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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	great_a	know_v	time_n	2,765	4	3.2223	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A31740	The Character of the Parliament, commonly called the Rump, &c., begun November 23, in the year 1640 with a short account of some of their proceedings.		1660 (1660)	Wing C2026A; ESTC R7601	18,090	43

had lost the Remembrance of Right and Wrong but it is also true that even in the Infancy of their Power the same Spirit prevail'd and they set out with the Assurance of those who had abandon'd all Decency and Remorse The difference was it was Passion and Rage and Madness in the beginning Afterwards it was Phlegmatick impudent Villany and Corruption YET it ought always to be remembred that there were Men of that House of as great Worth Integrity and Abilities as have sate in any Parliament whatever Men who were Proof against all Temptations of Gain and not to be over-awed by Threats or the Torrent that then raged But these were out-numbered by People of different Views different Principles The Majority was a Compound of Pretenders to Zeal against Popery of real Atheists of professed Republicans of weak and Ignorant Slaves to the Managers and above all of wretched Mercenaries who prostituted their Conscience and sold their Country for their Daily Pay THE Leaders of this Band of Conspirators against their Country deserve to be delivered down to Posterity with all possible Marks of Infamy But because Descendants may attone for the Wickedness as they often degenerate from the Virtue of their Ancestors the Names of those Persons shall at present be passed over in Silence Yet at the same Time it may not be altogether unseasonable to sketch out the Characters of some few of the most Notorious that we may look back and see what sort of Persons those were who had both the Will and Power to impoverish the Publick and enslave their Native Country that if for the future any others should unhappily arise with the same Dispositions and Talents the Resemblance might be observ'd time enough to prevent a Parallel in the Story every way ONE of these was a Gentleman well known in those Times both on the Score of his Parts which were competently adapted to the Mechanical Part of Business and also of some Disgrace he had undergone from the late Men in Power which when that Power devolved into other Hands gave him a Pretence to set up for a Sufferer He spoke in the House with great readiness and at all Times with a certain appearing Frankness in his manner of expressing himself that was not disagreeable No Man spoke more than he of Concern for the Publick no Man had the Publick less at Heart but it serv'd his Purpose as it furnish'd him with Popular Topicks for Harrangues and was likewise a convenient Prey for him and his hungry Creatures He was a bold Undertaker in Business not easily discourag'd by the difficulty of the Work and never to be put out of Countenance at the foulness of it But his chief Excellence consisted in the dexterous Application of Lies to his several Purposes and those he could frame extempore and with that undaunted Assurance they were of great Service to him at particular Seasons although the too frequent Use of them and his laughing at Truth openly and wantonly contributed no less to the discovery of his defect in Judgment than his snatching at all Opportunities to get Money betrayed the Weakness and Impotence of his Mind However his Influence in the House was great From the Sense of what pleased himself best he knew how to gain others and he was the better qualified for the Times and for the Part he had to act being wholly void of Shame and as entirely undisturbed with any Fumes or Principles of Virtue Honour or Religion as free in himself from all Aproaches towards Compassion or Humanity A second of these was a Gentleman of good Extraction liberal Education and of some Learning From the Company he had kept in his younger Years and from his manner of Life he had contracted an inveterate Malice against the Church and imbibed early Principles against Monarchy Though no Man went farther than he in the Support and promoting of the most lawless Acts of Tyranny when he had his Share of Power He had been bred up to the Profession of Arms and had got some Reputation that way which he quickly lost by the unsoldierly Defence and Surrender of a Town of Importance For this ill Conduct he was accused and might have Suffer'd if he had not been befriended by the General who lived to repent his good Nature to a Man never very sensible of Favours or Benefits That Gentleman betook himself afterwards to another kind of Life and got one of the Seals into his Possession which he used to ill Purposes enough but always with good Manners which was peculiar to him Not being well fixed in any Form of Government he ran into many wild Schemes and was rather a Builder of Common-Wealths than a Member of any one It was conjectured he had a Tincture of Enthusiasm in his Composition which if true might account for part of his Life and perhaps be thought some extenuation of several things he had been guilty of to the Prejudice of his Country to which perhaps few Men really wish'd better than he ANOTHER of these and it may be one of the most outragious of the whole Sett was an Officer of mean Parts and Parentage a meddling blustring Fellow determined and very diligent Conceited Undertaking incapable of offering any Reasons to convince others or of comprehending Reason so as to be perswaded himself By the extraordinary Favour of the General to whom lic had been Useful in several Capacities he had made his way from being a Subaltern in a few Years to one of the highest Posts in the Army and in every Post he still shewed great uneasiness as if the Place were not big enough to hold him and that he could not breathe until he got higher which made him press and bustle and affront every thing in his way He was Servile in his Applications to those who could advance him and no Man endeavoured to make his Court more than he or did it with a worse Grace So that his Ambition was unmeasurable but misbecame him And it was observed of him by one of the same Side who was no bad Observer of Men That he was a Clown in fine Cloaths intimating how uncouthly any thing of Grandeur sat upon him WHEN the House of Commons became silled with Soldiers he got himself returned to serve for a Borough and acted the same Part in the House he had done out of it that is he was restless in his Motions and brutal in his Opinions and tho' he often appeared more busie than he really was he never could appear more Brutal If at any Time an unjust Proposition that might lay whole Countries waste was to be made in the House he was so apprehensive of its failing he would run every where to Summon the Posse and take upon himself the Office of Muster-Master-General of the Party And then if by great accident the House seemed inclined to come into an Act less ill-natured than usual it would put him out of all Patience and he would shew the

