A JUST DEFENCE OF THE Royal Martyr K. Charles I.  
From the many false and malicious Aspersions in Ludlow's Memoirs, and some other virulent Libels of that Kind.  
Plal. 35. 11, 12.  
False witnesses did rise up: they laid to my charge things that I knew not.  
They rewarded me evil for good, to the great discomfort of my Soul.  
Cicero ad Herenn. Lib. 4.  
Bené majores nostri hoc comparaverunt, ut neminem Regem, quem armis cepissent, vita privarent.  
Virgil. Georg. Lib. 4.  
— Rege incolumi, mens omnibus una est: Amisso, rupere fidem, etc.  
LONDON, Printed for A. Roper at the Black-Boy, and R Basset, both in Fleetstreet, and for W. Turner at Lincoln's-Inn back Gate. 1699.   

THE PREFACE.  
I Shall presume to address the Reader in the Words of the Apostle, 
Phil. 3. 1.  To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous: but for you it is safe; and doubt not but all such as are truly Candid will discharge me from any thing of Levity or Profaneness in the Application, we being under the same Circumstances as to Temporals, those he wrote to were in Spirituals, and upon that Account stand in need of as frequent Admonitions, To beware of Dogs, and such evil Workers, as come in on purpose to spy out the Liberty wherein we are truly Free, that they might again entangle us with the Yoke of Bondage. For what I intimated at first by way of Suspicion only, became abundantly confirmed in my further Progress, that 'tis altogether a Design of the Commonwealth Party, which of late have Perted up very much, and in order to the reviving their former Mischiefs, fall on afresh to asperse the Memory of our Royal Martyr, with the very same Lies and Defamations, their Predecessors did his Person and Government; for this being, as it were a New Generation, not one in a thousand, perhaps ten, who saw or felt the sad effects of our then divided State, is withal so loose, easy, and unthinking, as to be carelessly driven upon those very Rocks, which still bear the Marks of their Forefathers Shipwreck.  
And as the Design of these following Sheets is to awaken, indeed Alarm this stupid Humour into a Sense of Danger, that the Folly will be as unaccountable, as the Mischiefs insupportable, if that hotheaded Crew be once more suffered to get the Steerage; So in the Prosecution thereof, they multiplied upon my Hands to double the Number first intended, for the charge which these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, these false Accusers bring, being either of such things as never had being, no not Intentionally, in the very Thoughts of their abused Sovereign; or otherwise really designed by him, and highly advantageous to the Honour and Interest of the Nation; yet withal so villainously perverted by their Maligning Spirits, as the infatuated People suspected Poison in what their true, their best Physician prescribed, and on the other side took it willingly down from the several State Mountebanks, without any Sense of Danger, till absolutely past Redress or Cure: I say, as all their Calumnies are raised from one of these two Topics; either telling what was Wrong, or perverting what was Right, so are they delivered down with a Commonwealth Confidence, where Positiveness supplies the place of Truth, and is no otherwise to be refelled, than by looking back, and representing the whole History of that particular Matter of Fact, or Surmise, (for many times they can go no further) which these Sons of Slander so basely misrepresent; and this sets every thing in its true Light, equally represents those just Grounds upon which a wise and good Prince proceeded, and those false Glosses, which a most perverse sort of Men continually spread Abroad, to have every good he designed evil spoken of; and therefore Time is very properly said to be the Mother of Truth, which generally hath a very hard Birth, with much Difficulty breaks through those thick and dark Clouds of Obloquy, and Detraction, whereby the Prince of the Air and his many Agents endeavour to smother it; but having in the End forced a Passage, like the Sun, it shines with a Meridian Lustre, so fully Dissipates that main Body of Darkness, as for the future it can only fly up and down in some scattered Vapours, but never more Unite, gain so much Strength or Reputation, as to Act the like Mischiefs, or be credited in their Untruths.  
And some such Scatter as these, I take to be the within mentioned Attacks of Roger Coke, Ludlow, etc. upon our Royal Martyr, with an impartial Account of whatever particular Charge they bring against him, blows quite off, as I hope the Reader will find to his Satisfaction.  
And this, I doubt not but that bold Writer of Milton's Life will likewise find, though he blusters mightily at present, and perhaps may think by that means to get off, yet the World is come to a very odd pass if he can so escape, who dares to recommend an Author, that once occasioned several hours Debate in the House of Commons, whether he should not be Hanged, and had some of his now admired Books ordered, and actually Burnt by the Hands of the Common Hangman. I say it must be a blessed Turn of Times we are now got into, that this Fellow's Works should be all Reprinted, and for fear of too little Mischief that way, have an Abridgement of the most poisonous Passages put all together in an Account of his Life, with many high Eulogiums of his Personal Qualities, which so far as true, might as well have been said of the Devil, for so they equally abused, according to their several Capacities, Great Parts, Extraordinary Endowments, to the Dishonour of that God which gave them, and the Destruction of Mankind.  
Herein however the Author of this Life acts like a Plain-dealer, confirms what we but suspected before, and expressly declares there must be a thorough Reform of the whole Government, which I presume this new Club is to undertake, according to some old Draughts of Milton, and his Fellow Projectors in 59 For though somewhat of the Dutch way is recommended, yet the main Composition of this new Utopia is Harrington's Oceana. I have within observed, that when the Rump, and Committee of Safety, that is, the Army, were tearing one another, and the whole Nation in pieces; amongst other Projects, that Maggot of the Rota was set up, and a great Pother it made, till with many others it was silenced by the Restauration; when the Author Harrington, as a dangerous Person, was for some time secured in the Tower, and elsewhere; at length he obtained his Liberty to Travel, and being in Italy talked so much of Models, Commonwealths, and Governments, as that sober Nation reputed him no better than a Whimsical crack-braind Person; and that he was so in the end, this is an abundant Confirmation, for returning home, and at Liberty to enjoy both his Friends and Notions at Pleasure; 
Ath Oxon. vol. 2. p. 439.  more than a Twelvemonth before his Death, he was possessed with a continued Fancy, that all his Perspiration turned into Flies, and sometimes Bees, or Flies as big; and 'tis very probable several of these Infects after many Rambles have fixed in, and Flyblown this young Author's Head, whence the whole Nation must be incessantly bussed with his revived Impertinences. Some likewise are prone to suspect there may be a little Discontent in the Case, (and nothing sooner breeds Maggots in the Brain) that having failed of his Advance in the Irish Chancery, he designs the Revenge of promoting an English Commonwealth, where Milton's Place must certainly be his Lot, and doubtless with as many uncertain Revolutions, and as much danger of an Halter in the End.  
But whencesoever it proceeds, this is certain, that amongst the several kinds of Pestilent People, our Nation from time to time hath been plagued with all, there are none more Troublesome and Pernicious than our Government Menders, who will have it continually upon the Anvil, and be always Hammering without the least Prospect of finishing their Work, or giving it over to more Skilful Hands, whereby every Man of Temper and Prudence cannot but observe, that this Itch of Alteration proceeds more from a hot Head, than sober Judgement, and if such Pragmatical Intermedlers should be gratified in every Whim, their pregnant Brains abound with, the whole Body-politick will by degrees become so Monstrous as to have an Hanc populus affixed. It would therefore argue much more Consideration to reflect, that as there are not two Governments in all Europe, nor any where else, exactly the same, but generally very different from each other; so we may justly presume such long continued Customs as they have always lived under, were originally adapted to the Temper of the People, with other Circumstances of Situation, Converse, Traffic, etc. and whatever is superinduced de novo must have some affinity to those original Establishments, or will sit very uneasy, and give occasion both of continued Complaints, and frequent Alterations. All good Patriots amongst us, who truly Study the Interest of the Nation, and make an impartial judgement of things, do heartily wish the Choice of our Representatives might be regulated, as well in regard to the Many which make it, as the Management of that Many in order thereto; they think likewise that the Disproportion of Beggarly Burroughs in the several Parts of the Kingdom, is not a little hard in the Disproportion of Taxes, with not a few other Inconveniences, which, as wise Men, they rather think of, than attempt to alter, lest it should prove Tinker's Work, as the Proverb speaks, Essaying to mend one, cause more and worse Defects; for though the Dutch very cunningly got rid of all Tumultuary Elections, and perhaps thereto, more especially on their easy Administration ever since, yet I fancy our Grough English Tempers would not be so easily wheedled, and which is worse, scarce find enough that will be Faithful in so great a Trust: To be sure when the Rump took upon them somewhat like that way of Managment, what Rogues did they prove? and how like Rogues did the People use them in the End?  
Here therefore I would turn the Tables with this bold Assumer, and be gladly satisfied how such vigorous Asserters of the People's Liberty, as he and his Republican Fraternity are earnest to be thought, come so highly to recommend the Dutch Model? For that is a perfect Oligarchy, where the People pay as many Taxes as either in France or Turkey, and have as little to do in raising them, or Enacting any other Laws for their mutual Defence, and Welfare; And really I could wish this Rota Club were adjourned for some Months into those Provinces, that we might see whether they would be so hardy as to Attack that Government with as much Boldness as they do this, abuse the Liberty of the Press, by telling the People they are Bubled in thinking themselves a Free Commonwealth, whereas there is no such thing amongst them, both their Lives and Fortunes are at the disposal of a few Men, who Cabal together, Elect one another, and do what they please; I say should any of them dare to Prate or Print at this rate, as those in Power would soon hear thereof, so instead of sending them a pair of Shoes to troth out of their Territories, (which Report saith is done in some Cases) care would be forthwith taken to have them die in their own, a modest Expression some use for a Man's being Hanged; and this, would we take notice of what is Solid and Useful, is the most Remarkable thing amongst them, that they are exact Justiciaries, will not permit their Laws to be violated, and Magistracy arraigned by every Pragmatical Pretender, without such due Resentments as are absolutely requisite to support the Sovereign Power, and preserve the Public Peace.  
But as amongst some other English Follies, that of admiring Foreign Fashions, in their Vanities, rather than Virtues, hath been too justly charged upon us; so the Dutch Fashion for Government, hath had the Vogue more than 60 Years, with our many Republican Innovators, when not one in 60 thousand of them understand any thing more of it, than to take Patterns from thence, for most Exorbitant Taxes, which our Madness alone, their Necessities, when once engaged, made absolutely Requisite. Yes, the Licentiousness of the Press is another Branch of Dutch Liberty, for Knaves and Fools to abuse all Honest Men, at Pleasure: I say in these two things alone we are become their sordid Imitators, without any thing of that Caution, and Terror, their vigorous Execution of Laws enforce; whereas the same just Severity would secure our Old Constitutions, at a much cheaper Rate than any Foreign Freaks, which the more we attempt, the more we shall fail in, for to me it seems impossible; yet if we could be supposed to make so Extravagant an Experiment, it would sit no better than a Boor's Suit, on a Courtiers Back, and be as disagreeing to the Temper, the genius of the Nation, as their Stockfish to our Stomaches.  
But to prove by some other Authority than my own, that these assuming Republicans, are not the Men they would be thought, have neither Bottom, nor Ballast proportionable to the Sail they bear; see no further into the Millstone than others, perhaps as Superficially as any; I shall produce a Person who knew them thoroughly, had the most to do with them, and confirmed to Matter of Fact the Account already given. Our Author Ludlow relates several Discourses between Cromwell and himself, with some brisk Repartees which passed, wherein as he tells his own Story the other seems constantly to have brought him by the Lee, that is, gained his Point: What I shall at present relate to, is in Pag. 241, where Cromwell whilst he was cajoling, and betraying the King, gave great Enjealousments to his Fellow Rebels, that he would make his own Peace, and leave them to their just Fate; but having accomplished that Hellish Treachery, got his Majesty into their Isle of Wight Toils; then as Ludlow tells us, he began to Compliment the Commonwealth-Party, inviting some of them to confer with him at his Chamber; with which acquainting me the next time he came to the House, I took the Freedom to tell him, that he knew how to cajole and give them good Words when he had occasion to make use of them; whereat breaking out into a Rage, he said, they were a proud sort of People, and only considerable in their own Conceits: Whether he spoke this in a Rage is of little Concern, to be sure, as seldom as he spoke Truth, this was a certain Truth he spoke, and effectually confirmed, in the many Contrasts he had with them, and Baffles he gave them; and Ludlow's Reply is very faint, for that he only hoped it was not yet their Case, whereas all others knew it actually to be so, since they lay under a total defection from Honesty, Generosity, and all true Virtue: However therefore they may wheedle others into better Thoughts; I shall stick to Cromwel's Character, which is a strong Confirmation of my former Opinion, that they are a proud sort of People, only valuable in their own Conceits.  
In Confirmation whereof, I shall add but this one Instance farther, in Relation to the sundry fanciful Hypotheses they every Day start, to support their Politic Novels; wherein a strange Force is put upon all those Natural Obligations, and Regular Dependencies, which were formerly thought the main Support of all Humane Societies; such uncooth States of War, and Nature, such Origins of Political Societies, and Subordination of Commonwealth-Powers, as make Parents their children's Servants, and Magistrates their People's Slaves; and all this with very little regard to the Doctrine of the Creation, which being set aside, or brought in only to serve at a hard Push, a Man may as well write a Romance, and swear it a true History, as resolve how Mankind came upon the Earth, and what Measures they took upon their first meeting there.  
Neither is their Deference to the Creation, less than to the Creator, not that they disown the Existence of an Infinite Being, or can imagine this admired Fabric of the Universe should be any other way than from an Almighty Power, (for most of the Atheists have lately thought of a retreat to Deism, as a more tenable Fort) but than they allow this Almighty Power very little share in the Governing Part; Man being some how or other placed here, is supposed solely to act upon a Principle of Interest and Self-preservation, without any regard to those Divine Impresses of Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, which many old Pedants, even amongst the Ancient Philosophers, conceived as natural to the Soul of Man as Thought, and of so strong an Obligation, that the Gild of violating, ipso facto inflicted Punishment, in a just dread of the great Avenger: Thus as Preservation was truly styled a continued Creation; was Providence by the same Reason presumed to interpose in all humane Transactions; to speak upon a Philosophical, not Scripture Account, disappoint the Devices of the Crafty, turn all their Wisdom into Madness and Folly; and how can any Man imagine a more rational Supposition? than that he who made should Govern the World, continue Absolute Monarch, Sovereign over all; and whenever any of our Undertake clash with, or otherwise thwart the Eternal Purposes of his Will, how troublesome do they prove in the Management? and fatal in the End? So that however plausible their Speculations may seem, and whatever Success attends their first Attempts; I dare Conclude with this as an infallible Truth, There can be no lasting and happy Establishments, without some moral Assurance of the Almighty's Approbation and Blessing.  
April 6. 99   

UNDIX CAPITUM.  
CHAP. I. The Commonwealth-Party could never agree upon any one Model, 
pag. 15.  Chap. II. Monarchy hath ever had the preference, 
p. 30.  Chap. III. King James, and Charles I. designed nothing of Arbitrary Power, 
p. 38.  Chap. IU. Not any just Ground for complaint of Grievances, 
p. 58.  Chap. V. No reason to complain of Favourites, and Evil Counsellors, 
p. 72.  Chap. VI Innovasions in Religion, never designed, 
p. 87.  Chap. VII. No design of introducing Popery, 
p. 109.  Chap. VIII. Of the Lent Ships, Rochel, and French War, 
p. 132.  Chap. IX. Of the Palatinate, Bohemia, and that Queen, 
p. 149.  Chap. X. Of the Book of Sports, 
p. 159.  Chap. XI. Of Ship-Money, 
p. 175.  Chap. XII. Of King James' Death, 
p. 185.  Chap. XIII. His Government before the Rebellion, 
p. 1ST.   

Part II.  Chap. I. Of the Scotch Rebellion, 
p. 1.  Chap. II. Of the Irish Rebellion, 
p. 59  Chap. III. Of the English Rebellion, 
p. 81.  Chap. IU. Of the King in Custody, etc. 
p. 148.  Chap. V. Of the King's Murder, 
p. 181.    

THE INTRODUCTION.  
'tIS not full forty Years, since this unhappy Nation, for about half that time immediately precedent, groaned under the miserable Distractions of an unnatural Civil War; had her Ancient Monarchy and whole Frame of Government, exposed and trampled upon by the Arbitrary impositions, of Presbyterian Rage, Independent Licentiousness, Protectorian Usurpation, and Fanatic Fury, all which as they took their Turns, and made their several Insults, upon each other, so the poor Kingdom continued under every of them, one dismal Scene of Slavery and Confusion; till the Provocation arose to so high a Ferment, as all Orders and Degrees of Men whatsoever, unanimously resolved to free themselves from such Intolerable Oppressions. And whoever saw the Turn of our Captivity, in the year Sixty; how sensible we were of our own Madnesses and Follies, and taught by that dear-bought experience, resolutely bend upon our Old Establishment, that well tempered Polity, in Church and State, which alone could fix us upon a sure Bottom, and prevent our utter Ruin; I say, whosoever saw this, as likewise what a fright the several Delinquent Factions were in, what Acknowledgements and Submissions they made, what Pardons they sued for, and how Graciously, how Generally they were misbestowed, could ever have imagined that either they, or any descended from them, should presume in this Age at least, to open their Mouths by way of Apology, or Extenuation, for such fatal Mischiefs, much less endeavour to have them Trumped up, and Reacted.  
The few designed for Exemplary punishment, were those Execrable Regicides, who dared to imbrue their Hands in the Blood of their Sacred Sovereign, (yet this with a reserve of Favour to such as sat, but did not sign that cursed Bill, or afterwards came in upon a Proclamation of Surrender) and if one of that Villainous Crew, escaping the Hangman's clutches, by a Foreign flight, had the Impudence to leave a Narrative of what part himself and some of his Complices bore in that dismal Tragedy, 'tis no more than what might be expected from such Reprobate Minds, to which how far that Bloodthirsty pack were given over, too sadly appeared, as well from their Deportment at the Gallows, as all the former transactions of their Lives.  
But that the Monarchy still continuing, and a Monarch on the Throne, these Remains of his should be Printed, and Publicly Sold, cried up by the whole Party for an extraordinary Piece, and swallowed as such by our many superficial Readers, (who take what comes fresh from the Press, and every New Author, are brought over to his Opinion) looks very daring, as if they were not without great hopes of having their Good Old Cause new Bottomed, and the Rump once more set uppermost: All which the Prefacer does more than intimate by giving so great a Deference to his Author, and the Cause he engaged in, as if such alone made the Service of their Country the principal care of their Lives, and all Government Arbritrary but in their Hands, pag. 4. And to excite your Commiseration, he adds, that when Charles the 2d was permitted to Act his part, this Gentleman who had gone through innumerable Hazards for the Liberty of England, was stripped of his Estate, and under the Odious Name of Traitor forced to Abandon his Native Country, p. 6. Such Language as this we were forced to bear with, when they had got the Power into their own Hands; but sure we are not yet come to 48 or 59 when a company of profligate Villains, the Scum and Scorn of Mankind, with an Army of janissaries to their Assistance, took such Care of England's Liberty, as to make all Honest Men Slaves, and Loyal Men Traitors; and whoever is so easy as to believe there is one Syllable of Truth in this Prefaoer's Harangues and flourishes, I wish, (so that others might not suffer with them,) they were some time under that sort of Free-Government for their better Information.  
That this his Commonwealth-Champion was sent for to recover Ireland out of the Hands of those Papists, is a Secret not known before; and I fancy they that did it, had rather it should have continued so, or be quite forgotten, than the Reception he found here. To be sure, the Business was done without him; and if this his Admirer would have been so ingenuous as to tell what those Worthy Gentlemen in the House of Commons said, when they expressed their Indignation at his Return, 'twould have been as well worth transmitting to Posterity as any Remarks upon that Conjuncture, p. 7. Neither is it at all for his Reputation, that his Family was Ancient, and had an Estate which placed him in the first Rank of Gentlemen, p. 4. The English Gentry were the main support of the Royal Cause, and stood by their oppressed Prince with an Unparallelled Bravery, considering the Necessities they both laboured under: Some indeed were drawn to the contrary Party by mistake, or misinformation, and left them in due time; others persevered too long, but when it came to the Arraignmemt, and Murder of the King, it was their utmost, and universal Detestation; this well descended Gentleman had few other Associates in that Horrid Act, than Draymen, Cobblers, Tinkers, etc. the very Refuse of Mechanics as well as Mankind, especially as to the Army Officers, who were the chief promoters thereof, whilst our doughty Members, whatever they thought of themselves, served no otherwise, than as their Tools and Properties; and so indeed were they Cromwell's, though much regretted by them, when he laid aside his Vizard, and assumed all to himself. Since therefore this Author of theirs, so basely degenerated from most others of his Quality, as to become not only Rebel, but Regicide, I shall have so little regard for his Descent, as to give him the bare Name of Ludlow.  
Whether he writ all these Memoirs, or more than these, is not of moment to inquire: The Vindicator of Oliver Cromwell tells us when Blood went to him at Geneva, in order to engage him in New Disturbances, he found him writing of a History, and thought he might be much more proper for that, than the Command of General, which his Admirers here designed him; the other's quick and penetrating Judgement, soon discovering his blind side, and that only his being of the Party, gave him the Reputation of Parts: And accordingly that Vindicator has as mean an Opinion of his History as the other of his Generalship. And so must every one else who regards either Sense or Truth. Although 'tis likewise said these two Volumes are but the Abridgement of many more Reams, fouled upon this Subject, which his Party, and Printer, thought fit to lick into something of Form, contract, and perhaps alter too, as might best serve the present Design of promoting the Good Old Cause.  
As to my particular undertaking the Vindication of our Royal Martyr, I doubt not but to satisfy every impartial Reader, that he writes not one Syllable of Truth, yet withal is such a Common-place Recorder of Falsehoods, as to mention nothing but those Old Calumnies and Slanders, which indeed served the Faction's turn when first started, and misled the Credulous Rabble; but have been long since detected and evinced by the Clearest Demonstration any matter of Fact is capable of; for the same Cheat never lasts long; Truth certainly prevails in the End: Upon which account all such as take these indirect Courses, must necessarily be qualified with a quick Invention, be sure to have a New Trick at hand, as soon as the Old is discovered; that the Parties imposed upon, may have no leisure to reflect, or otherwise discover the juggle: And by this Artifice, more especially were our 41 Confusions commenced, and carried on, about which time a Spirit of Calumny and detraction, of Evil Speaking, Lying and Slandering, seemed to be let loose, as Satan in the Revelations, to deceive the Nation, and persecute all therein, who would not worship that Gog and Magog, they were going to set up; with this Spirit, I say, our many Pulpit Beautifews and Lay Demagogues, were so cursedly possessed, as nothing Sacred, or Civil, could escape their Obloquy, or restrain the Madness of the People, from believing their forged Reports, or prosecuting their Rebellious Designs; 'tis inconceivable the Delusions they imposed upon them, the Contradictions they made them swallow, till it became so habitual to the whole Party, as every little Mechanic, and Blew Aproned Brother would as naturally tell a Lie for the good of the Cause, as the Sale of their Wares; and if discovered, be as far from Shame, as the Devil from a Blush. Afterwards indeed the Evil Spirit was for some time conjured down, confined to the Dark Cell of its own Melancholy thoughts, and sad regret, for disappointed Mischiefs; but of late 'tis broke forth again, and rages most violently, prevails to astonishment upon a Reinfatuated Age; for from thence more especially it must proceed, that Men should have so soon forgot, not only God's Mercies, but their own Miseries too.  
Among the many other Allays which an impartial Judgement will find to abate much the envied Happiness of Princes, 'tis none of the least, that during their full Gales of Prosperity they are beset with Flatterers instead of Friends, their Impunity is their danger, and Superiority to Laws leaves their Spirits unguarded, spoiled of any other restraint than that Allseeing Eye which hath too little influence upon the rest of Mankind. On the other side their declining Fortune constantly runs into extremes, or if they go to the Grave in Peace, their Ashes are certainly Arraigned for whatever the Importunity of Dependants, Distraction of Counsels, Exigency of Affairs, or Iniquity of the Times, forced them upon. And herein no History affords a more deplorable Instance than that of our Royal and Blessed Martyr, who having run a Course of the most inhuman Treatments ever offered to Crowned Head, since that of Thorns was worn; and then universally acquitted, not only by the Grand Inquest of the Nation, but by all others, who had the least Sense of Honour, Truth, or Virtue, in their Souls; hath now of late been Murdered afresh, his Memory so despitefully Assaulted, and the many Old Calumnies, and Reproaches so maliciously Revived, as if there had been nothing done or said in his Vindication. Could they allege any thing de Novo, it might give a fresh Gloss to their Baffled Cause; but their Malice did so fully disgorge itself at first, as they can only New Chew the same Coleworts, take down and Vomit up again those Villainous Defamations, which have been as often answered as urged; and perhaps had not been urged again, did they not hope the Licentiousness of the Age, which God forbid, would bear them out, and enable them to crush any one, who should dare to reply.  
He who, to the best of my Observation, first broke the Ice upon this unworthy Subject, was one Roger Coke Esq in Two Volumes, which he calls Detections of the four last Reigns, a Title of great sound, and cannot but raise an Expectation in every inquisitive Reader, of some great Discoveries, some deep Mysteries of State, or Mischievous Intrigues, the World hath not hitherto been acquainted with: Whereas I defy any of his Abettors (for he is gone to his proper Place) to produce one single Passage, which hath not been alleged, and replied to, before, and as often replied to, as alleged: An Abridgement of all the Libels, and all the Lies, since the coming in of King james the first, had been a more agreeable Title; for though Rushworth's Collections, and the Life of Lord Keeper Williams are mostly cited by him (Authors too too partial) yet there is not one Roguy Pamphlet from Sr. A. W.'s Court of King james, to Milton's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I speak in reference to the first Volume only) which hath not afforded Materials for this ill-natured Malicious Work; neither could any one expect otherwise who knew the Man, and his Conversation, being of an haughty, positive Humour, with all the other ill Qualities of his Grandfather, the great Lord Chief justice Coke, (and perhaps too by Natural descent) without any of the good: Indeed he seemed to be the Caput Mortuum of that high Spirit, so dull and insipid, as Spite itself could not raise him; for 'tis thought he wrote those bitter Invectives against the Royal Family, to be revenged on King james the first, for deposing his Grandfather; although 'tis well known his Arbitrary, and Insolent deportment in that great Trust, made it absolutely necessary; but engaging in the popular Cause afterward, that expiated for all. In short, the Whole of all what he calls a History is of as lose a Contexture as our Capitation Stuff, and of as Coarse a Composition, scare giving a good Word to any Person, or any Party: He declares a suspicion of offending the Commonwealth's Men, and yet obliges them with one continued Libel against Monarchy, whereunto he was too well qualified by the predominancy of a Swelling Spleen, and Overflowing Gall, with other unhappy Circumstances both as to Temper and Condition, so that had they not been thus Vented, 'tis to be feared he might with judas have burst asunder: Yet this Uncouth Piece, because False, and foul Mouthed, took to Admiration among the several Factions, insomuch as in two Years time no less than three Impressions were wrought off; indeed they had not been gratified with any thing of that kind for several Years before, and such perverse Dispositions (like Men in Fevers) will greedily swallow whatever allays the present Drought of their Minds, tho' it promotes the Distemper, and hastens their Ruin. And upon this account is there such Care taken of a fresh supply, so that an Undesigning Integrity cannot but be concerned for the next Age (which generally gives the best account of that which preceded) how it will be able to Cull out the Truth from those Numberless Volumes of Lies and Forgeries, which every Commonwealth Bigot, and Mercenary Pen is free to impose upon the World.  
According to what I mentioned of a fresh Supply; some Months since these Memoirs of Ludlow came forth, and are altogether as much in Vogue as the Detections were at first; tho' as to the Libelling part upon our Royal Martyr, it discovers nothing but the same inveterate Spite, and repeated Untruths set forth in another Method, and different Appearance, wherein that Spirit of Calumny, and Delusion, which possesses every Individual throughout their several Tribes, knowing how much they delight in variety, does most readily gratify them, finding it the readiest means to secure their compliance in the grossest Impositions, and falsest Slanders.  
Whilst I am Writing this, there are two Pamphlets more come to my Hand, in comparison whereof, the Two former may pass for Candid Modest Writers, Their Titles are, A Defence of the Parliament of 1640. and the People of England against King Charles I. And, King Charles' I. no such Saint or Martyr as commonly Reputed; both which without doubt were designed for the last Effort of Fanatic Effrontie; and thought to give as fatal a stroke to the Royal Martyr's Reputation, as the Axe did to his Life; and if the rudest Language that ever was Penned, and the impudentest Lies, that ever were Told, could be any ways Effectual thereunto, their work is throughly done; for there is not one Sentence in both these Libels but must come under both those Characters: Milton had Wit and Style, to flourish off his malicious Reproaches; but here is such Billingsgate stuff as never burdened the Press till our Salamanca Graduate led the Van; and if he wrote, as is commonly reported, by a Club, these doubtless came from the same Fraternity; Their Style, their Sense, and Good Manners, exactly accord, and so do their Temper, and Complexion, all of the same Metal, true Monumental Brass, and 'tis great pity they are not every one severally Erected, without any Pedestals to support them. However I will not so positively place it here, as to exclude their Counterpart, that Club of Calves-Heads at the other end of Town.  
'Tis in the mean while an unhappy Consideration, and never thought consistent with any well ordered Government, that every impudent profligate Wretch, should assume a Liberty of Arraigning at Pleasure all Orders and Degrees of Men, both Living and Dead, even to the Sacred Ashes of the best Man, and most abused Prince that ever sat upon a Throne May not the Great God who judgeth right (upon defect of all Earthly Powers in doing justice to injured Innocence, and oppressed Virtue) be hereby provoked to Arise and Defend his own Cause, Remember the Rebukes his Servants have, whereby their Enemies take occasion to blaspheme his Name, and slander the Footsteps of his Anointed.   

A JUST DEFENCE OF THE Royal Martyr, CHARLES I. PART I  

CHAP. I. The Commonwealth Party could never agree upon any one Model.  
OUR Author begins his Memoirs with the Ruin of his Cause, the Roasting of the Rump, which doubtless was a great disappointment, very much to his prejudice, and therefore in reference to his own dear Self, we will grant he had Reason to complain, That having seen our Cause betrayed, and the most solemn Promises that could be made to the Asserters of it, openly Violated, I departed from my Native Country, etc. Now because this Cause of his is so much magnified throughout both his Volumes, as the only Means of securing the Liberty, Safety, and public Interest of the People, whereas the Office of a King was Burdensome and Dangerous, the House of Peers useless; upon which account both aught to be Abolished, and the Government settled in the way of a Commonwealth, the two first Votes they made after their Execrable Parricide, it will I hope be thought no improper digression, to examine the Rise of this excellent Model, how it came first in Power? How it behaved itself whilst so, and what became of it in the end? In order whereunto we must know, that the Violent and Numerous Faction in that fatal long Parliament of Forty, were all of one piece so long as the King was able to bear up; and most implacable against all such Loyal Faithful Members as adhered unto him, some of which they turned out of the House, and forced many others to withdraw, as well for the security of their Persons, as in Obedience to their Consciences; which obliged them to stand by their injured Prince so that in january 43, the King assembled at Oxon a greater Number of Lords and Commons than sat at Westminster, although the latter supplied themselves with a sort of Cattle called Recruiters, from such Corporations and Burroughs, as were within their Quarters, where they might be sure of confiding Men, who would not fail to carry on the Work as they had begun.  
But divine Vengeance designing further to scourge us with our own Rod, though it gave Success to their rebellious Arms, yet withal, so divided them amongst themselves, as they that expected most, had least of the Spoil; whilst the Bear and the Wolf, the Presbyterian and Independent contended, one cunning Fox ran off with the Prey; for as soon as the Royal Cause was vanquished, those two Iuntoes fell into implacable Enmities in the House; and because the Independent was smallest in Number, they supplied that Defect by the Army which had been so modelled by Cromwell, as to be all of their own Leven, and undertook their Quarrel so effectually, as to bring a Charge against eleven of the most leading Members on the other Side, who thereupon were forced to absent themselves, some of them, for their better Security, beyond the Seas. But this Purge would not do, there must be a stronger Dose to remove the tough Presbyterian Humour, which was accordingly prescribed; for the other junto finding themselves still out-voted, ran away to the Army, and carried their Speaker with them, making a sad Complaint, that their elder Brethren of the other Faction were obstinate and refractory, and would not let them have their Wills in going thoroughstitch to the Ruin of King and Kingdom, at leastwise would not let it go their own Way, and therefore begged their Assistance in the Accomplishment of so good a Work; whereupon they straightway marched up to Westminster, filled both the Palace Yards with Soldiers, and set double Files through the Hall, up to the Doors of both Houses, looking scornfully upon the Members which had sat in the Absence of their Speaker, and threatened to pull them forth by the Ears if they did not give speedy Satisfaction; so that at present they carried all before them. However the Army, or rather, their Managers Cromwell and Ireton, seemed herein to mis-time their Design; the whole Nation was alarmed at these extravagant Proceedings, that the King should be so barbarously confined, the Parliament forced, now they seemed somewhat disposed to an Accommodation, and all things controlled by the Arbitrary Licentiousness of a Military Rabble, even to a Vote, of no more Addresses to the King: Which first proceeded from their Motion without Doors, to their Creatures within; this made several Counties petition, and then rise in Arms; some who had been Commanders for the Parliament in Wales, endeavoured to retrieve their Country from those Mischiefs their Mistakes had brought upon it: And Scotland actually declaring against their English Brethren's Abuse of the King, provided an Army to invade them.  
This made our Men of the Sword postpone for the present, their State-Reformation, and fall to their proper Calling: Fairfax undertook such loyal Gentlemen and Parties in Kent and Essex, as had engaged to free their Country from an Army of Mamaluks, and shut them up in Colchester, whilst Cromwell's veterane Forces found a ready Conquest of the Welsh; and the Scotch under such ill Conduct, as if they came on purpose to acquaint him, how easy it was for a Man of Resolution and good Management, to subdue and enslave their Nation. In the mean time, whilst this kind of second War was on foot, the whole Kingdom, besides those concerned in the forementioned Engagements, began to reflect what a miserable Condition they had brought themselves into: The City petition the Parliament for a personal Treaty with the King; they accordingly vote in their secluded Members, repeal that of no Addresses, and agree to a Treaty at the Isle of Wight; which nevertheless met with so many Obstacles and Delays from the adverse junto, as the Army had finished their Business before the Treaty could be brought to a Conclusion; and were so incensed thereat, as they came up in a Rage to London, took Quarters at and about Whitehall, fell the second Time to reform the House, whereof they actually seized and committed 41 Members, 
Hist. of Indepen. part 2. pag. 31.  denied Entrance to above 160 more, besides about 40 or 50 who voluntarily withdrew to avoid their Violence, so that the whole was now reduced to between 40 or 50, such profligate Wretches, both as to Life and Principle, that they would stick at no Villainy the Bashaws their Masters thought fit to put upon them. And this is the true Origin of what is commonly called the Rump of the long Parliament, the End whereof is so much condoled by our Author, although it might as properly have been called the Excrement; to be sure their Actions will make our Nation stink in the Nostrils of all good Men to the End of the World.  
We are next to inquire how this Fag End of a Parliament behaved itself, having got the Power into their Hands, or rather were the Substitutes, the Properties of the Army; for that is their truest Character: And here to let the Nation see their Business should not be done by Halves, they began with these Resolves.  

1. That the People under God are the Original of all just Power.  
2. That the Commons of England assembled in Parliament, being chosen by, and representing the People, have the supreme Authority of this Nation.  
3. That whatsoever is enacted and declared for Law by the Commons, hath the Force of a Law.  
4. That all the People of this Nation are included thereby, although the Consent of the King and House of Peers be not had thereto.  
5. That to raise Arms against the People's Representatives, is high Treason.  
6. That the King himself took Arms against the Parliament, and upon that account is guilty of the Blood shed through the Civil War, and that he ought to expiate the Crime with his own Blood. Whose Trial they fell to immediately, and with an unparallel Impudence, founded their Dominion in the Blood of the Lord's Anointed, and their Liege Sovereign; whereas granting their Position of the People's Right to be true, as it is abominably false, there was not the tenth Part of the Commons at the making that cursed Ordinance, nor would one in a thousand of the People have assented thereunto, and this the Lady Fairfax told them at the Trial, from an adjoining Scaffold: Had that Tool her Husband shown the like Courage, it might have turned to Account; but Men that have a long time habituated themselves in Mischief, God seldom permits to be Instruments of any Good. To be sure, as this cursed Fact rendered the Rump most infamous to all Degrees throughout the Nation, so the Grandees of the Army, after they had traitorously served their turn, paid them as little Respect, and thought they were too contemptible a Body to manage so great a Trust; to which purpose the Agitators, as soon as they had first purged the House, declared it was requisite to have a more equal Representative, and accordingly printed a Model, which they called The Agreement of the People, and so continued frequently harping upon the same String, and pressing to have it taken into Consideration, which forced them upon what our Author declares, Page 313. And now the Parliament being desirous to let the People see that they designed not to perpetuate themselves, after they should be able to make a complete Settlement of Affairs, and provide for the Security of the Nation, etc. Resolved, that the House would, upon every Wednesday Morning, turn themselves into a grand Committee, to debate concerning the Manner of assembling, and Power of future successive Parliaments, the Number of Persons to serve for each County, that the Nation might be more equally represented, etc. And thus they continued two or three Years, and would have till Doomsday according to their own Vote, since they resolved not to rise, till a complete Settlement of Affairs, and the Nation's Security provided for. But Cromwell was resolved they should not stay till then; yet having a different Design from all his Fellow Rebels, kept them in till that was ripe; in Order whereunto Ireland must be first brought into perfect Subjection: And then the Scotch gave him an Opportunity of retaliating their many Outrages, Invasions, and such like Covenant Kindnesses, which he did to purpose: And having gained the Crowning Victory, as he termed it, at Worcester thought it then a fit Time to pull off his Vizard, and send that Pack of Rascals, as he called them at a Nobleman's Table, a Grazing; the Account whereof, as our Author gives it from the 447th Pag. forward, is very pleasant; and shows, that though they were every one profoundly practised in those Hellish Arts of Treachery and Dissimulation, yet Cromwell infinitely outdid them all: They were but petty Devils in Comparison with him, that true Lucifer incarnate.   
But what our Author saith of their being supported by the Affections of the People, Pag. 459. because acting for their Interest, is so gross, so palpable a Lie, as sure he could not believe his Memoirs should be printed till every Man then living was dead: Next the Restauration, I never knew any thing more grateful, the whole Kingdom through, than their Dismission; it was the only popular Act wherein Cromwell obliged all Parties, and made his Usurpation more tolerable, by ridding us of the most contemptible Set of Men that ever sat at the Helm of any Government. But 'tis the common Cant of our Commonwealth Coxcombs, (and 'tis used as much by our Author as any of them) to give that Handful of Fools and Knaves which adhered to them, the Title of the Godly Party, and all the good People of England.  
Well, now they are gone, and had six Years time to fret and bite their Nails; for we may guests at their Regret, by the Spite and Revenge they were guilty of when got again in play, which they could never do as long as Cromwell trod the Stage; but when he was carried off, the Army resolved to revenge his tricking them, upon Richard who succeeded him, and could think of no better Tools to effect that Work, than by setting their old journymen the Rump about it; in order whereunto they placed them in the Workhouse, and set them to the Business, which they soon dispatched, although they had much ado to find a Number sufficient; for however our Author pretends, he gave Dr. Owen a List of 160 which had sat since the Year 48, they were forced to send for Munson and Harry Martin out of the Goal, to make up a Quorum of 40. from which time forward, to their final Expiration, there can be nothing more comical in any History, Romance, or Play, than the several Transactions, Caballings, and Intrigues amongst them, as related all along by our Author; what jealousies and Distrusts they had of one another; what Plots and Counterplots, Turnings out and in, Quarrels, Treaties, and Patching up, wherein our Author tells us what pains he took, and with what Moderation he proceeded, to little purpose, God be praised. One thing more especially they could never get over, and that was a settled well fixed Form of Government: The Army were resolved upon a standing Senate of their own Body, I presume, to over-awe the civil Representatives: The Rump, on the other hand, thought themselves so much their Masters, as to vote the Speaker General, and order that all, even the most supreme Officers, should have no Commissions but from him; whereupon what passed between Sir Arthur Haslerig and Lambert, pag. 677, may be thought worth relating. Lambert complained how that Act left them at Mercy; only said Sir Arthur, at the Mercy of the Parliament, who are your good Friends. I know not, replied the other, why they should not be at our Mercy, as well as we at theirs; which made Sir Arthur shake his Head, as our Author owns: And really 'tis hard to resolve whether they were more stupid or insolent, to imagine, that a Company of rusty, sturdy jades, who had all along got the Bit between their Teeth, should suffer such a Pack of Fools to ride them at Pleasure. Neither was the Dispute less amongst themselves in the House upon the same Subject; some were for choosing Representatives, according to the old Constitution; others would have them proportioned in every County, according to their Share in the Payment of Taxes: Henry Nevil, and half a Score of such Mercurial Heads, with more Sail than Ballast, strong Fancies and weak judgements, were for a Rotation, according to their Friend Harrington's Oceana, and much Pother there was about it at a Club set up for that purpose, with several such like maggotty Conceits, as we find Page 674. To be brief, Into such a desperate Frenzy were they fallen, as our Author owns, Page 855, and being ripe for the Correction of Heaven, nothing could prevent it, our Enemies succeeding in all their Attempts, and all our Endeavours proving abortive: An ingenuous Confession this: When Men begin to suffer they begin likewise to reflect, and if ever, speak Truth; for General Monk having well observed his Friend Cromwell's Arts of Dissimulation, and how much it was in Vogue with all the several Parties, proved so good a Proficient therein, as to foil them at their own Weapon; made as many Protestations to the Rump, that he would act altogether for their Interest and Welfare, as the long Parliament did at first to the King, and kept them as well, so that the Kingdom was restored by the same Course it was ruined, which whether he designed or not at his first setting out (for that remains still in the dark, how positive soever our Author is to the contrary) yet finding all the other Factions and Interest so slippery and false, and the Nation withal so importunate for a free Parliament, which they knew would introduce their old Establishments, there was no other way left to secure and advance himself, and quocunque modo Rem, since it was done, the more unlikely the Means, the greater the Mercy, and an overruling Power the more clearly visible therein; and therefore Cromwell's Cant upon his Scotch Victory (which our Author so much applauds, pag. 329) may with much more reason come in here, since the Lord, upon this solemn Appeal, hath so signally given judgement on Monarchy's Side, when all Hopes of Deliverance seemed to be cut off: Methinks our Commonwealth's Men should give over all Thoughts of placing that in the Saddle, which having been so often there already, could not keep its Seat. 'Tis likewise a pretty Passage our Author relates, that when some of the Rump and Cromwell's Myrmidon had a Conference about the former's Dismission, Saloway desired, that before they took away the present Authority; they would declare what they would have established in its Room, pag. 455. To which it was replied, That it was necessary to pull down this Government, and it would be time enough then to consider what should be placed in the Room of it. And here indeed they were sure enough; for Cromwell designed himself, though it was not then proper for his Creature to declare so much; but the other Side could never yet resolve, and would be as far off as ever, if trumped up again: So that in this Particular I dare be a little positive, which yet must be acknowledged a very reasonable Proposal, that if the Dissenters would forbear undermining the Church till they could agree amongst themselves (which 'tis said they are now hot upon, and are doubtless all too hot to do any thing to purpose) as to Matters of Doctrine, Discipline, and Worship; and the Republicans do the same by the Monarchy, as to the Management of civil Affairs; I make no doubt but Church and State might last as long as any one Government in Europe, or the whole World.   

