Siâ—… John Duncomb In the Afternoon of the same day the Earl of Shaftesbury was visited by Prince Rupert with divers other great Lords at Exeter House where they gave his Lordship Thanks for his Faithful and Honourable Discharge of that great Employment Thus this mighty Minister who had to the universal satisfaction of all good Men been raised to that degree of Interest in his Masters favour without a murmur laid all his Honours at his Masters Feet and was observed not to abate of the chearfulness of his Temper upon the loss of his honorary Employment I shall conclude this part with a touch of this Earl's Character which saith His choice Sagacity Strait solv'd the Knot that subtle Lawyers tied And through all Foggs discern'd th' oppressed side Banish'd delays so this noble Peer Became a Star of Honor in our Sphere A needful Atlas of our State c. The 16th of Feb. 1676. The Honourable Earl of Shaftesbury was sent a Prisoner to the Tower by Order of the House of Lords There were at the same time committed the E. of Salisbury and the L. Wharton The Form of the Warrant for their Commitment was as followeth Ordered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled That the Constable of His Majesties Tower of London His Deputy or Deputies shall receive the Bodies of James Earl of Salisbury Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury and Philip Lord Wharton Members of this House and keep them in safe Custody within the said Tower during His Majesties pleasure and the pleasure of this House for their High Contempts Committed against this House And this shall be sufficient Warrant on that behalf To the Constable of the Tower J. Browne Cler. Par. The 27th and 29th of Jan. 1677. The E. of Shaftesbury was brought to the King's-Bench-Bar upon the Return of an Alias Habeas Corpus directed to the Constable of the Tower where the Council for the Earl prayed that the Return might be filed and the Friday following appointed for Debating the sufficiency of the Return and my Lord was remanded until that day On Friday the Earl was brought into Court again and his Council argued the Insufficiency of the Return After Mr. Williams Mr. Wallop Mr. Smith had shewed divers weighty Reasons in behalf of the Earl that that Court might relieve him they were opposed by the Solicitor General and the Attorney General who brought divers Instances why that Court could not discharge a person Committed by Parliament whereupon the Earl of Shaftesbury is said to have spoke to this purpose My Lords I did not intend to have spoken one word in this business but something hath been objected and laid to my Charge by the King's Council Mr. Attorney and Mr. Solicitor that enforceth me to say something for your better satisfaction They have told you that my Council in their Arguments said That this Court was greater than the House of Peers which I dare to Appeal to your Lordships and the whole Court that it was never spoken by them I am sure it was not by any direction of mine What is done by my Council and by me is that this is the most proper Court to resort unto where the Liberty of the Subject is concerned The Lord's House is the Supream House of Judicature in the Kingdom but yet there is a Jurisdiction that the Lord's House does not meddle with The King's Council hath mentioned as a wonder that a Member of the Lord's House should come hither to diminish the Jurisdiction of the Lords I acknowledge them to be Superiour to this or any other Court to whom all Appeals and Writs of Errour are brought and yet there are Jurisdictions that they do not Challenge and which are not natural to them or proper for them They claim not to meddle in Original Causes and so I might mention in other things and I do not think it a kindness to any Power or Body of Men to give them some Power that is not natural or proper to their Constitutions I do not think it a kindness to the Lords to make them Absolute and above the Law for so I humbly conceive this must do if it be adjudged that they by a General Warrant or without any particular Cause Assigned do Commit me or any other man to a perpetual and indefinite Imprisonment And my Lords I am not so inconsiderable a person but what you do in my Case must be Law for every man in England Mr. Attorney is pleased to say I am a Member of the Lord's House and to lay weight on the word Member It is true I am one of them and no man hath a greater Reverence or Esteem for the Lords than my self but my Lords I hope my being a Peer or a Member of either House shall not lose my Priviledge of being an English man or make me to have less Title to Magna Charta or the other Laws of English Liberty My Opinion is not with one of my Council who argued very learnedly that the Passing an Act by the King 's Royal Assent can make a Session because the usual promise was not in it It was without any Instruction of mine to mention that point The King's Council tells your Lordships of the Laws and Customs of Parliament and if this were so I should submit but this Case of mine is primae Impressionis and is a new way such as neither Mr. Attorney nor Mr. Solicitor can shew any President of and I have no other Remedy or place to Apply to than the way I take Mr. Attorney confesseth that the King's pleasure may Release me without the Lords If so this Court is Coram Rege this Court is the proper place to determine the King's pleasure This Court will and ought to Judge of an Act of Parliament void if it be against Magna Charta much more may Judge an Order of the House that is put in Execution to deprive any Subject of his Liberty And if this Order or Commitment be a Judgment as the King's Council affirms then it is out of the Lords hands and properly before your Lordships as much as the Acts which were lately Passed which I presume you will not refuse to Judge of notwithstanding that the King's Atorney General saith this Parliament is still in being I take it something ill that Mr. Attorney tells me I might have Applied elsewhere My Lord I have not omitted what became my Duty toward the King for besides the Oath of Allegiance I took as a Peer or an English man there is something in my Breast that will never suffer me to depart from the Duty and Respect that I owe him but I am here before him he is alwaies supposed to be here present and he alloweth his Subjects the Law My Lord They speak much of the Custom of Parliament but I do affirm there is no Custom of Parliament that ever their Members were put out of their own Power and the Inconveniencies of it will be endless Mr.
my Lord Shaftesbury's Closet to which Mr. Gwin replied that there was nothing Mr. Secretary Jenkins witnessed that that was the Paper he had of Mr. Blithwayt Some things I am forced for brevity to omit My Lord Chief Justice said Now it appears this was the Paper taken in my Lord Shaftesbury's Closet And the Paper was Read which contained the words of that commonly called The Form of an Association When it had been Read Sir Fâ—…n Withins said This Paper was very plausibly penn'd in the 〈◊〉 and runs a great way so but in the last clause but one there they come to perfect Levying of War for they do positively say They will obey such Officers as either the Parliament or the major part of them or after the Parliament is Dissolved the major part of them that shall subscribe this Paper shall appoint The Foreman of the Jury enquired what Date that Paper was of and whether there were any hand to it to which Sir Francis answered that it was after the Bill for Exclusion of the Duke of York for it says that way failing they would do it by force as to the having a name to it Sir Francis said there was none at all The rest of the Evidence were John Booth John Macknamara Edward Turbervill Dennis Macknamara John Smith Edward Joye Bryan Haynes Bernard Dennis Booth deposeth That in January last he was introduced into my Lord Shaftesbury's acquaintance by Captain Henry Wilkinson in order to get a Commission and Plantation in Carolina That the first time he went to my Lord there was my L. Craven and Sir Peter Colliton who are of the Proprietors of that Collony that after this acquaintance he had been there between Christmas and March four or five times and that he found great difficulty in his Accession to his Lordship who was cautious of what company were admitted to him that the said Earl used to inveigh sharply against the Times and look upon himself as not so valued nor respected nor in those Places and Dignities as he expected seemed discontented Particularly that the Earl of Shaftesbury should say that the Parliament would never grant the King Money nor satisfie him in those things that he desired unless he first gave the People satisfaction in those things that they insisted on before and particularly the Bill of Excluding the Duke of York from the Crown Another was the Abolishing the Statute of the 35th of Elizabeth The third was giving his Royal Assent for the passing a New Bill whereby all the Dissenting Protestants should be freed from those Penalties and Ecclesiastical Punishments that they are subject to by the present Establish'd Law That he had Established fifty Gentlemen persons of Quality that he believed would have men along with them that they were to come to Oxford at such a time that if there were any Violence offered to any of the Members by the King's Guards or the Retinue of the Court that then these men with others that other Lords had appointed should repel his force by greater force and should purge the Guards of all the Papists and Tories that Captain Wilkinson was Intrusted with the Command of these men and that these men should be ready to Assist himself and those of his Confederacy to purge from the King those Evil Councillors that were about him That particularly there were named the Earl of Worcester Lord Clarendon Lord Hallifax Lord Feversham Lord Hide which persons were lookt upon to be dangerous and gave the King Evil Advice That those Lords should by Violence be taken from the King and the King brought to London where those things should be Establisht which they designed for their Safety in those two Respects for the preserving