THE CHARACTER OF THE PARLIAMENT Commonly called the Rump c. Begun November 23. in the Year 1640. With a short ACCOUNT of some of their PROCEEDINGS Ille nefasto te posuit die in nepotum Perniciem opprobriumque Pagi HORACE Hinc usura vorax avidumque in tempore faenus concussa fides multis utile Bellum LUCAN LONDON Printed and Sold by the Booksellers of London PREFACE THERE are few Men of Judgment Candor and Impartiality who will not allow a Government consisting of King and Parliament to be the best Constitution in the World France Spain Denmark Sweden Sicily and some other Kingdoms had once this Advantage but unfortunately lost it some by Faction others by being Conquered and others by a National depravity of Manners joined to the Ambition of Princes and the Intrigues of their Ministers We of these Islands are now left the last who enjoy this Blessing in any Perfection and we may still preserve it pure and entire if we can but retain some Degree of the Virtue of our Ancestors But we should be careful what Persons we choose to Represent us in Parliament for if according to the vulgar Maxim in the Schools Corruptio optimi est Pessima a CORRUPT Parliament would then of all Evils in Government be the Greatest and exceed the worst Tyranny in a single Person An absolute Prince might be Cruel Rapacious Covetous a Dissipater of the Publick Treasure an Enemy of Religion and it would be very bad But all this would be nothing when compared to a Mob of such Tyrants most of them with the same Dispositions and every way like that greater one only the more provoking as in their Persons they would be more contemptible nor is this a Thing not to be supposed Our History furnisheth us with an Instance of a Parliament of that kind which is here undertaken to be described to the Publick in one unmixed View both because this hath not been yet done by any one that I know of and also that a Prospect of it in this manner may possibly give our Country-Men a full Notion of how great Consequence it is to them to be extreamly cautious whom they trust at any time to be their Representatives Here they may have before their Eyes what Abuses a CORRUPT Parliament is capable of The Writer in putting his Thoughts together on this Subject has set himself a Rule to keep Religoiusly to the History of the Men and the Times and not to indulge himself or the Reader in charging any Character too much or deviating from the Truth to make the Story more agreeable The Facts and Characters are all of them to be found either in my Lord Clarendon Whitlock Rushworth Sir Philip Warwick Ludlow Hobbs or some other Writer of those Times But many Passages are omitted for the Sake of Brevity or through Forgetfulness or because they did not exactly fall in with the general Design And such as are mentioned are not always considered in the order of Time in which they happened True it is some few of the Things here imputed to the Parliament were not their immediate and direct Act but which is much the same thing though not all done by them they were all done in their way in treading their Paths and by a Power derived from them The greatest Scelerates had either their express Orders their Approbation or Example and Authority to plead for the worst Crimes then committed BY what Means and Degrees these Pretended Patriots arrived to the height of Wickedness and begat so great Irreverence towards their own Persons and Characters is here endeavoured to be explained and may possibly be instructive to these who may not elsewhere have observed the Series of their Transactions nor the Period when properly they became dignified with the Title of the Rump which was when they had subverted all the honest Ends and Purposes of Parliaments and when they sate by Virtue of their own Choice and Power and not by the Free Election of their Country THE CHARACTER OF THE PARLIAMENT Commonly call'd the Rump THIS famous Parliament which Sate so long did so much Mischief and involved the three Kingdoms in Guilt and Misery met at Westminster the 3d of November 1640. Through the Misrepresentations of those about the King his Majesty unluckily thought fit to part with the preceding Parliament upon ill Terms and before he had Time to know them which was thought a very impolitick Step to say no worse of it They were Men of Moderation and zealous for the Publick Good and were the Reverse of their Successors who never ceas'd 'till they drew upon these Nations infinite Calamities and Disrepute and even Contempt upon the very Name of a House of COMMONS AMONG many illegal and more weak Things then committed in the Administration of Affairs none could be worse judged than that Precipitate Act of the Court which struck with Concern and Indignation all who had a due Attention to his Majesty's Service and Regard for the Constitution of the Realm But it was the Subject of Joy and Triumph to the Men of turbulent Spirits to the Enemies of the Church and of Peace to those who long'd for nothing more than to throw the State into Confusion in hopes to repair their shattered Fortunes to acquire Wealth and Power or to glut their Malice and Revenge And it must be owned the Success answered beyond their most extravagant Imaginations A great Part of their Purposes and even Wishes having been fatally effected and many of the chief Managers having crept into high Stations purloined Titles and amassed immense Sums who from their Birth Merits or Qualifications could reasonably have aspired no higher than to the meanest Offices FROM Motives and by Persons such as these the Elections could not but be carried on very irregularly The Factious were Men of Craft and Industry and stuck at nothing to carry their Point Returns were made of Persons to serve for Places where their Names had never been heard of before and where Bribes and Artifices to debauch the Minds of the Electors and the Returning Officers would not prevail Violence succeeded Neither was this the worst of the Case When the House of Commons met and by those and other Means the Majority was clearly on the side of the Faction they turned out and put in whom they thought proper without any sort of Modesty or the least attention to the establish'd Rules of the House or to the manifest Justice of the Cause Thus very many against the Consent and without the Knowledge of their Country assumed to themselves the Title of its Representatives which yet was not ordinarily objected to them as any Crime so much did their Conduct as Members of the House obscure the Reproach of their having dishonourably intruded into it IT is true a great Part of this foul Management in point of Elections happen'd in process of Time when they were grown Old and Hardened in Corruptions of all Kinds when they