CHAP. II. Monarchy hath ever had the Preference.  
BUT though they never could, nor never will agree what to set up, yet at the Negative they are the Devil and all: Monarchy of Necessity must down, for all Kings affect to be Tyrants, to insult over, and enslave their People; neither do they care to be bound up by Laws, but are uneasy under such Restraints, and take the first Opportunity to break through and make themselves absolute. This is the never failing Sugar-Plumb, wherewith popular factious Spirits are sure to take with the Rabble; carry them out of God's Blessing into the warm Sun, give them good Words at present, and Repentance in Reversion: For as never any Age abounded more with State Empyricks, than the present, so 'tis generally concluded by them, that the Distemper hath all along lain in the Head, without ever considering that the Head is the Seat of Knowledge, the Residence of the Soul, not otherwise to be indisposed than by the Malignity of such Humours as the Body sends up, Fumes of the Spleen or Stomach, and too violent Ascent of Blood or Spirits, from whence alone that is disturbed, and all irregular Affections there produced; and this equally holds in the politic as natural Body: Neither are they less mistaken in their way of Cure, whether it be Ignorance, Rashness, or both; for the Head cannot ache, but they conclude it an Apoplexy, and bleed the whole to Death, and go so uncouthly about a cut Finger, every slight and trivial Hurt, as to make it gangreen: God deliver us from such Physicians as these, wherewith, notwithstanding as we have much abounded, so are there still too many.  
To come therefore more calmly to the Question: As it must be granted on the one Side, there can be no such thing as a perfect State to be found in this World, so must it be acknowledged on the other, optimus ille qui minimis urgetur, even in this Sense, that is best which has fewest Inconveniencies; for as Grotius applies that of the old Comedian: Aut haec cum illis sunt habenda, aut illa cum his mittenda sunt, the bad must be born with, in Consideration of the greater good we should otherwise go without; and proceeding according to this Method, whether we consider them in Thesi or Hypothesi, the Balance will certainly turn on Monarchy's Side: For first, in Thesi, that hath ever had the Preference with all Men of sober Sense and quiet Principles; and notwithstanding the many Harangues, and few Instances, the contrary Party are forward to bring, no Monarch can be looked upon, but as obliged not only in Honour and Duty, but Interest likewise, to consult the Welfare of his Subjects as much as a Father of a Family that of his Children, and hath the same Inducement to keep and leave it in good Order to his Heir or Successor, as a Husbandman to improve that Farm which he is sure shall descend to his Posterity. And thus it hath generally been all the World over, and in all Ages, where a Kingdom was looked upon no otherwise than a larger Family (from whence at first they all came) and the Master thereof, as the Pater Patriae, the common Father of the Country; and when otherwise, the Children have been oftener to blame than the Parent, though when the Breach was once made, nothing could be more natural than for both Sides to run into Extremes. Farther yet, we should consider, all earthly Powers, and every Individual under them, are subordinate to the Almighty Sovereign of the Universe, who in a secret and wonderful manner, arbitrates and controls all humane Undertake, according to the infinite Wisdom of his own unsearchable Will; and when provoked to high Displeasure by some enormous National Crimes, hath been then observed more especially to interpose, and give a People over to such cursed Infatuations as to violate all Rules of common Discretion, as well as Duty, and precipitate their own Ruin; whereof farther on, we may have too sad Occasion to make Application. And however, towards the End of the last Century, and Beginning of this, several Parts of Europe were mad upon this Republican Humour, and many amongst us are so foolish as still to continue the Freak; yet I have sometimes thought with myself, from the few Instances we have in History of this kind of Government; and them them that were, mostly founded upon the Ruin of Monarchies; continued all the Time of their being in perpetual Disorders and Convulsions of State, till at last they resolved into a Monarchy again. This I say, hath made me think, that they all took their Beginning from the forementioned Displeasure of the Almighty; for inverting that Oeconomy wherein he had placed the World, and maugre all their Conceits and Oppositions, would have it so continue: For the Great King of Heaven is jealous, both of his Honour and Prerogative; and when a few fanciful novelists will dare to set up the Right of their Sovereign Lords the People, in Opposition to his Ordinances and eternal Establishments, the Decision may be easily foreseen, if with Reverence duly attended; his infinite Wisdom and Patience so wonderfully operating, and in so secret a manner upon their hard and impenitent Hearts, as to make themselves the Instruments of his Wrath and Vengeance. And from the same Power and secret Will it is, that the Parties themselves are so little sensible of the judgement, as to maintain their Opinion with more Earnestness than ever, and so may continue without Control; for, having, withal the Command of Legions, no wise Philosopher will dare to dispute his best against them. However, God is not mocked, and so they will find at last.  
But then, secondly, If we consider this in Hypothesi, and bring it home to our own Case, we shall find a very black Account; for after all their Noise and Clamours, the little Finger of this Upstart Commonwealth, proved heavier to the whole Nation, than the Loins of the most rigid Monarch that ever sat upon the Throne: Nay, 'tis farther certain, by most dear bought Experience, that there was more Arbitrary Power, and illegal Commitments exorbitant Taxes, Rapine and Plunder; Sequestrations and Sacrilege, with whatever else could be most Unjust and Tyrannical; voted, and put in practice during the twenty Years Usurpation of the several Iuntoes, than by all the Crowned Heads; ay, and their Favourites too (to take off all Allegations of that kind) since the Conquest; I might add, since the Creation; did our Histories reach so far. 'Tis modestly expressed by our Author, that notwithstanding their other Helps, the Charge at Sea and Land was so great, as they were forced to lay a Land-Tax of 120000 l. per Mensem: Which, notwithstanding, if we may believe him, the People paid very freely. Now let us examine a little what these other Helps were: They had seized, not only upon all the Crown, but Church-Lands; and disposed of them at Pleasure: They had the free Contributions of the City Dames, and all others well affected, as far as their Quarters extended, even to the poor Country Wenches Bodkins and Thymbles. They had the Sequestration of all the Loyal Nobility and Gentry; whose Estates they disposed of amongst themselves, to several 1000 l. per Annum. They had raised the Customs much higher than ever they were in the King's Time: And in humble Imitation of their Brethren the Dutch, retrenched the Excesses of Good Fellowship, by an Excise; which the Nation was never acquainted withal before, and now must never be without.  
Besides 25 th' Parts, Decimations; with numberless other Ways of squeezing the People, who notwithstanding must think all too little for that happy Liberty this Free State had brought them into. One thing farther I must observe, in Reference to the Land-Tax; that as it was collected according to the Lunary, or as the Term than went, Military Months; so they would not rest there, but were so good at Multiplication, as to repeat that Monthly Assessment sixteen or seventeen times in a Year: Whereas the Sum, which two or three of these Months amounted to, was as much as was ever given to, or expected by any King before, and would have made Charles I. the happiest Prince, and continued us the easiest People under Heaven. Can we be pitied to have it brought to more Millions than that made 100000 ls. and a Necessity of continuing the same? So fatal a thing it is, not to take the Wise Man's Advice; but instead of that Fear to God, and Honour to the King, which he recommends, be meddling with such as are given to change, the most troublesome Generation of Men any Nation was ever plagued withal; for whatever Improvements our Royal Societies may make as to Natural Knowledge; Oso's in Politics, or Religion, are most intolerable; their Chemical Heads will never forbear trying Experiments, till both evaporate in Smoak and Confusion. Had Sir W. T.'s Alphonso the Wise lived in these mutable Times, to those four Old Things he gave so great a Preference, there doubtless had been added a fifth, and that is, Old Government.   

CHAP. III. King James, and Charles I. designed nothing of Arbitrary Power.  
IN Confirmation of what I said, That Arbitrary Power is the Grand Topick of the Faction: Our Author Ludlow begins his spiteful Charge there: Those who make any Enquiry into King James' Reign, will find, that though his Inclinations were strongly bend to render himself Absolute, yet he chose rather to carry on that Design by Fraud than Violence: But King Charles having taken a nearer View of Despotic Government, in his journey to France and Spain; tempted with the glittering Show, and imaginary Pleasures of that empty Pageantry; Immediately after his Ascent to the Throne, pulled off the Mask, and openly discovered his Intentions to make the Crown absolute and Independent, pag. 1, 2. Audacter Calumniari goes a great way in any bad Cause: To be sure this Calumny hath been so frequently urged, so constantly inculcated, as several worthy Gentlemen, otherwise well affected to Monarchy in general, as well as the Memory of those two Princes, are yet prone to suspect they might have some Inclinations that way; and for their Satisfaction more especially it is I give them and myself this Trouble. To show therefore how little Ground there was or is for this Suspicion: King james called Parliaments as often as any Prince ever did, and courted them as much, perhaps more than was requisite, considering the Temper they were of: And so did his Son at first, as Ludlow owns. 'Tis true, he called some in the first Years of his Reign: But than makes this malicious Reflection; The People soon perceived he did it rather to empty their Purses, than redress their Grievances. The Truth of it is, there was such a Spirit of Innovation and Faction got abroad, such groundless Suspicions and Distrusts every where, not only whispered, but openly proclaimed throughout the Nation; as 'tis equally unaccountable how Men should have the Confidence to forge such gross Untruths, and the People suffer themselves to be so absurdly imposed upon: Although, as to this latter, nothing can seem incredible to such as observed, what a Fright the whole Nation was abused into the other Day, as if between two and three thousand Irish (for that was their utmost Number, could fire all their Habitations, and cut all their Throats. Yet by such Artifices as these, altogether as groundless and improbable, the People were kept up in a continual Ferment, so foolishly prejudiced, and so freakishly peevish, as no Reason could be heard, nor Truth prevail upon them; whereunto both the forementioned Kings were too forward to appeal, and too condescending in giving an Account of themselves and Actions, by frequent Proclamations, Declarations, etc. considering they had to do with the most petulant, malicious Generation ever any Age or Climate produced.  
As to the present Charge of affecting Arbitrary Power, I cannot but remark in the first place, the different Method these two Kings are supposed to propound, in order to bring about the same, King james by Fraud, King Charles by Force. As to the former, whatever Kingcraft he pretended to, every discerning Eye hath all along discovered him to be the most open easy Prince this Nation ever had; studied nothing but his People's Peace, and therein his own Quiet, the Enjoyment of himself. Such a bold, I may say, desperate Undertaking, must have a Prince that is active, daring, and resolute; of a subtle Head, and hollow Heart; understanding all the Arts of Dissimulation and Wheadle, so as to fool the People out of their Money, and therewith maintain an Army to support his Usurpation; with many such like bad Qualities; as opposite to King James' Temper and Genius, as one Pole to the other: For to speak freely, he laboured under the contrary Extreme, wanted Courage to exert his just Rights, stooped Majesty too low, would expostulate and reason where he ought to have commanded; which blind Side, the Faction, in his several Parliaments, once finding out, grew wresty thereupon, would neither lead nor drive but their own Pace and Way.  
What I remark in the second Place, is the Inducement our Author assigns of King Charles' attempting the same by Violence; the nearer View of a Despotic Power in his journey to France and Spain. What will not a Republicans Rebel Spite catch hold of? His journey was not in, but through France, which he consummated in ten or twelve Days, and riding Post, had great Opportunities of being taken with Glittering Shows, and Imaginary Pleasures, etc. And his Business in Spain was of another Nature, and took up so much Time, as he had little Leisure to make Observations, and less Reason to be enamoured with any thing there observed; to be sure, upon Enquiry, he could not but find, that the several Courts, or Councils there, have as great a Restraint upon the Crown, as our Parliaments have here; though they are a sober wise Nation, and seldom or never found to extend their Privileges beyond Right and Reason. I shall not reflect upon the Prudence and Policy of that Design; only observe it was hard for a young Amorous Prince to attend the tedious Delays of old Statesmen, wherewith having been so long kept in Suspense, this Adventure was thought the only Expedient for a final Issue: Desperate enough, which notwithstanding he managed so dexterously, as to weather all Difficulties, and come off with Honour and Safety, contrary to the Expectation of the whole World. I cannot forbear to mention the Account Rushworth gives of his Deportment there: 
Rush. Coll. p. 103.  The Prince, for his part, had gained an universal Love, and was reported by all, to be a truly noble, discreet, well deserving Prince. His grave Comportment suited with the very Genius of that Nation, and he carried it, from the first to the last, with the greatest Affability, Gravity, Constancy, and, at his Farewell, with unparallelled Bounty. Yet this excellent Prince we murdered, and forced his Sons to travel for Security of their Lives; and if, during that Royal Exile, they depended chiefly upon Papists for their Subsistence, and observed how a Neighbour Prince, weathering the like Storm from his three Estates, as their Father met with (for all Rebellions do not prosper as in England) took the Government solely into his own Hand; I say, if upon these Obligations and Observations, they returned home less affected to the Protestant Religion, and our Old Establishments of civil Government, than could be wished; Who can we blame but ourselves?  
Upon the Prince's Return home, and making a Report to his Father, what slippery Statesmen the Spaniards were, especially as to his Sister's Concerns; King james, at the earnest Request of the Parliament, broke off that Match, who engaging him in a War for Recovery of the Palatinate, promised all the Assistance could be desired; which was soon after, by his Father's Death, devolved upon King Charles, and a Parliament thereupon summoned de novo, whom he bespoke with all Affection and Tenderness imaginable; acquainting them how The Eyes of all Europe were upon that his first Attempt, and what a Blemish it would be to sustain a Foil. Hereupon a Supply was voted, which served the present turn, and that was all: For in the next Session, which was at Oxon, that unquiet Spirit, which had been so troublesome most part of his Father's Reign, began to let him see what little Hope there was of better Terms from them: Immediately those old Cavils of Grievances, evil Counsellors, and what not, were brought upon the Carpet; and of these, the first insisted upon, was the Increase of Recusants, the Growth of Popery, which was presented in a Petition, showing the principal Causes of their Increase, and properest Remedies to suppress them; whereunto his Majesty gave an Answer, so full and satisfactory, that all undesigning Members were abundantly satisfied therewith, and resolved to acquiesce therein, and fell immediately upon a Supply, which the adverse Party, unable to oppose, seemingly complied likewise, but with a Back Blow; would undertake the Fleet might be much better managed, both as to Conduct and Charge; and thereupon fell most rudely upon the Duke, not sparing his Majesty in some By-reflections; who perceiving their Heats to rise every Day higher than other, and that no Supply was to be had, unless he yielded to their unreasonable Cavils, which no body could foresee how far they would extend, or where end, He sent a Commission to some of the House of Lords, and dissolved them.  
That he was not without great Regret forced upon this, 'tis easy to imagine, considering the Posture of his Affairs, and that Want of timely Supply detained his Fleet from going out, till it should have been returned into Harbour: And indeed the Delays he met with, where there was least Reason to expect them, had they considered the Honour and Interest of the Kingdom, not to say of the King, though they pretended much to both, was the chief, if not sole Cause of several Miscarriages; which, according to the Genius of that Age, were otherwise very well designed. However, giving some strict Orders about Recusants, and whatever else there was any Shadow of an Exception against, as likewise hoping on the other side, those fiery Spirits might be somewhat cooled, and brought to a sober Consideration of their own, and the Nation's Reputation; Another Parliament was called within the same Year, which proved no Changelings, beginning where they left off; with Miscarriages, Misgovernment, Misimployment; in short, they would have all amiss, whereas there was nothing so but themselves. Neither could his Majesty's Letter to the Speaker, have any Influence upon them, 
Rush. Col. pag. 215.  tho' most passionately representing his pressing Occasions, and how unfit it was to depend any longer upon Uncertainties, whereby the whole Weight of the Affairs of Christendom was like to break in upon us on the sudden, to the Dishonour and Shame of the Nation; assuring them moreover, that having satisfied his reasonable Demands, he would continue them together at this Time as long as the Season will permit, and call them shortly again, to apply fit and seasonable Remedies to such just Grievances as they shall present unto him, in a dutiful and mannerly way, without throwing an ill Odour upon our present Government, or upon the Government of our late blessed Father; and if there be yet who desire to find fault, we shall think him the wisest Reprehender of Errors past, who without reflecting backward, can give us Counsel how to settle the present Estate of things, and provide for the future Safety and Honour of the Kingdom. This was very much to the purpose, but withal too home and true to meet with that Reception it ought to have had. Neither had the Lords better Success in a Message they sent, desiring them to take into Consideration, the Safety of the Kingdom; receiving this grough Answer, That they desire to have a good Understanding with their Lordships, and will be ever careful of the Safety and Defence of the Kingdom, and maintain their own Privileges as is fitting. And having sent this, they immediately fell upon the Duke of Buckingham; in order whereunto, we find one Turner, a Doctor of Physic, and Member of the House, made the Factions Tool, or rather Log to break the Ice, by starting six Quaeres against the Duke, grounded only upon common Fame; and this produced another Quaere, indeed a very requisite one; Whether an Accusation upon common Fame, be a Parliamentary Way? And thereupon it was resolved, That common Fame is a good way of proceeding for this House: from whence alone that great Body of Articles was ushered up to the Lords, with as much Pomp and Rhetoric as (give them their Due) that House ever was, or will be Masters of: Yet no more than requisite to supply the Place of Argument; for whoever considers impartially the Duke's Answer, will find it so clear and apposite to every Particular alleged; so consistent with the Reason of Things, and Series of Affairs there mentioned, as'tis more than probable their Impeachment was designed only as a Ducquoy to get him into the Tower; and then, instead of proving their Articles, would have proceeded by Bill of Attainder, and voted it accumulative Treason, as we know it was afterwards most barbarously done in the Earl of Strafford's Case. In the mean while commend me to any Man, or Body of Men, who can have the Confidence to declaim against Arbitrary Power, and yet proceed upon common Fame (which was ever thought hard, and therefore discontinued both in Civil and Canon Law, where for some time it took place) especially in an Age, where Calumny and Slander were so scandalously rise, as no honest Man could escape the devouring Words of their false Tongues. Methinks such a Proceedure as this, has some Affinity with that old Land Story of the Cook serving his Dog, who said he would not hang him, only give him an ill Name; and thereupon threw him into the Street, and cried, a Mad Dog; which made all the Rabble of two, as well as four legged Curs, fall upon, and worry him to Death. Yet how far this way of Prosecution might have been brought into Practice, had these Gentlemen continued Rex, no one can tell, to be sure, in the next Parliament, when Neal, Bishop of Winton, and Laud of London were inveighed against by Sir john Eliot and others, an honest Gentleman stood up and said, Now we have named these Persons, let us think of some Causes why we did it; whereunto Sir Edward Coke replied, 
Arch Bishop Laud's Diary, p. 43.  Have we not named my Lord of Buckingham, without showing Cause, and may we not be as bold with them? Common Fame would do the Business thoroughly. But to return to the Duke, they thought it enough to show their Teeth; for surely, if they could have bit, they would not have postponed the making good their Articles against him, when he pressed them so earnestly thereto, which notwithstanding they did, as well as the King's Supply, and fell to hammering a new Remonstrance, which his Majesty having notice of, anticipated by their Dissolution.  
We shall have Occasion hereafter to observe what passed between this and the next Parliament, which was March 17 th' 1627. when his Majesty, at their first assembling, plainly told them, That if his present calling them together did not answer the Quality of his Occasions, they did not their Duties, and he must rest content in the Conscience of doing his, and take other Courses for which God had impower'd him, to save that which the Folly of particular Men might hazard to lose: Hereupon they fell into long and tedious Debates, whether a Supply or Grievances should first take place: At length the former had the Preference out of Compliment, though last consummated; for that Vote was no sooner passed, but the People's Liberty must immediately be considered, which produced the so much celebrated Petition of Right, wherein the King humoured them to every Punctilio (though nothing but a Spirit of Opposition could have excepted against his first Answer) and passed it with a Droit fait come il est desire; and this with Bells and Bonfires, one would think, should have silenced all former Disgusts, and they gone on with a ready Supply, and mutual Confidence on either Side; whereas the next News we hear, is a Remonstrance of all the common-Fame Stories Malice or Mischief could suggest; and as herein the Duke of Buks led the Van, so the whole contained only such old Cavils as were easily weathered, being very trivial or very false. But when the King found there was a second Remonstrance on the Anvil, as to Tonnage and Poundage, that he had superseded all Right thereto, by granting their Petition of Right; this struck him in so sensible a Part, as he resolved to break through that Royal Patience which had been so long provoked, and put an End to that Session, sometime sooner than he intended, with this Declaration, That since he was truly informed a second Remonstrance was preparing to take away Tonnage and Poundage, one of the chief Supports of his Crown; alleging, he had given away his Right thereto, by his Answer to their Petition; which, as it was very prejudicial to him, so it discovered that the House of Commons began already to make false Constructions of what he had granted already in that Petition; which, lest it should be worse interpreted in the Country, he made this Declaration concerning the true Intent thereof. That the Profession of both Houses, in the Time of hammering that Petition, was no way to trench upon his Prerogative; saying, they had neither Intention nor Power to hurt it; wherefore it must needs be conceived that he granted no New, but confirmed the Ancient Liberties of his Subjects; concluding with this Command, that they should all take notice of what he had there said, to be the true Intent and Meaning of what he had granted in their Petition; but more particularly the judges; for to you only, saith he, under me belongs the Interpretation of Laws; for none of the Houses of Parliament, either joint or Separate, (what new Doctrine soever may be raised) have any Power either to make or declare a Law without my Consent. Thus did his Majesty freely Remonstrate unto them, with Ten Thousand times more Sense and Truth than all their Harangues and Popular Allegations. For at this distance of time, when we may more Calmly judge of such Hot Debates, it cannot but be thought more Gentile and Reasonable for the House to have confirmed by Bill, the Tonnage and Poundage in return for the Petition of Right, than from a cross-grained Pretence to further the Breach, making it the chief Subject of Debate next Session, and cause of a Fatal, a Final Separation.  
During the Recess, the Duke of Bucks was taken off by a wretched Hand, in a most Babarous manner; which 'twas thought would have abated the Edge of their furious Prosecution: As likewise Two or Three of the best parted Men amongst those Fiery Tempers began to Cool, sensible, as in Charity we are obliged to think, what Confusions the Heats they had maintained must produce in the End, and in due time came over to his Majesty's Service; but as the former had little effect, so the other was thought to exasperate their great Spirits, that some few should run away with the Game, which they had jointly assisted in Hunting down; whereas 'tis probable they designed a proportionable Division amongst them all, as it afterwards happened, though then they fell out most cursedly about their several Shares.  
We are now come to the last Session of this last Parliament, who fell immediately to their wont Work, Grievances, whereof Tonnage and Poundage was the Capital; in the Prosecution of which they were resolved to Trounce all such Persons as had been employed to Manage or Collect the same; whereupon the King sent for them to the Banqueting House, and declared that as he never looked upon those Duties as Appertaining to his Hereditary Prerogative, so he expected they should pass the Bill, as had been always Customary in the time of his Ancestors, which his Necessities had obliged him to Collect as They always did before the Bill was passed; and this very Parliament had professed they wanted only Time, not Will to grant them; yet neither this nor a Message afterward could prevail with them to take the Matter into Consideration; nay, saith Mr. Rushworth, the House was troubled to have the Bill imposed upon them, which ought naturally to arise from themselves; a mighty Punctilio that: But in short they would have the King own all the Right to be in them; and then refused the Grant. Whereas it had been all along rather Matter of Form than any thing else; and for four Successions immediately Precedent, passed without the least Dispute. But when Men are resolved to Quarrel, they will take occasion at the wagging of every Straw. To be sure whoever stood by the King in defence of his Prerogative and just Right, must expect the Extremity of their Rage and Fury; to which purpose they began with Weston the New Lord Treasurer, who was ten times worse than Buckingham, Neal Bishop of Winton, Laud of London, and so doubtless would have gone the whole Court through, but that the King perceiving they would neither Act with Temper, nor attend to Reason, stopped the Violence of their Curreer by a Dissolution.  
How they behaved themselves thereupon our Author Ludlow mentions, Locking up the Door of the House of Commons, and compelling the Speaker to keep the Chair, till such Protestations were Voted as they thought fit; and by this he would have it observed how highly the Pulse of the Nation beat for Liberty, he might have more properly said Rebellion; for that they were venturing at Pell-Mell, and had not the King prevented it, would have Acted 40. in 28. But let it be called what they please; doubtless never any Assembly of grave and great Men as these aught to be supposed, (to be sure aught to have been) carried themselves in such a Riotous, Disobliging, and Disobedient manner, with such high Provocations and Indignities to that Sovereign Power by which they sat, and whose undoubted Right it was not only to Dissolve, but punish them too; so that notwithstanding our Author seems much displeased, whoever reads the manner of proceeding against them, both in Star-Chamber, and King's-Bench, as Recorded by Rushworth (though scandalously partial on that side) must acknowledge it a Regular Course; and that never any Men had fairer Play, or came off more easily, considering the Nature of their Crimes, and Obstinacy of their Deportment: But with him that Text of despising Dominions, and speaking Evil of Dignities is not Canonical; they could not have been good Patriots in his Sense, had they not aspersed his Majesty's Person and Government, fomented jealousies amongst his People, with false and scandalous Reproaches upon all his faithful Subjects and Servants. Neither was this Proceedure of the Kings, however severely censured without a Precedent, even in the happy times of Queen Elizabeth, who though she indulged Liberty of Speech to her Members; yet if any dared to open, or so much as quetch against her Prerogative, or fall upon any Debates which did not properly come within their Sphere, she never spared to express the height of her Resentment; whereof take this single Instance, One Morris, a Member of Parliament, and Chancellor of the Duchy, offered a Bill ready drawn, for Retrenching the Ecclesiastical Courts into much narrower Bounds, with several such like Alterations wherewith his busy Head was pregnant: Of this the Queen having present Notice, sends for Coke, than Speaker of the House of Commons, (afterwards Lord Chief justice, and a violent Beautifeu in these three Parliaments of King Charles) by whom she ordered this Message to the House, viz. That it was wholly in her Power to Call, to Determine, to Assent or Dissent to any thing done in Parliament; that the calling of this was only that the Majesty of God might be the more Religiously observed, by compelling with some sharp Laws, such as neglect that Service, and that the Safety of her Majesty's Person, and the Realm might be provided for; that it was not meant they should meddle with Matters of State, or Causes Ecclesiastical; that she wondered any should attempt a thing so contrary to her Commandment, and that she was highly offended at it. And finally that it was her pleasure, no Bill touching any Matters of State, or for Reformation of Matters Ecclesiastical should be there Exhibited. On the delivery of which, Morris is said to have been seized on, in the House, by a Sergeant at Arms; however seized upon he was, and committed Prisoner; kept for some Years in Tutbury Castle, discharged from his Office in the Duchy, and disabled from any Practice in his Procession as a Common Lawyer: What would Ludlow have done, had he been a Member in those happy Times? Here at home, either Tutbury or Tyburn would have been his Fate; and if got abroad, 'tis a question whether Switzerland itself could have secured him from the long Arm of that great Virago.   

CHAP. IU. Not any just Ground for Complaint of Grievances.  
NEither had they better Authority for the several Grievances they made such a Noise about, hunting after them with all the Earnestness imaginable, receiving none so kindly as those who brought them Information of fresh Game, though generally it proved a Brake-bush instead of a Hare.  
That Disparity printed in Sir Henry Wotton's Remains, between the Elizabeth's time, and the Duke of Buckingham, was sometime after discovered to be the first Essay of a Younger, but much abler Pen; the Person who writ it, making as great a Figure during all the Troubles of Charles the I. and II. as any whatsoever, and upon the Restauration was advanced according to his great Merits and Sufferings. This Ingenious little Piece, to make good the Disparity undertaken, observes how great an Advantage the Earl had from the Temper of the Age, and easy Good Natured disposition all People were then in: 'Twas, saith he, an ingenious uninquisitive Time, when all the Passions and Affections of the People were lapped up in such an innocent and humble Obedience, that there was never the least Contestations, nor Capitulations, with the Queen, nor (though she frequently consulted with her Subjects) any further Reasons urged of her Actions, than her own Will.  
When there were any Grievances, they but Reverendly conveyed them to her Notice, and left the Time, and Order of the rest to her Princely Discretion. Once they were more importunate, and formal in pursuing the Complaints of the Purveyors for Provision; which without doubt was a crying, and an heavy Oppression: The Queen sent them Word, they all thought themselves wise enough to reform the Misdemeanours of their own Families, and wished they had so good an Opinion of her, as to trust her with her Servants too. I do not find that the Secretary who delivered this Message received any Reproach or Check, or that they proceeded any further in the Inquisition. On the other side, that of the Duke of Buckingham's Favour with King james and Charles the I. He tells us, was a busy, querulous, froward Time; so much degenerated from the Purity of the former, that the People under pretences of Reformation, with some Petulant Discourses of Liberty (which their great Impostors scattered amongst them, like false Glasses to multiply their Fears) began Abditos Principis Sensus, & quid occultius parat exquirere, extended their inquiries even to the Chamber, and private Actions of the King himself; forgetting that Truth of the Poet, Nusquam libertas gratior extat, quam sub Rege pio. 'Twas strange to see how Men afflicted themselves to find out Calamities and Mischiefs, whilst they borrowed the Name of some great Persons to scandalise the State they lived in. A general disorder throughout the whole Body of the Commonwealth; nay, the Vital Parts perishing, the Laws violated by the Judges, Religion profaned by the Prelates, Heresies crept into the Church, and countenanced: All which they themselves must rectify, without being beholden to the King, or consulting the Clergy: And give me leave to add, proving there was any Truth in those Allegations they made such a Noise about.  
Thus far that Great Man, who hints likewise at the most probable Causes which might produce that Frenzy, this World of ours was then got into: As 1 st. The heat of young Heads, who are ever more forward to reform others, than themselves. 2 dly, The Disappointments some of longer stand met with in reference to their own Advancement. But more especially in the 3 d. place, The Revolution of Time, which had made them unconcerned in the Loyal Fears that governed sixty Years since, and the Nation too happy in that Spirit, and Condition; Unless more sensible of it, and thankful for it: From which stupid Humour it was, that such as cried Fire most, with the same Breath blew the Coals, and would never give over till they had set all in a Flame.  
One of these Grievous Cries was Tonnage and Poundage, about which we have already mentioned his Majesty's just Resentments, but withal his too great Condescension, in hopes to give them Satisfaction; So far beneath ourselves, to use his own Words, 
Append. p. 7.  As we are confident never any of our Predecessors did the like; nor was the like ever required or expected from them. Notwithstanding which they continued their Proceedings, and as the King goes on, We endured long with much patience, both these and sundry other strange and exorbitant Encroachments and Usurpations, such as were never before attempted in that House. Roger Coke is also very hot upon this Scent, 
Detect. p. 334.  and gives a History thereof out of his Grandfather's Institutes, so far as to serve his turn; yet withal is forced to own, that they had been continued to all the Kings and Queens since Edward the 4 th'. so that passing an Act was only Matter of Form; for if Prescription, long continued Custom, be Common Law for the People, and make the best Tenors, why not for the Prince? Nay, 'tis farther apparent, that in most of those Reigns, there were several Alterations, and Additions too, as Circumstances of Trade varied, or Reason of State required: Queen Elizabeth more especially took her Liberty therein at pleasure, without Regret, or Complaint, from Merchant or Member; particularly the Venetians having Taxed a Charge upon our English Cloth; She, to be even with them, raised that upon Corinth's, which continued all her Life without dispute; and when a Pragmatical Fellow stood it out with King james, it was adjudged due by the Barons of the Exchequer. But the debate here was perfect Spite, and Contradiction; otherwise no Man of Sense of Honour would have made a Breach between Prince and People, in refusing to confirm what his Predecessors had enjoyed some hundred Years before.  
Especially considering the Charge and Care the King was then at, above any of his Ancestors, in reference to Naval Preparations, whereto the Customs were all along assigned. I have seen an Account of the Navy Royal as it stood in Queen Elizabeth's Time, presented by Sir Walter Raleigh, to Prince Henry; consisting of Twenty four Sail, the best of which did not reach one of our Fourth or Fifth Rates, as now built: 'Tis true, he tells him it might be advanced to what Number she pleased, by pressing Merchants Ships of equal or greater Force. And so it continued without any considerable Improvement all King James' Time, till the Earl of Nottingham, Lord Admiral, overgrown with Age, importuned the King for a Discharge, as he owned both to Lords and Commons, wherein he was complied with, and succeeded by the Duke of Buckingham, who applied himself thereto with so much Diligence and Circumspection, as at the same time his neglect was so severely complained of in the House of Commons; we had an Hundred Sail in one Fleet gone against the Spaniard; with another Squadron joined the Dutch to block up Dunkirk; and a third to guard the Channel; which was likewise continually improved, so far as the King's Purse could reach, under the many Exigenties he then lay; and would the Parliament have performed their Parts might have then cleared the Ocean of all Opposition whatsoever; which they were so far from, as to make an attempt of withdrawing the Customs, the only support he had to this great Defence and Undertaking: Yet notwithstanding their perverse Disposition, 'tis a Question whether we had not the Balance upon our Neighbours more then, than now? and as able to maintain the Sovereignty of the Seas? Though it shall be acknowledged, our Strength at present may be five, perhaps ten times greater, with a proportionable Charge, and Opposition too, which is worst of all. In the mean while we may from hence perceive what a creditable Evidence Common-fame is; for as the Clamour than ran, which our several Sets of Pamphletteers, and Libelers would have us still believe, one would have imagined we had not been able to fight a Fleet of Dutch Fisher-Busses, or that our Admiral knew or cared whether there had been two such places as Chatham, or Portsmouth; such strong Prejudices can Men of ill design Fool the People into. Neither was the Conduct of other Affairs so much to be run down as their Pettishness did Suggest, when amongst other things they would inquire how the Reputation and Interest of our Nation came to decline so much from what it was in Ages past; 
Coll. 208.  which if they had considered the Wise Man's Caution, they would have omitted for their own Reputation sake: 
Eccl. 7. 10.  Say not thou, what is the Cause, that the former Days were better than these? For thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this. And I am confident every ordinary Reader will judge there was more Malice than Wisdom in the Matter before us, when told; their Charge was chiefly Levelled at those Storms which Dissipated our Fleets, both upon the Spanish and Flemish Coasts: On the contrary could there be a more Sober or Christian Answer than what the King replied? That 'twas God's Pleasure to send stormy Wether, and his Will must be done: Though 'tis confessed they might have gone out at a more Seasonable time of the Year, had they furnished him with a seasonable Supply; but it became now their usual Practice, to charge him with their own Defects.  
Yet notwithstanding that, and the Miscarriage at the Isle of the, where nevertheless a great deal of English Bravery was shown, (so little were they degenerated from their Ancestors) the French were so much Alarmed at our entering into a War, and Assisting the Rochellers, as they proffered the Duke of Rohan, and the Protestant Party, any Terms to join with them against the English; and it was their ill Conduct, and Positiveness, (not to excuse something of Treachery amongst them,) which made the first Attempts for their Relief, miscarry, as shall be made appear in due Time, and Place; as likewise how glad the French were of a Peace, on Honourable Terms on our Side, though they knew too well the Perverseness of our great Senate. But to look back upon former Times, even those so happy Days of Queen Elizabeth, they were not attended with constant Success; the great Sir Francis Drake did not always answer Expectation in his Returns out of the West-Indies, and as great a Sea Captain as he, was Frozen to Death in Search of the North-East-Passage, with several such like Instances which might be given as to those Affairs. So likewise for Land-Service, Leicester's Conduct in the Low Countries, was neither to his Mistresses, nor their Satisfaction; and that popular Favourite Essex miscarried most Scandalously in his Second Expedition against Spain; and how fatal his Irish Management was, is known to all. At some of these indeed the Queen was concerned; but had any of her Parliaments meddled therewith, they would have soon discovered how much she had of Henry the viii Spirit. Neither ought it to seem strange, if after that continued Peace God and King james had so long blessed us withal, we should be somewhat at a Loss, entering afresh into War; since that we have gained more Experience, and paid sufficiently for our Learning, both in Blood and Treasure, and which is worse still, cannot give over when we would.  
And whilst we are upon this Head of Grievances, there is a Commission to several Lords of the Privy Counsel must by no means be passed by: For though it was only in general Terms, 
Coll. 615.  To enter into Consultation of all the best and speediest Ways and Means ye can, for raising of Monies for the most important Occasion aforesaid, which without extremest hazard to us, our Dominions and People, and to our Friends and Allies, can admit of no long delay, etc. Yet Rushworth, and from him Roger Coke, and from them both the Defence, etc. will have it to raise Monies by way of Excise, in which Sense likewise this present Parliament would have it go, and made a Bustle accordingly, sending Sir Edward Coke to Harangue the Lords upon the same Subject; whose first and chief Exception was, that 'twas ordered after their Summons, (a sufficient Proof there could be no ill Design by it) although it might likewise be considered, that the Parliament was not so free to grant the King Supplies, as he to Summons them; and further yet, that there were several Projects propounded to the King, which he would never rashly close with, but refer to the Consideration of his Counsel, (no mean Instance of his Prudence and Goodness too, above what we deserved) to recommend such as their Wisdoms and best judgements, should find to be most convenient in a Case of this inevitable Necessity: For those be the express Words in the Commission. And hereto agrees what the Lord Keeper reported to the House of Lords: 
Col. 628.  That their Lordships had reason to be satisfied, with what was truly and rightly told them by the Lords of the Council, that this Commission was no more but a Warrant of Advice, which his Majesty knew to be agreeable to the Time, and the manifold Occasions then in Hand; but now having a Supply from the Loves of his People, he esteems the Commission useless; and therefore, though he knows no Cause why any jealousies should have risen thereby, yet at their Desires, he is content it be canceled, and hath commanded me, etc.  
Yet I know this Reply will not pass, though upon his Majesty's Royal Word; unless we can take off that potent Allegation of 30000 l. remitted over to Sir William Balfour, and Dalbeir in Holland, to raise a Thousand Germane Horse, to enforce the Payment of this Excise, and awe the Parliament soon to be Assembled, as most of the Libelers expressly declare. That such a Sum was remitted to raise Horse is certainly true, but to be employed here at home to the Ends aformentioned, as certainly false; to the making good whereof I must observe, that the Low-Countries were at that time not only the School but Shop of War, which furnished all the rest of Europe (even the Spaniards themselves, for a good Market) with Arms, Ammunition, and whatever else was requisite to that Bloody Trade: Neither was any thing more usual in Queen Elizabeth's Time, than to take such English Forces as had been exercised, and fleshed in their Service, when upon any great Expedition against Spain or elsewhere, and supply them with new raised Men to maintain their Garrisons: According to this Method the Lord Wimbleton was supplied about two Years before in his Expedition against Spain: And these 1000 Horse were doubtless designed upon some Enterprise in defence of Rochel, or otherwise to Annoy the French; which upon new Councils, and perhaps a Prospect of Peace, (for about that time it began to be secretly Agitated) was laid aside. To be sure had his Majesty designed any thing of force upon this Nation, he made choice of very improper Instruments, in those two Commanders, who notwithstanding their great Obligations to the King, when the War broke out in 41. took Employments under the Parliament (because they had most Money I presume) and did them cursed Service. The Defence saith Dalbeir was a Papist to reflect upon the King, doubtless; without considering what he did afterwards for his Parliament of 40. He was a Germane and had served under Count Mansfield, so that 'twas more likely he was Lutheran or Calvinist: But of what concern is that Man's Religion, who Acts without a Principle of Gratitude, or Common Honesty? And therefore to attend the Fate of this unworthy Person a little farther, when he had wrought journy-work for the Parliament as long as the War lasted, he was laid aside; which regretting, as a Soldier of Fortune ought to do, engaged upon the King's Account, with the Duke of Bucks, Lord Holland, etc. in that Design at Kingston, which miscarrying, they were pursued to St. Neots in Huntingtonshire, where some escaped, some were taken; but Dalbeir was cut in pieces by his Brethren, the Parliamentarians, because he had been of their Side. If Balfour did not come to the same End 'twas pity; for he was a true Covenanting Scot, betrayed the King in the great Trust of the Tower committed to him, and from thenceforward sided with the Parliament. I had not been so Prolix in my Account of these two Men; but to show, that had there been any such Design as an Excise and these Germane Horse to enforce the same, 'tis impossible but the two chief Commanders must have been privy thereto, and would have consequently divulged it to their Patrons the Parliament, endearing themselves more thereby, than all their other Bloody Services. I must beg leave to make this one Observation farther, That it had been altogether as impossible for one Thousand Horse to enforce a General Excise, as double the Number of the forementioned Irish to Massacre the whole Nation. Yet they had a more impertinent Maggot in 41, that there were Forces kept in Grots and Caves under Ground, that should in the Night break out into the City, and cut all their Throats: And what was more prodigious, and though ridiculous, yet saith my Author, had not a few Believers in London, That there were Designs by Gunpowder to blow up the Thames, and choke them with the Water in their Beds. May it not be here a necessary Quere, Whether the Invention, or Credulity be more Astonishing?   