the Protestant Religion and likewise for the defending and keeping us safe from Arbitrary Power and Government And likewise that the said Booth had provided Arms and a good Stone-Horse for himself and Arms for his Man before the Parliament Sate at Oxford That the Thursday before the Parliament was Dissolved Captain Wilkinson told him he expected that very week to be called up to Oxford with those men that were Listed with him but Saturday bringing News of the Dissolution of the Parliament it had no further Effects This was the most material of what Booth said for being straitned in Room I am forced to render it as short as I can Turbervil declared That about the beginning of February waiting on my Lord Shaftesbury to have his advice how he might come by some Monies and to gain his Lordships Letter in his behalf to the President of the Council the Earl should say there was little good to be expected from the King as long as his Guards were about him that his Lordship should say the Rabble about Wapping and Aldersgate were of that side that the rich men of the City would vote for Elections but it could hardly be expected they should stand by them in case of a disturbance for they valued their Riches more than their Cause and that at Oxford he had heard the Earl say he wondred the People of England should stickle so about Religion if he were to chuse a Religion he would have one should comply with what was apt to carry on their Cause Smith said that one time being sent for by my Lord Shaftesbury by one Captain Manly his Lordship should tell him that Mr. Hetherington had told him he was afraid the Irish Witnesses would go over to the Court Party and retract what they had said formerly that he advised him to persuade them not to go near that Rogue Fitz-Girald that great Villain that is pampered up and maintain'd by the King and the Court party to stifle the Plot in Ireland and that the Earl had further said That if the King were not as well satisfied with the coming in of Popery as ever the Duke of York was do you think the Duke of York would be so much concerned for the bringing in of Popery as he is That a little before my Lord went to Oxford he should tell the said Smith there were great preparations made and a great many gathered together upon the Rode be tween London and Oxford and Smith asking his Lordship what it might mean my Lord should answer that it was only to terrifie the Parliament to comply with the Kings desire which he was sure the Parliament would never do That they were now more resolute than ever That they clearly saw the Kings aim was to bring in Popery That they had the Nation for them and might lawfully oppose him and he would meet with very strong opposition for that all that came out of the Country should be well Hors'd and armed and so they should all be That the City had resolved to bear the charge of their Members and send so many men to wait on them and that he would be hang'd before he would ever bring in Popery or any thing of that nature Bryan Hains deposed that among
Shaftesbury answered to this Effect My Lords I have presumed to present two Petitions to this Honourable House the first your Lordship mentions I do again here personally renew humbly desiring that I may be admitted to make that Submission and Acknowledgement your Lordships were pleased to Order And that after a Twelve-months close Imprisonment to a man of my Age and Infirmities your Lordships would pardon the folly or unadvisedness of any of my words or actions And as to my second Petition I most humbly thank your Lordships for acquainting me with the Resolution and Declaration in that point and though Liberty be in it self very desirable and as my Physician a very Learned man thought absolutely necessary to the preservation of my Life Yet I do profess to your Lordships upon my Honour that I would have perisht rather than have brought my Habeas Corpus had I then apprehended or been informed that it had been a breach of the Priviledge of this Honourable House It is my Duty it is my Interest to support your Priviledges I shall never oppose them My Lords I do fully acquiesce in the Resolution and Declaration of this honourable House I go not about to justifie my self but cast my self at your Lordships Feet acknowledg my Errour and humbly beg your pardon not only for having brought my Habeas Corpus but for all other my VVords and Actions that vvere in pursuance thereof and proceeding from the same Errour and Mistake One Blany was then called into the House who had delivered a paper to the Lord Treasurer Danby pretending to give a relation of some words spoken by the E. of Shaftesbury in the Court of Kings-Bench at the time when he moved for his Habeas Corpus but though this whole Transaction were no longer since than the last Trinity Term yet the said Mr. Blany could not affirm that what was written in the said paper was in part or whole really spoken by the Earl of Shaftesbury so that the Lord Treasurer being able to make nothing of Mr. Blany's paper which was a hard case the House of Lords proceeded to a Resolution in what form the Earl of Shaftesbury should make his submission and acknowledgment which being drawn up in words importing much the same with what the Earl had before declared which being read to him by the Lord Chancellor the Earl of Shaftesbury repeated the same at the Bar of the House and then his Lordship withdrew The House then ordered that the Lords with white staves should wait upon His Majesty to give His Majesty Account that the House had received satisfaction from the Earl of Shaftesbury in the matter of the Habeas Corpus and the other contempt for which he stood committed and are humble Suitors to his Majesty that he would be pleased to discharge him from his Imprisonment And that their Lordships do acquaint the House to morrow what they have done in this matter Die Martis 26 Feb. 1677. The Lord Treasurer reported to the House That the Lords with white slaves had waited on his Majesty according to the Order of this House To which His Majesty was pleased to give this answer That he will give Order for the Earl of Shaftesburys discharge Thus was this great heat whereby some of this worthy Peers Enemies thought then to blast his Loyalty and Integrity and endeavoured to foment the disgusts of the House against him at last extinguished and the Earl a little after saw this Parliament first prorogued and soon after dissolved Now was that Diabolical Plot of the Jesuits and Papists discovered by the great care and fidelity of Dr. Titus Oats which convinced both the King Lords and Commons and all the Nation in General of a damnable treasonable popish design to murther our Protestant King with the chiefest of the Nobility and Gentry and to reduce a Protestant Church to Romish Idolatry and the State to a Catholick slavery The seventh of March 1678. A Parliament met at Westminster and chose the Honourable Edward Seymour Esq their Speaker who had been Speaker of the last long Parliament This Parliament did like noble English Patriots endeavour to give check to the bloody popish Designs on foot and passed many excellent Votes for that purpose many Members acquitting themselves in their Speeches like Men of high sense of the Miserie 's the Nation was like to be involved in This House carried up the Impeachment to the House of Lords against William Earl of Powis William Viscount Stafford Henry Lord Arundel of Wandour William Lord Peters and John Lord Bellasis for High Treason and other high crimes and misdemeanours But this having been at large published to the World in divers other prints with divers Instances how this Noble Peer was personally struck at in that hellish Design I shall refer the Reader for more full satisfaction to the several Narratives and Discoveries of the popish Plot printed by Authority And shall now come to give you an Account of a Speech said to be delivered by this Honourable person in the House of Lords on the 25th of the Instant March Anno 1679. You are appointing of the consideration of the State of England to be taken up in a Committee of the whole House some day the next vveek I do not know how well what I have to say may be received for I never study either to make my Court vvell or to be popular I always speak what I am commanded by the dictates of the Spirit vvithin me There are some other considerations that concern England so nearly that vvithout them you vvill come far short of Safety and Quiet at home VVe have a little Sister and she hath no Breasts vvhat shall vve do for our Sister in the day vvhen she shall be spoken for If she be a VVall vve vvill build on her a Palace of Silver if she be a Door vve vvill inclose her vvith Boards of Cedar VVe have several little Sisters vvithout Breasts the French Protestant Churches the tvvo Kingdoms of Ireland and Scotland the foreign Protestants are a VVall the only VVall and Defence to England upon it you may build Pallaces of Silver glorious Pallaces The protection of the Protestants abroad is the greatest povver and security the Crovvn of England can attain to and vvhich can only help us to give check to the grovving Greatness of France Scotland and Ireland are two doors either to let in good or mischief upon us they are much weakned by the Artifice of our cunning Enemies and we ought to enclose them with Boards of Cedar Popery and Slavery like two Sisters goe hand in hand somtimes the one goes first somtimes the other in a doors but the other is always following close at hand In England Popery was to have brought in Slavery in Scotland Slavery went before and Popery was to follow I do not think your Lordships or the Parliament have Jurisdiction there It is a Noble and Ancient Kingdom they have an Illustrious Nobility a Gallant
