many post into Scotland for to get Preferment by â—urchasing Friends with their Purses Gold and Silver being a precious Commodity in that Climate and would obtain any thing which did â—rocure Suits Honours and Offices â—o any that first came And now all Preparations was made to meet the KING in York that he might in that Northern Metropolis appear like a King of England and take that State on him there which was not known in Scotland There met Him all the Lords of the Council and there did they all make Court to the Scotch-Men that were most in Favour with the King and there did the Scotch Courtiers lay the first Foundation of their English Fortunes the chief of them was Sir George Hewme a kind of Favorite but not such as after appeared with young Faces and smooth Chins but one that for his Wisdom and Gravity had been in some Secret Counsels with his Master which created that dearness between them and the chief of those Secrets was that of Gowry's Conspiracy though that Nation gave little credit to the Story but would speak both slightly and despitefully of it and those the Wisest of that Nation knowing indeed there was no such Conspiracy yet that the World might be still abused they continued to Mock Almighty GOD by a Weekly Commemoration in the Tuesday's Sermon and an Anniversary-Feast as great as it was possible for the Kings Preservation ever on the Fifth of August And I wish the effects of those Sermons in the Father's time were not one cause of God's Anger towards the Son Sir Robert Cecil by the means of Sir George Hewme the Favorite contrary to most Peoples expectations not only gets into the Favour of King James but in such dearness and privacy with the King as if he had been his Faithful Servant for many Years his Friends Wit or Wealth did not raise him so much as some believ'd as the ill Offices done by him to this Nation in discovering the Nature of the People and shewing the King the way how to enhance his Prerogative so above the Laws that he might Enslave the Nation which though it took well then yet it hath been of sad and dangerous consequence in after-times for first he caused great
numbers of Parliament Precedents concerning the Liberties of the Subject to be burnt next raising Two Hundred Thousand Pounds for making Two Hundred Baronets telling the King He should find his English Subjects like Asses on whom he might lay any Burthen but this Statesman died soon after very Miserable coming from Bath and was Buried on the top of a Mole-Hill near Marleborougâ— The principal Managers of the English Affairs were Salisbury Suffolk Northampton Buckhurst Egerton Lord-Keeper Worcester and the Old Admiral For the Scots Sir George Hewme now Earl of Dunbar Secretary Elfeston and the Lord of Kinloss Salisbury had now shaken off all those that were great with him in Queen Elizabeth's days as Sir Walter Rawleigh Sir G. Carew the Lord Grey and the Lord Cobham Now begins Ambassadors to appear from divers Princes the chief was Roney Duke of Sullia from the French King the Constable of Castile from the Spanish King the Count Arremburgh from the Arch-Duke To bring these Ambassadors over were appointed Sir Robert Mansel being Admiral and Sir J. Turner his Vice-Admiral to bring over the French and Spanish Ambassadors in which happened some Dispute The Constable of Castile so plyed his Masters business in which he spared for no cost that he procured a Peace so advantageous for Spain and so disadvantageous for England that It and all Christendome have since both seen and felt the lamentable effects thereof There was not one Courtier of note that tasted not of Spain's Bounty either in Gold or Jewels and among them not any in so large a proportion as the Countess of Suffolk who shared in her Lords Interest that in truth Audley-end that Famouâ— Structure had its Foundation of Spanish-Gold GOD for some secret Intent besâ— known to himself laid the Foundation of this King's Reign with thâ— greatest Plague or Mortality ever before heard of in this Kingdom and some by that judged what his futurâ— Reign would be He was forced bâ— that Contagion to leave the Metropolis and go into a by-corner in Wilt-shire in which time of his Abode there â— kind of Treason broke forth but whaâ— it was as no Man then could tell so it is left with so dark a Comment that Posterity will never understand the Text or remember any such Treason This pretended Plot consisted of Protestants Puritans Papists and Atheists a strange medly you will say to meet in one and the same Treason and keep Counsel which surely they did because they knew not of any The Protestants were the Lord Cobham and George Brook his Brother the one very Learned and Wise the other a most silly Lord The Puritan the Lord Grey of Walton a very hopeful Gentleman The Papists Watson and Clark Priests and Parham a Gentleman The Atheist Sir W. Rawleigh then generally so believed though after brought by Affliction the best School-Mistress to be and so Died a most Religious Gentleman This Sham-Plot was chiefly designed by Salisbury in which he has a double benefit first in riding himself of such as he feared would have been Thorns in his sides secondly by endearing himself to the King by shewing his diligence and vigilancy for his Safety They were all Araigned of Treason at Winchester whither the King sent some secretly to observe all Passages upon whose true and faithful Relations of the Innocency of the Persons Arraigned and slight proof upon which they were Condemned he would not be drawn to Sign any Warrant for the Execution of Rawleigh Cobham and Grey For Rawleigh's defence it was so brave and just as had he not wilfully Cast himself out of very weariness as unwilling to detain the Company any longer no Jury could ever have Cast him Yet Sir W. Rawleigh was Executed many years after for the same Treason as much against all Justice as beyond all Reason and Precedent Yea after he had been a General by the Kings Commission and had by that Power of the Lives of many others utterly against the Civil Law which saith He that hath Power of the Lives of others ought to be Master of his Own But the Spaniard was so Powerful at that time at Court as that Faction could command the Life of any Man that might prove dangerous to their Designs His Death was by him managed with so High Generous and Religious a Resolution as if a Roman had acted a Christian or rather a Christian a Roman During his Imprisonment he was Delivered of that Minerva The History of the World Now did the great Mannagers of the State of which Salisbury was Chief after they had Packed the Cards begin to deal the Government of the Kingdom among themselves yet for all their setting their Cards and playing their Games to their own advantages there was one Knave in the Pack would couzen their designs and Trump in their way if he might not share with them in their winning and that was one Lake a Clerk of the Signet afterwards made Secretary and after that turned out in disgrace This Lake was a fellow of mean Birth and meaner Breeding being an under Servant to make Fires in Secretary Walsingham's Chamber and there got some experience which afterwards in this King's Time made him appear an able Man which in Q. Eliz. Time when there was none in Court but Men of Eminency made him an inconsiderable Fellow This Lake had linked himself with the Scotch Nation helping them per fas aut nefas to fill their Purses c. For his good Service of abusing his Country and Countrymen he was made Clerk of the Signet to wait on the King in his Hunting Journies and in these Journies got all the Bills Signed even for the greatest Lords all Packets being addressed to him so that Salisbury and Northampton and the greatest Lords made Court to him By this means did he raise himself from a mean to a great Fortune but much over-awed by his Wife which after proved his overthrow besides he would tell Tales and let the King know the passages at Court and great Men as who was Salisbury's Mistress and who governed all who governed Northampton and discovered the Bawdery which did infinitely please the King's Humour and in truth had so much Craft as he served his turn upon all but was Ingrossed by none but by the Bed-Chamber who stuck so close to him that they could not yet remove him And now do the English Faction seeing they could not sever the Scots from him endeavour to raise a Mutiny against the Scots that were his Supporters their Agents divulging every where The Scots would get all and would Beggar the Kingdom The Scots on the other side complain to the King they were so poor they under-went the by-word of Beggarly-Scots To which the King returned this Answer Content your selves I will shortly make the English as Beggarly as you and so ended that Controversie This is as true as he truly performed it for however he enriched many in particular as Salisbury Suffolk Northampton Worcester Lake