CHAP. V. No reason to complain of Favourites and evil Counsellors.  

Dr. ●eren. L. of King Charles I. p. 75.  FAvourites and evil Counsellors were another of their Common-place Complaints, with how little Reason, or Truth, is next to be made appear. The Lord Bacon in his Essay of Friendship, observes, as a strange thing, The high rate, great Kings and Monarches have set thereon; and that not only the Weak and Passionate, but the Wisest and most Politic that ever Reigned, whereof he gives several Instances. To be sure at this time most Courts in Christendom had particular Favourites, who notwithstanding the great Figure they made, were really Participes Curarum (as the forementioned Lord judiciously terms them) Drudges of State, Screens of popular Odium and Discontent, as in most, if not in all Places, they were made to find.  
And hereunto amongst the rest King james seemed very much disposed, as appeared by one or two in Scotland. And in process of time his Inclination continued the same Bend here, whereof one Car a Scotchman, his Page, was the first Instance, who having a comely well built Outside, the King hoped he might be as well furnished within, and accordingly took much pains in the Improvement of his Mind, directed him in his Studies, and all other things requisite to the Accomplishments of such a Person as he wished, and hoped he might prove: All which is an extraordinary Instance of a good Master and a good Nature too: And yet to make him appear a better Prince, when he found all he had done was in vain; that this new Creature of his was a Blockhead, Insolent, Ill-natured, wretchedly Penurious, and intolerably Covetous, he withdrew his Favour by degrees, as any Wise Man would have done, unwilling to expose himself for an ill-placed Affection: But when the Business of Overbury was discovered, he detested it with the utmost Indignation of a good Christian a just Prince, and ordered a Prosecution according to the Baseness of the Fact, though after several Partisans had suffered, the importunity of Relations, and Countrymen, first got a Repreive, and at length a Pardon for him and his Eve the Temptress, though it was many Years before the last was obtained, and not many Months before the King's Death, which 'tis pity he did at all, considering the solemn Protestations he had made, that all concerned in that Matter should suffer; but what will not Importunity do, especially coming from his own Countrymen?  
This Court-Meteor being thus sunk down, and disappearing, the English Nobility about the King, began to reflect upon the ill Influences it had, and what worse its longer abode in that Horizon might have produced. Hereupon they thought it their concern to take more care for the future, and not suffer a second Foreign Page of as little Wit, Good Nature, or Manners to be Topped upon, or rather over them; in order whereunto they resolved to manage Matters so as an English Man might be Topped upon the King; about which they had several Consults, and several young Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, and other Places, in their Eye; but amongst all the rest George Villyers both for Person and Parts seemed most promising; him therefore having fixed upon, such Court intrigues were carried on, as the King made choice of the Person they designed. And this is the true Origin of that great Man's Rise, whatever impertinent Relations Roger Coke makes of his Mother decking him up, and setting of him in the King's Eye when Ignoramus was Acted at Cambridge, with many other as groundless and false Conjectures. To be sure he no sooner appeared upon the Public Stage of Business and Address, but the Expectation of all concerned in his Advancement, was not only answered, but exceeded; neither could they any where have made a better Choice; among the Nobility there were scarce any to be found, who would undertake such a Fatigue of Business, or had Parts to go thorough with it; and though there were some in a lower Sphere of more Reading and greater Experience, yet few that equalled him in Strength of Natural Parts, daily improved by consulting the most Knowing and Judicious in all the several Affairs which came before him, whereby he brought things to a better Issue, than could be expected from the most cried up Wisdom, accompanied with a selfsufficient peremptoriness. So that whatever Odiums he lay under, as no Man ever lay under greater, (and indeed who could bear up against Common-Fame, and a House of Commons?) yet more impartial judgements, which considered things as they really were, became surprised at so young a Man's falling to Business with so great Application, his judicious Choice of fit Persons to every concern he engaged them in, and as Honourable Rewards upon their well Performance. I have already mentioned his manage and improvement of the Navy, as likewise how express his Replies were to their several Articles, without any thing of a rejoinder on the other side, tho' he provoked them thereto; for 'tis absolutely false that the King dissolved the Parliament on that Account, as shall hereafter appear. Neither was there more of Truth in that other Charge, his enriching himself by the Crown, (which of all Imputations saith the Disparity was the most unskilful, and worst laid) some few of those Lands, Engrossed by Somerset before, were assigned him by his first Master, and that was all: Yet Roger Coke opens most violently upon this Account, and with an odd kind of Arithmetic, will consider what he received by his many great Places, without taking notice it was all Expended in the same Service: 
Hamond Lestrange.  To be sure one of our Historians saith he died 60000 l. in Debt; and whoever Audited his Estate then, considering he married an Heir General of the House of Rutland, who was a very great Fortune, will find that Sir Edward Coke, and several of that Robe since, have left greater Revenues than this Duke did of his own Acquiring.  
The forementioned Roger Coke tells another idle Story, 
Detect. p. 419.  which I shall mention here, though it reflects chiefly upon the Good King, which was that Spiteful Fellow's greatest Satisfaction, viz. How he designed first a Sumptuous Funeral for this Duke, his Favourite, from which the Lord Treasurer Weston put him off, by saying a Monument would be more lasting, and less cost: And when the King afterwards pressed for the Monument; the Wary Treasurer diverted him from that, by representing how ill it would hear in the World, should the Duke's be Erected, before there was one for his Father. This Faithful Roger relates as a great Secret, which he had from a Learned Gentleman well acquainted with the Transactions of those Times; whereas it was a Common-fame Story every where whispered by the Faction, and so secret, that Mr. Hamond Le Strange was imposed upon, to put it into his History, and is replied to be Sir William Saunderson, for that mistake, who must know better, being all that time the Duke's Domestic, 
Sand. Hist. p. 123.  and assures us he was Sumptuously entombed at Westminster, which his Executors paid for, and it cost not the King a Penny, nor the stately Monument Erected over his Grave. This Passage, though somewhat out of Course, I could not but here insert, as an exact Specimen of Fanatic Sincerity what Secrets they Detect and Truths relate.  
Well now we have done with Favourites; for Buckingham being fatally cut off, the King made no one Person his Confident; but equally consulted the Ablest, and best Principled Men he could find throughout the Kingdom, who were equally Maligned, and Persecuted to Death by a Virulent Party, because they studied the peace and welfare of the Nation; were for every thing to run in its proper Channel, the Laws duly Administered to the People, and the King's Occasions Honourably supplied, without Suggesting Fears, and Hunting after Grievances, the Mormo's of disaffected and designing Spirits. For sometime in King Iame's Reign there was a cursed Distinction started, of a Court and Country Party, which kept the House divided most implacably in that and this following Reign of Charles the I. (for I shall descend no further) and several honest, well-meaning Gentlemen, like so many Barnabas', were led away by the Dissimulation of such as promoted it; whereas in all well-settled Times, the King was looked upon as the Common Father of the Country, and had constantly a select Number of Understanding Men, knowing the World, and well practised in Business, to sit in Council and assist him, in keeping things Right, or bringing them so, when wrong: But then, Enacting of Laws, Raising of Money, and several other Ardua Regni, are to be consulted of, and consented to in Parliament, where the forementioned Privy Council were generally Members in one House or other, and as well able to acquaint them with the true State and Interest of the whole Nation, as any particular Member of that private Burrough he Represented, and were credited accordingly, which produced an exact Concord and Harmony between every Part of the Constitution. On the contrary, when the Members divide and jar one with another; when all the King advise with must be suspected for Enemies to the Public, (though no such thing can be proved) and he upbraided for consulting, or employing them, and that by such as affect their Places, or design to abridge his just Power; what an Ocean of Mischiefs must this toss us in? What but a Shipwreck can be expected at last? As indeed it happened. 'Tis a pretty Remark and Simile of Sir W. T. who tells us he had observed, 
Of Trade in Ireland. 146.  All set Quarrels with the Age, and pretences to Reform it by their own Models, to end commonly like the pains of a Man in a little Boat, who tuggs at a Rope that is fast to a Ship; it looks as if he resolved to draw the Ship to him, but the Truth, and his meaning is, to draw himself to the Ship, where he gets in when he can, and does like the rest of the Crew when he is there. But this would not do in King Charle's Time, there was not Room enough to hold all that pulled to come in, at leastwise Provision to support them when there: For however Ludlow upbraids the poor King with the Profuseness of his Court, the standing Revenue of the Crown was about 400000 l. per Annum, too little by far to supply his great and urgent Occasions: Would they have given him Money plentifully, some new Places might have been made, or other Ways and Means found, to gratify their Kindness; but as they knew the King's Honour and Integrity would not Stoop to such indirect Courses, so 'tis probable 'twas considered on the other side, this would put them upon a worse extreme, instead of giving nothing, they must give more than all. Nevertheless some were taken in. Sir Thomas Wentworth, Mr. Noy, and a while after Sir Dudley Diggs; who had their several Posts assigned them, and behaved themselves with great Honour and Resolution there; which so incensed the rest, as they became more implacable than ever, plotted all Ways imaginable to seize upon the Vessel, which at length having obtained, they first threw the King and his whole Crew overboard, and then sunk it.  
All which the Good Man was advised of long before, for in the heat of their Prosecution against the Duke, there was a Letter put into his Hands ab Ignoto (whereof Mr. Rushworth gives only a sneaking Abridgement, like a partial Somewhat as he is; for the whole deserved to have been Transmitted as well as any one thing in all his Volumes; however 'tis at large in the Cabala) giving him an Account of their several Parties, 
Cab. 255.  and dangerous Designs, that King james had given too much way to their popular Speeches and Parliamentary Harangues, which since the time of Henry the VI were never suffered, as being the certain Symptoms of subsequent Rebellions, Civil Wars, and Dethroning of our Kings. Amongst others, he tells him, the Lawyers in general fomented these Heats, for that (as Sir Edward Coke could not but often express) our Kings have upholden the Power of their Prerogatives, and the Rights of the Clergy, whereby their come in have been abated. And therefore the Lawyers are fit ever, in Parliaments, to second any Complaints against both Church and King, and all his Servants, with their Cases, Antiquities, Records, Statutes, Precedents and Stories: But they cannot or will not call to Mind, that never any Noble Man in Favour with his Sovereign, was questioned in Parliament, except by the King's leave, in Case of Treason, or unless it were in the Nonage, and Tumultuous Times, of Richard II. Henry VI or Edward the VI which happened both to the Destruction of King and Kingdom. And that not to exceed our own and Father's memories, in King Henry viii Time, Wolsie's exorbitant Power and Pride, and Cromwell's Contempt of the Nobility, and Laws, were not yet permitted to be discused in Parliament though they were most odious and grievous to all the Kingdom. And that Leicester's undeserved Favour and Faults; Hatton's Insufficiency, and Raleighs Insolence, far exceeded what yet hath been (though most falsely) objected against the Duke. Yet no Lawyer durst abet, nor any else begin any Invectives against them in Parliament.  
This is clear Matter of Fact, an impartial Account both of the Distemper, and its true Original Cause; I wish he could as easily have prescribed the Cure; but it was now too late to remove what was so deeply rooted, and become habitual. King james might easily have prevented its rising to so high a Crisis; had he observed that one Maxim of the Precedent Reign, kept up his Prerogative and those other Arcana Imperij, which were his Peculiar, with as much Majesty and Resolution as Queen Elizabeth did, who found this Pragmatical Spirit at work in her Time; But so observed and kept it down, as had the same Course been continued no Danger could have accrued thereby.  
To ascribe any thing of Divinity to Princes above other Mortals, will I am sure at this time of Day be censured for a gross piece of Pedantry; yet really there are several Inducements would go a great way to persuade, that this happy Queen was so far inspired, as to see further into the Thoughts and Designs of Men, than any, or all about her; especially that these busy Reformers affected a Parity in the State, as well as Church; designed not only the mitre, but the Crown to be under their Check and Control, which made her on all Occasions exert so briskly in defence of her Prerogative, and other just Rights. 
Detect. p. 38.  Insomuch as Roger Coke owns there were three things she was impatient of having debated in Parliament. The Succession of the Crown after her Death; Her Marriage, and attempting any Alterations in the Church, from its Establishment in the first Year of her Reign. For the last of these I have had occasion already to mention how Morris burned his Fingers, by meddling therewith; and the journal gives the like Account about the former, how one Wentworth and some others were sent to the Tower, for concerning themselves with the Succession; but whereas Roger Coke saith they were soon discharged, is one of his own Maggots, and a shameful, perhaps wilful Blunder, since the journal would have informed him, that the House becoming humble Suitors to her Majesty, for the release of such Members as were under restraint, It was answered by the Privy-Counsellors than Members of the House, That her Majesty had committed them for Causes best known to herself, and that to press her Highness with this Suit, would but hinder those whose Good it sought. That the House must not call the Queen to an Account, for what she did of her Royal Authority; that the Causes for which they were restrained might be high and Dangerous; that her Majesty liked not such Questions, neither did it become the House to deal in such Matters. Upon which, saith my Author, the House desisted from interposing any farther in their behalf, but left them wholly to the Queen, by whom Wentworth was continued Prisoner some Years after: 'Tis probable indeed the others, viz. Bromly, Welch, Stephens might be discharged sooner. Thus did this Wise Princess hold the Reins of Government with so straight a Hand, as whenever she found it biting the Bit, and attempting to take head, a sudden Check put a stop to the designed Curreere: Whereas King james was no sooner mounted, but he left them strangely Lose, and in effect gave them up his first Parliament, where Roger Coke tells us, the Commons, in their Apology to him, took notice of the Queen's Restraining their Debates as to several Matters, and prayed it might be no precedent for the future, but that their Debates in Parliament might be free; which the King, (however charged by the forementioned Roger with Rehoboam's Stiffness) so far complied with or was negligent in, as that designing Faction got ground upon him every Day, to his own, and all his Ministers great Uneasiness, with his Son's and Kingdom's ruin. And this the forementioned Letter too prophetically foretold, that prevailing in one thing, would but encourage them to attempt another, till they had pulled out all the Feathers of his Royalty, and from impeaching his Ministers, call him to an account for any thing he undertakes, which doth not prosperously succeed: For thus at last he himself was the Evil Counsellor, and charged with all those Villainies and Mischiefs, these Sons of Violence had brought upon the Nation.   

CHAP. VI Innovations in Religion never designed.  
BUt our pretended Patriots could not thoroughly have expressed their care, unless they had made it the concern of God as well as the King, for which Reason Religion must be taken in, and every thing called an Innovation, which tended to support the Church or conduced in any respect to Decency and Order in the Externals of Divine Worship: And this Clamour of Redressing Religious Grievances, although by degrees it threw all open, and brought in upon us an universal Deluge of Licentiousness, Profaneness, Enthusiasm, Atheism, and what not, yet the Factions are so impudent as to continue the Charge, and with that false Mother, care not how the Church be torn, or cut in pieces, so they may have their spiteful Wills. Thus Ludlow will have it, that the Clergy's influence upon the King, was always greater than could consist with the peace and happiness of England, p. 2 d. whereas it was never happier than then, and nothing but a regular Establishment in the Church could continue it so, as the King knew very well, which made him so earnest to Support it; and the other Party knew it too, which made them so earnest to pull it down. Roger Coke likewise inveighs as much against the Arminian Bishops and Clergy of this King's Reign as his Grandfather, when Attorney General, did against Sir Walter Raleigh: Who, is said by Osborn, and the Trial speaks as much, to have Bawled him out of his Life. And so in the same Manner the little Pamphletteers, like Country Cur's bark for Company. Ye take too much upon you, was that General, and grand Charge, Corah and his Accomplices brought against Moses and Aaron, the Prince of the People, and Priest of God: And notwithstanding the Almighty's Vengeance so signally appeared in that Quarrel, as to send them all quick into Hell, yet the Terror thereof hath not been able to affright such Children of Disobedience from Repeating their Provocations: The Gates of Hell are continually Opening upon the Church, and though never able to prevail against the whole, may have sometimes Permission to chastise a part, and do whatever else God in his Secret purposes hath resolved upon; to which Unsearchable Will alone it must be referred, That the Anointed of the Lord, the great Defender of our Faith, (who best understood, and best practised the Christian Religion, of any Prince since the Prince of Peace) was taken in their Nets, and as the other Crucified, so this by such like wicked Hands most barbarously slain. And if the same Sovereign Disposer in this his great Displeasure proceeds farther, to remove our Candlestick, declare he hath no pleasure in us, 
Malach. 1. 10.  neither will accept an offering at our Hands, we must notwithstanding acknowledge, he is Righteous in all his Ways, and Holy in all his Works: For unto very nigh these Circumstances, the many Sub and Super-Reformers have reduced, what under the Auspicious care of its Royal Defender was the Glory of the whole Earth. That therefore it may be known there was such a thing as the Church of England, and as I said, in a most flourishing Condition, till these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many Physicians, or Quacks rather would be showing their Skill; I shall take leave to make a Retrospect, and represent upon what bottom she was first fixed at the Reformation; what false Brethren they were, who interrupted and disturbed this Establishment, and likewise by what Arts and Degrees they engaged, I may say bewitched the People, to assist them in such Confusions, as were at length brought upon her. Though the Reformation of our English Church was founded, and carried on, upon those infallible Truths the Primitive Times, and Ancient Fathers had practised from Scripture, without any regard to Foreign Proceedings; or if any, rather Luther, and Melancthon, than Calvin, and Beza, had the Preference; yet the two latter would be frequently putting their Sickle into our Harvest, and partly by Corresponding, but more especially by conversing with several Exiles, both Clergy and Lay retired into those Parts during Queen Mary's Persecution, gained too many Admirers, who returning home upon Queen Elizabeth's coming to the Crown, cried up the Geneva Model, as the very Pattern which the Lord had shown from that Mount, and according to which the whole Reformation must be carried on, or no Blessing from him would attend it. It would be here too tedious to relate what Arts they used, and what Interests they made in Country, City and Court: As they began to think of setting up their darling Discipline, and that in so insolent a manner as to declare, 
Mr. Hooker's Pref.  That if the Government would not assist therein, they must do it whether the Queen and State will or no; insinuating how many Thousands their Party consisted of, and threatened if not complied with, such Courses, as should make all their Hearts to ache.  
Queen Elizabeth had too great a Value for her own well weighed Estalishments, to have them Superseded by every Factious Caprice, and thereupon resolved firmly against them. And nothing but that steady Resolution of hers, could preserve both Church and State from being, even then, ruined. For these pretended Children of Light, had so much of this World; were so wise in their Generation, as besides their many Abettors amongst the Common People, were not unprovided of some in the House of Commons, which Mr. Cambden tells us the Queen took Notice of and much disliked their unquiet Humour, 
Camb. Eli. An. 73.  greedy of Novelty, and forward to root up things well Established; to prevent which for the future, she commanded the Severity of the Laws to be every where put in Execution: And sometime after procured two New Acts, one against the Papists, and another against the Puritans, on purpose to restrain the insolency of both Factions, and by which several of them were afterwards adjudged to Death.  
But such Turbulent Spirits are not so easily quelled, the same Historian continues the Complaint in a following Parliament 85. 
Eliz An. 85 & 88  But nothing so much irritated her great Mind, as their Villainous Deportment in 88 for thinking they had the Queen at an Advantage upon the Rumour of a Foreign Invasion, beset her with greater Importunities than ever, and played their Affairs with so much Confidence, as if of Confederacy with the Spaniard; never (as Cambden goes on with the Complaint) did contumacious Impudence, and contumelious Malepertness advance itself more insolently, giving an account what Scandalous Books they writ, Belching forth such Calumnies and Reproaches therein, as the Authors seemed rather to be Scullions in a Kitchen, than followers of Piety: The present Course she thought fit to take with such unnatural Beautifeus, was only to secure some of the most busy, and chief amongst them in Wisbich Castle, where many of the leading Papists were likewise secured: But as soon as that Storm was over, she resolved upon a more effectual Course, to keep a constant Calm at home; for in Feb. 92. a Parliament was called, amongst other things, to Enact such Laws as might restrain those Insolences, wherewith the Patience of the State had been so long exercised. Wherein the Lord Keeper Puckering Speech to both Houses of Parliament, is very Remarkable, which amongst other things lets them know, that they were Especially commanded by her Majesty to take heed, that no ear be given, nor time afforded to the wearysom Solicitations of those that commonly be called Puritans, wherewithal the last Parliaments have been exceedingly importuned; which sort of Men, whilst in the Giddyness of their Spirit, they labour, and strive to advance a new Eldership, they do nothing else but disturb the good repose of the Church, and Commonwealth: And as the Case standeth, it may be doubted, whether they, or the jesuit do offer more danger, or be more speedily to be redressed; with much more to the same purpose, even Prophetical of the Mischiefs they have since produced. Hereupon followed that formidable Act, Tricesimo Quinto Elizabethae, which was so closely hooked into the Nostrils of this Spiritual Leviathan, as though frequently endeavoured, they were never able to get it out, till they had at one desperate Plunge, freed themselves from all Regal Power, as well as Ecclesiastical Discipline. To be sure the remaining ten Years of this great Queen's Reign, the swelling Humour of that haughty Faction, was so taken down, as they never made the least effort towards those Innovations either in Church, or State, which had been so uneasy to the Government before, and so Fatal since.  
In this Excellent Posture, and Regular Subordination, did this Prudent Princess leave an exact and practicable Model of the English Monarchy, that her Successor, as I observed before, did not tread in the same steps, take the same care, and show the like Courage; Hinc Illae Lachrymae. For coming to the Crown with a General Applause on every Side, it was never considered that the brightest Sun-rise is soon intercepted by a Cloud; that Hosannas from the Vulgar, as well Great as Small, naturally run into the contrary extreme, unless that Mercury of theirs be fixed by such a well weighed Politic as knows how to temper them in both. It was likewise no small Prejudice to our English Church, that the King came accompanied with so great a Retinue of his own Country, whose Kirk-Leven put our Puritans into a fresh Ferment, made them Swell and Domineer, with their usual insolence upon the least Countenance of Connivance from such as are in Power, or have an Interest in the Government. Upon this account I cannot but take Notice of a Passage in Bishop Hacket's Life printed before his Sermons; He was born of Scotch Parents dwelling in London, during the Queen's Time. They were both true Protestants, great Lovers of the Church of England, constantly repairing to the Divine Prayers and Service thereof, and would often bewail to their young Son, after the coming in of their Countrymen with King James, the seed of Fanaticism then laid in the Scandalous neglect of the Public Liturgy, which all the Queen's time was exceedingly frequented, the People then resorting as Devoutly to Prayers, as they would afterwards to hear any famous Preacher about Town. And his Aged Parents often observed to him, that Religion towards God, justice and Love amongst Neighbours, gradually declined, with the disuse of our Public Prayers. This Observation was made at first, which we have since seen Fatally verified and cursedly Improved.  
It was likewise no small prejudice to the Interest of our English Church, that a Scotch Peer Topped an Archbishop upon her, no ways qualified with parts or principles for so great a Trust: The Story stands thus; Upon Archbishop Bancroft's Death, such as wished well to the Church, Bishops, and other great Men about Court, recommended Bishop Andrews, a Person every way unexceptionable, to the King, who approved so well of him, as they thought their Business fixed, and neglected to press it further; when the Earl of Dunbar, a powerful Minister with the King, saith my Author, put in for his quondam Chaplain Abbot, and got the King's Hand for passing the Instrument before the Matter was discovered; and then too late to prevent: God grant Scotch Peers may never more recommend English Prelates! Indeed the less any of them have to do with our Church, the better, although in this great Time of Trial amongst them, (where all Religious Order is run into Enthusiasm and Madness) there are several have signalised themselves with a Zeal truly Primitive, not only to the spoiling their Goods, but the loss of all their Fortunes, and of some of their Lives. For our New Metropolitan, when in Place, he fell very much short of what his own Admirers expected; to be sure his Remiss Government, and unexcusable Partiality towards the Puritans, neglecting all those worthy Methods his two Predecessors, Whitgift and Bancroft had prosecuted, introduced those many Desolations, Fractions and Schisms, which the Church hath not yet, and 'tis a Question whether will be ever able to weather; for whilst several worthy Prelates in his Time, and his Successor who next came in Place, endeavoured to continue or revive such Articles, Injunctions, and Canons, as had been framed in Q. Elizabeth's Time, and to reduce the Church to the same Order and Regimen in which Abbot found it: These forsooth must be all exclaimed against for Innovations, and a Moulding of her to a nearer compliance with the See of Rome, as Ludlow suggests, which I shall farther take notice of in the next Paragraph, and for the present only mention what Archbishop Laud told a Friend of mine, when in the Tower, That he endeavoured the Repair of an Old House, but it had been so much neglected, and run to ruin, as to fall about his Ears in the Attempt.  
However, for the former part of King James' Reign, things went smoothly on, in an easy careless course, without any considerable rub or disturbance, the first Grumble of Discontent arose from the Spanish Match, which the King had set his Heart upon, and People as much against; the truth of it is, our Crown had generally Married there, or in France, but as there had been no Occasion for such an Alliance since the Reformation, so the different Persuasions now on foot, as to Religion, made it very difficult to accommodate that Matter: The English Papists were extremely Zealous therein, beyond the bounds of Common Discretion, which made the rest of the Nation suspect there could come no good from what they were so forward to promote; and herein the Puritan would be sure to Led the Van, who clamoured and made a noise as if the Pope had been as nigh our Gates, as Hannibal was sometime those of Rome, and ran down all as that way disposed, who would not be as Mad, and violent as themselves, believe Impossibilities, or fly in the face of Royal Authority. And about this time it was they began that popular charge of Innovations, which had the same Malicious effect upon all Orthodox, Eminent Divines, as that of Grievances upon Ministers of State, the proof whereof must likewise depend upon Common-fame, or which is worse, a Common Appellation of their own fixing, as to some particular School, or rather Philosophical points, most innocent and harmless in themselves, yet so managed by a well-contrived spite, as the People became possessed that an Arminian was as dangerous as a Papist, and as nigh an Affinity between them, as there proved afterwards to be between Puritan and Rebel.  
Upon this account, one Mr. Montague was first had Coram Nobis in K. James' last Parliament, as Learned a Man, and Solid a Divine, as our, or perhaps any other Church had, but having severely Gagged the Predestinarian Brotherhood, and conduced very much to the bringing K. james off from those Rigours, they could find no better way to be revenged than by setting their Party in the House of Commons about his Ears, 
Detect. 237.  which Roger Coke after so long a time, revives with a fresh prosecution, not considering how much both the Temper and Opinions of Men are since altered, that the heats about those points have been very much cooled, or diverted, so that he might have as well inveighed, that Ruffs and Farthingals were not still worn, for they and Calvenism went out of Fashion together; none at this time of Day, but a few of the more Harebrained Dissenters can dream of being Engined up to Heaven, by a Chain of Predestination, whereof the Elect are so well Secured, as the grossest Crimes cannot deprive them.  
However, their proceedings then were with something of deference to the Church, remitting the whole matter to the Archbishop, whom they knew more than enough prejudiced for the Puritan and their Reprobation Doctrine; and perhaps were assured aforehand, that he resolved upon an Admonition, which was accordingly done: But then the King was his Ordinary, to whom with the Convocation an Appeal lay, and there the Derniere Resort rested, and thither he Addressed himself in a fresh piece, called Appello Caesarem, which made fresh work in K. Charles' first Parliament, the second Session whereof, being removed to Oxon, by reason of the Sickness in London, the Commons sat in the Divinity Schools, and their Speaker in or nigh the Professor's Chair, whereby, whether they thought themselver inspired, or were rather possessed, as my Author would have it, I shall not concern myself; to be sure from that time forward we never find them without a Committee for Religion, and no such Committee, but would undertake to determine the deepest Controversies, and Reform whatever they were pleased to call Abuses, till by degrees they fell upon the Divines, Sequestering, and Imprisoning them by whole Centuries; and so having exposed and trampled underfoot the Doctrine, Discipline, and Governors of the Church, they introduced the most Extravagant Licentiousness that ever was known in any part of the World called Christian. These indeed were Innovations to purpose, But who introduced them? And what would Queen Elizabeth have said thereto?  

Coll. 209.  Mr. Rushworth gives us at large the Articles, Professor Pym Exhibited against Richard Montague, Clerk, which upon some search he could not find Answered; as indeed, What wise Man would reply to the Ipse Dixit of so many hundreds? Or what Influence could a Reply have, when the Conclusion was resolved upon, without any Consideration of the Premises? However, the Letter he mentions before, which upon this Occasion Three Bishops writ to the Duke, gives a true State of the whole matter, and judiciously distinguish between such Opinions as are expressly the resolved Doctrines of the Church, and such as are fit only for the Schools, and left at liberty for Learned Men to abound in their own Sense, so they keep themselves peaceable; and distract not the Church: This Letter Mr. Rushworth might have given at large, as well as the Articles, but for a bad reason, best known to himself, omitted it; nevertheless we have it in the Cabala; 
Page 105.  to be sure the few foremention'd words carry great Soundness, and Judgement in them, and must be acknowledged the only expedient could be fixed upon, either to Silence the Controversy, or let them Brawl it out in its proper place. 'Tis a pleasant conceit of Mr. Osborn, who tells his Son, 
Advice to a Son, pag. 104.  The Clergy have work enough cut out till Doomsday to resolve which is least suitable to the Divine Essence, to have bound the hands of Men, or left them at liberty; yet hereby a constraint must needs be put upon us, or our Maker: Now this Gordian Knot, which all our Clergy never could, nor ever will be able to Untie, our many Alexanders in the House, resolve to Cut asunder by one Simple Vote; yet this Weapon of theirs, however very Keen, had but a thin Edge, and was turned before it got thorough, so that it remains still indissoluble, whether we drive, or whether we are driven, as I find the Question stated by one of our Comedians, so well, that few of the Schools come up to it: An unseen hand may determine our freest Actions, and the deepest laid designs move Retrogade, when we think the quite contrary: But that the Almighty Sovereign, the Author and Disposer of All things, should Damn Men, before he makes them, Create many Millions of Being's, with design to Reprobate them into Eternal Misery, and found one main part of his Glory therein, is too gross a conception for any considering man to entertain, who according to the perfection of the Divine Attributes, must apprehend God to be infinite in Goodness and Mercy, as well as justice and Power. On the contrary, such harsh and severe Notions of the Sacred Majesty of Heaven, as if he delighted in nothing more, than to Tyrannize over, and Trample upon the Slaves of his Creation, cannot but debase men's Spirits to the like proceedings, make them in the Apostle's phrase, without Natural Affection, void of any thing that is Generous, Great, or Good, and consequently Meet unto others, what they falsely suppose, to be the Almighty's Measures unto all Mankind. To be sure it was at this time the manner of their proceedings with all true Sons of our Church, whom they never let alone till Reprobated as to this life, God be praised their Malice could not reach any thing which concerned the next. But setting aside these rigid Determinations, which The Examination of Tilenus before the Tryers, pleasantly, yet withal solidly exposes, under the borrowed names of Dr. Dubitan's, Frybabe, Irresistible, etc. the other Branches of that Controversy about Fate, Freewill, etc. in all the ordinary concerns of humane life, began long since amongst the Philosophers, the Stoics on the one hand, the Epicureans, and Libertines on the other, wherein likewise most of the rest were concerned, tho' with more Temper, Deliberation, and Judgement. It was likewise an old Humorist amongst them, who first started that Notion of All things being Necessitated from the concurrence of precedent Causes, much improved by as great an Humorist amongst us, and to much worse purpose, since the former understood nothing of the Revealed Knowledge this other designed thereby to Subvert. Christian Religion, in the mean while was kept free from these Debates, for several Centuries, till the Manachees turned Stoics, and the Pelagians, Libertines, wherein St. Austin became engaged, and had them taken up by his Followers, tho' they spread no farther than the Melancholy Cells of Monks and Schoolmen, for the next Thousand years, and were rather a Diversion for the few Brisk Wits of those ignorant dull Times, than looked upon as any ways relating to the Articles of Christian Doctrine. That Imposition was first brought upon the Church by the Council of Trent, and however their many Innovations of that kind were declaimed against by most Protestants, yet the Synod of Dort was no less Dogmatical in Imposing their Five Articles, which their humble Imitators our Lay Assembly now, and our mixed Assembly of Clergy Lay afterwards, would have enforced with as much Earnestness, as the Being of a God, or necessity of a Redeemer. Give me leave farther to observe, that in the calm, and more deliberate Times of Q. Elizabeth, when Archbishop Whitgift had Assembled a few Bishops and other Divines, and framed those commonly called the Nine Articles at Lambeth, (of too nigh Affinity with the foremention'd points) in order to Silence some Disputes at Cambridge, which had gone out too far thereupon, Her Majesty was so concerned at it, as had it not been for the Reverend Esteem she had of that Excellent Prelate, they would have been all Attainted of a Praemunire; Notwithstanding she commanded him speedily to recall, and suppress those Articles, which was performed with so much Care and Diligence, that a Copy of them was not to be found a long time after; and this the Three Bishops in their foremention'd Letter urged as a precedent, and with great reason, but then was then, and now was now, when the Humour ran as much for pulling down, as before to support, and advance, whatever tended to God's Glory, or the Public Good.  
I must here likewise beg my Reader's pardon if he thinks me too prolix, and hope upon second thoughts it may be acknowledged requisite to represent what little No-things they would catch at, what Sound Doctrines they would pervert, and misrepresent, to Defame and bring an Odium upon such persons, as otherwise might pull off their Vizard, and Detect the Mischiefs they had in design, for all the Law and all the Reason was on the King's side, which they could not otherwise stifle, than by such groundless Cavils against every Faithful and Loyal Subject, who had Sense and Courage to stand up for him, and the Laws, in Opposition to their dangerous Innovations and Seditious practices.  
But all the Fat would be in the Fire, should I pass by Sibthorpe and Manwaring, whose Indiscretions all good men pitied, none justified: Although Archbishop Abbot's pettishness stretched the former Sense, further than was consistent with the Charity of a Metropolitan, or Candour of a Privy Counsellor. For the other, nothing could be greater than what the King declared thereupon, He that will preach other than he can prove, let him suffer; I give them no thanks to give me my due. And really, 'tis to my Admiration, considering how good a Man the King was, and how Kind a Father to the Church, with the Violent Heats on the other side, there were only these Two ran into the contrary Extreme; had Time-serving been as much in fashion then, as I have known it since, there had been several hundreds to each of them. It was likewise thought then, and since, that the Commons having done the King no Right as to their own Members, Clem. Coke, and Dr. Turner, they should have been less severe against Dr. Manwaring, at leastwise upon his Humble Submission and Acknowledgement, have moved the Lords to remit the rest of his Sentence, which defect the King supplied sometime after, and let them know by that Tacit Intimation, how Mercy rejoiceth against judgement, 
Jam. 2. 13.  and what they may expect that do the contrary: But what the Defence saith, that soon after the Parliament was dissolved, he was punished with a Fat Bishopric, is far from Truth, unless he can bring seven years into that narrow compass, which on other accounts passes for the Life of a Man. To be sure, upon his Advance to that Dignity, he approved himself every way worthy of it. Three things more especially I find he was much resolved upon. First, The Redemption of Captives; Secondly, The Conversion of Recusants; Thirdly, The Undeceiving of Seduced Sectaries. Which shows him to be of a Public, as well as Loyal Spirit. And one would think might atone for two or three Expressions, which as they were out of his Profession, so ought to have been more cautiously considered; but I have found this their constant course all along, every little slip upon the King's account, shall be Aggravated to the Extremest Degree, whilst the most violent Libels, against him, his Ministers, and Government, must have so many Grains of Allowance, as the Authors may be brought off with Reputation and Rewards; As it happened afterward in the Case of Pryn, Burton, Bastwick, Leighton, Lilburne, and who not? That dared to fly in the face of Majesty, and Abuse all that Adhered to Church and Crown, although to my certain information, Pryn did in the Sequel acknowledge, that when he lost his Ears, they might in Law and justice have taken away his life. In the mean while what a Vexation must it be to a Good, and Wise King, that when he had called a Parliament to Assist him, according to the National Constitution, in a War undertaken by their inducement, they diverted themselves in debating such School Points as belonged properly to our Universities Exercise: as afterwards they fell upon some Innocent Ceremonies, which had been all along practised in the Catholic Church, and enjoined by ours; ever since the Reformation; Dangerous Innovations these: Was ever so great a Cry made about so little Wool!   