Gentry a learned Clergy and an understanding worthy People but yet we cannot think of England as we ought without reflecting on the condition thereof They are under the same Prince and the influence of the same Favâ—…urites and Councils When they are hardly dealt with can we that are Richer expect better usage For 't is certain that in all absolute Governments the poorest Countries are always most favourably dealt with When the ancient Nobility there cannot enjoy their Royalties their Shrievaldoms and their Stewardies which they and their Ancestors have possessed for several hundreds of years but that now they are enjoin'd by the Lords of the Council to make deputations of their Authorities to such as are their known Enemies can we expect to enjoy our Magna Charta long under the same persons and Administration of Affairs If the Council-Table there can imprison any Nobleman or Gentleman for several years without bringing him to Trial or giving the beast Reason for what they do can we expect the same Men will preserve the Liberty of the Subject here My Lords I will confess that I am not very well vers'd in the particular Laws of Scotland but this I do know that all the Northern Countries have by their Laws an undoubted and inviolable Right to their Liberties and Properties yet Scotland hath out-done all the Eastern and Southern Countries in having their Lives Liberties and Estates subjected to the Arbitrary Will and Pleasure of those that govern They have lately plundered and harased the richest and wealthiest Countries of that Kingdom and brought down the barbarous Highlanders to devour them and all this almost without a colourable pretence to do it Nor can there be found a Reason of State for what they have done but that those wicked Ministers designed to procure a Rebellion at any rate which as they managed was only prevented by the miraculous hand of God or otherwise all the Papists in England would have been armed and the fairest opportunity given in the just time for the execution of that wicked and bloody design the Papists had and it is not possible for any man that duly considers it to think other but that those Ministers that acted that were as guilty of the Plot as any of the Lords that are now in question for it My Lords I am forced to speak this the plainer because till the pressure be fully and clearly taken off from Scotland 't is not possible for me or any thinking man to believe that good is meant us here We must still be upon our guard apprehending that the Principle is not changed at Court that those men that are still in place and Authority have that influence upon the mind of our excellent Prince that he is not nor cannot be that to us that his own Nature and Goodness would incline him to I know your Lordships can order nothing in this but there are those that hear me can put a perfect cure to it until that be done the Scottish Weed is like death in the pot Mors in Olla But there is somthing too now I consider that most immediately concerns us their Act of Twenty two thousand men to be ready to invade us upon all occasions This I hear that the Lords of the Council there have treated as they do all other Laws and expounded it into a standing Army of Six Thousand Men. I am sure we have Reason and Right to beseech the King that that Act may be better considered in the next Parliament there I shall say no more for Scotland at this time I am afraid your Lordships will think I have said too much having no concern there but if a French NobleMan should come to dwell in my House and Family I should think it concerned me to ask what he did in France for if he were there a Felon a Rogue a Plunderer I should desire him to live elsewhere and I hope your Lordships will do the same thing for the Nation if you find Cause My Lords Give me leave to speak two or three words concerning our other Sister Ireland Thither I hear is sent Douglas's Regiment to secure us against the French Besides I am credibly informed that the Papists have their Arms restor'd and the Protestants are not many of them yet recovered from being the suspected Party The Sea-Towns as well as the In-land are full of Papists That Kingdom cannot long continue in the English hands if some better care be not taken of it This is in your Power and there is nothing there but is under your Laws Therefore I beg that this Kingdom at least may be taken into consideration together with the State of England for I am sure there can be no safety here if these Doors are not shut up and made sure Some few daies after this Speech the King was pleased to make a great Alteration in his Council and to appoint the Right Honourable Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury President thereof About the 18th of April 1679. His Majesty was pleased to declare the Dissolution of the Late Privy Council and for Constituting a New one The Lords of the Council not to exceed Thirty besides the Princes of the Blood which His Majesty may at any time call to the Board being at Court and the President and Secretary of Scotland which are uncertain The Names of that most Honourable Council were His Highness Prince Rupert William Lord A. B. of Canterbury Heneage Lord Finch L. Chancellor Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury Lord President of the Council Arthur Earl of Anglesey Lord Privy Seal Christopher Duke of Albermarle James Duke of Monmouth Master of the Horse Henry Duke of Newcastle John Duke of Lauderdale Principal Secretary of Scotland James Duke of Ormond L. Steward of the Houshold Charles Lord Marquess of Winchester Henry Earl of Arlington L. Chamberlain of the Houshold James Earl of Salisbury John Earl of Bridgwater Robert Earl of Sunderland one of His Majesties Principal Secretaries of State Arthur Earl of Essex first L. Commissioner of the Treasury James Earl of Bath Groom of the Stable Thomas Lord Viscount Falconberg George Lord Viscount Hallifax John Lord Bishop of London Daniel Lord Roberts Henry Lord Hollis William Lord Russel William Lord Cavendish Henry Coventry Esq one of His Majesties Principal Secretaries of State Sir Francis North Knight L. Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. Sir Henry Capell Knight of the Bath first Commissioner of the Admiralty Sir John Ernby Knight Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Thomas Chicheley Knight Master of the Ordnance Sir William Temple Baronet Edward Seymour Esquire Henry Powle Esquire This great Change put men upon various Discourses and Apprehensions suitable to their respective Dispositions and Inclinations but the most sober both of the Parliament and others hoped now to see the Popish Plot wholly Eradicated especially considering the daily fresh Discoveries that were brought before the Council and Parliament the last of which was of no long continuance for about June 1679.
Grey Chandos Grey Howard Herbert Rockingham Townshend Holles Delamer And was personally presented to His Majesty by four Earls and five Barons viz. Huntingdon Clare Stamford Shaftesbury North Grey Chandos Grey Howard Herbert With whom the Earl of Bedford had personally joyn'd but that by a sudden indisposition he was prevented It was delivered by the Earl of Huntingdon in the name of the rest of the subscribed Lords And they were introduced to His Majesty by his Highness Prince Rupert His Majesty was graciously pleased to return this answer That he would consider of what they had offered and could heartily wish that all other People were as sollicitous for the Peace and Good of the Nation as he would ever be But on the Twelfth His Majesty of his Princely Wisdom thought fit to prorogue the Parliament from the 26 of January until the 11th of November next ensuing Near this time this Noble Peer recovered out of a violent and dangerous fit of sickness So endless were the designs and Conspiracies of the Papists against this Noble Peer that notwithstanding they met with many disappointments in their Attempts the Almighty Providence protecting his Innocence from their â—…ellish Machinations that now another Female Agent is discovered for Tampering with Mr. Dugdale to retract what he had sworn before King and Parliament towards the detection of the damnable popish Plot the sum of Two Thousand pounds was offered him by one Mrs. Price and divers great persons named by her to be security for the payment of it in case he would sign such a Recantation and affix the Odium of a Protestant or Presbyterian Plot on some of the Protestant Peers and others of known Loyalty and Integrity to their Prince and Country particularly on the Right Honourable the Earl of Shaftesbury Of which â—…rous design Mr. Dugdale being at that time touched with some remorse at such a horrid Villany gave his Lordship an account which occasioned the miscarrying of that foul and traitorous Enterprise Nor were they wanting in their famous Method and Artifice in calumniating and throwing dirt on the Reputation of this Noble Peer which is a faculty they are very famous for and on the account of which they may particularly value themselves â—… For now a Pacquet of base Libels and Treasonable Reflections were by the Penny-Post transmitted to a Printer and Copies of the same dispersed about the parts of Westminster full of venemous and malicious slanders and Imputations tending to the taking away the life of this Protestant Earl and divers other Peers of Right Honourable Account But the Printer detesting so black a design published an Invitation to any person that would detect the Author or publisher of that infamous Libel And now we are got into such a Bog of Plots Sham-plots Subornations and Perjuries as the History of no Age can parallel 'T was the mode for discarded Varlets Irish Skip-kennels and indigent extravagants to be treated and treating one another with no less than the Assurances of vast and mighty Fortunes and Employments in places of Trust and Honour on condition they would lustily swear the Plot upon the Presbyterians but none of these cursed projects were ever proposed but the Earl of Shaftesbury was principally though with many other Noble Heroes to be charged as the chiefest Agent in it To this purpose David Fitz-Girald one of their notorious Evidences endeavours both by Bribes and Threats to draw divers others of his Countrey-men and Complices to join with him in the Catholick Design They had been disappointed at the Ponyard and Pistol nor could have opportunity to dispatch him that way the remembrance of Sir Edmund-Bury Godfreys Cravat and the