CHAP. VII. No Design of Introducing Popery.  
THE Growth of Popery, and Countenance shown to Papists, was another pestilent Allegation, and did never the less Mischief, tho' false and groundless; for First it is not true, that the little Favour now shown them, was solely upon account of the Matches in Treaty with Spain and France; nor Secondly, had it been Unusual with Q. Elizabeth to discharge Priests after some short time of Confinement: For those violent Bigots were as numerous, and busy in her Reign, Compassed Sea and Land to gain Proselytes, and prevailed upon too many weak, and unstable Minds to become so: However, 'twas a known Maxim of hers, That no Man's Conscience should be forced or punished, unless it did overflow into Overt, and express Acts, and become matter of Faction, in which Causes the Sovereign Prince ought to punish the Practice, though coloured with the pretence of Conscience and Religion. A larger account whereof may be seen in that Eminent Letter of Secretary Walsingham, 
Cabala, 392.  to Monsieur Critoy, and what distinction there was ever made between such as were Papists in Conscience, and those in Faction and Singularity, who set their Wits continually awork to disturb the Public Peace and undermine the Government.  
Besides there was at this time, and had been several years before, most violent Oppositions and Quarrels, between the Regulars and Seculars here in England, more especially the jesuits, whom the forementioned Secretary, calls Seditious Priests of a New Erection, whereas many of the former had taken the Oath of Allegiance, and some written to justify it, desiring only to live according to the Rites of the Roman Church, without any regard to the Court, that so magnified Idol of the Pope's Universal Supremacy, and All-disposing Usurpation: Now by fomenting these Differences, and showing some kindness to the more Moderate Party, Archbishop Bancroft more especially, (however branded by the Faction for a Papist) and some other Ministers of State, got so clear an insight into all their jesuitical Intrigues, as to outdo them at their own Weapon, and render their many designs Abortive; And his Successor Abbot herein was forced to take the same Measures, ('tis pity he did not so in every thing else) for when in King Charles' second Parliament, some busy Overdoes gave Information to the House, and upon search discovered, 
Rush. Coll. pag. 243.  that there were several Priests in the Prison called the Clink, who lived with great Ease and Liberty, had the Free Exercise of their Religion, with Altars, Pictures, and other Trinkets, the forementioned Archbishop writ to the Attorney General on their behalf, and told him, Upon more curious enquiry that Information would be found to come Originally from the jesuits, for they do nothing but put Tricks upon those poor Men, who do live more miserable lives than if they were in the Inquisition. By taking the Oath of Allegiance, and writing in defence of it, they have so displeased the Pope, that if by any cunning they could catch them, they are sure to be burnt or strangled for it; and once there was a Plot to have taken Preston as he passed the Thames, and to have Shipped him into a bigger Vessel, and so have transported him to Flanders, there to have made a Martyr of him. In respect of these things, K. James always gave his protection to Preston and Warrington, as may be easily showed; Canon is an old man, well affected to the Cause, but meddleth not with any Factions or Seditions, etc. So vast a difference there is between taking things at a general View, upon the first rebound of vulgar report, and enquiring more narrowly into the secret Transactions, the Reasons of State, upon which the Welfare of all Governments, and consequently of every private Individual depends.  
And since we are upon Reason of State, that will come in here upon a more unhappy consideration as to this Affair, the Protestant Interest, especially in France, was at a much lower Ebb than formerly; they had engaged (we are not here to resolve how justly) in those several pretences the Princes of the Blood set up; and so upheld a mutual Interest, whereas now the former being worn out, or reconciled, it was an Impar Congressus on the Hugonot's side to maintain by the Sword those Concessions it had formerly procured them; or otherwise prevent those many Artifices, both the Court of France and Rome were daily improving to their Ruin, insomuch, as the then K. Lewis XIII. was known publicly to declare, That as his two Predecessors Henry III. Feared them, Henry IV. Loved them; so he did neither. And though the Spanist Match made the Cry, yet upon this consideration more especially it was, that in K. James' time, upon mature deliberation in Council, the Execution of some Penal Statutes which had already passed in Sentence upon several Popish Recusants was suspended, for that the Protestants in France, Germany, and elsewhere, lay under very bad Circumstances, and had no other Intercessor for their Liberty, etc. but the King of England, who was importuned on the other side to show the like favour to those of the Romish Persuasion in his Dominions: Nay, some English jesuits at Paris, printed a Book representing how hardly their party were used here, instigating that King to the utmost Severity by way of Retaliation; so that had they, and the Parliament been complied with, what a havoc would have been made all Europe over, of Papists here, and Protestants every where also? There is a Letter in the Cabala from Lord Keeper Williams, 
Cabal. 269.  to the Viscount Anan, a Scotch Peer I presume, upon this Subject, which fully clears the King, and justifies the proceedure by true Reason of State. The Malice of the Faction, gave out indeed, that the Favour looked forward, and amounted even to a Toleration, which the Keeper styles a dull, but withal, a Devilish Misconstruction:  
Yet the same prejudices were not only continued, but improved against K. Charles, by reason he Married a Daughter of France, who was not wanting, saith Ludlow, on her part to press him, upon all occasions, to pursue the design of enlarging his Power, not omitting to solicit him also, to mould the Church of England to a nearer compliance with the See of Rome, Pag. 2. For the former, as he had no such design before, so 'tis as little probable, she should press him now, or that he should any wise give the least Ear to Insinuations of that kind. And a nearer Compliance with the Church of Rome is Nonsense; for as they will not set the least Step, give up one title in order to an accommodation, so will they admit none into their Communion without swallowing the whole Digest of their Trent Determinations, which the judicious Author of that History expressly declares, 
History of the Council of Trent, Pag. 2.  and most passionately complains of, That what was desired and procured by Godly Men, to reunite the Church, which began to be divided, hath so established the Schism, and made the Parties so obstinate, that the Discords are become irreconcilable. And whatever his Ignorance or Malice suggests, the Church of England is a greater Eyesore to those of Rome than any other in the World; and not to mention, our King (of whom there was no hopes, whatever some tatled, and so they knew) would have ventured, aye, and promoted the Ruin of the Queen, however of their Communion, and all her Posterity, rather than it should have been continued in that Uniform Splendour, Decency, and Order, his pious Care had so thoroughly Established.  
The Spaniards having the Prince in their hands, imposed very severe Articles on behalf of the English Recusants, which amongst other things might be considered in breaking off that Match, when we came to Treat with France upon the same Subject, though Rushworth tells us, the Articles were not much short of those with Spain; 
Coll. 169.  yet what he mentions (and he is constantly found to mention the worst on the best side) are very much short of the former, requiring no more, than that such Recusants as had been committed since the breach with Spain, should be set at liberty; and that there should not be so strict an Inquisition after them for the future. All which, considering the Circumstances of Protestancy in Foreign Parts, was neither an Unreasonable Demand on their side, nor an Unpolitick Concession on ours, and what the Violent Party both within doors and without, quarrelled at, only for quarrelling sake. Had indeed the Popish Party no other Abettor but the Pope, his Bruta Fulmina might have been easily repelled; but when the greatest Princes in Christendom call themselves Catholics, and will be zealously engaged in the concerns of his Emissaries, the mutual Correspondence between these Potentates, Popish and Protestant, doth frequently introduce a petimusque damusque vicissim, mutual returns of Kindnesses, and equal Indulgence of Pardons; insomuch, as Cromwell no sooner entered into Foreign Alliances, but he was forced to comply therein; and the World to this day cannot tell what was transacted between Sir Kenelm Digby and himself upon that account. So likewise at present they are the only Party amongst us backed with Foreign Friends, and it would cause very severe Solicitations, perhaps Remonstrances too, should the Laws in that Case provided, be put in vigorous Execution: Although the Scale on the Protestants side is now so drawn up, as there is very little prospect, things standing as they do, they should ever be brought even; but on the contrary, no little danger, that the Disjointed Interest among them abroad, and Unreasonable Separations amongst us at home, may once more Enslave us to that Universal Supremacy, which otherwise all their Arts and Emissaries could never have brought about. Nevertheless, this little favour, then obtained, was not free from Abuse, by the too forward Zeal of their Priests, and some other Priestridden Persons, who having got an Inch would take an Ell, drive on in a strange kind of Unthinking Bigotry, without the least regard to their Friends, Foes, or indeed themselves. A fault which Dissenters on every side could never forbear running into; as appeared not long since, by that furious Cureer both of Papists and fanatics, when the Reins were thrown Loose upon their Necks, by a Dispensing Power.  
Neither doth it appear that they made any considerable progress in gaining Converts more than before, some they always prevailed upon, amongst which there might be a few well-meaning Persons, who had a real Regard for Piety and Religion, and seeing such Disputes about it, wished for some Infallible Guide to determine them in the Right; in which Melancholy Humour, they were easily Wheadled into a Belief, that an Old Man in a Chair at Rome, was placed there for that purpose. Although the generality of their Proselytes were such loose vicious Livers, as brought little Reputation to whatever Profession they joined in Communion with; and 'tis to be feared, went over on purpose for too easy an Absolution: As I know a Lady, who having Sacrificed her Reputation, took the forementioned Course, and ever after expressed a great deal of Contempt for the Church of England, because there was no Admission of Venial Sins. Archbishop Laud, when at that Barbarous Trial of his by an Ordinance of Parliament, he was charged with an Endeavour to Advance and bring in Popery, made it appear, that the two or three Priests he had Corresponded withal, was for the good of the Church, as Bancroft, and others his Predecessors had done before; and then gave an account of what Persons, by Name, he had brought over to, or retained in the Church of England; who, for Quality, and perhaps Number, might Vye with all, the contrary Party had prevailed upon during that time he Sat at the Helm of Church Affairs. Afterwards, indeed, when the War broke out, several Persons who had been imposed upon by their fair Pretences, discovering when too late, that their Faith was Faction, and Religion Rebellion, would have no more to do with such Protestants, and so ran over to the Roman Extreme, which had a more plentiful Harvest during those Confusions than ever before in this Nation. And really it hath cost me many a Melancholy Reflection, what, after all their Railing, that truly great Man Archbishop Laud too Prophetically Boded on the Scaffold; that however he was Charged, as the Pharisaical jews did our Saviour, with a Venient Romani, the many Rents and Divisions, Sects and Factions, they caused and promoted, was as likely to bring them upon us, as the Crucifying our Saviour did upon the others. The Defence likewise opens very loud upon the French Match, and Articles thereof, Pag. 3. yet at present charges no more than what I have already mentioned out of Rushworth; He directs indeed to them at large farther on in his Book, but none to be found; 'tis probable, upon exacter View, they fell short of the Mischief designed, and were omitted upon that account. One thing I admire, since they delight so much in Falsehoods, none of these Libelers have hit upon what is reported in several French Historians, that there was an Article, for all the Children, both Male and Female, to be at the Queen's Disposal, as well to the Religious as Civil part of their Education, till they were Twelve or Thirteen years old: There is seldom any Bargain driven between private Persons, but more is demanded than they knew would be granted; and without doubt, the Agents, De Propaganda Fide, would take care, enough should be insisted upon; but that any such thing was complied with, or harkened to, as there is nothing extant to make it appear, (which would have been highly acceptable, and most pestilently advantageous to the Faction's Calumnies) so matter of Fact speaks quite the contrary; For as soon as they came to be capable of Instruction, their Education was wholly at the King's Direction, and performed with extraordinary Care, Piety, and Judgement; And whatever Clamours or Conjectures may be made to the contrary, I have been informed by very judicious Observers, that the Queen was very Passive therein, and carried herself with a great deal of Deference to what the King Ordered: If any of them Warped afterwards, it was upon our compelling them into Exile, and for that, as I said before, ourselves must bear the Blame; to force Princes abroad can never turn to Account for this Nation.  
That other Libel too, King Charles' no Saint, etc. makes a mighty Pother about the Match, and gives us the precise Sums allowed to the several ecclesiastics of her Train, amounting so high in the Total, as I fancy it is nigh as much as the King could allow for the Expense of her whole Court, which indeed ought to be somewhat Splendid, in respect to both her Qualities, Daughter of France, and Queen of England; yet was it withal very Regular, and confined to such a Proportion, as the King's great Exigencies, and small Revenue would admit. He owns likewise, upon the insolent Deportment of her French Domestics, the King dismissed them, a sufficient Argument she had not that Ascendent over him these Foul-mouthed Blockheads prate of: But that they returned again to their former Post is absolutely false, her Retinue for the future were mostly English, and of that Communion too: Neither from that time forward (for the French did some ill Offices of that kind) was there ever known a more agreeable Understanding between King and Queen, or indeed any other Man and Wife, than them two; all the Obligations of Conjugal Love, Respect and Duty, so inviolably observed on either side, as they were an Example to many, and a Reproach to others in the Court, and aught to have been so to the whole Kingdom through. The Exposing his intercepted Letters shall be hereafter considered, as the Unworthiest Act the basest Men could be guilty of.  
One thing farther I shall propound to these Negative Make-bates, who so violently opposed his Matching either with Spain or France, Where would they have had him Matched? 'Twas high time as to his Age, and more highly requisite, in that he was the only Male of the Royal Line, that he should be disposed of somewhere; and to what purpose was it for People to cry a Protestant Princess had been better, when they could find none such, agreeable to his Quality, nor that mutual intercourse which such Alliances generally produce? For tho' 'tis true, Kingdoms never Mary, and we find a War broke out soon after, and partly hereupon, yet it might be also the sooner Accommodated upon the same account: To be sure, if there be few private Families, of any Degree, but have some Consideration of this Nature, when they dispose of their Children, we must allow the same to Crowned Heads, both in respect to one another, and their several Neighbour Potentates, who are never without Caballing Interests, and other Intrigues of State. Neither could that liberty of the Romish Rites indulged her, and those of that persuasion in her Family, have been any ways prejudicial, had they who made such a Noise, so violently complained against it, jointly concurred in the Confinement thereof to its proper Bounds, or Modestly Addressed his Majesty whenever exceeded; but the Froppishness of that Crooked Generation was for perverting every thing that Good Man did to the utmost extremity, as he complains in the Declaration, when his third Parliament was Dissolved, 
Rush. Appen. Pag. 5.  Seu bene, seu male facta premunt, with Mischievous Men once Ill-Affected, whatsoever seemed Amiss, is ever Remembered, but good Endeavours never Regarded.  
So likewise for the Nobility and Gentry of that Persuasion, if they had any favour more than usual, it was not so much from the Queen's Solicitation, (tho' that was commonly objected) as for that they frankly proffered to Advance Money towards the King's Necessities, and thereby exasperated the Parliament, as well in crossing their Designs, as upbraiding their Refractory Humour; although 'twas rather their jealousy, than any real Effects the Loyal Gentlemen found of Kindness. 'Tis true, there was a Commission issued out, and Commissioners appointed, to Treat with them about Arrears of Forfeitures, and an Advance upon the same account for some years to come; but 'tis false what Rushworth saith, 
Coll. 414.  That in pursuance of this Commission, the Recusants did make their Composition upon very easy Terms, as was afterwards complained of in Parliament; for this Project never took effect. Sir john Savile, to whom the Management thereof was chiefly entrusted, thought it more Advantageous, and therefore Advisable, to Collect the Arrears of Thirds due to the King by Law, which they the more willingly paid, in Consideration of the Exigencies he then lay under, and being generally as well bred and Understanding Gentlemen, as most in the Kingdom, must not be blamed, if they had some prospect of Advantage, as well as Duty. Yet whatever respect the King showed their Persons, we see it would not excuse their Purses, nor procure any Countenance to their Persuasions; for whenever the Management of any young Heirs in such Families, came under his hands, either as Wards or otherwise, there was effectual care taken of their Education; amongst which, that every way most Eminent, the late Duke of Ormond was one. But Popery was the Main Spoke in that Wheel of Revolution these pretended Government Menders were so bend to bring about; and therefore, tho' they made many a Faint, yet would never close effectually with the King in suppression thereof: Thus when both Houses Petitioned the King against Recusants, propounding a provisional Law, that their Children might be brought up in our Religion, his Majesty most readily complied therewith, 
Coll. 517.  and earnestly recommended the preparation of a fitting Law to that effect, which notwithstanding, the Debate fell asleep, and was never after reassumed. And after the first heat, as little Notice was taken of that Letter found amongst the Clerkenwell jesuits, whereby nevertheless it appeared, they equally studied the King's Ruin, with the Naetions' Confusions, as Secretary Cook informed them from him; and withal, 
Coll. 505.  how the French Ambassador told his Master at home, what he had wrought here last Parliament, namely, Divisions between King and People, and he was rewarded for it: A full discovery whose Tools they were, whose Game they played, which nevertheless they continued on, so that one would think there was a design to accept the jesuits Challenge, and venture all upon a Trial of Skill, whether were the best Artists in Mischief, the Disciples of Loyaela, or Calvinists, who indeed set up both about the same time: Although I hope they have since wished the Prize had been fought upon any other Stage than our Island.  
The last thing I shall insist upon under this Topick, is his Majesty's Answer to the Pope's Letter, whilst Prince of Wales, and in Spain, penned with so much Judgement, Discretion, and true Sense of Religion, as nothing could be more properly Adapted to that Critical Conjuncture, and hazardous Circumstances he was then under, so inoffensively turning those Haughty Assumptions of that pretended Sovereign Highpriest, as he Terms himself, to a Zealous regard for the truly Catholic Church, and a sincere endeavour to Cement those Divisions and Schisms, tacitly supposed to arise from him; and because this most clearly appears to be the express Intent of the Letter, those Sons of Perversion, the two Pamphlet Libelers, are not content to alter Rushworth's Translation, to a Sense the Latin will by no means bear, but add whole Sentences, whereof there is not one Syllable in either: I shall give an instance or two of both kinds. The little Spiteful piece, which would have him neither Saint nor Martyr, 
Pag. 11.  affirms, That he tells the Pope I shall never be so affected to any thing in the World, as to endeavour An Alliance with a Prince that hath the same apprehension of the true Religion with myself: And then, as if the Devil ought him a shame, immediately adds Mr. Rushworth hath it in these Words, Your Holiness' Conjecture of our Desire to Contract a Marriage, and Alliance, with a Catholic Family and Princess, is agreeable both to your Wisdom and Charity; for we should never desire so vehemently to be joined in a strict and indissoluble Bond with any Mortal whatsoever, whose Religion we hated: which last Words, where the Falsification lies, runs thus in Latin, Cujus Odio Religionem prosequeremur; and if there be not a vast difference between Hating a Religion, and being of the same Apprehension with him who professes that Religion; nay, which is more, owning it for a true Religion because I do not hate it, let the World judge; Hatred is altogether inconsistent with Christian Principles, which whosoever will Live up to, must Hate nothing but Sin and the Author of it; (although I can scarce forbear it to this Author too) and since our Saviour enjoins us to do good to them that hate us, to speak them Civilly when they do the same to us, and let them see we can really Act, what perhaps they but Hypocritically pretend, is so agreeable to all the Rules of Religion, Reason, and Good Manners, as they must lay claim to none of them who cavil thereat. With the like Ingenuity he proceeds on to the next Sentence, but forbears Rushworth's Translation, where the King declaring his great Moderation, continues the same Term, and assures him how far he should be, Ab omni Opere quod odium testari possit ullum adversus Religionem Catholicam Romanam, which is rendered; I have been always very far from encouraging Novelties, or to be a Partisan of any Faction against the Catholic, Apostolic Roman Religion. How comes Odium to include Novelties and Factions, at leastwise, that the King should declare he would not encourage them against the Roman Church? When his next Words gives a secret intimation how they came Originally from thence, and therefore, setting all such Sinister Suspicions aside, he earnestly desires, That as we all Confess one Individual Trinity, and one Christ Crucified, ('tis Mr. Rushworth's Translation) we may unanimously grow up in one Faith; and in Order to the Accomplishment of so good a Work, he Piously adds, Labores omnes, atque vigilias, Regnorum etiam, atque vitae pericula, parvi pendimus, which this base Fellow thus renders; We will expose Life and Estate in the Exaltation of the Roman Chair. The other Pamphlet, which I take to be Alter idem, at leastwise from the same Club of Calf's Heads, gives the same perverse Translation, and forced Sense throughout the whole Letter, and to Crown the Villainy, 
Pag. 21.  adds a whole Sentence at the end, which was never known before, nor could with any Coherence be brought in now; for after those Common-place Compliments, which come in Course at the end of such Epistles, Omnia prospera, & felicitatem aeternam comprecamur; This Fanatic Forger continues, After so many Labours and Fatigues, which your Holiness has undergone for the Propagation and Preservation of the Holy True Church. We have had Volumes writ of Roman Forgeries, and very tart Reflections upon jesuitical Equivocations, with too much Truth indeed, more than is consistent with Religion or Humanity itself; yet it must be acknowledged, these our Pseudo-Protestants have out-thrown them several Bars length, without the Wit of an Equivocation, or any thing else which the most Frontless impudence can allege to Palliate or Excuse the matter. I presume these furious Zealots would have the Prince returned in Answer to the Pope, That he was Anti-christ, Whore of Babylon, Man of Sin, etc. and for that reason he defied him and all his works: I will not resolve, whether this is proper or not in the Common Cant of that Brotherhood, but wish with all my Heart all that use or approve it were forced into Spain, and obliged to Preach the same Doctrine there, doubtless it might conduce much to the Peace of our Nation, and perhaps somewhat to bringing down the price of Corn.  
And to show how Natural it is for the Malicious Diabolical Spirit of all this Party, to blast our Kings, and their Memories, with too great a Respect to the Pope and his Interest. I shall give here an account of their great Oracle, Rushworth's unworthy dealing with King james, who in the close of his Collections relating to that Reign, sets down the Transcript of a Letter written from him to Pope Clement, with the Instructions given to Mr. Drummond, who was sent with the same to Rome: Now Mr. Rushworth cannot but be so well acquainted with the History and Transactions of those times, 
Coll. 16●  especially Archbishop Spotswood, as to know, that Cardinal Bellarmine having published an Answer to King James' Apology, charged him therein with Inconstancy, Objecting a Letter he had sent to Clement VIII. whilst in Scotland, in which he had recommended to his Holiness, the Bishop of Vaison for obtaining the Dignity of a Cardinal, that so he might be the more able to advance his Affairs in the Court of Rome. This Treatise coming to the King's Hand, he presently conceived he had been abused by his Secretary, which he remembered had moved on a time for such a Letter; in short, (for I shall refer the Reader to the passage at large in Archbishop Spotswood) the Secretary was seized, 
〈◊〉 of Scotland, Pag. 507.  examined, and confessed, 'twas all a Forgery of his own and Cousin Drummond's designing, that his Majesty was most falsely and wrongfully charged therewith, and that he could never move him to consent thereto: Whereupon the Secretary was Sentenced, not only to lose all his Offices and Estate, but his Life; which last, at the Queen's Intercession, was spared, though he Died soon after, as thought of Grief and Sorrow. Can any thing on this side Hell be more base and spiteful than such a procedure as this? Who can give Credit to whatever he Relates or Collects? Upon discovery of so vile a Studium Partium, which seems brought in on purpose to Contradict, or Detract from, what had been immediately before Recorded, in the Bishop of Lincoln's high and just Elogium of K. james; more especially those last Words to his Son in order to his future Marriage, whom he advised, To Marry like himself, and Mary where he would: But if he did Marry the Daughter of that King, he should Marry her Person, but not her Religion.   

CHAP. VIII. Of the Lent Ships, Rochel, and the French War.  
THe jealousies between the French King, and Hugonots, were so great on either side, that all their Accords seemed rather as a Cessation to take Breath, till a convenient opportunity might serve for a fresh Breach, than any real design of a lasting Peace: King james frequently laboured herein, and did many good Offices for the Protestant Interest; and King Charles, whilst the Match was in Agitation, by his Ministers there, patched up a Treaty between them, that thereby the French might be at more leisure to divert the Spaniard, than our Enemy, both in Italy and the Mediterranean: In order whereunto they agreed with us for the Loan of Seven Ships, on Man of War and six Merchants, as they had with the Dutch for twenty, which joining their Fleet there, might block up Genoa, and all other ways annoy them, as occasion should serve. But whilst this Design was carried on, and the Army marched towards Italy; Sobiez, the most considerable Chief of the Hugonots, next his Brother the Duke of Rohan, alleging, a certain Fortress was not demolished, according to Agreement, got together some small Ships, Seized upon the Isles Rhee and Oleron, with what Vessels they found there, and so set up for a Piratical War, having Rochel and those Isles or their Retreat. This made the French Court alter their Measures, ordering their Land-Army back upon these New Revolters; and Memorancy the French Admiral, having got together what Ships they could of their own, after a great deal of Wheadle, and many Protestations, had ours consigned him, the Dutch making no demur; nay, as some say, had, by a New Treaty, agreed thereunto; with all which, he went directly against Sobiez, and disabled him for ever appearing at Sea again, recovering both Isles and Ships, but a few which got under Rochel: And in the same manner they prosecuted their Attacks at Land so vigorously, as though it cost them longer time, yet in the end they carried all, for which the Rochellers, and other Hugonots, could justly blame none so much as themselves, not only in that they broke the Treaty as soon as made; but afterwards, when our King appeared in their Defence, they refused to comply with such Resolutions, as in the Judgement of Sobiez, and their other best Officers, were most proper thereunto. However, this Misemployment of our Ships was highly resented by his Majesty, and many severe Expostulations arose thereupon, that our Ships should be diverted from their intended expedition against Spain, which was solely designed and promised; whereto the French King replied, That he had no Enemies then but the Spaniard, and his intent no other, witness the like Contract with the Dutch Ships; but his Rebellious Subjects, the Rochellers, starting this necessity upon him, he was enforced to suppress the dangerous Consequence, with the advantage of those Ships, against Rebellion, which he conceives, and he hoped all Christian Princes conclude, such Subjects the greatest Enemies to all Sovereignty. With this, and the return of our Ships, fully satisfied for their Hire, these Heats for the present were allayed, though with other Discontents, and Provocations, the next year, they broke out into an open War. Which Ludlow, with his Commonwealth Charity, tells us, The King engaged in, not upon the account of those of the Reformed Religion, as was pretended, but grounded upon personal Discontents, to gratify the Revenge and Lust of his Favourite, Pag. 3.  
There is nothing more advantageous in any Relation, whether true or false, than in hanging things well together; Malum ex qualibet particulari, a Lie is quite spoiled if taken triping in any one particular; and 'tis the most Judicious part of the best Historians, to have a clear Consistency in whatever account they give, with an easy Transition from one matter to another. Let us then, according to this Rule, examine the Judgement, Candour, and Integrity of this great Dictator: He tells us in the precedent Paragraph, of several Steps he would have the King set, in order to the Establishing an Arbitrary Power, (which we have already taken notice of) more especially the Committing of several Members, as he saith, For complaining of the Grievances of the Nation; as others, for their Riotous Deportment in the House, Locking up the Door, holding the Speaker in the Chair, till they had passed what Votes they thought fit, with many such like Heats, upon an intimation of their Dissolution: Now what we are here to take notice of, is his Transition from this Relation to the next; The King having thus assumed this extraordinary Power, resolved to make a War with France; whereas the French War was begun before that Parliament was called, and in a fair prospect of being ended, when those Gentlemen were so unhappily committed. He had likewise intimated, in the precedent Page, that the French Match was in order to their Assistance, as to an Arbitrary Power, which his next Breath Blasts with a War, and when there was so much done towards the Relief of Rochel, and such Regret in the King, that he could not be Assisted to do more, with several other just Resentments for which the War was entered upon, that he should assign it to the Revenge and Lust of a Favourite; to say no more, is like the Man, his good Nature, and Loyal Principles, and agreeable to the Party, for whose Satisfaction he writ it, who will Swallow any thing that tends to Defame the Monarchy, though it hangs together like a Rope of Sand.  
But to come to the War, the King had too just Grounds to engage therein, tho' too mean a Fund to go through therewith; and the one in all probability had not been given, but that they saw how unlikely it was, he should ever be supplied as to the other. The not suffering Count Mansfield's Army to land in France, and joining with them according to promise, was the Ruin thereof, and highly prejudicial to the Protestant Interest in Germany: And which was worse, gave occasion to the Malcontents here at home, to complain of Mismanagement, and the No-Fruits of their Subsidies given to recover the Palatinate, when it all proceeded from the little Faith, and less Honour, of our Allies. And there was no more consistency in that mighty Huff, of the French King, and Court, upon the dismission of our Queen's Domestics, since he had been guilty of the like practice, upon the Spanish Retinue of his own Queen, not long before, and for aught appears, upon far less Provocation. The Politicoes, I know, then, and since, have censured the Duke for some Personal grudges against Richlieu, and that he did not act the part of a true Statesman, in countenancing such of his Enemies here, as he had made France too hot for; whereas, if they will allow him to look further, he could not but discover, that as Richlieu was a Minister of the Deepest reach that Crown ever had, so was he likewise the greatest Enemy to ours; and his Station being at that time very ticklish, to assist in getting him down, had been one of the best Offices he could have performed for this Kingdom; since 'tis now no further doubted, but that he was the Grand Promoter, Underhand, of all our Northern Commotions, and consequently, of all our Confusions hitherto, and without end to come.  
Yet, amongst many other Provocations, that doubtless which chiefly influenced the Duke, was the Relief of Rochel, the effecting whereof might as much have reinstated him in Popular favour, as his breaking off the Spanish Match, and for as long a time, in all probability not much longer: To be sure, had his Measures been taken, there were all the Moral Assurances imaginable of an accomplishment; but coming before the Town with a Fleet, the French were not able to look on the Face, and such Additional Land-Forces, as joined with their own, and the 4000 Foot, 200 Horse, the Duke of Rohan had engaged to send, besides a constant supply from England, as occasion should require, they within might not only have been secured, but such a New life given to the Protestant Interest, as to have gone into the Heart, and through all France; and this their whole Court, and Council, were so sensible of, as to make very advantageous Overtures to the Duke of Rohan, and all his Party, provided they would join with them against the English. I say, when, with all this Provision and Supply, the Duke came before Rochel, so great was their Infatuation there, (quos vult perdere, etc.) that though they knew they could not depend upon what the French proffered, yet were they afraid to offend them by admitting the English. To gain the greater Credit with the Party, this whole Transaction shall be related out of their Friend Mr. Rushworth, 
Coll. 426.  who tell us, When the Duke with his Fleet appeared before Rochel, they who once much longed for his coming, now shut their Gates against him: Hereupon, the Duke of Sobiez went ashore with Sir William Beecher, from the Duke of Buckingham, (Sir Will. Beecher being also accompanied with a Letter of Credence from his Majesty of Great Britain) they were at last admitted into the Town; and the Magistrates called an Assembly, and there Sir William Beecher declared unto them, That the Duke of Buckingham was come with a great Fleet and Army to their Assistance, which his Master had sent, out of fellow-feeling of their Sufferings; and to require from the King of France a performance of the Articles of Peace, made by the King of England's Mediation, on behalf of the Protestants in France. And further declared unto them, that if they do now refuse to give their Assistance, by joining Forces with the English, he said he would, and did protest before God and Man, in the Name of the King his Master, That his said Master was fully acquit of his Engagement of Honour, and Conscience for their Relief.  
But notwithstanding this Declaration, and Sobiez his Earnest Solicitation and Endeavour, the Magistrates and Wealthier sort of People in the Town, (being possessed with the fear of the King of France his Army, then upon a March against them, and there being a Court-Party also prevalent in the Town) could be drawn to give no other Answer at that time, but this, That they did render all humble and hearty Thanks to his Majesty of Great Britain, for the care he had of them; and to the Duke, for his forwardness and readiness to do his best Service for their good: But said, They were bound by Oath of Union, to do nothing but by Common and Unanimous Consent of all the rest of the Protestant Party in France: And therefore prayed the King of Great Britain to excuse them, in that they did suspend the Conjunction of Forces till they had sent to the rest of the Protestant Towns, who were of the Union with them; And in the mean time, their Prayers and Vows should be for the happy progress of such Actions, as the Fleet and Army should undertake.  
Thus far Mr. Rushworth, whose Authority the strongest prejudice must submit to, for had it been possible to represent things to the disadvantage, where the King and Duke were concerned, he would have exerted his utmost Talon that way. And whatever others may be assigned, this false Step of the Rochellers in not permitting the Duke to fix upon the Terra Firma of France, was the Chief, if not the Sole Cause, of their Ruin, and never after to be retrieved; for the Duke Squandring away his time, and Men, upon the Isle of Rhee, and no Supplies coming as designed, was forced home for want of Provisions; which opportunity the French failing not to take hold of, Invested Rochel both by Seae and Land, with so much Force and Art, as 'twas easy for them to Calculate the length of their Days. Hereupon, Sobiez with some other Deputies, were sent to implore his Majesty's Commiseration and Assistance, in the most Melting Language they could express, which theirs is very capable of; and were as graciously answered, That he would take them into his especial Care and utmost Endeavours for their Relief, and set about it with all Sincerity and Application imaginable; altho' indeed it was something retarded by that unhappy suprize upon the Duke's life, neither were his Coffers or Credit able to make the Expedition so quick as desired; (which occasioned that Remonstrance of the Sieur Vincent, the Defence so rudely descants upon, though I fancy the Original had not so rough a Title; Nevertheless, a Gallant Fleet was at length set out under the Earl of Lindsey; who with much Bravery and Resolution, set upon their Booms and Barracadoes, and broke through many of them; but sometimes the Tide failing, and at others, the Wind coming across, the Defendants likewise repairing whatever Breaches were made, and rendering every fresh Assault more difficult than the former, the Rochellers beheld with their own Eyes, the Impossibility of any Relief, and thereupon made that Unwilling Submission, their Fate, Folly, or both, had brought them unto. The French, tho' considerable Gainers by suppressing these unquiet Spirits at home, yet had so much work upon their hands from the House of Austria at Land, as they did not in the least care, to have England upon their Backs at Sea; and thereupon agreed very readily to a Peace, which set all things in Statu Quo, with this Advantage on our side, that they became more Complaisant and Obliging in their outward carriage; did not think fit to look Big and Insult upon every private Disgust, tho' their underhand Practices were much to be Suspected, as hath been already Observed.  
This is a true and impartial Account, how far our King was engaged in the preservation of those Unhappy People in Rochel; how sincerely he undertook it, and how they themselves, more especially rendered his most likely Attempts Abortive. We are next to observe, with how much Villainy and Falsehood, all those his Good Deeds are Evil spoke of, and perverted by the whole Fraternity of Libelers; Ludlow confounds the Story so abominably, as to tell it without Head or Tail, or rather with that witty Fellow's pretended Monster, sets the Head and Tail Transversim; for so he makes Sir john Pennington's, and the other Six Ships to be lent the French, after the Duke of Bucks had been at the Isle of Rhee, whereas it was two years before, and they had been returned home above a year. I must beg the Reader's pardon to trouble him with the whole Hodge Podge of this Lewd, Uncouth Story.  
The Rochellers, who once before, upon Encouragement from England, had endeavoured to defend their Just Rights against the Encroachments of the French King, till being deserted by the King of England, they were necessitated to accept terms from their King very disadvantageous to their Affairs, were again by frequent Importunities, and fair Promises, prevailed with, (tho' very unwillingly) to assist the English with Provisions, and such other things as they wanted, in their Expedition against the Isle of Rhee; from whence our Forces being repulsed, the French King sent his Army against the Protestants at Rochel, whose Provisions being before exhausted by the English, they applied to the King of England for Succours, according to his promise: Who, as if he intended to Assist them effectually, caused a certain number of Ships to be fitted out under the Conduct of Sir john Pennington; but private Differences being soon after composed, Sir john received a Letter from the King, Signed Charles Rex, which was afterwards found by the Parliament amongst his Papers, requiring him to dispose of those Ships as he should afterwards be directed by the French King; and if any should refuse to Obey those Orders, he should Sink or Fire them; the King's Command was put in Execution accordingly, and by the help of those Ships, the French became Masters of the Sea, and thereby enabled to raise a Work, composed of Earth, Stones, and Piles, with which they shut up the Mouth of the Harbour, and so prevented them from any Relief that way. Being straitened from all Sides they were forced to yield to the Pleasure of their King; and that strong Town of Rochel, wherein the Security of the Protestants of France chiefly consisted, by this horrible Treachery, was delivered up to the Papists, etc. Pag. 3, 4, 5.  
To reduce this Chaos into any thing of Order, or Consistency, requires more than Mortal Power; Nay, the fabulous Poets would have thought it beyond that of their Deities, there being no Pre-existent Matter to work upon; most of what he saith is not, was never so in being, as to be done, or thought upon: I would gladly know when that once before was, that the English encouraged the Rochellers to defend their Just Rights: First, No honest Man can tell what just Rights they had; It was a kind of Forty One business their Original Revolt, and prospered accordingly in the end. Though Secondly, in Reason of State, Queen Elizabeth assisted them considerably: Especially Henry IU. so long as he continued Protestant: And King james frequently interceded, composed the Breaches themselves had made, but never encouraged them in any; so that they could not be necessitated to accept disadvantageous Terms upon the English deserting, who never engaged, nor joined with them: Although his jumbling all this together, in one Sentence, may some way or other, no Man can tell how, relate to the Duke's Expedition when at the Isle of Rhee, whither they compelled him to Retreat; and I cannot find any considerable quantity of Provisions they supplied him with; to be sure he was forced home for want thereof, not any repulse of the French, for had his Supplies come, as designed, he had kept his Ground, and carried on the Enterprise in hand. From this incoherent Relation, he proceeds to that Abominable Forgery of our Seven Ships enabling the French to be Masters of the Sea, and Block up Rochel; What did the Twenty from the Dutch, those true Commonwealth Protestants? Did not they, according to their number contribute Two Thirds more than we? The Truth of it is neither we, nor they, were ever before Rochel, all that was done, the little while they had our Ships, was to clear the Seas of Sobiez's Piracies, at which time, most of the French Fleet was abroad in the straits, part against the Spaniard, the rest with the Duke of Nevers against the Turks, the Algerines; whereas being now returned into these Seas, though not strong enough to engage our Fleet, yet keeping within their Fastnesses and Shallows, they so blocked up the Town, as we could not, but at our great Peril approach them; which nevertheless was attempted, and that bravely too, but without Success: However, this rendered not the Care and Kindness of our King the less, whatever this base Fellow would hold the World in hand.  
And having been thus tedious in prosecuting the Malicious Vagaries of our Outlawed Regicide, I shall relate thereto, 
Detec. 344  for a Reply, to whatever the rest have Suggested; As that the King caused the Rochellers to Revolt in order to his Assistance, and then Deserted them, as Roger Coke impudently affirms; whereas their Revolt was begun two years before he thought of War, and ended, tho' not to Satisfaction, before he would make a Peace. And the Defence, 
Pag. 45. etc.  upon whose Sleeve, that other Libeler, if he be another, Pins his Faith, relates the Addresses on the Hugonot's side, and the Promises on the King's, whose Exigencies made his Delays seem tedious, though they saw he could not help it, which that base Fellow aggravates with the Spite and Ignorance of a Fanatic: And then not able to deny, that a Royal Fleet was set out, well worth so long a stay, would have the World believe it was on purpose to carry over the Lord Montague, who should betray them to the French; whereas to be sure there was no such Lord went, and in all probability no such Person, although there was one Mr. Walter Montague, younger Son to the old Earl of Manchester, who about seven years after, left our Church, and became a busy Body in Romish Intrigues, and might be at this time peeping up in the Queen's Court; but that he was sent, at leastwise upon any such unworthy design, is as true, as the Earl of Lindsey never attempted to break their Diques, open the Passage, and put in Relief; All which, this vile Wretch affirms in one Breath, tho' every Historian even to their Authentic Rushworth, 
Coll. 635.  positively affirm it. The continued course of impudent Untruths, wherewith these Weeders, nay Forgers of History, have so long wearied my Patience, makes me at last resolve upon this, I hope innocent Revenge; whenever for the time to come, I meet any Person relating a most improbable Malicious Falsehood, from me he shall not have that common Opprobrium of a Liar, but of a Fanatic Commonwealth Historian.   

CHAP. IX. Of the Palatinate, Bohemia, and that Queen.  
AND here before I leave the Defence, (by which term I all along mean that Libel which Undertakes to Justify the Parliament of Forty and all their Adherents) there is one Stretches must be taken Notice of, which as Physicians term it, is a Nostrum of his Own, never urged by any of his Brother Libelers; viz. That the Eight Ships, (for so he will have it, tho' really but Seven) lent the French, were Equipped with the Subsidies given for the Relief of his distressed Protestant Sister, the Electress Palatine, and the poor oppressed Protestants in the Palatinate, Pag. 3. 'Tis in a Parenthesis, and so might have been left out, as likewise for another Reason, because not true, which nevertheless must not pass here, lest it should set aside the whole Pamphlet: But I would gladly know what Subsidies he relates to, those granted King james were more than expended upon raising the 10000 Men for Count Mansfield; and those of King Charles' first Parliament, were only Voted, not Raised, when the Ships Lent; which to clear the Matter, the French Equipped at their own Expense, and paid moreover for the use of Hull and Rigging: 'Tis Odd in the mean while to observe what a Compass these Fellows will fetch, to gain one Point of Calumny, which too, after all they fail to Make.  
But because Roger Coke likewise Throws a great deal of Dirt upon the Memory of these two Kings, james and Charles the First, in Reference to that Unhappy Enterprise; and thereby that Unhappy Family, I shall here take care to wipe it off, in making it appear, they both did what possibly could be done, to Retrieve so desperate an Affair. Mr. Coke, very desirous to make the Prince Elector a good Title to the Kingdom of Bohemia, rambles into Hungary, Poland, and whither not? And runs into more Mistakes than he pretends to Correct, and quarrels at his Friend Rushworth, whom he never fails to follow but when in the Right: To be sure he stumbles at the very Threshold, 
Detec. 101  in saying, before Ferdinand Brother to Charles the Fifth, That Kingdom was Elective; whereas Uratislaus their first King was made so from Duke, by the Emperor Henry the Fourth, who always after had a right of Nomination; but his Power, in those troublesome Times throughout Germany, being very Precarious, and his Avocations elsewhere not Suffering him to attend the Transactions of so many several Districts, the People, or States, oftentimes assumed that Power to themselves; where notwithstanding they generally had regard to the Royal Family, though not immediate Successor; some other more prevalent with the Mob, and their Leaders, carried his own Business, by promising to carry theirs better. Nay, to show further, that the greatest Sticklers for the People's Right, had regard to the Royal Line, when they chose this Unfortunate Frederick Elector Palatine, a Descent was framed for him from Sophia, Sister to Ladislaus the Second. 'Tis likewise a gross Mistake, that the Germane Emperors were not Chosen till the Turks became great in Europe; Charles the Fourth was chosen 1346. at which time the Turks had not set one foot there; and so in the same manner his Three immediate Successors; Wencislaus, Sigismond, and Albert, when he was not come nigh, nor any ways feared by the Western Empire, though very formidable to the Eastern; yet these Four are produced as Instances thereof: At which rate he runs on without any regard to Truth or History, and let them that will, follow him, I shall not; but only observe, at this very time, when the Elector was made the People's Property, there had been four Kings successively of the House of Austria, Ferdinand, Maximilian, Rodolphus, and Mathias. Ferdinand the Second, Adopted Son of Mathias, doubting the Mob's Majority, got himself Nominated without them, according to the Original Institution; and having both Prescription and Possession, two strong Titles, when those others put in their Claim, it was Baffled at the Swords Point, and the Kingdom hath been the quieter ever since. But not to think with our Enthusiasts, that Success is always an Argument of Right, I shall refer it to what King james told Archbishop Abbot: 'Twas a Faction in Religion set up his Son there, and God would never Prosper them. And so likewise, the Duke of Saxony sent Frederick word, That he had often represented, what Ruin was like to attend him, by taking another Crown, and for his own part he was bound to chastise the Rebels; so that it seems he looked upon them as such, and 'tis probable refused the Crown upon that Account, for it was proffered both him, and the Duke of Lorraine, which tend little to the Reputation of a Calvinist Prince, that he should accept what a Lutheran, and Papist, whether out of Conscience, Policy, or both; thought not fit to venture upon.  
If this new King took that Crown, 
Detec. 108  in hopes of Assistance from his Father in Law here, he was much mistaken, for whatever Mr. Coke thinks, he thought better, and had asserted the Right of Crowned Heads so far, as he could upon no account give way to have them transferred upon every Mob Caprice. Nay supposing a just Title, I cannot imagine what Supply could been have given him, Money must have come from the Parliament; who had been very backward upon other Occasions, and would have been soon weary here; and for Men there was no way of conveying them, unless some Dutch Conjurer would have undertaken it in a Cloud through the Air; no Neighbour Princes care to have such Cattle march through their Country, and half a Score at least, must have been treated with in Order to this Expedition; most if not all of which, might have served us, as the French, and Dutch did the Ten Thousand sent under Count Mansfield, give fair Words, but permit them not to come on Shore, till more than half were perished on Shipboard.  
So that to spend no more Words, nor time upon Suppositions, as matters really stood, without Good Cause, Good Courage, or Good Conduct; what could King james do more than he did, treat with the House of Austria, for an Accommodation, of the most Rash, Indiscreet, ay and Unjustifyable enterprise ever any Prince engaged in, whatever the Zealous party did then, or hath ever since said to defend it, amongst which is Archbishop Abbot's Letter, so carefully recorded by Mr. Rushworth, which after all shows him more a Puritan than Politician, with very little Regard for what the truly Catholic Church hath ever held in that Point. Yet this is further remarkable, that deciding Battle at Prague was fought on a Sunday the Twenty Third after Trinity, where the Gospel holds forth: Reddite Caesariquae sunt Caesaris.  
But when King james saw the Palatinate invaded, and that all the Spanish Protestations were Trick and Wheedle, he then as averse as he was to War, engaged in good Earnest, to the utmost of his Abilities, by supplying the Princes of the Union in Germany, forwarding the King of Denmark to concern himself in that Quarrel, and furnishing Count Mansfield with an Army (the Miscarriage whereof he could not help) and several other considerable Supplies, both of Men, and Money; far beyond those few Subsidies his last Parliament gave to that end; and would they have been more open-fisted, he might have done a great deal more, but we have since seen how hisficult it is for the strongest Confederacy, to bear up against the United force of one Potent Prince; the Dutch slowness, 
Coll. 15.  saith my Author, was not excusable; nor the Marquis of Ansback, General of the Union so forward to seek, or take Advantages as he might: Nay, another affirms, That he carried himself neither so Faithfully, nor so Valiantly as he should have done, being much condemned, for suffering Spinola with his Army to pass by unfought with, when he had all Advantages that could be wished for to impede his March: the greatest part of the Palatinate being lost upon that neglect, and by degrees the rest of the united Princes, either taken off from their Engagement, or ruined for adhering to it with too great constancy. Yet still the Clamour must be continued, especially amongst our Factious Mend-all's; the King of Great Britain did not take care to preserve his children's Patrimony. 
Coll. ib.   
And for King Charles he was not much better served by that great Gustavus Adolphus, when he made such an Inroad into Germany, whom he furnished both with Men and Money very considerably, in hopes the Palatinate might be one Acquest of his many Successes, and so it was, but when he came there, the Right owner was so little regarded, as he ravaged and carried off, whatever Spinola and his Forces had left; the constant practice of those Necessitous Northern Princes, who will take your Money, and do their own Business if they can, but mind no other Obligations. Neither was the King's Kindness the less, for 'twas mostly at his expense; if that other Expedition in the Year Thirty Eight miscarried, as they Marched through Westphalia towards the Palatinate; only it had been well for him, Good man, if some guilty of that ill conduct, had fallen upon the Place, and never come to be guilty of the same with other Mistakes, or something worse here. All which I have mentioned; and could a great deal more, to Obviate that false and malicious Slander of Roger Coke, who saith, They, that is the Prince Elector, King of Bohemia, if you will have him so; his Queen, and Family, were more relieved by the Dutch States, Prince of Orange, 
Detect. 202.  with some Bishops and Noblemen of England, than both the King's Father and Son. For whether Relief relates to those Public Transactions abroad, or the Subsistence of the Queen and her Court at the Hague, 'tis in both Senses a gross untruth; the Dutch States were always concerned in their Confederacies as a considerable branch of the Union, but I never heard they contributed any thing to their Subsistence, till all help from England was gone.  
The benefit rather accrued to their people from the continued expense of such a Court, Retinue, and Resort; for the Princes of Orange indeed they were all Nobly kind to the Queen, and paid her a profound Deference, there being three of them successively in the Supreme Command during her Residence at the Hague: Neither will I detract any thing from what the Nobility here did, both Spiritual and Temporal; yet still the King's did more than all these, in every respect whatsoever, whether there was a settled Allowance during the few Years of her Father's Life, after dispossessed of the Palatinate; I cannot Resolve, but am sureher Good Brother, as she ever termed him, gave the utmost Expressions of a Tender and Endeared Affection; in that he not only was continually making Presents to her and her Children, took great care of them, and Advanced whomsoever they recommended, or belonged to them, but allowed moreover eight Thousand Pound per Annum for her Table, which was punctually returned every Month out of the Exchequer, at the same time, Money was carried thence, for like purpose to Whitehall; which when the Rebel Parliament had seized all the Crown Revenue was continued during the Presbyterian Iuntoes, Usurpation, the more readily because most of the English in her Family were of that Leven, who when the Cash failed, as basely deserted her, and sought Employment from her Brother's Murderers. And I presume upon her being thus destitute of Supply from hence, it was that the State's General allowed her One Thousand Guilders per Mensem, which sounds big in the Number, but reduced to our Account, amounts not fully to a Hundred Pound Sterling. Her Son likewise about that time was restored to the Lower Palatinate, and therein her jointure, who promised fair, but performed little. To be sure there was one Noble Man of ours, the late Earl of Craven (though for most part of that time his plentiful Estate here was Sequestered) contributed more to her, and her whole Family's Subsistence, than both the forementioned with all the World beside; and that not out of any Sinister unworthy respect, as some idle People would have it thought, but a pure Principle of Honour and Religion, a Munificent, Charitable Soul.   

CHAP. XI. Of the Book of Sports.  
BUt the loudest Cry, (and that wherein all the several Packs, however of different Mouths and Games, joined together in Hunting down) was against the Book of Sports, as they must have it Termed; which is to be considered here, tho' not set out till some Years after, because Ludlow, according to his no Method, and Chronology, brings it in immediately after the Surrender of Rochel, and that with several spiteful and false Prefacing. About this time, saith he, the most profitable Preferments in the English Church, were given to those of the Clergy, who were most forward to promote the Imposition of New Ceremonies and Superstitions. p. 5. Never was there more care taken in preferring the Clergy, according to their several deserts, and qualifications than by this excellent Prince, nor a greater Set of worthy deserving Men; but the promoting New Ceremonies and Superstitions, was one of their Old Common-place Calumnies upon his Pious care in consulting some other Bishops, and taking their Assistance towards keeping up Decency and Order in the Externals of God's public Worship; the than Archbishop being so Remiss and Negligent therein. What he adds of an Oath being enjoined with an etc. was several Years after, that is in Forty; and shall then be considered as a full Testimony, what little Nothings they would catch at to Augment the Quarrel. And I likewise defy him, and all his Party, to make appear, where one single Holiday, though he says, many was Introduced and required to be observed with all possible Solemnity; but this however False, was a necessary Antithesis to that grand Charge which follows. At the same time that they were encouraged to profane the Lords Day, by a Book commonly called, The Book of Sports, Printed and Published by the King's especial Command. This Book of Sports is a large Volume, which the Defence by the help of a Big Character, makes Four Pages in Quarto, being Two Declarations one of this King, the other of his Father; and whoever look into them, (which not one of Ten thousand, that rail at them, hath ever done) consider the Liberty there given, the Restraints laid down, and reasons of both, must acknowledge all contained therein, to proceed from a truly Christian dispotion, and absolutely necessary in reference to that Superstitious judaising Humour, the Puritan Party were then running the whole Nation into, and there was no way to stop, but by examining what Premises they had for such Conclusions? what Authority for turning back to those Weak and Beggarly Elements? Be again in Bondage to Moses; Observe Days, etc. which all Expositors relate to the Jewish Sabbath, and not rather Stand fast in that Liberty wherewith, 
Gal. 4. 9  Christ hath made us Free. Here therefore, whether with their leave or without, I shall presume to inquire, First, how this judaising Spirit came to possess so many of the Brotherhood amongst us. Secondly, Represent how inconsistent it is with the Nature of Christian Religion, and Universal Practice of the truly Christian Church; so that, Thirdly, what both the Kings enjoined was Agreeable to their Title, of Defending that Truly Catholic, Apostolic Doctrine.  
For what is First to be considered, it was for some time to my surprise, that the Puritan party who in all other Things so violently opposed john Calvin's Reformation to that of our Church, should notwithstanding wholly recede from him in the Doctrine and Observation of the Lord's-day: for when our Author was at Geneva, (and that they say, was his first City of Refuge) he could not but observe, how the Elder Men Bowled, the Younger exercised their Arms, or used some other Innocent Recreations, after the Public Duties of the Day were over, with as much freedom as our Kings allow in their Declarations, for all which Calvin gives very good Reasons in his Institutes; and most severely reflects upon all those Sabbatarian Zealots, we are now discoursing of, as three times worse than jews, 
Inst. l. 2.c.8.  Qui crassâ carnalique judaismi Superstitione ter judaeos Superant. But upon second Thoughts 'twas easy to resolve that their respect to Calvin must always give way, when an opportunity serves of prejudicing our Church, which they set themselves in all things to contradict, and herein had a Vile prospect of prevailing upon the People for a wide Breach, so that however the Calvinist quatenus Calvinist, hath no more regard for the Fourth Commandment than the Fifth, or the Romanists for the Second, yet by starting this Notion of a Divine Ordinance founded solely upon the Morality thereof, as strictly Obliging us, as the jews, they got an Occasion from thence to cavil at, and run down all the other Fasts and Festivals of the Church, as mere Human Inventions, though most of them Apostolical, and the rest in the Ages immediately succeeding, and that without ever considering, that by the same Authority, our Christian Sabbath was Translated from the Last to the First Day of the Week, and therefore, by keeping so strictly to their Mosaical Mumpsimus, they ought all to comply with what their Disciple Brabourne propounded, and go back to the Saturday Sabbath, to the Observance whereof he gained a Party, and writ a Book in its Justification; and though the High Commission brought him to a Retractation, wherein 'tis said he persevered, yet many of his Followers continued their Fopperies a long time after, and perhaps to this very Day; I am sure in the Year 65, there was a small English Congregation of them at Rotterdam, where a Physician of some Eminency, especially in Female concerns, was Master of the Synagogue, and under no little Perplexity at that time, for as much as there came in, or started up amongst them, some New Lights, who declared, besides their Observation of the jewish Sabbath, there was one thing farther wanting to Perfection, and that was Circumcision, whereunto some of the young strong bodied Fellows submitted, but the Old Members would be no such abraham's, and moreover by their Interest in the Magistrates, prevailed to have those others sent a further Pilgrimage. This I have cursorily mentioned to show how easy it is, from some plausible Pretences, and Superstitious pervertings of Holy Scripture, for Men to glide gently on, and sink into the Abyss of judaism, recommend their Sanctity by no other Performances than the Superficial rigours of Pharisaical Ostentation; for none but Men under such Arrogant Infatuations, could presume to affirm and that Publicly in the Pulpit, 
Pref. parg 22, etc.  as my Author declares it was at a Market Town in Oxfordshire, That to do any servile Work or Business on the Lord's day, was as great a Sin as to kill a Man, or commit Adultery. Another in Somersetshire, That to throw a Bowl on the Lord's day, was as great a Sin as to kill a Man. A third in Norfolk, That to make a Feast, or dress a Wedding Dinner on the Lord's Day, was as great a Sin, as for a Father to take a Knife, and cut his Child's Throat. A fourth in Suffolk, That to Ring more Bells than one on the Lord's Day, was as great a Sin as to commit Murder; of all which Particulars Mr. Rogers in the Preface to his Treatise upon the Thirty Nine Articles, assures us from certain Informations, and Knowledge, being present when the last was convened before his Ordinary for the same: And moreover with great Satisfaction declares, that by his means these Sabbatarian Errors and Impieties were first brought to Light, and discovered to the State, and this Good ensued thereupon, That all Books, which contained the abovementioned, and many more such fearful and heretical Assertions, were called in, and forbidden any more to be Printed and made Common; Archbishop Whitgift by his Letters, and Visitation did the one, Anno 1599 and Sir john Popham Lord Chief justice did the other, Anno 1600. at Bury in Suffolk. Yet neither could this, nor several other prudent Courses, both Ecclesiastical and Civil, either satisfy the Scruples or restrain the Follies of those Men, who had embraced these New Sabbath Doctrines, but that they still went forward to advance that Business, and made it part of the Common-Cause, no Book being published by them, either as to Moral Piety, or Systematical Divinity, wherein the Sabbath was not pressed upon the Consciences of God's People, with as much Violence, as formerly with Authority upon the jews, and from the same Obligations: To give one Instance of many, how Prevalent this Humour was, Mr. Breerwood a very learned and judicious Person, Professor of Astronomy at Gresham, College, had the Charge of an Orphan, his Brother's Son, whom he placed Apprentice in London, where he continued two Years with much Satisfaction, both to himself, and Master, but then grew very uneasy, and earnest to be discharged, the Reason whereof, after some feigned Excuses, his Uncle discovered to be, for that his Master on the Lord's Day, had sent him forth sometimes on Errands, as to bid Guests, fetch Wine, give his Horse Provender, or such like light Business; all which one Mr. Byfield a popular Preacher at Chester, when lately there, had informed him to be a Sin, a Trangression of God's Commandment touching the Sabbath, and that he was not bound to yield, nay that he sinned against God, in yielding Obedience to his Master's Commands; this produced a learned Letter, from the Uncle to Mr. Byfield, which is since Printed, with an Answer and Reply, wherein the whole Question is exactly Stated, upon what different Obligations the jews and Christians, observed their different Days, that theirs amongst other Rites, as St. Paul terms it, Col. 2. 17. 
Page 38.  Was but a Shadow of things to come, whereof the Body was in Christ; or as he expressed himself farther on, Only a Tenure for term of Life, namely that of the Ceremonial Law, 
Page 45.  which Life ended in the death of our Saviour, and the Lord's day succeeded thereupon; As it was not known or practised before Moses, so it ceased to oblige after Christ, being one of the Shadows which the Evangelical Light dispelled, one of the Burdens which this Law of Liberty takes off. From whence it follows, according to what I propounded, 2dly, That these Sabbatarian Speculations are inconsistent with the Nature and Practice of Christian Religion, for the Priesthood being changed, there is made also of necessity a change of the Law, as the Apostle tells us, different ends of Institution, and different ways of Observation; the jews were more especially enjoined a Corporal Rest, in Commemoration of their Temporal Deliverance, the Christians main regard must be Spiritual after the Power of an endless Life, and therefore what the Evangelical Prophet, Isaiah, declares as to the Sabbath, Isa. 56. 2. Blessed is the Man that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his Hand from doing any evil, hath by all the Fathers, and from them most of the Moderns, been understood by way of Prediction, as to Gospel Times; what at leastwise they ought to be, St. jerom is most express, Alioquin si haec tantum prohibentur in Sabbato, ergo in aliis sex diebus tribuitur nobis libert as delinquendi; for otherwise if those things therein remembered, are prohibited only on the Sabbaths, than were it Lawful for us on the other Days, to follow our own Sinful Courses, speak our own idle Words, and pursue our own Voluptuous Pleasures; which were most Foolish to imagine. And St. Augustine makes the 4th. Commandment so far as it concerns us Christians to be no more than Requies cordis & tranquilitas mentis quam facit bona Conscientia, the quiet of the Heart and peace of Mind proceeding from a good Conscience, and therefore it hath been well resolved by some, that a Christian's Life should be one continued Sabbath; he that lives every day as he ought, hath little or no Obligation to observe one Day more than another, but what between Idleness and Business Mankind was never Ingenious enough to be left at his own Freedom. As for the Idle part God forgive them their many Extravagancies, and more especially neglect of Holy Duties on the Six Days, and let the severest Penalty attend their Violation of the Seventh. And it were well if our Men of Business would consider how much that might be forwarded, by sparing some little of their busy Time, to implore God's Blessing upon their Business: But to run into so gross a mistake as to think a strict Attendance upon Ordinances on the Sabbath Day, may expiate for the Frauds, Extortions, and other Violations of the precedent Week, is intolerable, yet some are prone to suspect, such a Delusion is not without Entertainment amongst many of the most seemingly Precise; however 'tis God alone, and their own Consciences must judge herein; it were well, on the other side, they would be less severe in Censuring others, especially those we here plead for, who are only the Drudging part of Mankind, such Labourers, Apprentices, and other Servants, as have let their other six Days time to Hire, and are all that while at other men's disposal; that these after all due performance of Religious Offices, should be allowed such innocent Diversions both of Body and Mind, as their Inclinations tend most unto, cannot but be thought reasonable, and accordingly the Christian Church never interposed any Command to the contrary.  
Here then come in their Majesty's Declarations, and more especially relate to the foremention'd Circumstances; upon a prudent Consideration, as King Charles saith of his Father, That if these Times were taken from them, the meaner sort, who labour hard all the Week, should have no Recreations at all to refresh their Spirits; neither was there less of Prudence and Consideration, in the several Limitations of this Innocent Freedom, as First that no lawful Recreations be used as the Laws of the Kingdom, and Canons of the Church prohibit, for some such it seems there were, as particularly Bowling to meaner sort of People. 2dly. That this Liberty be not taken till after Divine Service; nor 3dly. That any enjoy it, but such as are present at the Performance thereof. We may here likewise add, the reasons given, why the Declarations came out at those particular Times, which if well weighed cannot be excepted against; As first the Advantage the Papists took thereby, to discourage People from coming into, or continuing in our Church, by persuading them that no honest Mirth, or Recreations were tolerated in our Religion: And this indeed gave the first occasion to King james, who in his Progress through Lancashire received several Complaints thereof, and having informed himself how justly, gave a Check to the precise Humour of such justice overdoes, as stretched the Laws beyond their proper Intent, and true Reason of the thing; whereto likewise agrees what the judicious Sanderson tells us, that in Lancashire, more especially, the Rigid, froward Disposition of the Puritans, obliged many of the Common People to continue, if not turn Papists, between which two Parties, that County was mostly divided.  
Another Reason given, is for that this Prohibition barreth the common and meaner sort of People from using such Exercise, as may make their Bodies more able for War, when we, or our Successors shall have occasion; for, as it goes on, When shall the Common People have leave to Exercise, if not upon the Sundays, and Holy Days, seeing they must apply their Labour, and win their Living in all working Days? All which in no more than their Common Practice at Geneva, as hath been already mentioned; and it ought further to be considered, so strict a Confinement from all Diversions of Body and Mind, cannot but by degrees oppress and darstardise Men's Spirits, of English Mastiffs, make them in the end become Setting-Dogs to some Foreign Power: To these King Charles adds, a 3d. The rather because of late in some Counties of the Kingdom, we find, that under pretence of taking away abuses, there hath been a general Forbidding, not only of ordinary Meetings, but of the Feasts of the Dedication of the Churches, etc. which besides preserving the Memorial thereof, as he was certainly informed, tended very much to Civilising the People, composing of Differences by the Mediation of Friends, increasing Love and Unity, by those Feasts of Charity; with Relief and Comfort to the Poor, the Richer part in a manner keeping open House. Although what is mentioned just before in this Corroborating part of King Charles, might probably prevail more with him, than all the rest, viz. Out of a Pious Care for the Service of God, and for suppressing any Humours that oppose Truth, being too sensible how those judaising Dogmatists by inculcating to the People a strict and sole Observance of this Legal Institution, designed thereby to exclude all those Christian Feasts and Festivals, which have been constantly Commemorated ever since the Gospel was Preached to Mankind, as the Birth, Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, with the Descent. of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, by which Miraculous Gifts, Almighty God empowered them to Preach the Gospel to the whole World, bringing Life and Immortality to Light; and the Church accordingly hath ever paid a thankful Acknowledgement of those their indefatigable Labours, Exemplary Lives, and Cruel Deaths; till these Enemies to all Antiquity as well as Order, and Gratitude, must have them superseded by such jewish Observances as neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear. And it was much to my Surprise, that when some late Acts passed for the more strict observing the Lord's Day, the Fathers of our Church, when it came into their House, did not endeavour, at least, that some little regard might be had to the foremention'd Fasts and Festivals: 
Canon 13.  (the Canon took care to join them all together) for due Celebration of Sundays and Holy Days, and God forgive those who connived at a Separation, such an Omission could not have passed in Charles the 1st. Time; and one would think their proceedings than should be Matter of greater Caution now, for having dared to lift up their Hands against that true Defender, they stuck at nothing which might hinder a thorough Reformation, began indeed at the Holy Days, but Liturgy and Bishops soon followed: To give one Instance of many, how cursedly they affected to run Counter, against whatever our Church did practise; when in the Heat of the Rebellion Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, as it must in Course every four or five Years, that Coryphaeus of the Faction old Calamy, lest he should be thought to regard the Festival of our Saviour's Nativity, preached upon a Passion Text. Eli Eli Lamasabachthani. How violent a Current we have been dared to Stem, is neither our Ignorance, nor our Fear, Truth is a Rock which repels the Force, at the same time it causes their Noise and Foaming: Yet not to be mistaken herein, (which is very Natural for them to do) I shall most readily comply in the strictest Observation of the Lord's Day they can think fit to prescribe, provided it be upon a Christian, not jewish Bottom, and with a due Deference to what the Wise and Good have in the best Ages of the Church resolved therein: Otherwise to make Exclamations, and inveigh against every one, who will not walk by their kill Letter of the Law, hath too great Affinity to those Pharisaical Rigours, which were continually carping at, and Censuring our Saviour for the many Miracles he wrought on the Sabbath Day, whilst their hard and impenitent Hearts, could not understand what that meant, I will have Mercy not Sacrifice, as likewise that the Sabbath was made for Man, not Man for the Sabbath: And that the many Reproaches raised against the two forementioned Princes, upon their sincere Endeavours for a right Information herein, as well as their other good Deeds, for the House of God, and Offices thereof, proceeded from the like perverse Disposition of Spirit, can be little doubted, by any one who reflects, how exactly they paralleled the jews in Murdering the one, and continue still most implacable against the Memories of both.   

CHAP. XI. Of Ship-Money.  
WHen a Man hath a Subject will bear an Argument, and is sure of an easy and ready Attention, to run out into bitter Invectives, and false Suggestions; argues as great a defect of Judgement, as good Nature; to be sure nothing has raised a stronger Suspicion of this Prince's sincere Intentions, amongst the soberest, and best disposed People in the Nation, than his Levying Ship-Money, which therefore Ludlow might have kept close to, without continuing his Excursions against the Clergy; but they must answer for all, to which end he tells, That divers of them entered the List as Champions of the Prerogative, asserting that the Possessions and Estates of the Subjects did of Right belong to the King, and that he might dispose of them at Pleasure; thereby Vacating and Annulling, as much as in them lay, All the Laws of England, that secure a Propriety to the People, p. 5. Now to prove or make appear, one Syllable of this Virulent Charge, is beneath the Authority of his Memoirs; 'twill pass with the Party upon his Word, and whoever affirms, nay proves the contrary; shall be no more credited by them, than they will be at the Last Day. The jesuits, where they have Power, are not more severe in their Inquisitions, than our well-scented Demagogues upon all Transactions of the Loyal Clergy; yet excepting those few indiscreet Expressions of Sibthorp and Manwaring, (which has been already spoke to) they could find nothing else worth catching hold of, otherwise we should not have been so often hit in the Teeth with them two: 'Tis true the Clergy all along stood firm to the Prerogative, and thought themselves bound both in Duty and Interest to support its just Rights, against the many Invasions every Day attempted to that, and the Kingdom's Ruin; which Steadiness and Resolution of theirs, was the pretended Crime, and grand Motive, for those little Crorespondents with the Prince of the Air to raise and procure so many Storms against them. But that they had any Thoughts of stretching the Prerogative beyond its due Bounds, much less of Annulling all, nay any of the Laws of England, none but a Republican Confidence could affirm, and hath no more of Truth, than that Ludlow was an honest Man, and Loyal Subject: He goes on, Arbitrary Courts were erected; it had been well to have mentioned one that was so, all this King's Reign, which since he is gone I desire his Admirers to give me Satisfaction on his behalf, or otherwise him no more credit than he deserves. The like Challenge I make, as to the Power of those other being enlarged, such were the High Commission Court, the Star-Chamber, the Court of Honour, the Court of Wards, the Court of Requests, etc. There was a mighty Clamour indeed against some of these Courts, not so much for any real default in them, as that they were thought too great a support to the Prerogative, and Church, without considering, how the whole Frame of Government, was so closely joined and fixed together therewith, as a Dissolution in such essential Parts, would reduce all the rest to Rubbish, and Confusion: And accordingly it fell out, at those Breaches then made, the several Herds of Schismatics, Libertines, Atheists, etc. found so free an Entrance, so uncontrollable a Ravage, as 'tis hard now to tell either, where or what we are. To show in one Instance, how little Ground there was for all that Noise and Fury, even against the High Commission, which lay under the greatest Odium, Archbishop Laud caused the Acts of that Court to be searched, 
Troub. and Try, p. 164.  (which can deceive no Man) and found There had been fewer Suspensions, Deprivations, and other Punishments, by Three, during the Seven Years of his Time, than in any Seven Years of his Predecessor Abbot, who was notwithstanding in great Esteem with the House of Commons, whilst this other was cried out upon for Sharpness and Severity; whereupon the Good Man makes this sad but just Complaint, So safe a thing it is for a Man to embark himself in a Potent Faction, and so hard for any other Man, be he never so entire, to withstand its Violence. And therefore we may presume it was not the Quantity but the Quality of the Persons proceeded against, which thus highly exasperated them; To have such Instruments, such Engines of Sedition as Leighton, and Lilbourn, Pryn, Burton, Bastwick, etc. confined from doing farther Mischief, was to stifle the whole design; Rebellion could never so much as take Root, if those Seeds-men were kept from planting the Crop. Yet we will suppose there might be some less justifiable Proceedings, some perhaps too harsh and severe Decrees; must every Corruption or Abuse destroy the being of a Court? cannot the Numbers, and Trickings of our Attornies be redressed; and yet some of the Honester continued to follow Business? Or must that Honourable Profession of the Law be laid aside, because the present Tendency of Practice, seems more to regard their own Support than the People's ease, and speedy Relief? Such another Set of Through Reformers would much endanger the shutting up of Westminster-Hall: And indeed that they were going about, Ludlow tells you what a quick Dispatch they had brought things to in Ireland, and they were not without the like Attempts several Times here. Which had it been put into the Hands of Wise and Honest Men, to check and regulate what was amiss, we might have said Amen to, but such Root and Branch Fellows were intolerable, and as they had already destroyed the Church, so were bidding fair at those Laws and Properties, our Author so falsely chargeth upon the Clergy: I have somewhere read that a negligent Latin Transcriber of that Parable where the Woman swept her House to find the lost Groat, writ Evertit, for Everrit; very applicable to all our violent Undertakers, who are for throwing the House out at the Windows, and all Government out of the Kingdom.  
But the Total Abolition of these Courts was not till our Grandees of 40. entered their Province, and played Rex to purpose; which is the last Preliminary Charge our Author makes, (for next he falls at large upon the Scotch Rebellion, and so on to that in England) and according to his Brutish Courage in other Undertake, is the most impudent Push he hath hitherto ventured at; And that our Liberties might be extirpated at once, and we become Tenants at Will to the King, that rare Invention of Ship-Money was found out by Finch, etc. 'Tis one thing to write a Libel, another an History, where what is said or done on each side, ought impartially to be related, and had not the former been here chiefly designed, we must have been told, the King studied nothing more than the Honour of the Nation, and Interest of his People, wherein, not being seconded by his Parliaments, as they ought; he was forced to inquire what other Legal Courses his Predecessors had taken, when under like Exigencies with himself; and herein the Learned Selden gave no little Light, by a Book about that Time written, called Mare Clausum: But the Person of the greatest Authority and Abilities too, to resolve any thing of Ancient Customs was Attorney General Noy, not Finch, as Ludlow blunders, who all along in the House of Commons passed for an Oracle, whatever he declared to be Law, was no farther disputed amongst them; and can it be imagined he should recede so far from the Character ever given him, of an indefatigable Search, and morose Sincerity, as to Trifle at last, impose upon the King and Kingdom, in so weighty a Concern, without being able to make out, and justify it, in every Point which 'tis affirmed he did by several Precedents, in some of which it appeared, That the Ship Tax had been Levied by such Kings, as in the same Year had Subsidies granted from their Parliaments for other Occasions. 
Sir R. Baker. An. 1631.  The King therefore having so good an Authority, for a Matter which in itself appeared highly reasonable, must have violated all the Rules of Discretion, as well as Policy in not closing therewith; nay could not have answered the Discharge of that Trust reposed in him, either to God or Good Men: For 1 st. His Coasts were not only infested with Pickeroons, Turks, and Dunkirk Pirates, to the great Damage of Traffic: But his Dominon in the Narrow Seas, actually usurped by the Holland Fishers; and the Right itself in good earnest disputed by the Learned Grotius, in a Tract called Mare Liberum; these were craving Occasions and Concernments, not of Honour only, but Safety and Interest; 2dly. He had found his Parliaments so Resty, and Peevish, as there was no prospect of a Supply, that, otherwise, best way, without exposing himself, and all his most faithful Adherents: 3dly. It supposes a mighty Defect in any Government, that when some inferior Parts will not act with any thing of Sense of Temper, the Supreme Sovereign Power should not take the next best Way, to secure itself, and all other Concerns thereof. 4thly. As the Learned in the Law, who are the best, and perhaps only competent judges in such Cases, approved thereof: So when questioned the Harangues made against them, savoured more of Passion and Spite, than Argument and solid Reason. 5thly. What he Levied was so effectually employed, to the Reputation and Interest of the Kingdom, as they that found fault therewith, must needs, whilst doing it, blush at their own Perverseness: Especially for that. 6thly. These pretended Redressers broke through all the Laws of God and Man, and for every Pound he Levied, and so honourably expended in the Nation's Defence and Security; as impudently, as unjustly extorted Thousands from the People, to promote a most cursed and unnatural Rebellion, Nec dum sinitur, we are since come to Millions, and justly deserve no better, who made such a Muttering and Stir, when he did not raise above Six Pence in the Pound, and to so good Purposes, as the Dominion of the Sea, was never so well secured, and Traffic so considerably advanced, above what was ever known in the Nation before. Had they who pretended greater Right to raise Money, taken a greater or equal Care in disposing thereof to the Kingdoms and People's Good, all must have gone well; but to act like the Dog in the Manger, resolve to do nothing themselves, yet keep away, barkat, and Quarrel all others, to whom it more properly belonged, was the Extremity of Baseness, Mischief for Mischiefs sake. And which is still worse, that mischievous Humour, 'tis to be feared we shall never get quit of, there being several Curs, nay whole Packs of that Old Breed, which continue on the Cry, and are so wholly bend upon their Commonwealth Confusions, as to prefer them before any thing of a Monarchy, not excepting the Kingdom of Heaven, whereof having but small Hopes, they may think to oblige the Devil, by bringing Hell upon Earth.   

CHAP. XII. Of King James' Death.  
I Have had some little Dispute with myself; whether it was requisite to take Notice of King James' Death, especially as relating to this Excellent Prince his Son; but finding the Calumny impudently improved, as well from the former Age, to this, as by the several Libelers now, every one striving to outdo the other in this Villainous Forgery, till the last hath brought it to such an Impossibility, as every Child may discover, and see through: I must trouble both the Reader and myself, with the Examination of this Abominable Nothing. King james had an ill Habit of Body, very unwiel'dy, and full of gross Humours, which improved the more upon him, for that he was so uneasy, as to the Regiment of his Health, either from his Own, or Physicians Observation; whereupon falling into a Tertian Fever at Theobalds', 'twas thought by most Men, amongst the rest him himself, that Crazy Constitution of his would not be able to withstand its frequent Assaults; and it happened accordingly. Soon after his Death it was whispered about Court, that the Duke had recommended something of a Cure for his Ague, without the Physicians advice, which doing no good, must be presumed to do hurt; this coming to the Duke's Ear, he concerned himself so far, as to have the Matter examined by the Physicians, where the Lady appeared and disclosed that great secret of an Ague-Cure, (few of that Quality, amongst their Country Neighbours, (for she was a Country, a Essex Lady) being without something of that kind,) which was only a Plaster of Methrydate, with a Posset Drink of Hartshorn, and Marygold Flowers. This for that time put an end to the Rumour, but about two Years after, in the Second Parliament, it was Revived again, and made an Article against the Duke, which they that please may Consult, with his Reply, and perhaps be satisfied therewith; if not I shall only add further, Lord Keeper Williams performed the last Offices of a Divine to King james, continued with him several Days and Nights before his Death, so that had he observed or suspected any such foul Play, there is no doubt but it would have made a sufficient Noise both in Parliament and elsewhere, when the Duke caused the Seal to be taken from him; and the Author of his Life who relates the one, would not have been sparing to discover the other.  
And now to show how Artificially the Master was brought in, as concerned, with what the Servant never did; when the Articles were Exhibited against the Duke: Sir Dudley Diggs who as Foreman managed the Prologue, and gave a Summary of the whole Charge; was reported to have said these Words, That he was commanded by the House, concerning the Plaster applied to the King, that he did forbear to speak farther in regard to the King's Honour, or Words to that Effect, whereupon the King ordered him to be Committed, and Sir Dudley Carlton Remonstrated the same to the Commons, but upon his own and the Two Houses Compurgation, that no such, nor such like Words were spoken, he was again discharged, yet whoever Consults that Eloquent Harangue, as Recorded by Rushworth, 
Coll 305.  will find it very scurvily tending that Way, and thus for 20 Years following it was wholly laid asleep, no one harbouring so groundless a Thought: But when God cursed this Nation with a Successful Rebellion, whereby the Army got the King into their Clutches, and so purged the House, as consisting only of their own Properties, they passed, that Praeludium to his Murder, their Votes of no more Addresses, wherein amongst many other Villainous, Forged Accusations, (indeed whatever the Devil, or Devils of Men, could assist them withal) this of King Iame's Death was one; and 'tis very remarkable what a doughty Topick they have to make it out, delivered down by our as doughty Authors, He Dissolved the Second Parliament to prevent their Enquiry into his Father's Death, says Ludlow, p. 2. And Roger Coke to the same purpose, King Charles rather than this Charge should come to an Issue, dissolved the Parliament. 
Detect. 196.  The Defence to out-lye all that went before him, tells you Divers Parliaments were dissolved upon that Account, whereas there was but one more, and this Business never mentioned therein. In Answer to all which false and groundless Presumptions, I shall only Request them to Consult their Friend Rushworth, where they will find that Parliaments Dissolution did not in the least proceed from this, or any other Articles Exhibited against the Duke, who had given in his Reply, and pressed for a rejoinder, that they would come to the Proof of their Common-Fame Charge, wherein there appeared not much forwardness. The King on the other hand was in great Expectation of those Subsidies they had Voted, and indeed only Voted; for though that was done the 27 th'. of March, yet had not the Bill been once read the 9 th'. of june, by which delays, his Majesty's Designs with his Allies abroad were Frustrated, and Honour exposed, for want of supplying them according to Treaty, whereof giving Notice in a Letter, they had so little regard, as to fall to preparing a Remonstrance, in reference to Tonage and Poundage, and other such like unseasonable and unreasonable Cavils; which the King understanding, and esteeming (as he had Cause) to be a denial of the promised Supply, and finding that no Admonition could move, no Reasons or Persuasions prevail, when the Time was so far spent, that they had put an impossibility upon themselves, to perform their Promise, whereof they esteemed all Gracious Messages to them, to be but Interruptions, His Majesty upon mature Advisement dissolved them. 
Col. 410.  This is the Account the King himself gives in his Declaration, of their unkind Dealing, and his too just Provocation for that Act; otherways would they have complied with him in those his urgent Necessities, there should have been no Obstruction upon the Duke's Account, they might have gone on with their Articles, and been certainly Baffled as to that of King James' Death; and perhaps most of the rest.  
But I must not break off here, without my promised Remark upon the Defence, who by adding another most Impossible Story, renders that aforementioned yet more Improbable. There are few will believe, because he brings none, That for many Reasons it was concluded, King Charles had no small share in that abominable Act of Poisoning his own Father King James I. 
Page 44.  But to add, and that Good Man Prince Henry his Son, is such a Stretches, as nothing but one by a Halter can keep pace with, and they deserve to go together. That Prince Henry was thought to have something of foul Play, Sir W's. Libel does insinuate, but no Man of Sense or History ever believed a Syllable thereof, and that Answer Entitled, Aulicus Coquinariae, clearly makes appear it was right down Libel, that is, absolutely false; and as there was no ground to place it where Sir A's. Baseness designed, so for this unthinking Blockhead to transfer it upon that poor innocent Child his Brother, let the most prejudiced Fanatic judge, when told, that at Prince Henry's Death, this his younger Brother was not Twelve Years Old, having been all along of a weak unhealthy Constitution, lived a Studious retired Life, with very little Conversation but that of Books and Tutors, which was indeed of great Advantage to his future Accomplishments, but kept him then from making any Figure at Court, or entering upon any Intrigue there, which the most Active Princes of that Age, have seldom been known to engage in, much less to carry on such an Unnatural Enterprise. Yet doubtless this is as true as the other, and whoever for the Time to come, relate either, may the same Fate attend them as did Horace's Planus, a Lying Cheat; not to be believed when they speak Truth, though their Lives depend thereupon.  
Nulla fides damnis, verisque doloribus adsit.  
Roger Coke hath another, the prettyest Maggotty Reason, to prove King james could not die a Natural Death, because all the five James 's his Predecessors in Scotland were carried off otherwise. I will not concern myself with what was done in Scotland, but dare be the Courts Compurgator for all of that Family which have died since it came into England, (although none have gone off without some such ill-natured, and ill-grounded Suggestion) I wish I could say as much for the Parliament, or rather a Rump of it, which outdid whatever hath been done in Scotland, or any where else upon the Face of the whole Earth: And further to provoke Divine Vengeance, we have got a Generation of Villains, which at this Hour dare to justify it, and no Notice taken thereof. Nay these eager Bloodhounds are so delighted with that sort of Game, as when they cannot come at it themselves, will needs have it done by others, for so it was confidently muttered of the last, which went off by Death, and if God curse us with continuing this Set of Men, will pass for an Authentic Story 50 or 60 Years hence; it was enough at present to found it in a Whisper, especially since the Physicians, and amongst them Dr. L— a great Confident of theirs declared, that upon inspecting the Brain, there was so clear Evidence of an Apoplexy, as 'twas impossible to think of any other Cause. However there is nothing Extraordinary in all this, besides the grosseness of the Fiction, there are few Historians relate the Death of Princes, without something of a real or imaginary Force. But to bury them alive by Supposititious Births is altogether Modern, an Advance of this present Age, with how much Interest or Honour the next may Judge.   

CHAP. XIII. His Government before the Rebellion.  
THese be the most, tho' not all, (for all it is impossible to Enumerate) and therefore, let it be, all the most considerable Exceptions, false Clamours, and frontless Cavils, wherewith the wide-mouthed Factions, blackened the King, and Trumpetted up Rebellion; into which dismal and bloody Scene before we enter, Let us take a general View of his Government, during the Twelve Years Interstitium, or if you will Interregnum of Parliaments, (for they were never quiet till Supreme, and than least of all) where we shall find this true Father of his Country, so tenderly Provident for a crooked and perverse Generation, Nurtured them up in so much Peace, and Plenty, such a continued Affluence of all Things requisite to Humane Welfare, as never any Nation enjoyed a greater, and very few have equalled them therein.  
That he Hated, or had any Prejudice against Parliaments, is so far from being True, as if there were any Mistake, it appeared rather, at First, on the other Side, he Caressed them a little too much. To be sure it was by his Inducement, the Duke of Bucks made that Narrative, relating to the Spanish Match, and Treaty; to both Houses of Parliament, in King James' Last, whereto, as occasion served he gave his Attestation; which so pleased their Popular, aspiring Humour, as the Duke was then the Whitest Boy, and his Master the Hopefullest Prince in the World. And he doubtless intended to have gone on, in that Sincere plain-dealing Way, represented Things as they really were, and expected they should have met him half Way, in all reasonable Returns. But his more Experienced Father understood better, told them both how short-lived such Caresses would be, as they should find too soon: Which immediately upon his coming to the Crown, most Prophetically fell out, in his first Parliament; where making a small Compliment of Two Subsidies, they returned to their Old Vomit, Evil Counsellors, Grievances and the like, must be the only Subject of Debate, after which they made so strict a Search, as such another Set of Busy Men; according to the Latin Adage, 
Nodum in Scyrpo quaerere.  would for a Knot in a Bulrush; yet hereupon the Breach so gradually widened, Three several Parliaments, as to part at last in a final Separation: Whereunto after all is said, never Prince had greater or juster Provocation. Nevertheless I cannot find, in his Proclamation set out upon the last Dissolution, or any where else, that it was declared Criminal for the People to speak any more of Parliaments, as Ludlow, with his usual Impudence, affirms, p. 2.  
The King, as I said, finding the Factions so prevalent in all Elections, as it was impossible to get a Parliament, would either hearken to Reason, or Act with Temper, resolved to do as well as he could without them: Having therefore made an Honourable Peace with France, and Spain; he looked into and so managed his small Revenue, as to keep out of those Necessities, whereof there was small Hopes of a Supply, when run into. By which means he kept a very Splendid Court, yet withal as Regular, no ways Profuse, whatever our Libelers Cant, and wholly free from such open Immoralities as have since not a little tended to Dabauching the whole Nation, without any present Prospect of Reformation. As God blessed him with a fruitful Offspring, so the Charge of several Royal Nurseries was considerable. Neither was there any Prince in Europe made a better Figure, by his Ministers, in all Foreign Courts, which must add to the Expense: Yet these might be easily weathered, and every Thing else which came under Consideration, but that of a Royal Navy, which notwithstanding was absolutely Necessary, both in respect of Trade and Reputation, and his Revenue not being able to go through therewith, put him upon that Expedient of Ship-Money, which we have already spoke to, and therefore shall only add, that by the help of this most easy and reasonable Supply, he kept a constant Guard in the English Channel, cleared the Seas of all Enemies and Encroaching Friends, and Built the best Ships, which to that Day ever Floated upon the Main, and have been scarce outdone since. I have heard some very knowing Persons in that way, affirm, that two of his First Rates, the Royal Sovereign and the Prince, might be a Pattern to the best Builders, and the most sensible paid a Deference to them. His Majesty was wont to say, most Men had their Vanities, and his was Building, more especially Ships, wherein, as he might, at Pleasure, be pleasant with himself, so he could not be Ignorant in how high a Measure it conduced, both to his own Grandeur, and the Public Good; for by his means clearing the Coasts of all Little Enemies, and having no great Ones abroad, (whilst most part of Europe, besides were up to the Ears in Blood,) we continued the only Free-Traders in the World. The Spaniard at War with Holland, was glad to secure his Bullion in our Bottoms, which being Coined here, was of some Benefit to the Mint, more to the Merchant, who exchanged it into Flanders, either by Goods or Bills, which made the greatest plenty of Coin was ever known in this Nation, and upon the easiest most advantageous Terms, (without buying Gold too dear, which may now be) all other Trades keeping an equal Balance therewith, which made very constant and considerable Returns; and a Return of Customs proportionable, and they were the main Support of the many foremention'd Expenses, with several others not mentioned, and all too little, had there not been an exact Managment; for this whole Revenue oftener fell short of Five Hundred Thousand per Annum than rose to Six, when the Ship-Tax, was most strictly Collected, it could not reach Seven: Yet herewith he lived like the King of Great Britain at home, both by Land and Sea, was very Bountiful to his Sister, and her Family abroad; and seldom without some chargeable Intrigue upon their Account in Germany; and moreover when the Scotch Rebellion broke out, had a Fund to raise an Army, 'tis pity it was not Greater, to pay them quite on, and the others off.  
Neither was there less exactness in the Management of all other Affairs; justice, was most impartially Administered, every Man's Liberty and Property, secured to the utmost, where they did not assume a Freedom of Speaking Treason, and Acting Sedition; upon which Account the Ministers of justice were stout enough to discharge their Duties, and the honester Men for it, however clamoured against: In all other things, where a Legal Pretence could be made, the People's Right had as great a Regard as the Prince's Prerogative; both they and their Master abhorred any thing of Trick, or juggle. His Ministers of State too, were every one in their Way as able as these, Men of Honour and Integrity, as well as Knowledge, who being so ill Treated, for their good Endeavours to preserve the Government, upon its Ancient Constitution, we deserve no more such Public Spirits, and perhaps God in Displeasure will forbear to send them.  
The Universities never received more Gracious Encouragements, than from this Good Prince, and returned his Favours, with a proportionable Industry and Gratitude; whereby the Church became Replenished with a Set of Men, of such solid Parts, sound Doctrine, and steady Principles, as when the Storm, came upon that, and the Crown together, they adhered to both, with the most abstracted Considerations of Loyalty and Conscience, any Age can Parallel; they have found the Expedient of a greater Latitude since, God grant it do not prove the Broad-Way. In a Word, never was there a better Prince, nor happier People, till the Devil of Sedition, Privy Conspiracy and Rebellion, so Hellishly possessed all Three Kingdoms at once. The sad Subject of our Second Part.    

A JUST DEFENCE OF THE Royal Martyr, CHARLES I.  
PART II.  
LONDON, Printed for Abel Roper, at the Black-Boy over against St. Dunston's Church in Fleetstreet, 1699.   

A JUST DEFENCE OF THE Royal Martyr CHARLES I. PART II.  