Assassination of Justice Arnold were caution sufficient to any discerning Protestant and now that method had been so shamefully and notoriously detected and cast such a just Odium upon their party other means must be attempted nothing so suitable to their Genius as an Oath and it is no marvel if those who can't ordinarily discourse without discharging loud 〈◊〉 of Blasphemies and Execrations the embellishment of whose commâ—…ik is the Rhetorick of their 〈◊〉 and Damâ—…e's If such I say should at some 〈◊〉 or other make their loose Breath serve them to better purpose and swear themselves into Estates and Offices Fitz-Girald had store of Guinnys he châ—…nks them lustily and shews them to Mr. Hetherington besides divers Five-pound-pieces of Gold telling him this should be done to the man that was loved with divers other Invitations to come over and transfer the popish Plot in Ireland on the Protestants This was deposed by Mr. Hetherington before the Lord Mayor of London In January before the meeting of the Parliament at Oxford we find the Earl of Shaftesburys hand amongst other Noble Peers affixed to a Petition and Advice to His Majesty requesting His Majesty that the Parliament might â—…it at Wâ—…minster And because the 〈◊〉 Petition and Advice 〈◊〉 all through it such unqueâ—…able marks of a most tender Duty and â—…ction to His Majesties person It may not be improper here to insert it to obviate the evil surmises of some who would stain the most loyal performances with imputations of a contrary nature At the delivery of the Petition and Advice the Right Honourable the Earl of Essex is said to have made the following Speech May it please Your Majesty THe Lords here present together with divers other Peers of the Realm taking notice that by your late Proclamation your Majesty hath declared an Intention of calling a Parliament at Oxford and observing from Histories and Records how unfortunate many such Assemblies have been when called at a place remote from the capital City as particularly the Congress in Henry the Seconds time at Clarendon Three several Parliaments at Oxford in Henry the Thirds time and at Coventry in Henry the Sixths time with divers others which have proved very fatal to those Kings and have been followed with great mischief to the whole Kingdom And considering the present posture of Affairs the many Jealousies and Discontents which are among the People we have great cause to apprehend that the consequences of sitting of a Parliament now at Oxford may be as fatal to your Majesty and the Nation as those others mentioned have been to the then Reigning Kings and therefore we do conceive that we cannot answer it to God to your Majesty or to the People if we being Peers of the Realm should not on so important an occasion humbly offer our Advice to your Majesty that if possible your Majesty may be prevailed with to alter this as we apprehend unseasonable Resolution The Grounds and Reasons of our Opinion are contained in this our Petition which we humbly present to your Majesty To the Kings most excellent Majesty The humble Petition and Advice of the Lords undernamed Peers of the Realm Humbly sheweth THat whereas your Majesty hath been pleased by divers Speeches and Messages to your Houses of Parliament rightly to represent
to them the dangers that threaten your Majesties Person and the whole Kingdom from the mischievous and wicked Plots of the Papists and the sudden growth of a foreign Power unto which no stop or remedy could be provided unless it were by Parliament and an Union of your Majesties Protestant Subjects in one mind and one Interest And the Lord Chancellour in pursuance of your Majesties commands having more at large demonstrated the said dangers to be as great as we in the midst of our fears could imagine them and so pressing that our Liberties Religion Lives and the whole Kingdom would certainly be lost if a speedy provision was not made against them And your Majesty on the 21st of April 1679. having called unto your Council many Honourable and Worthy Persons and declared to them and to the whole Kingdom That being sensible of the evil effects of a single Ministry or private Advice or foreign Committee for the general Direction of your Affairs your Majesty would for the future refer all things unto that Council and by the constant Advice of them together with the frequent use of your great Council the Parliament your Majesty was hereafter resolved to govern the Kingdom We began to hope we should see an end of our Miseries But to our unspeakable grief and sorrow we soon found our expectations frustrated the Parliament then subsisting was prorogued and dissolved before it could perfect what was intended for our relief and security And tho another was thereupon called yet by many prorogations it was put off till the 21st of Octob. past and notwithstanding your Majesty was then again pleased to acknowledge that neither your Person nor your Kingdom could be safe till the matter of the Plot was gone through It was unexpectedly prorogued on the 10th of this Month before any sufficient Order could be taken therein All their just and pious Endeavours to save the Nation were overthrown the good Bills they had been industriously preparing to Unite your Majesties Protestant Subjects brought to nought The discovery of the Irish Plots stifled The Witnesses that came in frequently more fully to declare that both of England and Ireland discouraged Those foreign Kingdoms and States who by a happy conjunction with us might give a check to the French Powers disheartned even to such a despair of their own security against the growing greatness of that Monarch as we fear may enduce them to take new Resolutions and perhaps such as may be fatal to Us the Strength and Courage of our Enemies both at home and abroad encreased and our selves left in the â—…tmost danger of seeing our Country brought into utter desolation In these extremities we had nothing under God to comfort us but the hopes that your Majesty being touched with the groans of your perishing People would have suffered your Parliament to meet at the day unto which it was prorogued and that no further interruption should have been given to their proceedings in order to their saving of the Nation But that failed us too so then we heard that your Majesty had been prevailed with to dissolve it and to call another to meet at Oxford where neither Lords nor Commons can be in safety but will be daily exposed to the Swords of the Papists and their Adherents of whom too many are crept into your Majesties Guards The Liberty of speaking according to their Consciences will be thereby destroyed and the validity of all their Acts and Proceedings consisting in it left disputable The straitness of the place no way admits of such a concourse of persons as now follows every Parliament The Witnesses which are necessary to give Evidence against the popish Lords such Judges or others whom the Commons have impeached or had resolved to impeach can neither bear the charge of going thither nor trust themselves under the protection of a Parliament that is itself evidently under the power of Guards and Souldiers The Premises considered We your Majesties Petitioners out of a just abhorrence of such a dangerous and pernicious Council which the Authors have not dared to avow and the direful apprehensions of the calamities and miseries that may ensue thereupon do make it our most humble Prayer and Advice that the Parliament may not sit at a place where it will not be able to act with that freedom which is necessary and especially to give unto their Acts and Proceedings that Authority which they ought to have amongst the people and have ever had unless impaired by some Awe upon them of which there vvants not precedents and that your Majesty would be Graciously pleased to order it to sit at Westminster it being the usual place and where they may consult vvith Safety and Freedom And your Petitioners c. Monmouth Kent Huntingdon Bedford Salisbury Clare Stamford Essex Shaftesbury Mordant Ewers Paget Grey Herbert Howard Delamer In October during the Session of the last Parliament it is very remarkable that Francisco de Faria Interpreter to the Portugal Ambassadour amongst other high matters relating to the popish Plot gave it in his Information at the Bar of the House He declared that the said Ambassador had tempted him to kill the Earl of Shaftesbury by throwing a Hand-Granado into his Coach as he was passing the Rode into the Country And about the 20th of Novemb. one Zeal being called to the Bar of the House delivered his Information at the Bar the purport whereof was this That being a Prisoner in the Marshalsea Mrs. Cellier came divers times to him and treated with him not only to be Instrumental himself but to procure others to Assist him to fire His Majesties Ships as they lay in the Harbour as also to swear against the E of Shaftesbury such Artâ—…es of High Treason as she should get ready prepared for him or to that purpose To sum up the many various Methods and Waies that were devised and put in execution to cut off the Life of this Noble Peer would be Task enough to fill many Volumes The Jesuites next to the Attempting His Majesties Life set all their Inventions and Engines on work to make away the Earl of Shaftesbury he was the Beam in their Eye the Clog that hindered the motion of their Curst Designs What have they not attempted that might render him distastful to the King throwing the foulness of their own Treasons upon him as appears by the Deposition of Brian Haines before the Council in Octob. 1681. That David Fitz Girald told the said Brian Haines that he the said Fitz Girald possessed His Majesty and had given it under his hand and Seal that the late Plot was a Presbyterian Plot and Invented by the Right Honourable Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury on purpose to Extirpate the Family of the Stuarts and dethrone his present Majesty and turn England into a Common-wealth or else set the Crown upon the Earls own Head with more to this purpose of which we shall have occasion to make farther mention when we come
THE Compleat Statesman Demonstrated in the Life Actions and Politickâ—… Of that great Minister of State Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury Containing An Historical Account of his Descent his Administration of Affairs in the time of Oliver Cromwell his unwearied Endeavours to restore His Most Sacred Majesty his Zeal in prosecuting the Horrid Popish Plot several of his Learned Speeches during his being Ld. Chancellor his Two Commitments to the Tower the most material passages at his Tryal With many more considerable Instances unto his Lordships going for Holland London Printed for Benjamin Alsop at the Angel and Bible and Thomas Malthus at the Suâ—… in the Poultry 1683. A View of the most Remarkable Transactions of that great Minister of State Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury Baron Ashley of Wimbourn S. Giles's and Lord Cooper of Pawlett Descended from the Antient and Honourable Family of the Coopers of Wimbourn St. Giles's in the County of Dorset IT was an excellent Caution of the Moralist de vivis nil nisi verum de mortuis nil nisi bonum which if the Relators of our Age adhered to there could not be so many base reflections on the Living nor such inhumane Reproaches of the Memories of the Dead as we daily see imposed upon the too credulous World so that we often see the gallant actions of the most Heroick and generous smutted bespattered with false palpably scandalous Imputations and on the other side persons of little Figure small Demerit guilded and vernished with all the applause and encomium due to the Brave and Noble It is therefore the design of this small Tractate not to write after either of these two Copies but to manage this discourse with that deference to truth and the knowledg of the present Age that calumny it self may not find where to fasten upon any part of the ensuing Relation Nor would I have the Reader imagine that any design of being seen in Pâ—…int or of reflecting on the present Administration of publick Affairs hath occasion'd the writing hereof but having heard that several Pens were employed in a work of this nature and being sensible likewise of the present detracting Genius before hinted I thought I might in some measure gratifie the inquisitive World by a sincere and candid Relation of the naked truth of things Some men may object that it cannot be thought proper to expose the Reputation of any person in an Historical way until he hath acted out his part be fairly gone off the Stage no more than it would be for a Naturalist to dissect a living person to discover the soundness of his vitals But as it 's reported of Queen Mâ—…ry that on her Death-bed she said Had there been a Window to her Breast they might have seen Callis in her heart So doubtless could there be a view taken of the in-side of this Noble Peer we might see his heart filled with Loyalty to his Prince Love to his Country Zeal for the Protestant Religion the Settlement of which only can secure us from the Attempts of His Majesties and His Peoples Enemies Yeâ—… if it be a truth that the Actions of men are Mirrours in which their Souls are discerned we may by taking a view of some of the most remarkable Passages of his Life in some measure calculate the Dimensions and Complexion of his Soul The wisest of Kings tells us That in the 〈◊〉 of Councellorâ—… there is strength and how much it is the Interest of Princes to advance men of the highest Qualifications into such Trust the Experience of all Ages testifieth The Affairs of the Publick receive their Exaltation or their Deâ—…ment from their Advices and according to the Qualifications and Inclinations of those great Ministers may be calculated the Fate of Kingdoms This hath obliged Monarchs to take to their Councils men of the largest Prospect the greatest Eloquence and steddiest Principle to the Interest of the Government persons knowing in the Laws and Constitutions of the Kingdom whereof they are Members that Espouse the Interest of their Country with an Inviolable Resolution of adhering to it with the hazard of their dearest Lives and Liberties such as prefer the Concern of the Publick above their own private Satisfactions and Enjoyments that dare deny themselves for the good of the Prince And of this sort without Encroachment on the just Acquirements of any other Minister we may affirm this Noble Peer to be With what Admirable Polity did he influence and manage the Councils he was concerned in during the Inter-Regnum towards His Majesties Interest With what exquisite Subtilty did he turn all the Chanels of their Councils to swell this Stream And how unweariedly did he â—…ugg at the Helm of State till he had brought his great Master safe into the desired Port A sense of these his great Abilities and Firmness to the publick good still kept him up in the Esteem of the Country who would alwaies chuse him one of their Representatives in the great Emergencies of State They knew him to be one of those that could not believe Prerogative to be incompatible with Property but as he believed that Motto Rex Legis Tutamen so he would not have that other Grex Regis Tutamen to be rejected In the year 1656 when a Parliament was chosen without the consent of the People and to serve a a private Interest we find him amongst those Worthies that Remonstrated against that Arbitrary proceeding for none were admitted into the House but such as received a Certificate in the following Form Comt. Bucks These are to certifie that is returned by Indenture to serve in this present Parliament for the said County and approved by His Highness Council Sept. 17. 1656. Nath. Taylor Clerk of the Commonwealth in Chancery Hereupon Complaint being made to the House that some persons returned for Members were not admitted into the House upon the question it was Resolved That those persons should make their Application to the Council for Approbation Hereupon several of the Members that were chosen to serve in Parliament and not Returned published a Remonstrance wherein they claimed the priviledge of the Antient Fundamental Laws and their Birth-Right as Freemen of England But the Remonstrance being much too large to be here inserted I shall only present you with one or two Paragraphs as a Specimen of those brave Hero's Resolution against a Protectorian Invasion And the greatness of their Courage and brave English Gallantry will be the more conspicuous if we consider this was done when the then Protector was in his Zenith when almost all Europe trembled before him and he gave Law to the Neighbour-Princes when he had in his hand that Thunder that had shook the Nation off her very Foundations And the House too filled with those who either were or seemed to be his Creatures Yet in a general Defiance of this so potent Conquerour did those Noble Patriots amongst other things Remonstrate When our Worthy Ancestors have been met
in Parliaments and have found Oppression and Tyranny supported by such strong hands that they could not prevail to secure their Countries Lives and Liberties by wholsom Laws they have often made their Protestations against the Injustice and Oppression and forewarned the people of their danger In like manner we who have been duly chosen by the people to be Members of the Parliament that should now have met and have an undoubted Right to Meet Sir and Vote in Parliament although we are Oppressed by Force of Arms and shut out of the usual place of Parliament Sitting yet having Hearts sensible of that highest Trust reposed in us and being filled with Cares for the Church and Common-wealth which with grief of heart we behold bleeding we do hold our selves bound in duty to God and our Country to declare unto the People of England their and our woful condition and the most evident danger of the utter Subversion of Religion Liberty Right and Property We believe the Rumour is now gone through the Nation that Armed men employed by the L. P. have prevented the free Meeting and Sitting of the intended Parliament and have forcibly shut out of doors such Members as he his Council supposed would not be frighted or flattered to betray their Country and give up their Religion Lives and Estates to be at his Will to serve his Lawless Ambition But we fear that the Slavery Rapines Oppressions Cruelties Murthers and Confusions that are comprehended in this horrid Fact are not so sensibly discerned or so much laid to heart as the case requires and we doubt not but as the common practice of the Man hath been the Name of God and Religion and formal Fasts and Prayers will be made use of to colour over the Blackness of the Fact We do therefore in faithfulness to God and our Country hereby Remonstrate First That whereas by the Fundamental Laws of this Nation the People ought not to be bound by any Laws but such as are freely consented uâ—…to by their chosen Deputies in Parliament and it is a most wicked Usurpation even against the very Laws of Nature for any man to impose his Will or Discretion upon another as a Rule unless there be some Pact or Agreement between the Parties for that intent And whereas by the Mercy of God only in preserving this Fundamental Law and Liberty the good People of England have beyond memory of any Record preserved their Estates Families and Lives which had otherwise been destroyed at the will of every wicked Tyrant and by keeping this only as their undoubted Right they have been kept from being brutish Slaves to the lusts of their Kings who would otherwise have despoiled them of their Persons Lives and Estates by their Proclamations and the Orders of themselves and their Council Now the L. P. hath by force of Arms invaded this Fundamental Right and Liberty and violently prevented the meeting of the peoples chosen Deputies in Parliament and he and his Council boldly declare That none of the Peoples Deputies shall meet in Parliament unless they agree to the measure of their Fantasies Humours and Lusts. They now render the people such Fools or Beasts as know not who are fit to be trusted by them with their Lives Estates and Families But he and his Council that daily devour their Estates and Liberties will judge who are fit to counsel and