CHAP. I. Of the Scotch Rebellion.  
THat Observation of Tully is altogether like himself, 
De nat. Deorum. l. 2.  agreeable to his piercing Judgement, both as to the nature of the Men, and Things; Nemo vir magnus sine aliquo afflatu Divino unquam fuit, the sedate and upright temper of long experienced Soul's, fail not to be blessed with a kind of natural Inspiration, an infallible guess in whatever prospect they make of Future Events, or other considerable Undertake, especially as to great Revolutions of State, and overturning of Governments; which we find him most fatally intimating from the several contending Factions in their own Commonwealth. And to bring no farther instances from abroad, there were many Good Men amongst us, who most Prophetically boded this dismal Storm we were now entering into, long before it came. I have heard from his Son, that the Pious and Learned Sir Henry Spelman, did frequently say with a sigh, the Puritan would have his day, and bring all to Confusion. And the truly Apostolical Bishop Andrew's, in a private conversation, and consult, amongst some of his Brethren, not long before his death, did, with an unusual Transport of Spirit, not unlike the Prophets of Old, foretell the miseries shortly to come upon the Church, and particularly declare to Laud, that his life would be Sacrificed in her quarrel, as likewise to another, that he should suffer much, but live to see her restored. I shall add but one instance more of this kind, which yet must be acknowledged most considerable; the truly Judicious Hooker's Divining Spirit, foretold to a year, more than 40 before they came: The sad desolations Schism and Sacrilege would bring upon us. For after a general view, and sorrowful complaint thereof, he adds, 
Eccl. Pol. l. 5. Sect. 79.  By this means they have brought to pass that as David doth say of man, so it is in hazard to be verified, concerning the whole Religion, and service of God. The time thereof may peradventure fall out to Threescore and Ten years, or if strength do serve unto Fourscore, what followeth is like to be small joy, for them whosoever they be that behold the same. Now whoever makes the Computation, will find it exactly 80 years, from that Regular Establishment of our Church in the first of Queen Elizabeth, to the setting up their Dagon the Covenant in Thirty Eight.  
Which Caledonian Paw, as Rushworth terms it, or Northern Storm (attended even to Observation, with bad weather, and worse designs) sending forth its pestilent vapours, and Blasting the whole Island with the thick Mists, and dark Fogs of Sedition and Disobedience, to the first disturbance of our Royal Martyr's happy Reign, and the Nation's as happy Peace, it will be requisite to begin with those Commotions, show how groundless and unreasonable they were, when that unhappy people suffered themselves to be so cursedly possessed with the witchcraft of Rebellion then; and how the same Spirit seems still to engage our several Sets of Commonwealth Libelers, in reviving the like confusions: and to state the whole proceedure in as true a light, as such Dark designs will admit, take it in these following Particulars.  

1. The Scotch Nation by King James' pacific deportment whilst there, and too obliging bounty whilst her, had enjoyed, with great plenty, a continued peace for above forty years, which none of their Records can give an account of for so long a time before, though they pretend to go as far back, as most other Nations now in being, except China; and who ever observes how frequent their Feuds have been amongst themselves, and Factious oppositions against their Kings and Faithful Adherents, may rather admire they should remain so long quiet, than now break out into open Rebellion, especially having their old Ally of France to Back and Bribe them.  
2. Pretence of Religion had been the Common Theme of Contention amongst them ever since the Reformation, whereas in too many other places, the sincere endeavours of such as designed a Regular and Orthodox Establishment, met with too many obstructions from the Sacrilegious on the one hand, and the Factious on the other. However the Sober Party prevailed so far, as when in the Minority of King james a Consultation was held for settling the Polity of the Church, 
Arch-Bp. Spotsw. 260.  there was great regard had to Primitive Episcopacy, and several Articles agreed upon for authorising the same, all which Roger Coke is forced to own. 
Detect 365.  The Hierarchy of the Church of Scotland, as they were esteemed one of the States in Parliament, was not then, nor after taken away, he should rather have said was continued, as Arch Bishop Spotswood tells, according to a former draught, where the term Superintendent was used for Bishop: in imitation of some Lutheran Churches, though their Office was during Life, and Power Episcopal. And here to show our Friend Roger's great consistency with himself, I must cursorily observe, that in the same Page, where he owns the forementioned Hierarchy, he tells us Their Reformation was purely after the mode of Calvin, and Church of Geneva. Indeed there was a Mob Reformation always on foot amongst them, and so will be unto the end of the world, unless better care be taken, and the Abetting Great ones made sensible of their infatuations, not to call them worse: yet this very attempt, according to the Reverend Spotswood was some years after, 
Spots. 275.  viz. 1575. In the Church, saith he, this year, began the Innovations to break forth, that to this day have kept it in continual unquietness: Andrew Melvin, who was lately come from Geneva, hot and eager upon any thing, he went about, laboured with a burning desire, to bring into the Church the Presbyterian Discipline of Geneva, etc. So that it seems in this judicious Historians opinion, the Geneva model was an Innovation in the Kirk of Scotland, and doubtless is no less in the Church of Christ. john Knox indeed had attempted something of the same kind several years before, 
Spots. 174.  framed a policy partly in imitation of the Reformed Churches in Germany, partly of that he had seen at Geneva, which a Temporal Lord called a Devout imagination, altogether unpracticable, and a Spiritual gave a severer charge; but this was in their first recess from Rome, when no settled Establishment was fixed upon; insomuch as the year before upon condition Queen Elizabeth would assist them in expelling the French, they engaged to receive our English Liturgy, all which Buchanan owns, Scoti ex servitute Gallica, Anglorum auxiliis liberati, eisdem Ritibus cum Anglis communibus subscripserunt, Lib. 19 And as it appears from Iohn Knox's History, this was really put in practice, and a Constitution ordered thereupon; but their turn was no sooner served, both their Enemies and Friends departed, but they immediately fell off, from what 'tis probable very few intended ever to observe. Neither could it be expected they should long accord to any thing from us, who had so little amongst themselves, what with Deposing their Prince, and Opposing one another, the many Contests amongst the Nobility, and Factions amongst the Clergy, it was several years ere they could fix upon that little Settlement aforementioned, which, when agreed to, the Rapine of Sacrilege, and Rage of Sectaries, abetting each other, little good effect came thereof, the sincere endeavours, and serious admonitions of those few who designed well, were no more heard amongst the many intriguing clamours, than a whisper in the Cyclops' Den; perhaps no Nation but themselves, can parallel such continued Distractions, both in Church and State; as they then abounded with, and upon every occasion are still ready to fly into.  
3. These confusions continued all the Minority of King james, with such other insolences, and affronts to his Royal Person Crown and Dignity, as no Crown'd-head ever met with but there, some of their Neighbours indeed have been their sordid Imitators since, however as he got years, he got ground too, brought them to something of temper before he left that Kingdom, and when fixed here in England, established the Hierarchy by Primitive Ordination, and retrieved some of its Revenue, from those greedy Harpies which opposed it for that very reason; procured those commonly called the Five Articles of Perth, to pass the General Assembly, and afterward the Parliament, being very well pleased in so nigh an approach to the Church of England, which he despaired not to carry on further, as to Liturgy and Canons, the only thing wanting to the perfecting the Ecclesiastical Union, his heart was very much set upon for.  
4. At the forementioned Assembly of Perth, there was an order to have a Liturgy framed, and Canons made for the Church of Scotland, as appears by the proceedings of that Assembly pag. 40. and 68 so that it was a great mistake in Bishop Hackett or something worse in his Patron Williams, who must be his informer, to say King james was very angry with Laud upon that account, whereas there was no one thing he was more desirous to see accomplished; but the Parliament, Palatinate, and Spanish match, with some other uneasinesses to his declining Age, made the prosecution thereof to be laid aside, the remaining part of his Reign.  
5. King Charles likewise had the same uneasiness upon him the first four years of his Reign, which having weathered, as well as Circumstances would admit, fell to prosecute his Father's pious intentions of a Liturgy in Scotland, and therefore 'tis abominably false, like himself, and Party, in Roger Coke, to say Laud had not been two months' Archbishop, 
Detect. 352.  but he advised the King to make a Reformation in the Church of Scotland, whereas the Prelates of that Kingdom had been at work upon it several years before, 'tis probable ever since King James' encouragement at the Assembly of Perth: This is certain 1629, four years before Laud's advance to Canterbury, he was visited by a Scotch Bishop and told him it was his Majest'ies Pleasure, that he should receive Instructions from some Bishops in Scotland concerning a Liturgy for that Church, 
Troubls. & Try. pa. 168.  etc. Laud, replied if his Majesty would have a Liturgy, it were best to have the English; but the Scotch Prelates were of a contrary opinion, that their Countrymen would be better satisfied with one drawn up by their own Clergy, and that resolution after some debates pro and con prevailing, His Majesty commanded Laud to give them his best assistance, who thereupon set himself seriously to the work, having the King's Warrant for all he did. And herein appears his Majesty's great Judgement in the choice, as well as the Prudence of the Scotch Bishop's in procuring his assistance, who as he was a most profound Divine, so without doubt the exactest Ritualist, these or any other Protestant Church ever had: And this likewise resolves friend Roger's doubly Detection of the King's telling Marquis Hamilton the Archbishop was the only Englishman he entrusted with the Ecclesiastical Affairs of Scotland: I wish there had been no other Brotherly assistance between the two Nations, than that of these good Prelates, the Covenant was carried on in another manner.  
6. 'Tis likewise abominably false that the High Commission was erected by his procurement, or in his time, although to render things the more invidious, it is generally reported so by all the spiteful Crew, whereas would they have consulted a Brother Libeler, he could have given them better information, the Libel is termed Altar Damascenum, 
Alt. Dam. p. 28.  Printed 1623., who tells us Add Anglicani Tribunalis exemplar formatum est aliud in Scotia Anno 1616, etc. whether then Established or only revived by King james, I will not dispute, but that such a Court there was all their Histories agree, so that 'tis a gross mistake in Roger Coke, and no man of common sense would be guilty of it, to say, in this year 1635 there was a great contrivance between Archbishop Laud, and the Bishops in Scotland, how to erect an High Commission Court by the King's Authority. There are few men so bold and daring, as though they have no Regard for truth, yet nevertheless will keep a Reserve upon Reputation, who fears not to do ill, yet fears the name, etc. and realy it will be hard to find so many impudent brazenfaced Falsehoods and Forgeries, packed together upon any one subject whatsoever, as my several pretended Authors have against this excellent Prince and his Ministers, had they kept themselves to the Politics, the duty of every Historian, they might have found too much matter for spiteful Wits to Carp at, want of Resolution in prosecuting what was prudently designed, too much kindness to such as did not deserve it, and consequently too much confidence in trusting and employing them, although as to what we are now discoursing of, the Liturgy, there was no defect of this kind, especially on the English side, for Archbishop Laud writ to his Brother of St. Andrew's, that whether the English, or any other was resolved upon, they should proceed circumspectly, because his Majesty had no intendment to do any thing, but what was according to Honour and justice, and the Laws of that Kingdom; 
Trou. & Trial p. 168.  all which doubtless there was great regrad to; the only question is as to the unseasonableness of the enterprise, whether such as were continually upon the Spot, might not have better discovered the temper of the People, what strong prejudices they were possessed withal, with the several Interests and humour's then on foot: as likewise seen further into the double dealing of such Great ones, who flattered his Majesty, in his pious intentions, yet at the same time, underhand, fomented the Religious Rebellion, and, when time served headed them.   
I thought myself obliged to give this brief account of Church Affairs in Scotland, together with the Rise, and Progress of that Liturgy, the Causa Patens of their Rebellion, (and a very laudable one doubtless) that it might the more clearly appear, how basely partial, false, and malicious Ludlow is, as to whatever he relates on that Subject; for after his constant introduction of what great design's were in hand for advancing Prerogative and Popery, he adds, Before any further progress should be made therein here, it was thought expedient that the pulse of Scotland should be felt, and they persuaded or compelled to the like conformity. To this end a form of Public Prayer was sent to Scotland more nearly approaching the Roman Office, than that used in England, p. 6; 7. To Prerogative and Popery we have already spoken, which is only brought in here by way of flourish and aggravation, as the main end to which all the rest were to be subservient, whereas that being false, what a crazy Structure are these fellows like to raise. That it must certainly fall is infallible; the mischief of it is, 'twill fall about other men's ears, besides their own. The charge now on foot is that they designed to persuade or compel Uniformity; a dangerous design this, if it were so at the first Establishment of our Church by Queen Elizabeth and her Parliament, for there we find the Liturgy was revived according to that of Ed. the VI with Articles, Constitutions and Canons, ay and a High-Commission erected de Novo, with an Act of Uniformity too, to compel such as would not be persuaded; and under these excellent Constitutions our Church and State continued; for more than fourscore years the Glory, and Envy of the Good and Bad, all Christendom thorough. But then our dear Neighbours the Scots, giving a helping-hand to their weak Brethren here, did not design to relieve, but alter this compulsion; instead of Liturgy and Canons, would have the Covenant and Directory, the little finger whereof, is heavier not only than the Loins, but whole Body of our Church. However they could only succeed negatively, pull down what had been Established; the Nation were grown too much Libertines to admit of any restraint, much less exchange a Service which was perfect Freedom, for the more than Egyption Bondage of Scotch Impositions: by which means we continued nigh twenty years in a perfect state of Anarchy both Temporal and Spiritual, every one doing what seemed Right in his own Eyes; and had some affinity with what that Judicious Historian observed of the Romans when under the like circumstances. It was better to live where nothing than where all things were Lawful. To be sure the sense and dismal sufferings which accrued thereby, made us resolve upon our Old Establishments, to have our Kings as at first, and our Church as at the beginning, which the Parliament likewise thought fit to confirm by another Act of Uniformity; but what with that perverseness of spirit inseparable to such Children of Disobedience, and the kind assistance of their good Friends the Papists, all Ecclesiastical Discipline hath passed for a mighty Grievance ever since, neither can there be a greater invasion upon the Subject's Librety, than to persuade or compel men to Heaven against their Wills, and thus by Tolerating all Religions, we are in a very forward tendency to have none; nay, I cannot but further observe our Politics seem to be at as low an Ebb as our Piety, and it may be shortly looked upon as an entrenchment upon the Liberty of a Free People, to persuade or compel Commutative justice and Moral Honesty. That the Form of Public Prayer sent to Scotland more nearly approached the Roman Office than that of England, is another instance of our Author's integrity, whereas the most considerable difference between them, was an alteration of such passages in ours, as the Puritan Party had all along cavilled at: for Example, the name of Priest, (so odious to that captious Brotherhood) was changed to that of Presbyter, no fewer than sixty Chapters, or thereabouts, taken out of the Apocrypha, were reduced to two, and those two to be read only on the Feast of All Staints the New Translation Authorised by King james, being used in the Psalms, Epistles, Gospels, Hymns, and Sentences, instead of the Old Translation, so much complained of in their Books and Conferences, these were the most considerable Alterations, besides somewhat in the Communion Office, according to the first Liturgy of Edward VI's, so far from Popery as it expressly declares against the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, only retains one or two Rites, which the Primitive Church did practise before that usurpation had got any footing in the World; and therefore I admire to find in another Volume of Memoirs, That the Alterations made from the English, rendered it more invidious and less satisfactory; but as the humour than went, and ever will among that infatuated people, had an Angel from Heaven brought one down, and by express command of jesus Christ enjoined an Establishment, the Covenant nevertheless would have had the preference. Nay, farther to corroborate the Violence of their prejudices, they had got one Abernethy, who from a jesuit Priest turned a zealous Presbyterian, to forge a Story, that the Liturgy had been sent to Rome, and revised by some Cardinals there, which he had from Signior Con, who showed it to himself. Upon this Report the Marquis Hamilton, than Commissioner, wrote to Con, returned from Rome to London, who protested he never so much as heard of a Liturgy, till he came last to England, and had never seen that Abernethy, but once at Rome, and finding him Lightheaded, never again took notice of him; yet saith my Author, who shall be nameless, The story had a ready belief and welcome hearing, tho' the Lightness and Weakness of the man became afterwards so visible, that small account was made either of him, or his story; yet at this time it took wonderfully. And this is the foundation of what the Defence, or his fellow Pamphleteer relates of that worthy Dominican Convert, Gage, who might agree with the jesuit when both about to turn Presbyterians, and join together in some forgery which might merit their reception, although their Orders are irreconcilable, and will believe one another no more than an honest man of sense and understanding will believe either of them. In the mean while that any Office in a Vulgar Tongue should be sent to Rome for Approbation, is so inconsistent with the Policy and Cunning of that Church, as none but fanatics and Fools could swallow, and 'tis said, when told the Pope he laughed heartily at it. To be sure they would not admit their Missal upon such terms; especially we giving them so fair an opportunity of bringing it in upon their own. To give one instance further how Artificially they Apeed the jesuit in all Tricks of Imposture, they got a Covenanting Sister troubled either with Fits of the Mother, or the Devil, who in such disorderly Convulsions would foam out Raptures in defiance of the Bishop's, service Book, and Canons, with the bitterest invectives against all such as opposed the Covenanting jesus, which their Juggling Preachers so dexterously improved, as to make it a ratification from Heaven, of whatever Villainies they had imposed upon the People. He goes on to tell us that the reading of the New service Book at Edinburgh, was first interrupted by a poor Woman, but withal so well seconded by the generality, as they who Officiated hardly escaped with their Lives. This produced divers meetings of many of the Nobility, Clergy, and Gentry, who entered into an agreement or covenant, to root out Episcopacy, Heresy, and Superstition. A very justifiable undertaking this, I hope they made the Goodwife Chairwoman of the Assembly when they debated these weighty points; she had as much right to do it as they, besides that of Precedency, and perhaps understood them as well, to be sure never any Mob Convention, whether of the Great Vulgar, or the small presumed to determine what is Heresy, prescribe modes of Worship, or rules of Discipline, till john Calvin's Popular Ordinences came abroad in the World, which too hath been wretchedly improved by his admirers, to the scandal of all true Religion, and the Disturbance of whatever Civil Government it gets into. 'Tis a known Fable, that when the Lion prohibited all Horned Beasts, the Fox would not come nigh the Den, for fear his Ears should be brought under that Denomination; if these Infallible Assertors of their own Wills shall think fit to term sound Doctrine, Heresy, Episcopacy a Rag of Satan, and the most Innocent Decencies, Superstition, who dare withstand, or contradict them, as all Orthodox Divines the whole Kingdom through then found to their utter ruin; and something of the like Inhuman treatment, hath been lately on foot amongst them— can the Pope be more Imposing or Inquisition more cruel? At the same rate he continues, The Clergy of England, who had been the chief Advisers and Promoters of this violence, prevailed with the King, to cause all such as should persist in their Opposition, after a certain time to be proclaimed Traitors, p. 7. Still the Clergy do all, which puts me in mind of what Plutarch relates concerning the people's Prejudice against Metiochus, Metiochus is Captain, Metiochus is Surveyor, Metiochus bakes the Bread, etc. evil day to Metiochus. So cries Ludlow, the Clergy advise the King, the Clergy raise the Forces, the Clergy pay the Army, etc. evil day to the Clergy: whereas the only Clergyman of our Nation whom the King consulted, was Bishop Laud, and they that write most in vindication of Hamilton give him a very honourable Character, as to whatsoever he advised in those unhappy affairs; although neither he, nor any of his Majesty's Faithful Loyal Subjects of either Kingdom, were satisfied with those unreasonable condescensions, he was wheedled into, for that it was most visibly apparent, the more he yielded, the more insolently they persisted in further demands, being so far from setting one step forward, as to stand back with the greater Obstinacy, and consider what was further to be insisted upon, in defiance of all Honour, Right, and Law; for, as Ludlow relates, The King by Commission impowered the Marquis of Hamilton, to treat them into a Submission, consenting to the suppression of the Liturgy, High-Commission Court, and Articles of Perth, but the Scots insisting upon the Abolition of Episcopacy, and the King refusing his consent to it, they did it themselves in an Assembly held at Glasco. This is a general account, and which is very much, and rare. True, but there were several Circumstances in the management thereof very considerable: As first, they that understood and wished best to the King and Kingdom's interest, thought Hamilton a very improper person to be employed in that affair, for that several of his nighest Relations, were chief of the Covenant party, his Mother more especially, so great a Heroine as to ride with Pistols at her saddle Bow, and defy both God and the King, in defence of so good a cause. Secondly, there were several other prejudices against him, which whether true or false, made many honest men move with the less vigour, because they expected no good Event from whatsoever he engaged in; and this was most unhappily confirmed by the Concessions he cajoled the King into as to the Liturgy, High Commission, etc. For after a long and fruitless Treaty with the Covenanters at Edinburgh, attended with three several journeys to the English Court, instead of Treating them into a Submission as Ludlow words it, they Treated the King, obtaining all to that time their most insolent demands. What is alleged in his defence, That he knew the King's condition, how unable he was, or hard it would be to bring an Army into the Field, is no ways valid, for he was then as able as afterwards, and delays were rather to their advantage, than his, and since all men of observation concluded the Scots would never give off without blows, the Punctilio of first Aggressor was nonsense, they never stood upon it, when it would serve their turn, and that their so grossly abused Sovereign should not take the best opportunity of chastising them is against all Rules of Reason and Policy whatsosoever; but to speak freely the King's great tenderness, and regard to those his natural and Native Subjects, as he termed them, was so unfortunately misplaced, upon the most ungrateful set of people that ever trod upon God's Earth, to his and their own ruin, as well as all others concerned with them. But if Hamilton imposed upon the King by cajoling him into the most groundless concessions ever any Prince yielded to, so doubtless the Covenanters imposed altogether as much upon him, for whether there was any correspondence between them or not as to this particular, (which for aught I can find remains still in the dark) he could not but rationally presume it would be an eternal obligation, to procure in one single Declaration a full grant, of whatever all their Supplications, Remonstrances, Protestations, etc. had hitherto demanded; and so indeed the Lords of the Council took it, subscribing a Letter of acknowledgement to his Majesty, in one of the most Rhetorical Flights I have generally met with, owning that such acts of Clemency, could not proceed from any Prince, saving him who is the lively image of the great God, Author of all Goodness. 
See large Declaration.  Which how the most, and most considerable of them kept afterwards, would be unhappy to observe. The Covenanters, on the other side, resolved to act without a vizard, which they had some time before, thrown quite away; and for fear the People should cool, and forbear assisting in the designed Rebellion, repaired to the Cross at Edinburgh, erected a Scaffold under it, where a great number of Earls, Lords, Gentlemen, and others mounted, with Swords in their hands, and Hats on their Heads, having that worthy wight Archibald Johnson, (who never failed in any villainy, though as property to Oliver Cromwell, and a member in the Committee of safety,) to read the most Impudent, Ignorant, Treasonable, ay and Blasphemous Protestation that ever was penned, to make good which last charge, it is there expressly affirmed, that their Covenant was sealed from Heaven, and approved thence by rare and undeniable Evidences, whereas it looks more like a Combination from Hell, 
Large Declaration.  the undoubted forge of all Faction, Sedition, and Schism.  
Nevertheless they did not think fit to break out into open Rebellion, till they had got the Blessing of their Assembly, to the meeting whereof the King had likewise condescended; It hath somewhat of affinity with our Convocation, only in imitation of Geneva, was divided into several Classes, and from a Provincial choice, sent up to a General. These at the beginning of the Reformation played Rex, and Pope, all in one, would control and Overrule whatever Civil Determinations they disliked, command the King to discharge such a Minister of State, otherways they would proceed to Excommunication, and when once upon a time he had engaged the Magistrates of Edinburgh to entertain the French Ambassadors, with which Crown he designed to enter into Ancient Amity, the little Class of that City Preachers, 
Spotsw. 324.  proclaimed a Fast to be kept the same day, on which three of them severally preached one after another, without intermisson, Thundering out Curses against the Magistrates, and other Noble men, who attended the Ambassadors. Neither stayed their Folly here, saith my Author, but pursuel the Magistrates with the censures of the Church, and with much difficulty were kept from Excommunication. These insolences by degrees King james put a Check to, and for 60 years' last passed, such assemblies were regularly summoned, in Subordination to their Bishop, but now they were resolved to have all thrown open again, and to be the surer of a Party, brought the lay Elders, to Vote in the Choice of their Commissioners, that the sober and honest part of the Clergy, which were numerous, might not over Balance them, in short never was any Election carried on with so much partiality and confusion, which continued all the time of their Session, till the Commissioners patience was so highly irritated, as to Dissolve them, whereat they were so far from being concerned, as to stand in defiance thereof; and indeed it seemed to put them into their proper Post, now it was right down opposition, Treason all over; and having none to curb them, could the more confidently proceed to condemn all the Assemblies had been for 40 years before, as prelimited, and not Free, Episcopacy to be sure must be declared unlawful, with the like fate to the Service-Book, Canons, High-Commission, and Articles of Perth. They appointed the Covenant to be taken by all under Excommunication, and then proceeded to the Process of the Bishop's notwithstanding their Declinator, wherein being both judges and Parties, they could not fail to carry all according to their Arbitrary Factious Wills. Thus with three or four peremptory Votes, they totally Abolished (so far as power without Right can go) whatever the Wisdom, Prudence, and Piety, of Two Kings, with all the sensible good men of the Nation, had been for Fifty or Threescore years Establishing.  
From this motley Assembly Ludlow proceeds, and tells us That being informed the King was preparing an Army to compel them to obedience, they agreed upon the raising some Forces to defend themselves. And could they expect otherwise after such an ungrateful aswell as undutiful procedure? yet notwithstanding they were always aforehand with the King, conscious of what they deserved, provided accordingly, Levied Forces, imposed Taxes, blocked up his Majesty's Castles, raised Fortifications, etc. whilst with specious pretences and Protestations they kept him in suspense, though at last he could not but see into, and through such Villainous Hypocrisies, and betake himself to the Ratio Ultima Regum; for which, however Ludlow would have it a Bellum Episcopale, the Clergy's War, he had the greatest provocation upon the Civil the Temporal account, that ever any Prince met withal, indeed they were both intermixed, and both superlatively Base, take some of them as followeth.  


Large Declaration.  1. He could not endure that the Usurpations of an Ecclesiastical Assembly should abolish Acts of Parliament, which strikes at the Foundation of Monarchy, and indeed all other Government.  
2. To secure the three Estates of Parliament, that one of them might not be destroyed without his and the Parliaments consent.  
3. To punish such as have imposed Taxes, raised Forts, Levied men and Arms, etc. all which by the Laws of the Kingdom, are Acts of High- Treason and Rebellion.  
4. To repress the Insolent Protestations of his Subjects against himself, his Council, judges, Laws, the constant practice of the Covenanters.  
5. To punish the ringleaders of Rebellion, who have abused his Subjects, by imposing upon them a Covenant, and mutual Bond of Defence, against his Majesty's Person, and without his consent, contrary to the Laws of the Kingdom.  
6. To punish such as under the name of Tables, or a Committee of the General Assembly, shall presume to sit without his consent, to order Affairs of Church, and State, refusing when questioned the Authority of his Majesty, Council, or judges, and appealing to a General Assembly, Blasphemously calling it Christ's own immediate Council, and claiming a Sovereign Independency, from King, Council, judges, and Parliament. These are some of the Reasons his Majesty himself gives for that unwilling War these furious Zealots forced him upon. That the Clergy of England were not wanting to promote the New-Levies, as Ludlow saith, is true, but That they were the principal Authors, and Fomentors of the Troubles, is absolutely False, as likewise, That what the Nobility, and Gentry did, was rather out of compliment, than affection to the design: there was a party indeed whom the Scotch had Bit, and made as Mad as themselves, but all men of sound Prinples, and sober judgements, foresaw that the neighbour Kingdom being on Fire, if good care were not taken to quench it, ours might shortly catch the Flame, and both be consumed together, contributed with all the alacrity and satisfaction imaginable, neither had there ever appeared upon those Borders a braver Army, or more resolutely bend to beat the Scotch into better manners, whatever Arts were used to affright, and intimidate them, for those of that Nation in his own Family, did him more mischief than the whole Covenanters Army, by betraying his Counsels, misrepresenting their strength, and more especially letting him know how averse his Majesty was to come to the extremity, otherwise his Army wanted neither power nor will, at one single blow to have decided that dispute, which afterward cost so many, and to very little purpose; 'tis said that when the old Archbishop of St. Andrews (who knew his Countrymen, aswell, perhaps better than most others) came to take his leave of his King at his setting forward to the North, desired leave to give his Majesty three Advertisments, before his going. First, that he would suffer none of the Scotch Nation to remain in his Army, assuring him that they would never fight against their Countrymen; but rather hazard the whole by their Tergiversation. The Second was, That he should make a Catalogue of all his Counsellors, Officers of Household, and Domestic Servants, expunging every one of the Scotch Nation, beginning with the Bishop himself, by which means he could not be accused of Partiality, when a person who had served him and his Father above Sixty Years so Faithfully, appeared in the Front. A third was, that be must not think to win upon them by condescensions, the sweetness of his disposition, or Acts of Grace, but resolve to reduce them to their duty, by such ways of Power as God had put into his hands. Thus far that wise experienced Person, and his Majesty not following such wholesome advice, I take to be the Origin of all his following Troubles, and Ruin: for the Scotch taking him now to be in good earnest, and knowing how ill provided they were to make opposition, having not above 3000 complete Arms amongst them, (whatever flourishes those false Lowns their Countrymen made both in Court and Camp) thought it requisite to divert that approaching danger, they had so justly drawn upon themselves; and hereupon addressed themselves to the Earl of Essex, whom the King had sent before from York, to take possession of Berwick, to him they complained of some of their own Countrymen, who had provoked the King against them, protesting still their own Innocency, Loyalty to the King, and Affection to the English, requesting him to procure a Pacification, by any means whatsoever, which should be thought expedient on both sides: the like Address they made to the Earl of Arundel, General, etc. Earl of Holland Lieutenant General of the Horse, in whom they had a more than ordinary confidence (as knowing how well that whole Family was affected to their Covenant cause) and therefore not only justified themselves in their former proceedings, but requested his assistance to promote their desires, in a Petition tendered to his Majesty's hands. By these and suchlike sly Addresses, his Majesty's good nature was too easily wrought upon to comply, and agree to a Pacification, which being once signed, he fell immediately to the Execution of every Article on his side, forthwith disbanding a brave Army, Governed by Colonels and other Officers of approved Valour and Experience, mingled with the choicest of the English Gentry, who stood as much upon his Honour, as upon their own: and were not a little concerned, that having with great charge engaged themselves in this Expedition, they should be suddenly dismissed, not only without the Honour they aimed at, but without any acknowledgement of their Love and Loyalty. Whereas had he retired only to a farther distance, he had done as much as the Capitulation required, and in all reasonable probability, secured himself from the further stratagems of that Perfidious People, and crushed those practices at home, which afterwards undermined his Peace, and destroyed his Glories. On the other-side the Ink was scarce dry, which had written and signed the Articles of Accommodation, before the Scotch had broken them almost in every particular, for the Covenanters not only entered a Protestation against the Declaration agreed to, but kept most of their Forces on foot in several Bodies, and all their Officers in pay. The Fortification of Leith was not demolished. Their meetings, Treating, and Consultations, upon matters of State, Ecclesiastical and Civil, were continued contrary to all Law, and Acts of Parliament; Subscriptions to their Assembly at Glasco were enforced upon all the King's Subjects, contrary to his Proclamation, whilst all such persons as took Arms for the King, are branded with the aspersion of Incendiaries, and Traitors to God and their Country. So likewise when their Assembly came to sit at Edinburgh they acted with more heats and Arbitrary insults than at Glasco, and the Parliament which followed them, stroke at all the Rights and Prerogatives of the Crown, were resolved to cashier one of the Three, and that formerly the first Estate of the Kingdom, together with that of the Lords of the Articles. 
See large Declaration.  A constitution of above 300 years standing, and many other such intolerable insolences, and indignities as were never before put upon Crowned heads, and none but Covenanters could have done it now: more especially considering those unparalelled condescensions, which the King with too great kindness and confidence in his own Countrymen so distructively yielded to.   
What Ludlow adds further, besides the falseness of the relation, is so impudent a piece of villainy, as one would think he desired to out do, if possible, those his Dear Brethren he is so forward to Excuse, in order whereunto, by a pretty turn of Commonwealth artifice, he transfers one of the basest of those many Tricks the Covenanters so perfidiously put upon his Majesty, and lays it at his Door, the Story as he makes it stands thus, Upon his (the King's return to London, under colour that many false Copies of the said Articles were published, and dispersed, by the Scots to the great dishonour of the King, the said Agreement was disowned, and ordered to be burnt by the hands of the Hangman. p. 8. Now the design of this is to insinuate, especially amongst those of the Factious, who not only believe, but put their trust in Lies, that they were the really true Articles, burnt under colour of being False, as likewise that the King intended thereby to disown the Agreement, whereas the Articles of Pacification were not any ways concerned herein, as the Title which the Scots gave that Pamphlet expressly declare, viz. Some conditions of his Majesty's Treaty with the Subjects of Scotland before the Nobility of England, are here set down for a remembrance. This paper consisted of Eight points, pretended to be drawn out of Notes taken upon several Discourses with the King about the manner of his Declaration, and was dispersed not only in Scotland, but England, to confirm their own Party, and draw off more from their Loyalty and Allegiance. One of these were put into the Earl of Pembrooke's hands, who delivered it to the K. and upon a full Examination of the matter before the Council, the English Lords who were privy to the whole transaction being present, it was judged very highly scandalous to his Majesty's Person, Honour, and Government, full of Gross mistakes, perverting His Majesty's Declaration, and of pernicious consequence to the Peace of the Kingdom for which the Proclamation was published. All which several of the Lords Commissioners at the Treaty of Pacification, particularly the Earl of Holland, too much their friend then, afterwards avowed, at Berwick, to the faces of those Scotch Lords who were believed the divulgers, the Lords of the Council of Scotland being there likewise present: upon the full consideration of which premises, the whole Board unanimously petitioned his Majesty, that this false and scandalous Paper might be publicly burnt by the Hangman: And here I appeal to any Reader, who hath not totally abdicated all integrity, whether these two relations are not as irreconcilable as Light and Darkness? as likewise whether any but one of that infernal brood could so villainously transfer an express matter of fact, which when detected the Covenanters themselves blushed at, for when the King charged their Commissioners at London with so base a forgery, Lowdon and the rest of them replied, They had no Instructions to answer for that, and those at home had better have said nothing, than make so lame an excuse, as that verbal grants made by the King might be supposed to contract the signed Articles; 
Large Declar.  Nay those grants too were of their own forging or perverting.  
Ludlow having thus expressed his base endeavours to bring them off here; 'tis much he did not go forward and give his helping hand in justifying that Letter several of the Covenant Grandees did send to the King of France, the Original whereof coming to his Majesty's own hands, subscribed amongst others, by Lowdon then Commissioner at London, he was committed to the Tower, which made the whole Covenanting pack open louder than ever, both as to a general justification of the thing, considering they were threatened to be punished for their Rebellion; and for Lowdon in particular, he ought to have been returned, they said, and unclothed of his Commission, ere his Majesty could question him; as if the Law of Nations, which indeed secures the Ministers of Foreign Princes, and requires an appeal to their own Masters upon any affront or other misdemeanour, should oblige a Sovereign Prince not to question and commit his own Subjects, upon fresh discovery of more palpable Treasons, though in Commission from his fellow Rebels; yet nothing would satisfy them, but setting him at perfect liberty, and so sent home to be tried in a legal way, by the ordinary judicatures of the Land; where the King might expect just such an Issue as of a Thief at the Old Bailie, from the Award of a jury out of Newgate: however in this also his Majesty humoured their Insolences, and discharged Lowdon, not without some private assurance of Secret Service, which was performed upse Covenanter. But this was the last Act of compliance his Majesty conceded to, for now his eyes were thoroughly opened (oh that they had been sooner!) and clearly discovered how they were resolved not only upon the lessening of his Prerogative, but to overrule and absolutely destroy every branch of his Sovereign Power; whereto things were not ripe at first, till having by the cunning of their Protestations, Treaties, and Pacification imposed upon his Clemency, and got time to strengthen themselves at home, and improve their interest herein England, they now resolved not to let slip so fair an opportunity, but without farther hesitation fall directly to work, and give his Majesty a full conviction, that as the Satirist afterward expressed it, 'twas neither Gold, nor Grace, but steel must tame the stubborn Scot: and that this only remedy was not made use of when the King had so advantageous an opportunity, I find passionately complained of by that great Clergyman Ludlow is so inveterately piquant against. His Majesty, saith he, 
Trou. & Try. p. 75.  would not believe, though often told, the Northern Commotions had their root in England, and were carried on by a powerful Faction in both Nations, till after much intercourse, and mediation cast away, he was betrayed by his own Agents; and when the second volume of his Troubles comes forth, which hath been some years printed off, we shall find something like a Detection of those unhappy times, for I am told it contains a great intercourse of Letters, about the Liturgy, and other Scotch Affairs, and then these our Scribblers, these Retailers of Libels, if possible will be more contemptible amongst all men of truth, and goodness, than they are at present, although now it must be owned how justly they all deserve that Character, which Roger Cook fixeth upon the Scotch Covenanters in general, of an insolent, faithless, railing sort of men. And here Ludlow begins to triumph at the King's disappointments, telling as how he hoped a Parliament would espouse his quarrel, and furnish him with money for carrying on his disign, but they fell upon Greivances, etc. and so were dissolved: p. 9 Truly the King had just reason to expect the Parliament should have joined with him in a due resentment of those many insolences that violent people put upon him, particularly the Letter they were sending to the King of France, and assisted him in reducing them to their due Allegiance; and some were very prone to think, had not the King been betrayed by his own Minister, his Secretary, things might have been carried with much more temper than before, or to be sure in that which followed; for it consisted of many worthy Gentlemen, and doubtless must be somewhat the better that never a Ludlow was there, nor Father, nor Son; and had there been none of the Vanes, so related, all things might have gone well, but old Sir Henry demanding twelve Subsidies for the King's present Exigencies, stood so peremptorily thereupon, without falling down to six, as ordered (a cursed piece of Treachery in that unworthy man as afterward appeared from the rest of his, and his Sons actions) the House fell into so violent a heat, as they could never after be brought to temper again, but on the contrary were resolved the morning of their Dissolution, to Vote against the War with Scotland, which forced an unwilling precipitation thereof: and this had been as well for Ludlow's turn, as to say it was because they first fell upon Grievances, whereas both Houses had superseded them to a Supply, and the King in return promised to acquit his claim of Shipmoney, but when men have habituated themselves to untruths, it may be a curse upon them, not to relate what is right, though it would better serve the turn and salve their Reputation.  
The Parliament thus standing out we are told how the Earl of Strafford, and the rest of his Council advised the King to make use of other means for a supply, as appeared by the Minutes of the Secretary of State, taken at the Cabal, and produced at the Trial of the said Earl: the Sum of whose Advice, as Ludlow relates, shall be considered hereafter, and justified: in the mean while we may observe how just that Secretary Sir H. V. was to his Oath of Secrecy as a Privy Councillor, and faithful to his Prince, who advanced him, altho' the discovery tended only to his own Shame, and eternal Infamy of himself and Son. All the imaginable ways used to raise Supplies, as Ludlow most invidiously reckons them up, were no more than what several Kings and Queens have done before, upon like Exigencies, yet his then Majesty found great difficulties therein, by reason of those strange prejudices and prepossessions wherewith the Scotch Leven had soured too many of all Qualities and Degrees. And hence it was the Covenanters got the start of his Majesty's Army and were come to Newcastle before that was strong enough to oppose them. For whatever Ludlow relates of a considerable Party of English and Scotch encountering, and that the former, contrary to their wont custom, retired in disorder not without Shame and some Loss. And then makes his reflection, Of such force and consequence is a belief and full persuasion of the justice of an undertaking, tho' managed by an Enemy in other respects, inconsiderable, p. 10. How inconsiderable the Enemy were in this Rencounter, will appear from this, that there was the whole Scotch Army above 20000 against 3000 Foot and 1500 Horse, for no more did that little Body of English there consist of, who, notwithstanding the Common Soldiers were new raised men, kept their Posts till the Sconces were beaten down by the Canon, and when thereupon the Foot retired in some disorder, the Horse brought up the Rear with great Gallantry and Resolution against the whole Scottish force, till oppressed with number and environed round, they submitted to the Destiny of the day, some Officers being slain, and others taken Prisoners; and as there is no doubt but these worthy Gentlemen had a full persuasion of the justice of their Undertaking, so had our Author had the least regard to the justice of an Historian, he must have ascribed the last, to the disproportion of force: neither can he take it ill if I assume the same liberty, and upon much juster grounds affirm, That this first attempt was the last good success they ever met with; in all their other Enterprises they were shamefully baffled, as when they came to assist their Brother Rebels in 44, that Body of theirs quitted the Field the first of any, for, being placed in the Rear, took that opportunity of getting away, though not running fast enough, were miserably trodden down by their own Parties. And afterwards, when Duke Hamilton came with a much more plausible pretence, Their Rout in Cheshire was most notorious, without the least show either of Courage or Conduct: and so likewise when the English were Aggressors, from the first Action at Dunbar to the total Subjection of the whole Nation; which than I believe Ludlow may attribute to a Belief and full Persuasion of the justice of the Undertaking, whereas I cry, Careat successibus, opto, &.  
Nevertheless it shall be acknowledged that this little Success turned infinitely to their advantage, for, having got possession of Newcastle, where the King had a Magazine, they extended their Quarters as far as Durham, with a corner of Yorkshire, after miserably harassing all places where they came, those four Counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham, with the forementioned corner of Yorkshire, far from the largest or richest in England, were 'Sessed at a Contribution of 850 l. per Diem, which, I fancy, was more than Cromwell could make of their whole Kingdom, when he by the Just Judgement of Heaven had brought them into the same circumstances, nay, which is more, made an absolute Conquest. And this, I presume is the foundation of Ludlow's blunder, which hath something of approach to truth, but he abhors to come close up to it, that upon the King's calling his great Council at York, they advised a Cessation of Arms, and to Summon a Parliament, which, to the great trouble of the Clergy, and other Incendiaries (for they must be flung at) he promised to do, assuring the Scots of the payment of twenty thousand pounds a month to maintain their Army, till the pleasure of the Parliament should be known, p. 11. How careful is this Good man of the Parliaments pleasure, and free of the King's condescension? whereas impartially speaking, they had carved themselves the forementioned Contribution, and moreover seized the total of all Estates belonging to Papists, Prelates, Incendiaries, etc. in brief, of all the Loyal, honest Gentlemen throughout that District of their new Usurpation. Afterwards indeed when the Treaty was at Rippon, the English Commissioners required their demands as to the Subsistence of their Army, whereto they modestly returned answer 40000 l. per. mensem should content them for the present, and for their losses they would afterward give a particular estimate. This so much alarmed the Commissioners and other Lords, when the demand was sent to the King at York, that one noble Peer made a motion to Fortify that City, and employ that 40000 l. to maintain his Majesty's Army rather than an Enemy's, hereupon the Scotch came down to 30000 l. 
Dr. Nals. Coll. Vol. p. 455.  which they owned to be less than the 850 l. per. diem. considering they had the time past the benefit of Custom, a Provision of Coals, and Proportion of Forage. In the end, it was agreed, That with a Provision of Coals and Forage, they should be satisfied and take no more than the 850 l. per diem, of the four forementioned Counties, under which abominable slavery those poor people continued a whole twelvemonth, for the King having by unwearied importunity been forced upon a Parliament, and remitted the whole management of these their Dear brethren's concerns to them, they so dextrously improved the advantage as to keep them here at the Nations expense till they had got the same unreasonable concessions from him as the others had done, made him Sacrifice his Friends, debase his Prerogative, and by Enacting an indissoluable Session, gave them an opportunity of playing the like game, without any thing more of their assistance.  
Now than 'twas thought high time to dismiss them, but the greatest matter was to bring that about, turpius ejicitur quam non admittitur, etc. they paid themselves at coming in, but we must pay even for that again, before they would set one step back, and withal at so unreasonable arate, according to their demands, as all the Gold in England, tho' never more plenty, would not make a Bridge to carry them over Tweed. To give a short Specimen, there being several Demands agreed to by Treaty at Rippon, wherein the Scotch were to have satisfaction, the Sixth was, That they desire from the justice and kindness of England, Reparation, concerning the losses which the Kingdom of Scotland hath sustained, and the vast charges they have been put unto by reason of the late troubles: According to which Article, they were required, now upon departure, to bring in a full Account of their Charges, which they enlarged to the full Sum of Five hundred and Fourteen thousand One hundred and Twenty Eight pound, nine shillings, etc. abating the odd pence out of kindness, whereto was added for what losses their Nation, the Nobility, and Gentry had sustained Two hundred and Twenty One thousand pounds, and the neglect of their Fortunes, Two hundred and twenty thousand pounds, besides the 850 l. per. diem, exhausted from the Northern Counties, with other the most inexpressible Insolences and Exactions ever any people groaned under. A surprising Sum! but cunning Chapmen know that a high demand at first, will oblige any Purchaser for shame to bid somewhat like a Gentleman, and accordingly it happened here, the whole matter being adjusted for that lusty Sum of 300000 l. part whereof was paid down, and the rest secured by the Public Faith of the two Houses, and more punctually discharged, than any here borrowed upon that Credit. If any be farther Inquisitive as to the Total of the whole Expense, I find a Report made in the House of Lords, that amounted to one Million, one hundred Thousand pounds, the most chargeable remedy this Nation to that day was ever acquainted with, 
Dr. Nals. Coll. 2 Vol. p. 426.  and proved much worse than any Disease we then laboured under, besides that itch of Rebellion we from them contracted, which hath cost a hundred times more than they carried off, and for aught I see may be doubled before we attain a perfect cure.  
Well, now they are gone, and the King followed them, which Ludlow tells us the Parliament endeavoured to dissuade him from, or at least to defer to a fitter opportunity, he refused to hearken to them, under pretence that the Affairs of that Kingdom necessarily required his presence, but in truth his great business was, to leave no means unattempted, to take off that Nation from their Adherence to the parliament of England, p. 17. 'Tis probable he might hope so; to be sure the Parliament feared it, and had reason so to do, if it had been possible to oblige such a Generation of men, for he gratified them in every demand, confirmed all their Rebellious Innovations into Legal Constitutions, advanced the leading Covenanters into the highest Places of Honour and Profit, amongst whom their General Lesly was made an Earl, whereupon with Hands lift up to Heaven, he wished they might rot, if ever he acted more against so good a King: Yet this very man within two years after, led a Scotch Army to the Parliaments assistance, and by the reputation of their name and number, rather than any considerable Action, gave such a diversion to that good King's Forces as nothing conduced more to his ruin. And when no longer able to keep the Field, he betook himself to those his Native Subjects for Protection. How barbarously they use, and how basely they sold him, need not be here related.  
And hitherto according to the course of all other Tragedies, their two or three first Acts have been very plausible and advantageous, what remains looks every Scene darker than other, and is at last Consummated in a fatal Catastrophe; for whether that attempt of Duke Hamilton to rescue K. Charles, his Master, from the hands of his murderers, were sincere, or with hopes of farther advantage, and as large sums as they formerly carried back, it met with an unhappy come off, and gave a shock to the reputation of their Arms for ever after. So likewise when they got King Charles II. and placed him upon their Throne, the furious Zeal of their Covenanters excluding all men of sense and courage, from having any share in the Common safety, gave Cromwell the advantage of his first Victory, which they were never able to retrieve there, and then lost all by coming into to England: so that what remained was an easy acquest to a well blooded Army, which immediately finished the most absolute Conquest any Nation was ever brought under.  
And now by way of Epilogue to the forementioned Tragedy, it may not be improper to take notice, how grossly the Scotch mistook their Politics in stirring up and promoting those hellish broils and confusions throughout the two Kingdoms, it could be nothing but a cursed spite the Devil owed them, to act so contrary to that cunning and overreaching foresight, wherein at other times few Nations in Europe can bear up with them. 'Tis as considerable an observation as any occurs in all Osborn's Memoirs, that our Parliament did not exact from King james at his first coming, and confine him to such a number of his own Country Retinue, as that other did from Philip of Spain, in Queen Mary 's days, especially, since the one Nation is no less distant from the English in Nature and Affection, than the other; by reason of which defect he tells us, A beggarly Rabble not only attended his Majesty at his first coming, but through his whole Reign, were found continually crossing the River Tweed, and suffered here like Locusts to devour the good of the Land: which he further adds, King James lived to be sensible of, and repent, they becoming so rich and insolent, as nothing with any moderation could either be given or denied them. The result of an omission, 
Osb. Mem. p. 470.  as he continues, no blood could expiate, but that of the greatest victim ever sacrificed since Christ in so ignoble a way. To speak freely, there are no people under Heaven adore every rising Sun at a more unthinking rate than we; nor more uneasy under our own mistakes, when sensible of them: for 'tis unnatural to imagine a Foreign Prince should come, and not make his Old Friends his Favourites, receive Addresses by them, and accumulate Fortunes upon them; if there were at first no caution to the contrary, and to think of a redress afterwards, may prove a Remedy worse than the Disease. Now altho' King Charles looked more narrowly into his Revenue, and would not suffer them to be their own carvers of what he had more urgent occasions for, yet as to Places of profit in Court and elsewhere, the Scotch carried all before them, to so vast a disproportion, as 'twas generally concluded, there were three to one Englishman. 
Cypric. Anglic. p. 355.  Dr. Heylin observes, that once at a full Table of waiters in White-Hall, each of them a Servant or two to attend him, he and his man, were the only English in the Company. And in the Church so many of that Nation Beneficed and preferred in all parts of the Country, that their Ecclesiastical Revenues could not but amount to more than all the Rents of the Kyrk of Scotland. And as the whole Revenue of that Crown was spent amongst themselves at home, so did several of their Grandees live in more State here, than any of their former Kings; to support which, they had not only the best places, as Master of the Horse, Captain of the Guards, Privy-Purse, Warden of the Cinque-Ports, Lieutenant of the Tower, etc. But there was scarce any of those Monopolies complained of too, perhaps, more than they ought, wherein they were not concerned, for when the King at York, in his first Expedition against them set forth his Proclamation touching Sundry Grants, Licences; and Commissions obtained upon undue surmise, it was observed there was scarce any of them but Hamilton and his Scotch dependants, were concerned in. From all which it may appear, that by stating their accounts aright ', the Lucrum cessans, and Damnum emergens according to the Civil Law computation, never any people deprived themselves of such a Court Harvest since the Creation; and this to establish that Dagon of a Covenant, which was as likely to deprive them of their advance in the Court of Heaven too; I have been told, a Melancholy Sequestered Gentleman in the time of those Unnatural Wars, gave himself the trouble of telling over the number of Words, the Covenant consisted of, and found them exactly to agree with that of the Beast 666. Whoever hath as much time to spare, may experiment the Truth thereof: however, this is certain, 
Revel. 13. 16.  with that in the Revelations, It caused all both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive that mark upon them, and brought such Desolations on our Earth, as none but that old Dragon could vomit forth. 
verse. 5.  Neither was there much difference between the times of their rage and blasphemies which the Text saith, was to continue Forty and Two Months, for according to such a proportion its power began to decline; but its deadly wounds are not yet healed, neither they nor we are ever likely to recover the dismal Effects of those vials the just Wrath of God suffered them to pour forth. Such applications as these may, I fear, be thought to have too much affinity with those Enthusiasms and Cants, which they so vilely make use of in perverting Scripture to their own base ends, and therefore I shall prosecute them no farther, nor the History neither of those Ringleaders to Rebellion, only hope for the time to come, whatever Overtures may be made by others, or golden Mountains promised by themselves, from an English Invasion, they will make a stop at Tweed, and before they pass it, seriously reflect what Cromwell and Monk brought them to in the end, for that Rubicon had no Caesar's.   