advise about Laws to preserve their Estates and Liberties Thus doth he now openly assume a power to pack an Assembly of his Confidents Parasites and Confederates and to call them a Parliament that he may from thence pretend that the People have consented to become his Slaves and to have their Persons and Estates at his Discretion And if the people shall tamely submit to such a Power who can doubt but he may Pack such a Number as will obey all his Commands and consent to his taking what part of our Estates he pleaseth and to impose what Yoaks he thinks fit to make us draw in They know it to be the undoubted Right of the People to trust whom they think fit and as much the Right of every man duly chosen and trusted to meet and Vote in Parliament without asking their Leave or begging their Tickets And although there have been frequent Secret Designs for many years to subvert Religion Liberty and Property in this Nation and to that end the Designs of Tyranny have attempted to destroy sometimes the Being sometimes the Power Priviledges and Freedom of Parliaments yet the Mercy of God hath almost miraculously preserved the Being Priviledges and Authority of Parliaments and therein Religion Liberty and Property until the time of the Lord Protector But now he hath assumed an Absolute Arbitrary Soveraignty as if he came down from the Throne of God to create in himself and his Confederates such Powers and Authorities as must not be under the cognizance of the peoples Parliaments His Proclamations he declares shall be binding Laws to Parliaments themselves he takes upon him to be above the whole Body of the people of England and to judge and censure the whole Body and every Member of it by no other Rule or Law than his pleasure as if he were their Absolute Lord and had Bought all the people of England for his Slaves Doubtless he would pretend only to have conquered England at his own Expence and were there as much Truth as there is Falshood in that pretence yet he could not but know that the Right of the peoples Deputies to their Antient Powers and Priviledges would remain good against him as against their publick capital Enemy Whom every man ought to destroy until by some agreement with the the Body of the people in Parliament some sort of governing Power in him were submitted unto that hereby he might cease to be a publick Enemy and Destroyer and become a King or Governour according to the conditions accepted by the people and if he would so pretend he could not be so discharged from his publick Enmity by any Conditions or Agreement made with a part of the Peoples chosen Deputies whilst he shut out the other part for no part of the Representatives Body are trusted to consent to any thing in the Nations behalf if the whole have not their free Liberty of Debating and Voting in the Matters propounded If he would pretend no higher than to be our Conqueror who for Peace and his own safety's sake was content to cease from being a publick Enemy and to be admitted a Governor he would not compass those ends by forcibly excluding as now he does whom he pleases of the Representative Body of the People who were to submit to him on the Peoples behalf therefore he either takes upon him to be such a Conqueror as scorns the Peoples acceptance of him by their Representative as their Governour and fears not to remain a publick Enemy or else he takes himself to be such an unheard of Soveraign that against him the
people have no claim of Property or Right in themselves or any thing else for he hath now declared that the peoples choice cannot give any man a Right to sit in Parliament but the Right must be derived from his gracious Will and Pleasure with that of his Councellors and his Clerks Ticket only must be their evidence for it Thus hath he exalted himself to a Throne like unto God's as if he were of himself and his power from himself and we were all made for him to be commanded and disposed of by him to work for him and serve his Pleasure and Ambition A little after there is an Instance of Chief-Justice Tresilian who was executed at Tyburn in the time of Richard the Second for advising the King that he might at any time dissolve the Parliament and command the Members to depart under the penalty of Treason Divers other Protestations were contained in that Instrument against the Arbitrariness and Tyranny of that proceeding and in conclusion they declare they will 〈◊〉 â—…t their complaints before the Lord against their powerful Oppressors hoping he will redeem his people out of the hands of wicked and deceitful Men. This protestation was signed by One hundred and seventeen persons whereof Sir Anthony Ashly Cooper the present Earl of Shaftesbury was one and many others of great Loyalty and Integrity some whereof are since dead and others still alive in great Honour and Office By this may be easily discerned the Opinion he had of the Illegal and Arbitrary proceedings of O. C. and how much of the sufferings of the Loyal Party would have been prevented had that point of a free Parliament been then gained His Majesties Restauration must have been the natural consequence of it The constant correspondence he always kept with the Royal Party and that almost to the hazard of his Life and Family are sufficient Testimonies of his sincerity to his Masters Interest and Service His House was a Sanctuary for distressed Royalists and his correspondence with the Kings Friends though closely managed as the necessities of those times required are not unknown to those that were the principal managers of His Majesties Affairs at that time This made that great Politician O. C. so apprehensive of this great Assertor of his Countries Rights and Opposer of Arbitrary Government and Enthusiasm that though his vast Abilities were known at least to equal the ablest Pilot of the State yet we cannot find him amongst the Creatures of his Cabinet or Council nor amongst the Eleven Major Generals to whom the Care of the Nation was committed No their Principles their Aims and Designs were incompatible one was for Subverting the other for Maintaining the Antient standing Fundamentals of the Nation which once dissolved it were impossible but an universal Deluge of Confusion Blood and Rapine must ensue This made our brave Patriot with divers of the Heroick English Race to the utmost oppose the growth of a Protectorian Power So that we find Sir Anthony Ashly Cooper accused before the Parliament in the year 1659. for keeping Intelligence with the King and for having provided a Force of Men in Dorsetshire to joyn with Sir George Booth in attempting to restore and bring His Majesty that now is to His Rightful Throne Many persons of great note were imprisoned on the account of this Plot and amongst the rest Sir Anthony Ashly Cooper who though at that time one of the Commissioners of the Army and a Member of the House of Commons yet was complained of to the Parliament for a great Manager of the Design and although no man knew better how to obviate the Reasons of the House and plead his own Cause yet was with great difficulty cleared and discharged of that Imputation by the House of Commons The Eyes of the great States-men were so much upon him that he was one of those Loyal Persons mentioned by Baker in his Chronicle whereof the Council of State was composed in which List we find General Monk to be the foremost and that Council the Chronologer calls men of Integrity and well affected to Kingly Government And he that will but consider how soon His Majesties Restauration ensued upon the Election of this Council will have good reason to be of the same Opinion And in the 673 page we find him to be one of the Nine of the Old Council of State who sent that encouraging Letter to the said General to promote his undertaking for the Advantage of the Three Nations Again we find him in the List of that Council of State consisting of Thirty Nine upon whom an Oath was endeavoured to be Imposed for the Abjuration of the Royal Line but by the Influence of Sir Anthony Ashly Cooper and General Monk upon Coll. Morly that Oath was opposed in Council as being a snare and against their Consciences This was strongly pleaded by the Soberer part of the Council whereof this great Patriot was one and so an end was put both to that Oath and to the Council Nor is it in the least unknown to persons then in being how much his Advice influenced the Councils of those times He was the person that was particularly singled out of the whole Council by Commissary Clargis in Novemb. 1659. and had communicated to him a dangerous Design tending to Involve the Nation in further trouble which this Honourable person imparted to the Council of State This-was that great Council that complied with General Monk in that great Revolution of Restoring His Majesty And if that great Action were the occasion of a candid construction put on all the former Actings of the General why they should not have the same Candour for this Noble person I think none can determine His Employment at this time was in places of the highest Trust and Importance an undeniable Testimony of the great Opinion the then great Mininers had of his Loyalty as well as known Ability for the Management of the then Intrieate and close Designs A further prospect will be taken of his Concurrence with Gen. Monk in that Important Juncture if we remember that his Regiment was one of the first that declared for the Parliament and General Monk in March 165â—… So zealous was he in putting all his strength to the turning the great Wheel of State At the time of His Majesties Restauration as a most signal Testimony of His Majesties good Sentiments of his former Actions he was Advanced to be one of the first Rank in His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council and was placed above His Majesties Royal Brother the Duke of Gloucester and even Gen. Monk himself whom His Majesty used to call his Political Father And about three daies before His Majesties Coronation he was in the Banquetting-house created Baron Ashly of Wimbourn St. Giles's and another addition of Honour was conferred on him viz. Lord Cooper of Paulett And at last in the year 1672. he was made Earl of Shaftesbury at the same time when Duke Lauderdale