CHAP. II. Of the Irish Rebellion.  
HAving thus charged the Scotch-van, before the main body of English come up, we are Rencountred with the whole Irish Nation in so execrable a Rebellion, as no History of any Nation can parallel the abominable murders without number, or mercy upon the English Inhabitants, of what Sex, Age or Quality soever they were; and all this upon pretence of Religion too, a kind of Popish Covenant, Declaring in the sight of God and the World, That they would endeavour the advancement and preservation of his Majesty's Service and Interest, having no other design and intent, but only the free exercise of their Religion, and the abolition of such Laws as render the Catholics uncapable of any Office, Place, Commodity or Profit, to the extraordinary decay of their Estates, Education and Learning. From whence it is clear, That tho' the design was laid before, yet as to the Conduct and Management thereof they exactly copied their Neighbours the Scots, and the Devil could not furnish them with any other Precedent more proper for their Design. The King likewise was proportionably abused in his Concessions, and Favours; for the leading men in this Rebellion having appeared against the great Earl of Strafford, and been countenanced by our violent Factions here, in their Complaints of Grievance and Heavy Impositions; the Lords justices, who were then in the Supreme Power, must be ordered to caress the Gentlemen, and comply in whatever insolent demands they should insist upon; by which means some of the Popish Lawyers, Members of that House of Commons, the better to carry on that Rebellion they had in design, were so impudent as to lay down these Maxims, and vouch them for Law, 1. That any one being killed in Rebellion, tho' found by matter of Record, would give the King no forfeiture of Estate. 2. That tho' many thousands stood up in Arms, working all manner of Destruction, yet if they profess not to rise against the King, that it was no Rebellion. 3. That if a man were Outlawed for Treason, and his Land rested in the Crown, or given away by the King, his Heir might come afterwards, be admitted to reverse the Outlawry, and recover his Ancestor's Estate. These and many such like Rebel Tenants were published that Session, after the Murder of the Earl of Strafford, an abundant confirmation, how requisite his strict Hand was for such a loose People, which to astonishment, the Government did not see, or would not take notice of, till the Knife was at their Throats, and many thousands of them cut: although they must have all along observed how uneasy the Irish had been under their Conquest, (tho' better governed perhaps than had it been in their own hands) how strangely influenced by their Priests, and bigoted upon that account; so that they might allege the same pretence of Religion and Property with their Neighbours, and have just the same reason to Rebel, that is none at all. But that which surpriseth me most is, that these People should have liberty to sit in Parliament, Comptrol, and Vote against whatever Sanctions had been, or were farther to be enacted, in order to keep them the better in subjection; the freedom of their Consciences might surely have been thought enough, but the Freedom of Governing too, must bring all to confusion, as it here happened to a horrid degree. But 'tis not my Province to take notice of this, or any of their other Rebellions farther than the Reputation, and Memory of our Royal Sufferer is concerned, whose treatment, as to these Irish Affairs, was more barbarous and inhuman than all the rest, as well from the Forgeries on their side, to inveigle and abuse the People, as the villainous spreading of them here, where it required some time to procure a right Information.  
We must know therefore, That when the Faction here had actually drawn their Sword against their Sovereign, amongst many other Calumnies and Detractions laid to his charge in the several Declarations and Answers they sent abroad, there were few without some secret Reflections, as if the Rebellion in Ireland began by his Knowledge, and Connivance; from which intimations their impudent Agents and Emissaries, the allowed Scribblers and News Prints, the Pest of that and all other Ages, where permitted, would have those many Massacres, and Murders laid at his Door, which the Good Man's Heart more unfeignedly lamented than all the Members of both Houses. Nevertheless as His Majesty himself foretold concerning the many jealousies raised, and Scandals cast upon him by his Enemies, his Reputation like the Sun (after Owls and Bats have had their Freedom in the Night, and darker times) broke forth and recovered itself to such a degree of Splendour, as those Feral Birds grieved to behold and were unable to bear; 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  for as no good man believed any of those Calumnies at first, so the next return or two of Post or Ship, they were blown away with the same Wind which brought them hither, and the Faction forced to rack their Wits for a fresh reproach, wherewith the Devil never failed to supply them. But that after several years of happy Sunshine, another Sett of those nasty Birds should appear again, hooping and howling, the same notorious falsehoods to a Generation which was not then born, and too little considering the mischiefs then wrought looks very ominous, and God grant it doth not bode a greater darkness than any we then lay under.  
The first reproach which this false and feather Bird Ludlow howls forth against the King, is, That whilst in Scotland he had News of the Irish Rebellion, how the Papists throughout the Kingdom were in Arms, etc. and then closeth the Relation with this Villainous hearsay, The News of this Rebellion (as I have heard from persons of undoubted Credit) was not displeasing to the King, though it was attended with the Massacre of many thousands of the Protestants there, p. 17. Though we are not to take his word for the Credit of the persons who related this, yet we may take our measures from his relation, that they were equally to be credited with himself, that is not all; for all this is gratis dictum, without the least Authority, any thing of a reason, or so much as probable conjecture for so hellish an Aspersion. Whereas there is express matter of Fact even to demonstration, that never any thing more sensibly affected him, in that upon the first notice thereof, he sent Sir james Stewart to the Lords of the Privy-Council at Dublin with Instructions what he thought most proper to be done, and furnished them with all that Money his present stores could supply. He moved also the Parliament in Scotland to a speedy help, but they desired to be excused till the States of England were consulted; who, if they thought fit to use any of their men, propositions should be made in order thereunto, designing to make a Market to themselves, of their Neighbour Nations miseries; wherein notwithstanding many of their own Countrymen were concerned. At the same time likewise he sent Post to the Parliament of England, where several Resolves were taken, and Votes made, but little effectually done till the King's Return. To speak truly, had Ludlow's reflection been made upon them, there had been much more Credit for it, since they laid hold of all advantages thereby, not only to slander and abuse his Majesty, but to help themselves forward in that Rebellion they were just ripe for acting, as will by and by be made appear.  
With the same Owl-light Credit, he proceeds and tells us, About this time great numbers of English Protestants flying from the Bloody hands of the Irish Rebels, arrived in England, filling all places with the sad complaints of their Cruelties: whereupon the Parliament earnestly pressed the King to proclaim them Rebels, but could not obtain it to be done till many weeks, and then but forty of those Proclamations were Printed, and not above half of them Published, which was the more observed, and resented, by reason of the different treatment the Scotch had met with, who no sooner appeared in a much better cause, but they were forthwith declared Rebels in every Parish Church within the Kingdom, p. 19 A very plausible story, but for want of one thing, and that is Truth, whereof it hath not the least Syllable: For first the Parliament never pressed the King for a Proclamation; Secondly, the Forty Proclamations printed, were not for this Kingdom, but Ireland; So that Thirdly, there could be no ground of resentment upon the Scotch account, but by such pickthank fellows as Ludlow and his Party. In short, the matter of Fact stands exactly thus: The Parliament, as they were very inquisitive to catch at every thing which might give them an advantage against the Court, having underhand information that a Warrant was sent to the Printer for the foremention'd Proclamations to be forthwith provided, opened very loud upon it, Why so few? Why no sooner, etc. The Printer was summoned, the Warrant produced, and a mighty bustle made, as generally the cry is greatest where the least Wool: In the midst of which heats, the Secretary of State gave this account of the matter, that the Proclamations were printed at the Request of the Lords justices and Privy-Council in Ireland, who desired to have twenty signed by his Majesty's own hand, and no more, 
Dr, Nals. Coll. Vol. 2. p. 529.  who nevertheless ordered forty, and sent them accordingly; I do not remember the cause was given to the Parliament why so signed: But 'tis probable to invalidate that forged Commission whereto they had fixed the King's Broad-Seal granted to a private person upon a Title of Land. Otherwise there had been Proclamations several from the first day the Rebellion broke out in Ireland, the only place where requisite. But why not in England as well as against the Scotch? as our Author insinuates: whereto I reply, First, the Scotch had seized upon, at leastwise assumed the Administration of the whole Civil Power, so that no Proclamation could come out against them there. Secondly, they had too many abettors in England who encouraged them to begin, and were resolved to follow the first opportunity. So that thirdly the Proclamation must come from hence or not at all, and was equally requisite against both. What he adds farther of the Scotch being the much better Cause, is only the private opinion of a fellow Rebel; they were both so bad as upon an impartial scanning it would puzzle their Infernal Patron to tell which was worst.  
Having had the confidence to aver two such impudent falsehoods as aforementioned, 'tis strange how he comes to mince the matter so much as to the third, and tell us the Rebels in Ireland, pretended a Commission from the K. for what they did; and his Abstract, the Defence, gives indeed a Copy therefore, but withal goes no farther than that it was said to be given by the King to his Catholic Subjects in Ireland, p. 14. Whereas there was no one Slander more confidently thrown abroad than that, and continued longer; nay, I have met with several fanatics within these few years, who still take it for an undoubted truth, and what they have so long entertained, nothing but the final judgement can make them renounce. Once for all therefore, to silence this Infamous Calumny, we must know the Commonalty of the Native Irish, having lived a long time in Peace and Amity with the English, were not without some Reverence to that Government, and so could not in plain and direct terms be easily led into an avowed Rebellion against their King, whereupon their leaders Phelim Oneil, etc. were forced to persuade them, that they took up Arms for the King and the Defence of his Lawful Prerogative against the Puritanical Parliament in England, who had invaded it in many parts, and that what they did was by his Majesty's Approbation and Authority. And to gain the greater Credit to that Fiction, they produced a Commission, whereto the Broad-Seal, taken from a private grant, was affixed, as aforesaid, which made it no difficult matter to persuade rude and unexperienced people to believe it real; all which in a short time was clearly detected, as well by several Irish Rebels taken Prisoners, as English Protestants, who escaped their fury; particularly Dr. Maxwell, a Reverend Scotch Divine, (against which Nation they were not so Savagely cruel as the English) in his Examination and Deposition upon Oath, at Dublin, (which was sent too into England) declared, That he, whilst their Prisoner, expostulated with them for abusing the King in so gross a manner; 
Dr. Burl. Append. 129.  To whom they replied, That in all Wars, Rumours and Lies served many times to as good purpose as Arms, and that they would not disclaim any advantage.  
But to silence for ever that horrid Scandal of his Majesty's Commission, we have an unexceptionable Evidence and Proof, which will not only clear him, but render our Author Ludlow, (were there nothing else against him) a much worse Man than the bloody'st Wretch in the whole Irish Rebellion. In the Year 52 our English Regicides (having very nigh completed their Conquest) Erected, what they termed, an High-Court of justice in Ireland, to hear and determine all Murders and Massacres, of any Protestant, English or other Person or Persons whatsoever, within that Nation; where, amongst many others the justice and Mercy of Heaven had reserved Sir Phelim Oneil to receive his deserved Doom, at whose Arraignment, Sentence, and Execution, another Reverend Divine, one Dr. Ker, since Dean of Ardagh, by God's great good Providence was present, and makes a full Deposition thereof; 
Dr. Nals. Coll. Vol. 11. p. 529.  As where the Court was kept, what judges sat, what Witnesses sworn, the many Murders and Robberies proved, etc. After which, he comes to this material Evidence as to the present matter; That one of the judges, whose name he had forgot, Examined Sir Phelim about a Commission, he should have had from Charles Stewart, as the judge thought fit to term late King, for levying the said War he was charged with; Sir Phelim made Answer, he never had any such Commission; whereupon it was proved in Court, by the Testimony of one joseph Traverse and others, that Sir Phelim had such a Commission, and did in the beginning of the Rebellion, show the same unto the said joseph, and several others then in Court. Upon which, Sir Phelim confessed, that when he surprised the Castle of Charlemont, and the Lord Caulfield, that he ordered one Mr. Harrison, a Witness there, and another Gentleman to cut off the King's Broad-Seal from a Patent of the said Lords they then found in Charlemont, and affixed it to a Commission, Sir Phelim had ordered to be drawn up. And Mr. Harrison did in the face of the Court confess, that by Sir Phelim's order, he stitched the Silk Cord or Label of the Seal with Silk of the colour of the said Label, and so fixed the said Label and Seal to the Commission; whereupon Sir Edward Bolton, and Judge Donelan, urging Sir Phelim, why he would so deceive the people; he answered, that no man could blame him, to use all means whatsoever which might promote the Cause he had so far engaged in. 'Tis farther deposed by the said Dr. that on the second day of his Trial, some of the judges told him, that if he could produce any material proof, that he had such a Commission from Charles Stewart, to declare and prove it before Sentence should pass upon him, and he should be restored to his Estate and Liberty. But Sir Phelim Answered that he could prove no such thing; Nevertheless they gave him time to consider of it till the next day, which was the third and last day of his Trial, upon which day Sir Phelim being brought into the Court, and urged again, he declared he never could prove any such thing as a Commission from the King: And added, there were several Outrages committed, by Officers and others his aiders and abettors in the management of that War, contrary to his intentions, and which now pressed his Conscience very much, and that he could not in Conscience add to them, the unjust Calumny of the King, though he had been frequently solicited thereunto, by fair promises, and great rewards while in Prison. And proceeding further in this discourse, he was stopped and had Sentence of Death pronounced against him. The Dr. farther declares, that he was present, and very near Sir Phelim when he was upon the Ladder at his Execution, and that one Marshal Peake, and another Marshal, before Sir Phelim was cast, came riding towards the Place in great haste, and called aloud Stop a little, and having passed through the throng of Spectators and Guards, one of them whispered a pretty while with Sir Phelim, whereto he answered in the hearing of several hundreds of People, of whom myself was one, I thank the Lieutenant General for his intended mercy, but I declare, Good People, before God and his Holy Angels, and all of you that hear me, that I never had any Commission from the King for what I have done, in Levying, or Prosecution of this War, and do heartily beg your Prayers, all good Catholics and Christians, that God may be merciful unto me, and forgive me my Sins. More of his Speech I could not hear, which continued not long, the Guards beating off those that stood near the Place of Execution.  
Thus far this worthy Gentleman, who ought I know may be yet alive, for the Deposition was made in 81. And the party declared himself upon all occasions ready to justify it, and had it been then thought, such Books as Ludlow's Memoirs, should have ever dared to peep forth, much less be publicly sold, there would have been more care taken to anticipate those antiquated Cavils, they have now the impudence to revive: Upon which account it was, that I declared Ludlow a worse Man than Sir Phelim, the Bloodiest Wretch in that whole Pack, because first, 'tis demonstratively clear, he was the Person who sent the Marshal to Sir Phelim upon the Ladder ready to be thrown off, with proffer of Mercy, if he would fix the Commission on the King, there being no other Lieutenant General then in Ireland but himself, and therefore highly probable in the Second place, that 'twas by his inducement the judges were so earnest upon the same account, and Thirdly, that the fair promises and great Rewards in Prison were shot out of the same Bow, and levelled by the same General's rancorous spite at the Royal Martyr's Reputation. But then having so full a Conviction, as neither Liberty, nor Life, could prevail upon the Unfortunate Man to add that to the too many other Guilts already upon his Conscience; for Ludlow, to continue the Calumny, and, as far as his Credit will pass, leaves it upon Record to Posterity, is such an Argument of an Impenitent Heart, and Reprobate Mind, as I look upon Sir Phelim's condition to be much more justifiable. He lay under a sad remorse for the Innocent Blood spilt, with several other Acts of Injustice and Cruelty, begged God's Pardon, and Good men's Prayers; whereas our Lieutenant General seemed to die as he lived; By those Remains his Admirers have cursed the World withal, may be presumed to leave it, with like Regret, as the Apostate Angels did their Regions of Bliss, amongst whom, (without the least breach of Charity) I cannot but suppose him, Belching out his Blasphemies against God, as he did here on Earth against his Anointed.  
Yet 'tis to be feared these concessions of his Majesty turned no less to his own prejudice; for the Parliament having raised the Crisis to its full height, and resolving, very immethodically, as well as unjustly, to open the vein of War, employed both the Men and Money raised for Ireland against the King, nay the very Benevolence, begged for the relief of those poor distressed Protestants, was borrowed to pay their Soldiers, and a Question whether ever repaid; though the King's Soldiers having seized upon some Provisions sent by the Parliament towards Chester, as but designed for Ireland, they were presently, upon complaint, restored.  
Ludlow continues, That the King acquainted the Parliament, that when an Army was raised, he would go in Person to reduce them, p. 19 which they would not consent to, for other reasons than what he assigns, tho' that of putting him at the head of an Army might be one: he would certainly have put a speedy end to the War, which had spoiled all their Villainous designs at home; and therefore they would not so much as trust any of those Officers which had served him in the two Scotch Expeditions, though known the best in the Kingdom. The Scotch on the other side were caressed to the highest degree, and had whatever money, or other terms they demanded, though to serve the Ulster Plantation of their own Countrymen, several strong-holds, Towns and Castles were put into their hands, with unusual Circumstances of Power, even to an Independency upon the Lord Lieutenant, and whole English Government; and when his Majesty did but desire them to reconsider their own Proposition, and reflect how much it might trench upon the English Interest, they furiously voted, that whosoever advised his Majesty to that delay, was an Enemy to the Kingdom, and a Promoter of the Rebellion in Ireland. Whatever Ludlow farther urges, how the Parliament neglected no opportunity to carry on that necessary Work, and besides the Forces of Scotland, dispatched several Regiments from England thither, who were blessed with wonderful success against the Rebels, p. 20. 'Tis true, some Regiments were sent, and brave men they were, and great things they did, but not so many as designed, or requisite, and so little care taken of them, as 'tis beyond expression, to relate how miserably they suffered for want of Victuals, Stores, Clothes, Pay, indeed whatever was requisite to their subsistence as Men, or accommodation as Soldiers. The Parliament being so wholly intent upon their English Rebellion, could spare no time, nor charge to prosecute that just War; upon which scandalous neglect, all Parties concerned, more especially the Commanders and Soldiers, earnestly begged leave of the King, that they might be removed and engaged against any Enemy whatsoever, but Hunger.  
And this amongst other inducements was the chief of that Cessation, Ludlow inveighs so bitterly against p. 65. as likewise that the Earl of Leicester stayed so long and did not go at last, for he was always hastened by the K. and every thing restored, more than he had occasion for, or was really designed, thither. But he meeting with many complaints from thence, and observing how difficult it was to get a Supply by his Solicitation here, and how much worse when gone thither, upon that account did not stir. What Ludlow further saith, as to the Cessation, that the King agreed to it, contrary to his Engagement with both Houses not to treat with the Rebels, unless they concurred, p. 65. is of no validity, that agreement was before the English were in actual Rebellion, and his Majesty thought such compliance might prevent it; but falling out otherwise, 'tis a pretty Supposition that when a Prince hath two Nations in Rebellion, he must ask the one, whether he shall treat with the other? 'Tis also absolutely false that this Cessation in Ireland induced the Parliament to treat with their Friends in Scotland to march to their assistance into England; 'twas the Prospect thereof induced the King to the Cessation, which he was always advised of, that notwithstanding the Condescensions he had yielded to, and Protestations made by them, they designed only to take breath, and would be ready at the first clinking of the English Money; and if they had pretended no more, there might have been something said, as they were men of Fortune, by way of Apology, that having not repent their Rebellion, the Lucre thereof might oblige their continuance, but to continue the making Religion their property, to Rebel against their King for imposing the English Liturgy, or somewhat like it, and now invade his Kingdom to impose their cursed Covenant, is such a procedure as none but their own Country can give an instance of.  
At Uxbridge Treaty the Irish concern was one main head, wherein the Parliament, as indeed in all other matters, were so refractory and haughty, as to exclude the King from being any ways concerned either in the management of War or Peace; he must not so much as nominate his Deputy, or one single Officer; which therefore coming to an end without effect, his Majesty had all the reason in the world to press that Cessation into a Peace, wherein the Duke of Ormond and several of his Friends there were employed; as likewise Commissioners from them, treating at Oxon, but what with the Nuncio's Insolence, and Bigotry of the ecclesiastics, all came to nothing: whereas would that Priestridden Nation have understood their own Interest, and acted for their safety, they might have expiated somewhat for their former bloodshed, (whereof many of their own Party were very much ashamed) obtained a reasonable Liberty of Conscience, with other immunities, and prevented that utter desolation they were afterwards so justly brought into: On the contrary they shuffled at such an idle rate, played the Bogtrotters in Politics too, imposing upon every necessity, they saw his Majesty, really, or likely to be under, and so shuffled off and on, till they lost him, and in him, themselves, to a most deplorable condition, as bloody Savages as they were.  
And if there yet wants a farther confirmation of this our Royal Martyr's Integrity and Detestation as to the premises, take this farther account, Dr. Nalson in the Preface to his Collections mentions a Letter, still to be seen in the Paper Office, intercepted by a Party of the Parliament Army very much a propo: it was from the Lord Digby, by the King's order, to the Irish Catholics as they must be termed, or no treating with them; wherein he lets them know how prejudicial their standing off had been to his Affairs and most prophetically foretells that Destruction, the prosperous Rebels here would bring home to their own doors: Declaring withal, that were the condition of his Affairs much more desperate than it is, he would never redeem them by any concessions of so much wrong to his Honour and Conscience, and yet his Affairs were now at a very low Ebb, this being written soon after the Fatal blow at Naseby. The Dr. relates farther, that he found this Letter had been before the Committee, which perused such as might most expose the King, by being Printed and Indors'd with Rushworth's own hand (that faithful Collector of whatever tends to Treason and Mischief) Quere as to the Printing this Letter, and a little after, needless to be Printed. 'Tis much they did not order it to the Fire, since 'tis an irrefragable Testimony of the most unbiased Sincerity, any but the King of Kings could propound to walk by, and this will stifle the last Effort of our Author's rancorous spite, in reference to the Irish Affairs, who tells us the Earl of Glamorgan was empowered by private Instructions to promise the Liberty of the Romish Religion, with divers other advantages to the Irish Rebels, etc. P. 163. the Earl of Glamorgan was a zealous Romanist, and had put himself very forward to be tampering in that Affair, but still the Marquis of Ormond was Supreme in that Government, and finding him to exceed his Commission, confined him as Guilty of High-Treason, and whatever he writ to his Lady, had not all things gone to confusion, would never have been able to justify his proceedings, nor Ludlow that vile suggestion, that the Officers and Soldiers in Dublin obliged the Marquis of Ormond to treat with the Parliament Commissioners for putting that City into their hands, P. 164. I know not what flame stories Sir Francis Willoughby might think to gratify Ludlow withal, when he was Paramount in Ireland, but cannot believe it was in his power to deliver that Castle without the Marquess' consent. To be sure the whole matter was adjusted between the King and him, some time before things came to the Extremity, for we find in Doctor Burlace, this intimation of his Majesty's pleasure, That if it were possible for the Marquis to keep Dublin, and the other Garrisons, under the same entire Obedience to his Majesty, they were then in, it would be acceptable to his Majesty; But if there were, or should be a necessity of giving them up to any other Power, he should rather put them into the hands of the English than the Irish, which was accordingly done: An Evidence even to Demonstration, that though the King treated with the Irish, and might have reaped great Advantages thereby, would they have acted with reason, or consulted his Honour with the Common Interest of all the Three Kingdoms together, which, Good man, was his grand aim. But to have any design of Promoting their Superstition, or otherwise give them the least advantage upon the true Establishments in Church and State, was as far from him, as from the Commonwealth Party, not to abuse and belie him upon that account, and indeed all others whatsoever.  
And thus ended all Transactions between the King and that unhappy People; but the next year when things came to extremity, and directly tended to his Murder, the Marquis of Ormond was invited over by them, to assume the Lieutenancy, and a strict Union entered into between him and the Catholic Commissioners, as they termed themselves, and all Parties seemed abundantly satisfied in the choice of a Person who had shown himself Superior to all those Calumnies they had formerly aspersed him with. However, so many different Humours, Passions, and Interests could not long stick together; the Provisions for next Campagne were not answerable to promise, and when they came to Action the ecclesiastics, and their bigoted Party returned to their Old vomit, would neither lead nor drive, but at the same Priestridden trot as formerly, so that quarrelling at those disappointments themselves were the Cause of, and fomenting the Divisions they ought to have cemented; Cromwell in the mean while coming over with an Army of Veteran well Disciplined Rebels, their whole Island became the most dismal Scene of War, Pestilence, and Famine, as we find any where Recorded, the numbers being unaccountable which perished by those three Arrows of Divine Vengeance; others either by Stealth or Composition, got into Foreign parts, whilst the remainder were shut up in one Corner of the Kingdom, and had all their Estates divided amongst the Conquerors. And thus ended this Popish Rebellion, which as it was begun in imitation of the Scotch Covenant, so was it prosecuted with the like Insolent and Unreasonable Demands, and with somewhat a severer draught of the Almighty's Displeasure, although nothing but an Impenitent Heart could make either of them forbear to acknowledge, how Righteous God is in all his ways.   

CHAP. III. Of the English Rebellion.  
THE two former Prospects have been dismal enough, and could not but move both Indignation and Pity, as to the Aggressors, and Suffering Parties, had the Scene lain at the farthest Distance; but being either in our Neighbourhood, or on our Borders, and we at the sole Charge of buying the Scotch home, and buoying up the Protestant Interest against the Irish; one would think should have cautioned us to keep together amongst ourselves, and take Care to prevent any further Annoyance from such troublesome Neighbours: But to continue, nay aggravate the Freak, fall together by the Ears one with another, when they were both fallen upon us, was so abominably Stupid, as the whole observing Part of the World became amazed, and Posterity 'tis probable would have given no Credit thereto were we not like to confirm it, by continuing in the same Mixture of Fools and Madmen, to the Consummation of all things. For Confirmation whereof I cannot but observe that the Scots acted like themselves, and having so solemn an Invitation from us, could not forbear, according to the Common Policy of the World, to set forward from their own Wilderness to our Canaan. The Irish likewise had strong Prejudices, both as a conquered Nation, and from the unhappy Influence of their Romish Emissaries, upon whose Sleeves they had not only pinned their Faith but Obedience to the Civil Power; so that had their Defection been confined within any Bounds of Humanity, some Grains of Allowance might have been given them. After all, therefore, the most Astonishing surprise lies on our Side, in that we were not only forward to foment them, but so barbarously Stupid as to Sheath the Sword in one another's Bowels, without any imaginable Cause, but what the Historian assigns in all such Cases Nimis Felicitas.  
The Scene then hence forward must be at home, where will appear several Acts full of nothing but Misery and Confusion; a sad Completion both of the Prophet's Charge and Curse, 
Host 4. 2.  there being no Truth, nor Mercy, nor Knowledge of God in the Land, but by Swearing, and Lying, and Killing and Stealing, Blood touched Blood, to the Effusion of that Royal Blood, which I fear will be never expiated till the last Conflagration; to be sure some others, though very considerable, have done little towards it. That Observation of Amm. Marcellin. could never be more Applicable than here, Manum injicientibus fatis, hebetantur sensus hominum, & obtunduntur. Fate so strongly overruled all our Deliberations, dazzled the Sight of our Judgements and Counsels so such a Degree, there was no Thought left for the most Natural Principle to all Mankind, Self-Preservation; and that whether we consider his Majesty's too many, and great Compliances on the one hand, or the Faction's Impudence on the other, whose Demands continually improved with his Concessions, crying as the Wise Man tells the Horsleeches two Daughters incessantly do, Give, Give, nec missura cutem, nisi plena cruoris, without giving over, till the Nation fainted and they burst asunder with its Blood. And this Ludlow owns, that the King not willing to languish in Expectation, sent to the House, that they would at once make their full Demands, and prepare a Bill, etc. But they perceiving the Design, (for he must never be without one, though they good Creatures were as undesigning as the Devil) returned for Answer, That they could not suddenly resolve upon so weighty a Work, but would do it with all possible speed, pa. 16. which time never came, nor was thought of after. Indeed their Thoughts were quite otherwise employed, to widen the Wound, and render it incurable; in order whereunto their first Attempt was to Stab the King through the Sides of his Ministers; not only remove from him, but Sacrifice all such worthy Patriots, as had Courage and Abilities, to detect and oppose their pernicious Enterprises. Thus Ludlow tells us, they impeached the Lord Keeper Finch, Earl of Starfford, and Archbishop of Canterbury of High Treason, in endeavouring to subvert the Laws, and erect an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Power, p. 12. the former very prudently made his escape, the only means of avoiding that impertuous Hurricane, which Innocence itself could not otherwise have stemmed. The other two fell the Objects of their implacable Rage; and being the Persons against whom, next the King himself, our Author revives his Calumnies with the greatest Obloquy, I shall presume to give a short Account of the Procedure against them, so Arbitrary and Illegal, as it seemed to be carried on, not only without any regard to justice, but even Humanity itself.  
The Earl whom they first fell upon, as he could not have a greater, so deserved no less Character than what his Majesty gave him, of a Person, whose great Abilities might make a Prince rather afraid than ashamed to employ him in the greatest Affairs of State: which he first discovered in the House of Commons, was very happily brought into Court, where through several Stages of eminent Trusts and Council he arrived at the highest Command our Crown hath to dispose of, that in Ireland, which he managed and improved in so prodigious a manner, as all Men of Sense and Business, were astonished in their Acknowledgements thereof: And this sufficiently appeared at his Trial; for though 'tis true there were several Articles of a very high Nature brought against him, yet none proved: And herein Ludlow discovers his Commonwealth Ingenuity, to tell us he was accused of Governing Ireland in an Arbitrary Manner, of retaining the Revenue of the Crown, without giving an Account, of promoting and encouraging the Romish Religion, etc. p. 14. whereunto though English and Irish, Puritans and Papists, his open Enemies and false Friends were encouraged to give Evidence, they could make nothing of it; nor of that High Charge, which our Author mentioning more than once, would have instar omnium, how he advised the King, That since the Parliament had denied him such Supplies as he demanded, he was at Liberty to raise them by such means as he thought fit, and that he had an Irish Army should assist, him to that end. All which had but one single Witness to prove it, Sir H. Vane, who hesitated very much, and though at last would have had the Irish Army employed in England, all Circumstances speak otherwise, the very Council sitting upon the Scotch Affairs, and every Member thereof averring the contrary; the Earl of Northumberland more especially, that he had heard the Earl of Strafford often say, that that Power was to be used Candid et Cast, and that the Kingdom could not be Happy, but by a good Agreement between the King and his People in Parliament. So that after a great deal of Art and Eloquence by the best parted bad Men Westminster-Hall ever sent into the House of Commons, with Father Pym, etc. this Great Person so clearly baffled all their Allegations and Evidences, as they were forced to turn the Tables, pursue another Method, and Vote him guilty by Bill of Attainder, which not only precluded all further Arguments according to the Regular Course of justice; but made themselves Accusers, Parties, and judges, throughout the whole Procedure, both as to Matter of Fact and Law; an odd and unusual Course; for, they say, it had been discontinued from Henry viii Time, whose grough Humour too often made use of this, when he could not otherwise gain his Point, that is, his Will: But when laid in his Cold Tomb, that Men might freely speak their Minds; next the Barbarous Treatment of his Queens, this is the foulest Blot upon his Memory: And as he then made his Parliament the Properties in this ungrateful, ay and unjust Procedure, so the Parliament here were as hot and violent in forcing it upon the King; and that with so great Precipitancy, as the Bill was read thrice in one Day, and consequently passed; with an earnest Request, when carried up to the Lords of the like quick Dispatch. But they were more Deliberate, as well upon his as their own Account, which made the Commons fall to their then a la mode Course of Rabble and Tumults, 5 or 6000 whereof assembled at Westminster, crying for Justice and Execution, with many other intolerable Insolences as shall be by and by related; upon which Account many of the Lords dared not to appear at the House, and of those few that did, being 45, it was carried but by 7 Votes, 19 giving their not Content, to the 26 that gave their Content to the passing this Fatal Bill. And this brought the King into that inextricable Perplexity, being to use his own incomparable Words, persuaded by those that wished him well, to choose rather what seemed safe, than just, preferring the outward Peace of my Kingdom with Men, before that inward exactness of Conscience before God; and this made a continued Remorse in his Soul for ever after, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  incessantly complaining of that bad exchange to wound a Man's own Conscience thereby to salve State-Sores, to calm the Storms of popular Discontents, by stirring up a Tempest in a Man's own Bosom; whereas in all likelihood I could never have suffered, with my People, greater Calamities (yet with greater Comfort) had I vindicated Strafford's Innocency— and not gratified some men's unthankful importuning so cruel a Favour. In fine, the whole Chapter is so great in its self, as we find nothing so sincerely to express the true Remorse of a Penitent Soul, since David penned the 51 Psalms; and withal gives so high and just a Character of this great Man, as no People which used them both so Barbarously, ought ever to be blessed with such a Prince or Minister. Yet one thing I must further observe from his Majesty, how that after-Act vacating the Authority of the Precedent for future Imitation, sufficiently tells the World, that some Remorse touched even his most implacable Enemies, as knowing he had very hard Measure, and such as they would be very loath should be repeated to themselves. The return likewise that virulent Faction made to his Majesty when he had obliged them with so much Regret to himself, is worth taking Notice, which was only this, hath he given us Strafford, than he can deny us nothing: And accordingly at the same time this cursed Bill was past, there past another to make that cursed Parliament perpetual; whereupon I find this Remark, that as the one was for the Earl's present Execution, so the other proved in the Event for the Kings. One thing more and I have done; when the Nation came to its Wits again in the Year 60, An Act was passed for reversing the Attainder of this great Worthy, wherein are enumerated the several unjust and irregular Practiecs for obtaining that Bill as well from Lords as King, together with the Illegality and untruth of the Charge itself. 'Tis pity there had not been a Clause likewise, that whosoever should dare to Libel, and belie his, but more especially his Master's Sacred Memory, or indeed any others who unjustly Suffered in that just Cause, should forfeit their Ears at last, if not have their Breath stopped at Tyburn, what a company of Spill-Paper Rascals would this have freed the Press or the World of? But since 'tis thought fit to permit them, we must be Content with discovering thereby their sordid Temper, and base Principles, and accordingly discriminate them from such virtuous Understanding Souls as will not be afraid of any evil Tidings, but have the Righteous in everlasting Remembrance.  
Archbishop Laud shall be here likewise considered; for though they did not take away his Life till about three Years after, yet was he forced to Linger it out all that time in an unjust Confinement, kept on purpose, as one would think, to serve another turn with the Scots: For as they would not stir out of the Kingdom in 41, till gratified with Strafford's Blood, so they would not return in 43, without an assurance of Laud's; A blessed Religion must those Covenanters be of, in thirsting as much after Blood as Wolves and Tigers; could I believe a Metempsychosis, I should very much incline likewise to think that the Souls of those Pharisees and other jews which persecuted our Saviour and his Apostles, were now at length got so far as our Northern Clime, and taken up their Habitation in the several Members of our Scotch and English Sanhedrims. The first particular Charge, (as to the English Church and Nation) Ludlow brings against this great Man, is the Clergy sitting in Convocation, after the short Parliament in 40. was dissolved, took upon them to frame Canons and Oaths, and impose four Shillings in the Pound, upon Ecclesiastical Benefices throughout the Kingdom, p. 10. Roger Coke likewise Harps upon this String; so doth the Defence; and it was one of the most considerable Branches of his Charge at his Trial, whereto he replied, 
Troub. and Try. p. 282.  that he did nothing but by the King's express Order, had the judgement of the Council learned in Law, and exactly followed a Precedent of Archbishop Whitgift's in the Happy Days of Queen Elizabeth; the Original whereof the House of Commons commanded away, that the poor Man might be the less able to make his Defence, although therein they were disappointed too, discovering only their own mean Spirits and his great Parts. And for the Oath, etc. or rather, etc. in the Oath which made such a ridiculous Noise, 'tis pity but Posterity should be acquainted with their Impertinency, and Prejudices therein, the Words which the, etc. included were after Deans Archdeacon's, where the etc. cuts off, And other Persons having peculiar and exempt jurisdiction, which was mentioned at large in the Precedent Canons, and here contracted by the Clerk, tho' designed as the others when Engrossed; however through haste forgotten, and that nothing more could be intended by it, clearly appears from the Restraint of the following Words, viz. as it stands now established: But if People are resolved to strain Knats and swallow Camels, 'tis impossible to persuade them otherwise, till they have nigh Choked themselves.  