the Earl of Arlington and the Lord Clifford were promoted To his happy Councils do both King and Kingdom owe for the happy Conduct of things for divers years so that now he seemed to be incorporate into the heart of his Prince the Events of his Advices were commonly agreeable to what he at first proposed so that it may be said of him as was spoken of Polibius that as Scipio so the King seldom miscarried in any thing that was carried on by his Advice so that at length he seemed to be the Royal Oracle In fine such was the Opinion which his wise Administration had gained that as he sate in one of the highest places in his Masters favour so he was preferred to the highest Trust of Honour in the Kingdom he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer and afterwards Lord High Chancellor of England about the beginning of the Year 1672. Now was the Kings Conscience as it were entrusted to his care and management this was the highest Orb a Subject was capable to move in but with what Sagacity Honour and Integrity he acquitted himself in that great Employment the Transactions of the Court of Chancery at that time can best witness Justice ran in an equal channel the cause of the Rich did not swallow up the Rights of the Poor he that was oppressed found Relief and the Oppressor a Rebuke suitable to his crime the usual delays of that Court were much abated and all the Transactions thereof were managed with the greatest Judgment and Equity As an Instance of his constant adhering to the Interest of his Master and the commune Bonum or Weal of the publick you may take a copy of his Thoughts from that excellent Speech made by him in favour of the Subject in the Exchequer Jan. 24. 1673. at Baron Thurland's taking the Oath a copy whereof follows Mr. Serj. Thurland The King of his Grace and Favour hath made choice of you to be one of the Barons of the Exchequer he designed to place you in a Court of more profit though not of more Dignity but your own Modesty and Virtue hath chosen this Court where you thought you could serve the K. best And I could not omit to mention it here to your Honour it being the greatest Instance of a good man that he had rather be found serviceable than rich His Majesty hath had large proof of your former services besides he takes you upon the credit of that Recommendation that hath justly the best place with him I mean his Royal Brothers Some few things it is fit I should here mention to you and leave with you as Admonitions or rather Remembrances In the first place you are to maintain the Kings Prerogative and let not the Kings Prerogative and the Law be two things with you For the Kings Prerogative is Law and the principal part of it and therefore in maintaining that you maintain the Law The Government of England is so excellently interwoven that every part of the Prerogative hath a broad mixture of the Interest of the Subject the ease and safety of the people being inseparable from the greatness and security of the Crown In the next place let me advise you that you acquaint your self with the Revenue as also with the ancient Records Precedents and Practices of this Court for want of which knowledge I have seen this Court a most excellent Common Pleas when at the same time I could not say so much for it as an Exchequer In the third place let me recommend to you so to manage the Kings Justice and Revenue as the King may have most profit and the Subject least vexation Raking for old Debts the number of Informations Projects upon Concealments I could not find in the 11 years Experience I have had in this Court ever to advantage the Crown but such proceedings have for the most part delivered up the Kings good Subjects into the hands of the worst of Men. There is another thing I have observed in this Court which I shall mind you of which is when the Court hearkens too much to the Clerks and Officers of it and are too apt to send out process when the Money may be raised by other ways more easie to the people I do not say that the Kings Duty should be lost or that the strictest course should not be taken rather than that be but when you consider how much the Officers of this Court and the Undersheriffs get by process upon small summs more than the Kings Duty comes to and upon what sort of people this falls to wit the Farmer Husbandman and Clothier in the Country that is generally the Collector Constable and Tythingman and so disturbs the industrious part of the Nation you will think it fit to make that the last way when no other will serve Give me leave also to mind you of one thing more which is in your Oath That the Kings needs ye shall speed before all other that is the business of the Revennue of the Crown you are to dispatch before all other and not turn your Court into a Court of Common Pleas and let that justle out what you were constituted for In the last place let me conclude with what concerns all my Lords the Judges as well as you let me recommend to you the Port and way of Living suitable to the Dignity of your place and what the King allows you There is not any thing that gains more Reputation and Respect to the Government than that doth and let me tell you Magistrates as well as Merchants are supported by Reputation His particular Application to prevent any misunderstanding between the King and his Parliament is very obvious to any that shall but look into his Speeches to the Parliament during his Chancellorship and with how great concern he still vindicated his Masters Actions He acquitted himself in all the great Emergencies of this High Employment with that universal Applause and satisfaction as seldom happens to men in such an envied station The vilest of his Detractors not being able to fasten any Imputation upon his conduct in those great and weighty Trusts he was advanced to So little of self appeared in his Actions that it may be modestly affirmed of him he made his own Interest strike sail to the publick and his care for others seemed more than for himself and at the time of his highest Elevation he would not neglect the meanest Suitors that applied themselves to him Thus having gradually traced the Advancement of this great Minister to the highest pitch of Honor where he appeared sicut Luna inter Stellas minores I shall now take notice of his Relinquishment of that High Employment and what other contingencies have happened to him since About November 1673. His Majesty was pleased to send for the Lord Chancellor to White-Hall where he resigned the Great Seal of England to His Majesty and was dismist from being Under-Treasurer of the Exchequor which place was conferred on
this Parliament were dissolved And about July there were Writs issued out for the summoning another Parliament Octob. the 17th 1679. A Parliament met at Westminster and were by a commission directed to the Lord Chancellor prorogued until January following It is almost incredible how in this interval the Papists lifted up their Heads braving the very face of Justice for now they had got such a cast of Evidence that would have accused Innocence itself Now does Dugdale inform that he had been tampered with to deny his former Evidence Sir George Wakeman finds the benefit of an Ignoramus Jury without the Astonishment of Thompson or the Observator The Diabolical design of ruining the greatest Protestants in England by leaving a Pacquet of counterfeit Letters in Collonel Mansel's Chamber in Ax-Yard discovered by Mr. Dangerfield besides an account of a great summ of Money offered him by the Lady Powis if he would murther the Earl of Shaftesbury against whom the rage of that bloody party was now so great that they left no base and unwarrantable Action unatempted to rob him of his Life Some were hired to stab or pistol him others to swear Treason against him or any other course the Devil could suggest so as he were but made away on whose life they thought the ill success of their Diabolical Machine depended Libels containing the blackest Treasons against His Majesty were forged in the names of the most eminent Protestant Peers and Grandees of the Nation scarce any person of Integrity against the Roman superstitions but would have been made a party to it But whoever was omitted my Lord Shaftesbury was sure to be drawn in neck and shoulders and to be duckt over head and ears in the Plot These were by their mercenary Agents secretly to be conveighed into the Houses of the Protestants aforesaid and then they wanted not a set of base and mean spirited Villains to swear it home upon them persons of that profâ—…igate and contemptible disposition that for a Mess of Pottage would not only forsake all claim to Honesty and Virtue but prostitute their Souls to the lust and ambition of the worst of Men But these were no new things to the brave and excellent to be exposed by Trials of this Nature to the Rage of brutish and inhumane Wretches A Heathen could long ago observe it Integer Vitae scelerisque purus Non eget Mauri jaculis nec Arcu To what a pitch of Heroic Magnanimity must that Person needs be arriv'd that can buoy up his Soul against such foul Tempests when the consideration of simple Innocence shall maintain a perpetual serenity within amidst all the cloudy Fogs of Adversity that can be as stedfastly loyal under the Frowns as the Favor of his Prince and answers that witty character of such a one in Hudibras For Loyalty is still the same Whether it win or lose the Game True as a Dial to the Sun Although it be not shin'd upon Mr. Dangerfield gives a large account in his Narrative of two several times that he had attempted to kill the Earl of Shaftesbury and that he had been instigated thereto by the popish Priests and that the Lady Powis particularly had offer'd him Five Hundred pounds to perform it whereof he received Twenty pounds in part but that still he had been providentially disappointed of that barbarous enterprise One day Dame Cellier demanded of him whether he had dispatched the aforesaid Earl and he replying that he could have no opportunity to come at him Give me the Ponyard says she you shall see what a Woman can do for the Catholick Cause And accordingly by the Instigation of the Devil and a hellish rage which the Papists miscall a holy Zeal she addressed her self to the Execution of that execrable Design She makes a visit to the Earl under pretence of paying her Thanks for Favours obtain'd through his means but the consecrated Dagger still lurk'd under the skirt of her Gown ready to have exprest her Gratitude by opening the Veins of this Protestant Peers Heart He had no reason to be over fond of the conversation of such cattle and therefore in short time she was dismist without having an opportunity of putting her philonious and trecherous design in execution Is then a loyal Innocence and protestant Integrity Armour of proof against Poisons Pistols and Ponyards The Catholick Gallantry stops not here but pursues this Noble Peer with Forgery of his Hand and other their little black Artifices and Sham-plots What base and villanous Arts the Papists used to destroy the Lord Shaftesbury is not only evident by their many endeavours to have stabbed him as hath been deposed by divers persons to whom the Parliament as well as the Nation have given belief but may be further confirmed by their intercepting Letters directed to his Lordship and after they had in a hand as near the Original as they could counterfeit inserted Treason in them they were transmitted to such as would certainly acquaint our Ministers with it In short one story of their mischievous practice in this kind is this There is a Gentleman who was a Commander of a Regiment of Horse in the late Kings service and lost all for his sake and his present Majesties writ to this Noble Peer about relieving him against the Gout with which he useth be afflicted This Letter was intercepted and the person then living in the French King's Dominions after adding to it an account That the Writer was able to furnish the Earl with Forty thousand men from France to oppose the D. of York's Interest It was then conveyed to some of the French King's Ministers who they supposed would send a Copy of it hither but by a strange providence the Original was returned into the Gentleman's own hands Decemb. 7. The following Humble Address and Advice of several of the Peers of this Realm for the Sitting of the Parliament was Presented to His Majesty at Whitehall A Copy whereof follows Sir WE are here to cast our selves at Your Majesties Feet being Ten of the Peers of Your Realm of England and in our own Names in the Names of several others of our Fellow-Peers do humbly beg That Your Majesty would consider the great Danger Your Royal Person is in as also the Protestant Religion and the Government of these Your Nations We humbly pray That in a time when all these are so highly concerned Your Majesty will effectually use Your Great Council the Parliament Sir Out of the deepest sense of Duty and Loyalty to Your Majesty We offer it as our humble Advice and earnest Petition That the Parliament may Sit at the time appointed and that Your Majesty would be graciously pleased to give publick Notice and Assurance thereof that the Minds of Your Majesties Subjects may be settled and their Fears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Address was offered in the Names and by the Order of the Peers under named viz. Kent Huntingdon Bedford Clare Stamford Shaftesbury Say and Seal Eure North
to the Tryal of the said Earl and shall therefore now hasten to the Meeting of the Parliament at Oxford where Business of as high nature was agitated as ever came before the consideration of a Parliament no less than the preservation of the King's Majesty the Protestant Religion and the good people of England all which were now as much as ever Invaded by the Bloody Designs of the Papists This Parliament met the 21th of March 1681. in the Convocation-House at Oxford The House of Lords Sare in the Geometry School where was a Throne and State Erected for His Majesty in which His Majesty being Seated in His Royal Robes declared himself to both Houses to the Effect following That the unwarrantable Proceedings of the last House of Commons were the reason of his parting with them for that he who would never use Arbitrary Government himself would not suffer it in Others That whoever calmly considered the Assurances he had renewed to that last Parliament and what he had Recommended to them His Forein Alliances the Examination of the Plot and the Preservation of Tangier and reflect upon their unsuitable Returns might rather wonder at his Patience than that he grew weary of their Proceedings that it was his Interest and should be his Cause as much as Theirs to Preserve the Liberty of the Subject the Crown not being safe when that is in danger That by Calling this Parliament so soon he let them see that no Irregularities of Parliament should make him out of love with them by which means he gave them another opportunity to provide for the Publick Security and had given one Evidence more that he had not neglected his part That he hoped the ill Success of former Heats would dispose them to a better Temper That as for the further prosecution of the Plot Trial of the Lords c. he omitted to press them as being obvious to consideration and so necessary for the Publick Safety But desired them not to lay so much weight upon any One Expedient against Popery as to determine that all other were ineffectual That what he had so often declared touching the Succession he should not recede from But that to remove all reasonable fears that might arise touching the possibility of a ` Popish Successor if means could be found out that in such a case the Administration should remain in Protestant hands he should be ready to hearken to any such Expedient by which Religion might be secured and Monarchy not destroyed Lastly He advised them to make the known and Establisht Laws of the Land the Rule and Measure of their Votes The 22th the Commons having chosen their Speaker presented him to His Majesty in the Lords House Little beside was done until the 25. when the House considered an Act for Repeal of the Act 35 Eliz. which had passed both Houses in the last Parliament but had not been tendered to His Majesty for his Royal Assent A conference was desired with the Lords as to matters relating to the constitution of Parliaments in passing of Bills Another Message was ordered to be sent to the Lords to put them in mind that the Commons had formâ—…ly by their Speaker demanded Judgment of High Treason at their Bar against the Earl of Danby and therefore to desire their Lordships to appoint a day to give Judgment against him the said Earl upon the said Impeachment The same day the Examination of Edward Fitz-Harris relating to the popish Plot was read in the House upon which the said Examination was ordered to be Printed the said Fitz-Harris to be impeached at the Lords Bar and a Committee appointed to draw up Articles against him But the House of Lords rejected the Impeachment of Mr. Fitz-Harris whereby a stop was put to their proceedings And on the 28th in the morning the Commons were sent for to the House of Lords where His Majesty told them That their Beginnings had been such that he could expect no good success of this Parliament and therefore His Majesty thought fit to dissolve them And my Lord Chancellor having declared them dissolved His Majesty came the same night to White-Hall I must beg the Readers pardon if he think I have in this Relation deviated from my Theam which was the Earl of Shafton but nothing of a popish Plot hath been yet brought upon the stage wherein he hath not been level'd at he certainly knowing how destructive the Interest of the Papists is to the Government and People of England hath set himself to the hazard of his Life and Family to oppose them The next thing that appeared on the Booksellers stalls was a paper with this Title The Protestation of the Lords Upon rejecting the Impeachment of Mr. Fitz-Harris giving for Reasons why it was the undoubted Right of the Commons so to do because great Offences that influence the Parliament were most effectually determined in Parliament nor could the complaint be determined any where else For that if the party should be indicted in the Kings-Bench or any other inferiour Court for the same offence yet it were not the same suit an Impeachment being at the suit of the People but an Indictment at the suit of the King Besides that they conceived it to be a denial of Justice in regard that the House of Peers as to Impeachments proceeding by vertue of their Judicial not their Legislative Power could not deny any suitor but more especially the Commons of England no more than the Courts of Westminster or any other inferiour Courts could legally deny any suit or criminal cause regularly brought before them Signed according to the Printed Copy by the following Peers Monmouth Kent Huntingdon Bedford Salisbury Clare Stamford Sunderland Essex Shaftesbury Maclefield Mordant Wharton Paget Grey of Wark Herbert of Cherbury Cornwallis Lovelace Crew Finding the Earl of Shaftesburys Name amongst the other Noble Peers and Patriots I thought it not improper to insert the copy in this place it being the last Act of that great Man upon the publick stage For since that time he hath rather been passive as will further appear by the remaining Discourse We shall only remember that at his return from Oxford the Earl left a massy piece of Plate as a Gift to Baliol Colledg as also did that Heroick Prince James Duke of Monmouth which will be to posterity a Testimony of their Magnificence and Bounty And now to return to what remains for the finishing this Tragical story I shall mention only what is already printed either in Captain Wilkinson's Information Colledg's Trial or else is matter of Fact or set forth in the Trial of this great Peer himself Only I cannot omit that on the 15th of Aug. 1681. Mrs. Fitz-Harris gave a deposition upon Oath that her Husband a little before his Execution not only told her what great offers he had made him if he would at first have charged that Infamous and Treasonable Libel for which he was after executed on this worthy Peer