Detect, 386.  Roger Coke is very witty upon the forementioned Tax, and saith, the Clergy who now Taxed their fellow Subjects without Consent of the Commons, shall ever after be taxed by the Commons without Consent of the Clergy; where in the mean while is Magna Charta, whose first Article speaks Ecclesia Anglicana debet habere suas Libertates, & Privilegia illaesa? And they taxed none but themselves, and none else by Law can do it. 'Tis likewise false that they never Taxed themselves since, there was a Convocation in 61. which did it: But upon the Dutch War in 65 the old Way of Tenths and Fifteenths arose so high upon the Bishops and Dignifyed Clergy, as it was thought easier to be thrown in common with the Laity; amongst whom likewise the new Rebel improvement of a Land Tax, and Monthly Assessments, were substituted in room of Subsidies, to their very great Edification. What I most admire herein is, that when this Course was agreed upon, to throw them both together there should be no care taken, then, nor since, by the Fathers of our Church (the only Representative she hath in that Body,) to have some of the Clergy in Commission throughout each Laud's Public Spirit and Fatherly Care, would not have been guilty of such an Omission, for want of which, they are as much enhanced in their Taxes, as defrauded in their Tithes; whereupon I know a Person who when he would express the Summum jus of any rigorous proceeding, doth it in this Phrase, was as kindly dealt with, as the Country-Commissioners deal with the Clergy.  
I do not find Ludlow bringing any other particular Charge against this Great Man; the Defence mentions the Heads of 20, he should have added four more, which would have equalled those Articles from the Commons, and done a great Kindness in telling us how well they had been proved; for after seventeen Days Prosecution by Three as Virulent Tongues as ever spoke in Westminster-Hall, he made so full and vigorous a Defence, so effectually refelled all their Cavils, and Evidences, that they were forced as in the Earl of Strafford's Case, to have recourse to that dead striking Bill of Attainder, by Accumulating, those many Charges they had not proved altogether; to make that Treason in the Conclusion, which could not be gathered from the Premises. This was very uneasy to the Lords, though none of them his Friends, as not knowing how soon it might be their own Case, till frighted by the several Threats from the Lower House, now become Paramount, Six Mean-Spirited Peers passed the Ordinance; all the rest though they had not Courage to appear against it, yet were ashamed to give their Votes in so illegal and inhuman an Act. I cannot omit one Instance of their Barbarity. He having obtained leave at his first Commitment, to repair to his Study at Lambeth, and take thence such Papers and Memomorials as might conduce to his Defence, that Miscreant Pryn obtained an Order of the House, to seize upon and ravish them from him; neither were they so satisfied, but came again and robbed his Pockets of his Diary, and carried away the very Manual of his Devotions, to see what they could discover, which was only their own Shame. That Account likewise of his Troubles, and Trial fell into the same base Hands, although by a signal Providence, retrieved to be an Everlasting Record of their infamous proceedings.  
This brief Relation I thought proper to give of these two great Ministers, for that they were the main Prop of all Royal Dignity, and chief promoters of whatever true Policy fell under debate in Order to the King and Kingdom's safety. And had their Advice been followed, the Scots had never entered England, but received the due Reward of their Rebellion at their own Doors: nor Irish thought, at leastwise attempted theirs, so long as Strafford held the Rains, without which Abettors, and Advantages, the English Confederates could have carried on none of their Designs: But what with the King's Good Nature, Natural Kindness, and strange Irresolution, his only Fault, together with the Factions Solemn Professions of Duty and Loyalty, that they would make him the most Glorious and Potent Prince in Europe he lost so much ground at first, as afterwards it was impossible to retrieve it, they still pressing for one Concession after another; till in the end they gained enough to ruin him, as well as his Ministers; for whatever popular Clamours were made, none stood up so much for the true English Constitution as they, never denying that Parliaments were the best Expedient to settle Affairs in all great Emergencies, if they would go regularly about it; but they Both thought what the One hath declared, 
Troub. & Try. p. 172.  that Corruptio optimi est pessima: If Parliaments should at any time be misguided by the Practice of a malignant Party, nothing can be so dangerous, because the highest Remedy being corrupted, there is no sure Redress left. And their knowing this, and acting so vigorously to prevent those Miseries designed thereby, was the Causa latens, that their Blood was so much thirsted after, and when spilt sadly accomplished what the Poet declared in one of their Elegies, The State in Strafford died, the Church in Laud.  
For they being gone, all the rest of the King's Ministers thought it time to beg a Discharge, 
2 d. Vol. 206.  and provide for themselves, since the most unspotted Integrity could not be Proof against the Stat pro ratione of an Ordinance, much less a Bill of Attainder; Dr. Nalson in his Collections gives us a piece of a Manuscript left by the late Earl of Manchester, the sometimes fatal Kimbolton, which tells us what tricks and juggle were used amongst them, to excuse such as had been exclaimed against as most Obnoxious, by resigning their Places to some leading Men of the Faction, as Cottington Master of the Wards to Say and Seal. etc. So likewise for Monopolies, which Ludlow tells us they declared against, and expelled the Authors out of the House, p. 11. they were generally transferred by Bill to more deserving on their side, as the Letter Office to the Earl of Warwik for three Lives, and Sir Henry Mildmay was continued in the House, though a notorious Promoter of the Monopoly of Gold and Silver Thread; as also Mr. Laurence Whitaker, and other Commissioners in Matters of like Nature or worse; for to encourage those already come amongst them, and bring in others, they laid down this Politic Maxim, That what disservice any one had done formerly, his present Actions bringing Benefit to their Commonwealth, he ought not now to be questioned.  
He goes on to tell you how they proceeded to take away the Star-chamber, High-commission Court, Court of Honour, with some others, p. 13. The former of these was the ancientest Court in England, but being a support of the Prerogative must down, and the other because of the Church: I have already mentioned how much better it had been to have corrected the Abuses; and for the present shall only observe, that had they been ten times greater than they were, it was no redress to take them away and substitute an ordinance of the House in room thereof, yet that it was come to, at so impudent an Arbitrary rate; as no King of England, or indeed in Europe ever assumed half that Power; he that is most exclaimed at now, upon that account doth nothing like it; the Grand Signior was the only precedent they could propound. As to the High Commission, I shall only add, that Mr. Hobbs in a little Pamphlet he writ, since the Restauration, of Heresy, endeavours to vindicate his Leviathan from that Charge by Reason the High Commission at the restless Clamours of the Presbyterians, was then abolished, the only Court wherein such Points could be considered; he did not think of a Convocation, neither is it much thought of by others; but doubtless all the Heresies, Factions, Schisms which have so miserably torn both Church and State, arose from the suppressing that Court: For that other, the Court of Honour, Gentlemen formerly had as much regard for their Bearing, as any other property, and would be as much concerned if invaded; but going about to Dethrone the sole Fountain of Honour, their King, 'twas their Curse, rather than Choice, to lay all things in Common, the Lord and Lackey, Gentleman and Groom upon the same Level, which soon after they found more experimentally true than ever was expected, and might have justly taken up the Prophet's Lamentation, Servants have got the Dominion over us, and there is none to deliver us out of their Hand. 
Lamen. 5. 8.  What I most condole is; that we lost the Thing as well as the Court; true Honour fell to so low an Ebb, as it hath very seldom stowed since; should I say as much of Truth, justice, and Common Honesty, 'twere easier to inveigh against, than disprove me.  
Upon a summary View of these through-paiced Reformers whole Proceedings, who our Author tells us, were resolved to correct the Abuses introduced the preoedent Years, I cannot but reflect upon a Simile which occurred the other Day in a Republican Pamphlet, (to the best of my Memory, one of those about A Standing Army) where that Truth could not pass, without the Alloy of several Falsehoods in reference to this and some other- Reigns; however the Metaphor is very proper, comparing Government to a Watch, or any such like piece of Clockwork, where a disorder in any one Wheel, obstructs the regular Course, if not the whole Motion: But than what can we say, when not only several Wheels are taken out, but the Spring it's self is set aside, every conceited Commonwealth Man, and Clumsy-fisted Clown, having liberty to tamper with, and thumb it at Pleasure; yet this, impartially speaking, hath been our Condition most an end ever since These rude Artists fell to work. For what Hudebrass saith of Religion, is altogether as true of Government, 
One would think it was intended,  
For nothing else butto be mended.  Were it not for shame of the Quibble, I would add, they designed perhaps to make a Pendulum of it, by which means it hath hung tottering ever since.  
What he next entertains us withal is a Protestation agreed upon by the Lords and Commons, to maintain the Power and Privileges of Parliaments, the Right and Liberty of the People, etc. p. 13. taking no notice of the precedent part, to Defend the Protestant Religion expressed in the Doctrine of the Church of England, etc. and according to the Duty of Allegiance, Maintain, and Defend his Majesty's Royal Person, Honour and Estate; all which Ludlow omits; and it was very ingenuously done, for he knew it never intended. In the mean while they acted above board as to the Discipline of the Church, whereof they took no notice, designing forthwith to set it aside: for this Protestation was but a Prologue to the Scotch Covenant; notwithstanding several Good Men both Clergy and Lay, were driven by the Strength of that Popular Current to Subscribe it at a most unthinking rate.  
What comes next is one of the best improved Lies in the whole Libel, of a treacherous Design set on foot not without the King's Participation, as appeared under the King's own Hand, to bring up the English Army, and by Force to Dissolve the Parliament; the Plunder of London being promised to the Officers and Soldiers as a reward for that Service; this was confessed by the Lord Goring, Mr. Percy, and others. The Scots Army was also tried, etc. p. 15. This is his Story, Let us now see Truth. The chief Officers in the English Army were a Set of Worthy Loyal Gentlemen, both of Sense and Honour, and consequently could not but take notice how partial the Commons were to the Scots Army in prejudice to theirs which caused Commissary Wilmot (who with some others was a Member of the House) to tell them, upon a Paper the Scots had presented to get Money designed for our Army, that if Papers could procure Money he doubted not but the English Officers would soon do the same; Neither were their Resentments less upon the King's than their own account, that after so many compliances and too great condescension they should still press forward, to the overturning of all; whereupon they entered into a confederacy, obliging themselves by an Oath of secrecy, to Petition the King and Parliament upon these Four Heads, For Money for the Army; not to Disband before the Scots; To preserve Bishops Votes and Functions; To settle the King's Revenue. Which being shown to, and approved by the King, he signed; all which appears both from Mr. Percy's letter to the Earl of Northumberland his Brother, that they resolved to act nothing which should infringe the Subjects Liberty, or be prejudicial to the Laws. 
Nals. man 2 d. Vol. 272.  As likewise from the forementioned Manuscript of the Earl of Manchester which gives the same account. And could Ludlow, or any of his Partisans imagine there should be no Men of Courage and Resolution left in the Nation, or that having Swords by their Sides, they should keep their Hands in their Pockets, and see Votes and Ordinances do more mischief than all the Gunpowder of a seven Years Campain; and since the Parliament were resolved upon a War, 'tis Pity these Gentlemen parted with their Forces: Had they come up, and cut Ten, or Twenty the loudest Throats in the House, it might have saved the effusion of a great deal more, and much better Blood, and preserved both King and Kingdom from Ruin.  
To show farther that the Parliament was always in danger the King continually plotting against them, they never against him, our Author tells us, how a great number of loose debauched Fellows repaired to Whitehall, where a constant Table was provided, and many Gentlemen of the Inns of Court tampered with to assist him in his Design; and how briskly he took up one for speaking against the Fellows at Westminster, who upon this fright desired leave to provide themselves a Guard, and that the Militia might be at their disposing, p. 21. To turn a Story, or frame a Lie so as to make it serve their own turns hath been all along observed the peculiar Talon of our Commonwealth Men, and of the whole Party, Ludlow had most right to the Whetstone. That the Fellow should be so impudent to charge the King with raising Tumults, or threatening Force, when all the World knows it was the chief Engine the Parliament had to carry on all their mischievous Enterprises, and when any thing stuck with him or the Lords, a Rabble of 5 or 6000 were immediately summoned out of the City to affright and threaten all that would not comply according to their Desire, and in their passage by Whitehall did the same to the King, till their Insolences grew so intolerable, as he was forced to leave that and Parliament at once, for which they had the confidence to charge him, and yet would take no care he might be secure with them; and this occasioned what Ludlow relates, Several Gentlemen about Town, more especially at the Inns of Court, were ashamed to see Majesty so scandalously affronted, proffered their service for the security of Whitehall, his Majesty and Family, which was kindly accepted, and some little Entertainment made for them, from whence this vile Fellow raised his great Story. And since he hath given me this just provocation, it will be here very proper to give some small account of those many violences from the insults and tumults of the Rabble, how necessary the Faction found them, and thereupon what Encouragement they had.  
The Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford went on very slowly in the House of Lords, and 'tis probable but for the Menaces of the Mob had never passed, whereof 5 or 6000 came up to Westminster, filled the Palace-Yard, posted themselves at all the Entrances to the Parliament House, and stopped every Coach crying justice and Execution, which upon a Sign given was repeated with such an hideous Noise as to create Amazement in the greatest Constancy. Such Lords as they knew were averse to Humour them, they threatened most severely, and had the Impudence to add, if they had not the Leiutenant's Life, they would have the King's; whereof his Majesty complained by Message to the Lords, they to the Commons, and there it stuck: For sometime after when they trudged away to cry no Bishops, as Hudibras hath it, and the Lords complained in a Conference with the Commons, of their horrible Insolency, Mr. Pim their chief Setter cried God forbid we should proceed to dishearten People from obtaining their just Rights; and the rest of that cursed Cabal secretly whispered, they must not discourage their Friends, this being a time to make use of them; which vile Abetting made them so Impudent as to threaten Whitehall too, and declare as they passed by, there should be no Porter's Lodge, but they would come to speak to the King without Control, and at their own discretion: And when presently after there was another descent of the same Rout, and some Opposition made upon their Attempt upon Whitehall Gate, till the Sheriffs of London and Middelsex with what Guard they could draw together, seized, and committed some of them, the Commons immediately posted up Mr. Hollis to the Lords, complaining 'twas a Violation of the Liberty of the Subject, and an affront to the Parliament, and so the Good Boys must be discharged. 'Twere too tedious to relate the several Insults of this kind, both King and Lords were forced to put up, the Commons underhand giving them all Encouragement imaginable, and had their Setters in the City to be ready on the first Intimation, whereof Dr. Cornelius Burges, a Lecturing Beautifeu, was chief, seconded by a Lay Brother one Venus, the Captain Tom of those Times; the Dr. as he led up these Doughty Champions, was wont to look back and cry, 
Athen. Oxon. Vol II. p. 236.  These are my Bandogs, I can set them on, and I can take them off again; by which means, saith my Author, four parts in five of the Lords, and two parts in three of the Commons, were frighted out of the House, to leave the Faction absolute Masters thereof. All these before unheard of Affronts to Majesty and Government, our faithful Recorder of Memoirs takes no Notice of, but a few honest Loyal Gentlemen, ashamed to see such abominable Insults, and therefore coming to defend, if occasion served, their abused, ay and threatened Prince, must pass for a Plot upon the Parliament, and they forsooth must have a Guard. With like veracity he relates the Kingston Plot too, where the Lord Digby with Colonel Lunsford, in a Coach and Six, and three or four Footmen attending, passed for a Body of 500 Horse; with many such like extravagant Rumours, raised on purpose, that their Worships might be thought to stand in need of a Guard, whereas if such a thing was wanting it must be to Guard the King and Government from them.  
In that Divine Pourtraicture of his Majesty's Solitudes and Sufferings, there are two Chapters, one upon the many jealousies raised, and Scandals cast upon the King, to stir up the People against him. The other upon the Insolences of the Tumults, in both which he doth so passionately set forth how abominably he and his Subjects were abused by their Lies and Slanders, as would Convince, ay and Convert too any Reprobate whatsoever, but a Republican: As to the Tumults, how just and reasonable is that Resentment of his; I confess, saith he, when I found such a Deafness, that no Declaration from the Bishops, who were first foully insolenced and assaulted; nor yet from Lords and Gentlemen of Honour, nor yet from myself, could take Place for the due Repression of these Tumults, and securing not only our Freedom in Parliament, but our very Persons in the Streets; I thought myself not bound by my Presence to provoke them to higher Boldness and Contempts; I hoped also by my withdrawing to give time both to the Ebbing of their tumultuous Fury, and others regaining some degrees of modesty and sober Sense. But his hopes were altogether frustrated, they persevered at the same Rebel rate, till, as he foretold, the Just Avenger of all Disorders, made those Men, and that City, see their Sin, in the Glass of their Punishment, which soon after happened in the same way they had offended.  
But never was this Meteor Mob so high in Meridian Altitude, as when the five Members were accused; it was indeed the sole Support of that cursed Cause, without which the King had cursed them all to the Scaffold, and so sent them to their proper Place, where all Rebellions are first laid, and in the end Punished. Here then let us see how Ludlow palliates this Business, which being clear Matter of Fact he had no way to flourish off but with his continued Impudence in reflecting upon the King, whose violent Ways not succeeding, he fell upon other Measures in appearance more moderate, etc. p. 20. and to colour his Proceedings with a Form of Law, sent Sir Edward Herbert his Attorney General, to accuse of High Treason in the name of his Majesty, Mr. William Stroud, etc. and Lord Kimbolton, accquainting them, that he intended to proceed against them according to Law; and then gives us the Articles which are foul enough, yet not exact to the Original, no where calling them Traitors, as that justly doth: But whatever he further saith as to the House of Commons is altogether a Chimaera of his own, there were no Footsteps of it, in all the Procedure. His Words are these, Upon this the House made answer to the Attorney General, that they were the proper Judges of their own Members: That upon his producing the Articles, if they found Cause, they would leave them to be Proceeded against according to Law; but commanded him at his Peril not to proceed further against them or any other Member, without their Consent. After which they published a Declaration to the same purpose, etc. p. 24. upon which Relation of our Author, give me leave to make these few Remarks, as first. This Charge of the General's was given in to the House of Lords as a Court of judicature, whereupon they fell to Debate. 1 st, Whether this Accusation of the Attorney General's be a regular Proceeding. 2dly, Whether there were any such Proceedings ever before in this House. 3dly, Whether an Accusation of High Treason may be brought against a Peer of Parliament. With some others; and yet this blundering Fellow supposes all this to be done in the House of Commons, and frames an Answer accordingly; but any thing will pass with the fanatics from a confiding Brother, who, perhaps too, will like it the better for being Preposterous and False. 2dly, Supposing that to be their Answer, as it was indeed the Sense of all their Votes, Speeches, and Declarations, what Law made them Judges of their own Members? From the beginning it was not so. Nor 3dly, That a Member could not be proceeded against without their leave, we have been told, that formerly no Privileges could secure any Member from Justice for Murder, Felony, and Treason; but now, having made Prerogative a cipher, they might add as many as they pleased, to Multiply what they thought fit to call their Rights; although in order thereunto methinks they should have repealed that scurvy Proverb, of Ask one's Fellow whether he be a Thief. 4thly, Had the Gentlemen accused been really Innocent, they need not have made such a Noise and Pother, nothing could have been a greater Baffle to his Majesty than such an unjust Charge; the contrary is therefore to me Demonstration. 5thly, The Commons indeed, when the King was gone, fell upon the Attorney General, and had him Interrogated at the Lord's Bar by a committee of theirs, whereto his Answer not being Satisfactory, they made some angry Resolves, but I cannot any where find he was sent to Prison, for his Proceedings in that Matter, as Ludlow saith.  
Well, the King finding the Lords afraid to burn their Fingers, by questioning these Idols the Rabble so adored, took another Course, sent one Mr. Francis a Sergeant at Arms to the House of Commons, to demand of them, and Arrest of High Treason the five Members, which was done as ordered, and their Names declared; whereupon four Members were ordered to attend his Majesty, and acquaint him, that the Message was a matter of great Consequence, and the House would take it into Consideration, with as much speed, as the greatness of the Business will permit: But notwithstanding their fair Words, instead of complying herein, Sir William Fleming and another Gentleman, who by Warrant from the King had sealed up the Studies and Trunks of the five Members, were apprehended by Mr. Speaker's Warrant, as Delinquents, and Ordered to remain in the Serjeant's Custody till further Order; so that it seems they could Commit though the King must not.  
Neither of these Courses taking effect, his Majesty resolved upon a Third, which was to go to the House, and demand them himself; which he did with all the Tenderness and Regard imaginable; for whatever Ludlow saith of 3 or 4 Hundred, and amongst them several Desperados entertained at Whitehall, the whole number did not consist of above one, the Gentlemen Pensioners in Course, with other Lords and Gentlemen then in Attendance, or about Court, who were commanded to move no further than the Stairs, nor offer any Violence, though provoked; himself with the Elector Palatine only, entering in; where he found the Birds flown, and the whole House, as soon as he was withdrawn, flew after them into the City, with a grievous Complaint to their Protectors the Rabble, that they could not speak and act Treason at Pleasure without being questioned by his Majesty; in short what a prodigious Advantage the Faction made of this just and reasonable Demand, what Out-cries and Revile followed there upon, is altogether unimaginable, by such as were not Witnesses thereof, so that having fixed their Party in the City, by tarrying there some Days, they returned to Westminster, accompanied with an hideous cry of Rabble-Guards both by Land and Water.  
His Majesty seeing it was absolutely impossible to have any Justice done against these accused Persons, who were so surely Entrenched in the Rabble's Favour that they were out of the reach of Law; and finding also, that he was in perpetual Danger of having his Person as well as Authority, exposed to the daring Affronts of the deluded People, who ran up and down in Multitudes, as if they had lost their Wits as well as Loyalty; resolved (notwithstanding several Gallant faithful Gentlemen proffered their Service, to curb any Insolences should be Attempted on him) to withdraw himself, and Family, Queen and Children; hoping that Time having allayed their first Fury, they might be brought to Reason and Temper: And whosoever reads his Majesty's Paper upon this his going to the House of Commons, must own there was never Prince so grossly abused, had his Actions so abominably perverted, with a total Subversion of all Law, justice and Reason whatsoever: Hereupon his Majesty retired to Hampton-Court, from thence to Windsor, whither none of those entertained at White-Hall repaired, except his own Family, as Ludlow basely Suggests: And since he owns likewise the Houses, though I believe 'twas only the House of Commons, were about to accuse the Queen of High Treason, can she be blamed to withdraw into Holland? And if she carried the jewels of the Crown with her, 'twas much better than to have them seized upon by the Parliament, as they did whatever else belonged to the King, to carry on their Rebellion against him.  
Ludlow tells us, That during his absence, many Papers passed between him and the Parliament, the chief aim of those of the latter was to persuade the King to return to London, and settle the Militia in such hands as they should advise. Those from the King, that he could not part with the Militia, esteeming it the best Jewel of the Crown, nor return to London with safety to his Person, p. 27. all which is true, and that is much; as likewise that the Declarations on both Sides proved ineffectual, wherein notwithstanding it was observed that the King's had all the force of Law, Reason and Argument; theirs nothing but Cant, popular Wheadles, and false Suggestions: He goes on to tell, that the King's Designs both at home and abroad being grown Ripe, he expressed his Dissatisfactions more openly, and withdrew to York: Had he said the Parliaments Designs, there had been a great deal of Truth in it, for so indeed it was; they, under pretence of a Guard, had raised a considerable Force, settled the Militia of London and Middlesex in confiding Hands; sent down several Members to do the like in most Counties throughout the Kingdom, could dispose of the Money and Men raised for Ireland, to what purpose they please, and employed them most shamefully to promote their Rebellion, seized upon his Majesty's Revenue, Fleet, Forts, Magazines, etc. even to Hull its self, where Hotham denied him entrance, in the Name of his Brethren, and was well rewarded by them. The King on the other Hand was left destitute of all Things but the Hearts of Loyal worthy Gentlemen, whereof he found more than his Enemies ever imagined; and were not a little surprised at; with which Stock alone, and hopes of God's Blessing upon his just Cause, he laid aside all Thoughts of Treating with those unreasonable Men, for that he evidently saw, they resolved to seize upou the Militia by Force, since they could not obtain it by Persuasion; and their many fine Pretences to Loyalty and Duty, had been only to gain Time for ripening their Rebellion, of all which he now resolved to let the World know how sensible he was, by Publishing his Grand Declaration from York; wherein he saith very truly, 'twas more than Time after so many Indignities to his Person, Affronts to his Kingly Office, and traitorous Pamphlets against his Government, to Vindicate himself from those damnable Combinations, and Conspiracies contrived against him; giving a full Account of his own sincerity as to his many and too gracious Concessions, since they, on the other Side perverted all to Sedition and Treason: Amongst other Charges he brings one against an Impudent Fellow called Sir Henry Ludlow, who said Publicly, That the King was not worthy to be King of England, that he hath no Negative Voice, that he is fairly dealt with that he is not deposed, that if they did that, there would be neither want of Modesty or Duty in them; upon which I shall only observe that our Author could be no Bastard: The King there tells them further, how they Committed his great Officers for doing their Duty: Raised an Army, and chose Essex General, with Commission to destroy all that adhered to him. Converted the Money given to discharge the Kingdom's Debts, and for Relief of Ireland to carry on their Rebel-War; whilst his Levying a few Gentlemen for his Guard, must be Voted waging War against the Parliament. Now this Declaration was too much to the Purpose for Ludlow to take Notice of, or indeed any thing else which gives an impartial Relation, how the Rage and Fury of those Men, engaged the whole Nation to Launch into a Sea of Blood. Neither doth he mention how the King went into Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, etc. to assure the Gentry of his upright Intentions, and confirm them in their Loyalty: Only his going into Leicestershire must be remembered, because he had a Brother there, one of the first in Rebellion against his King, and first taken Prisoner, and better used than he deserved.  
But tho' Ludlow takes no Notice of the King's Declaration, he would be sure not to omit the 19 Propositions sent by the Parliament, which 'tis strange he should say were intended that they might leave no means unattempted to persuade the King to return to them, p. 30. whereas he immediately adds, and more truly, much of the Parliaments Intentions appeared in them, and they were in effect the principal Foundation of the ensuing War; for which Reason he thinks it not amiss to recite them at large; it had been more Candid, and Historian like, to have recited the King's Answer too, so full and express, as they never thought of any other Reply but by Essex's Army, and therefore no wonder if omitted here. Amongst other things the King tells them, some of their Demands are in the Style not only of Equals, but Conquerors, and tend so far to the Subversion of this equal, well-poised Government as to make him from King of England, a Duke of Venice; and this of a Kingdom a Republic: And in that which we may call another Answer, those Divine Meditations of his, he declares, How in all those Propositions little or nothing could be observed, of any Laws disjointed, which ought to be restored; of any Right invaded, of any Justice obstructed, of any Compensations to be made, of any impartial Reformation to be granted; to all or any of which, Reason, Religion, and true Policy, or any other Humane Motives might induce him: But the main Matters propounded, in which is either great Novelty, or Difficulty, relate to what were formerly looked upon as Factions in the State, or Schisms in the Church, and so punishable by the Laws; though now they have the Confidence, by vulgar Clamours and Assistance, to demand not only Toleration of themselves, in their Vanity, Novelty, and Confusion; but also Abolition of the Laws against them; and a total Extirpation of that Government, whose Rights they have a mind to invade. Thus solidly did his Majesty refel the little Rebel Flourishes of the Westminster junto, and therefore no wonder they were delivered to the King without Success, they knew beforehand he had more Honour and Conscience, than to grant them; otherwise would not have caused them, to be presented; and if he thought as Ludlow would persuade us he did, as good terms as these might be obtained, if reduced to the last Extremity, he had great Reason so to do, for doubtless no one breathing did then so much as dream of, or imagine that execrable Act, their continued draughts of Blood did in the end prompt them unto.  
In which unnatural Broils of State Parricide, and Domestic Fury as I shall concern myself no further than this base Fellow, and his Comrades, reflect upon the Memory of our Royal Martyr; So I cannot but observe his Design hath been all along hitherto to manage his Lies with so much Art and Cunning, as to make the King according to the Procedure of their horrid High Court of justice, the first Agressor and Promoter of the War: The Parliament were as Innocent as an Assembly of so many Devils, and desired only to do with him and his Kingdoms, his Queeu, Children, and his Friends as they pleased, which his Stubbornness refusing, the Charge their Insolences had assumed to themselves, resolved to force him, as they really did, which yet he (Ludlow) would have turned upon them: What I shall first mention, tho' there are several such like Hints before is p. 16. The King having laid his Designs in Ireland, as will afterward appear, was not without great Difficulty, prevailed upon by the Parliament, to consent to the Disbanding those eight Thousand Irish Papist, that had been raised there by the Earl of Strafford: How far that Army was from being Irish Papists will appear from this, that all the Irish Grandees of that Persuasion, agreed with the Faction in our two Houses here to promote the Disbanding that Army, which had it been kept on Foot, the Rebellion could not have Succeeded there, nor consequently here. The next Instance I shall give is p. 22. The King's violent Ways not succeeding, he fell upon other Measures in appearance more moderate, etc. What violent Ways were these? Why those few Inns of Court, and other Gentlemen, who proffered their Attendance to secure him from the Insolency of the Tumults, (which this bad Man, for whom no bad Name is bad enough) takes no Notice of, though got up to that prodigious height as the King could not think those, and all his other Friends able to secure him at White-Hall. In like manner upon his Majesty's demanding the Five Members, p. 25. The Parliament-sensible of this Violation of their Privileges, and fearing they might be further entrenched upon, etc. a strong Violation that, to demand Traitors to justice, but 'twas their Interest to oppose it, otherwise they might have all followed: For having related, after their many other Usurpations, how well the Parliament approved Sir john Hotham's Conduct, declaring he had done well in denying the King admittance into Hull, 'tis added next Paragraph, p. 29. The Parliament began now to provide for the securing of all Places; whereas there was not a Place of any Importance, they had not secured before; even to York itself, in which, by his Majesty's too great Passiveness, they had a Committee to observe and beard all his Undertake.  
And this brings me to the last Instance of this modest Man's Veracity, p. 38. The King having set up his Standard at Nottingham the 24th of August, 1642, for he tells us to a Day, and 'tis well he doth, The Parliament thought themselves obliged to make some Preparations to defend themselves; whereas in the Paragraph immediately precedent, he declared how the Fire began to break out in the West, what success the Earl of Bedford had there upon the Parliament Account, and how the Governor of Portsmouth declaring for the King, that was besieged and reduced by their Forces. And for a fuller Testimony of this, let us compute the time of raising these Forces; Essex under pretence of a Guard to the Parliament had been levying Men all that Spring; on the tenth of june the Order past both Houses for the Citizens to bring in their Plate, to carry on the War, which they did most zealously; on the 9th of September, Essex marched out of London, in a great deal of Pomp, having all his Masters attending him, 16000 strong; very little more than a Fortnight after the King set up his Standard, where there did not appear the fourth part of the forementioned Number. But the Parliament had got that common artifice of all bad Men, to cry Whore first, as the Proverb expresses it, inflame the People's Minds with Dangers and Designs, that the King intended to levy War against them; whereas 'twas designed against the King, who most solemnly declared from York how far his Desires, and Thoughts were from it; and had this attested by more than forty Lords then with him, how they saw no ᵗ any colour of Preparations or Counsels that might reasonably beget the Belief of any such Design; and were fully persuaded his Majesty had no such intention: But when he understood what preparations they were making at London, and indeed every where else, that Hotham had denied him, Hull, and Essex was coming to take him from his Evil Counsellors, than he thought himself obliged, to make some preparations for himself; that I may turn Ludlow's impudent Falsehood into Truth.  
But suppose the King had begun sooner as 'tis great pity he did not, exerted the just right of his Prerogative, and sovereign Power, against the many encroachments they daily made, and unknown Privileges they constantly assumed, all the Laws of God and Man would have born him out therein. For most Men of Sense long before the Sword was drawn, clearly discovered, nothing would satisfy them but a total Subversion of the whole Government. An honest Gentleman expostulating with Mr. Hambden, upon the King's many Concessions what they could expect further, he replied, they expected he should commit himself, and all that was his to their care; an exact Moral of what the Wolves propounded, that if the Sheep would put away their Dogs, they would be very careful of their Preservation; and though the Proposal did not take, yet the Design was carried on, and the Nation, most abominably worryed, the just Judgement of Heaven giving way to the cursed credulity of an infatuated People who could take none but Wolves for their Protectors.  
As I have already declared to be no further concerned in this dismal Scene of Blood and Slaughter than the Memory and Honour of our Royal Martyr is concerned; so I must further add, that whatever Relations our Author makes, as to any particular Battle, or other considerable warlike Action, is so Lame, Partial, and False, as the Diurnals of those times (which nevertheless lied most abominably on each side) may pass for Authentic History, in comparison with him. But then for his own dear Self, as to the Defence of Warder Castle, and other little Achievements in Willshire, and elsewhere, (in which too, generally, his rashness brought him by the Lee) the account he gives is so vain and fulsome, trivial and tedious, that 'tis hard to resolve whether he makes the greater Discovery of his Pride, or Folly, to be sure they are both very transcendent. The Vindicator of Ol. Cr. exposes him very briskly for those many impertinent Panigyricks upon himself, and will have it a plain Demonstration, of the Narrowness of his Soul and the Lowness of his Genius; and I fancy, he might have added, the Insolency of his Temper. To confirm what I said of a lame and partial Account of Things, his Relation of that first Battle at Edge-Hill is a full Testimony, where this Man of Iron owns himself at a loss from his Troop, at the beginning, and tells little but his own wander up and down to find them: Yet by all means the Victory must be theirs, and there was a great Defect somewhere, the Fight was not renewed next Day, whereas such as were in it had enough the Day before; and he intimates as much by saying, that Prince Rupert, taking advantage of the Disorder our own Horse had put the Foot into, pressed upon them with such Fury, that he put them to Flight. And then adds, If the time which he spent in pursuing them too far, and plundering the Wagons, had been employed in taking such Advantages as offered themselves in the Place where the Fight was, it might have proved more serviceable to the carrying on the Enemy's Designs, p. 50. Which is very modestly expressed because to the King's prejudice, otherwise he might have said, had not the Prince been guilty of that gross oversight, Neglect, or Rashness, for 'twas all in one, that Day had in great Probability, put an end to the Dispute; the Army had never returned to their Masters at Westminster, nor our Author any occasion to trouble the World with the impertinency of his Memoirs: for to speak-freely, yet nothing but Truth, the Prince's indescretions of that Kind, his great Courage, and little Conduct, in whatsoever Battles he engaged in, conduced more to the discomfiture of the King's just Cause, than all the Rebel Forces, or whatever other Arm of Flesh appeared against him, as may be further on observed.  
However that their Advantage was not considerable, appears from what he further adds, that the Army returned to London, not like Men that had obtained a Victory, but as if they had been beaten, p. 52. which is a shrewd Circumstance that they were so, and to that he joins another every way as considerable; upon the King's advance with part of his Army to Maidenhead, or there abouts (for it was really Colebrook, and those seven Miles were a considerable Addition to his approach) the Parliament sent to him, to assure him their earnest Desire to prevent the effusion of more Blood, and to procure a right understanding between his Majesty and them. A certain Omen they were not much transporteed with the Victory, this being the first last time, they began a Motion for Peace: He goes on, The King professed in his Answer to desire nothing more, upon which they thought themselves secure; whereas the next Day he took the Advantage of a Mist, and Marched within half a Mile of Brandford before discovered, etc. p. 53. and beat off what Forces were there; though he tells us they made a brave Defence. This coming by way of surprise, he calls Treachery, and all the Roundheads about Town made a loud Clamour upon the King's forfeiture of his Royal Word; whereas upon enquiry all the Trick and Treachery was on their side; for as they propounded no Cessation of Arms in their Petition, so the King had News brought, that Essex was drawing his Forces, and Ordinance out of London towards him, so that without seizing Brandford, their Forces at Windsor, Kingston, and Acton, might have hemmed him in, and his Army deprived both of Moving, or Subsisting: So that after a tedious Paper Scuffle upon the Matter, the Parliament were forced to own, That they gave direction to the Earl of Essex to draw the Army out of London, and that part of it was at Brandford whilst the Committee was with the King; and conscious to themselves of a just exception cautiously add, That they sent a Messenger to know whether his Majesty intended forbearance of Hostility, but he found them in fight, and could not pass Brandford. So that having kept up the Ferment among their City Gulls by the forementioned Slander, which our impudent Author calls the treacherous Design of the late Expedition, they again sent Propositions to Oxford, being the same in effect with those delivered at York, but they found no better Reception than the others had done, p. 56. Neither did they expect otherwise, or indeed desire, considering the insolency of their Demands, which the King tells them in his Answer, Had he not given up all the Faculties of his Soul to an earnest endeavour of Peace and Reconciliation etc. he could not but resent their heavy Charges, and not suffer the Reproaches cast upon him: The whole procedure of that Treaty may be seen in Whitlock's Memoirs, who treats the King like a Gentleman, and speaks Truth where himself was concerned, for neither of which this our Brute hath the least Regard, nay seems wilfully to defy both. I must not here omit what that scribbling Fellow, K. Ch. No Saint, nor Martyr, alleges; That he took a most Bloody and Treacherous Advantage of the Parliament's Army near Colebrook, whilst he was under Treaty at Uxbridge with them, p. 4. whereas the Treaty at Uxbridge was more than Two Years after. Would the present Age be content with such licentious Impudence to Characterise, and expose them in the next?  
In this Year 43 our Governor of Warder Castle before he falls upon his great Charge, and weighty Achievements there, gives a cursory Relation of what passed in other Parts. In the Spring, he saith, our Army was Master of the Field; The King making it his Business to be on the defensive, till the Queen should arrive with an Army to his assistance, p. 58. and when her Army was come with other Necssaries of War, the King was in the hopefullest Condition of the whole Four Years, for so long the contest was in dispute; and had there not been Neglect, Treachery, or both, amongst his Councils, either of State or War, he had unnestled the Rebels at London, and put a final End to any further Bloodshed, but what in due course of Law such Villainies deser'vd. In relating how the Earl of Essex took Reading, it must not be omitted that Sir Arthur Ashton a Papist was Governour thereof, to which I shall add that Sir Arthur had been brought up a Soldier in Foreign Wars, a Person of good Experience, who as soon as he found we were running into his Bloody Profession, proffered his Service to the King, more than once, who as often replied, that the Faction had brought such a Slander upon him in reference to those of his Persuasion, it would much prejudice his Cause to employ him: at length he came to the King and showed him a Letter, wherein Essex proffered him a Command in the Parliament Army, and told his Majesty plainly that he was a Soldier of Fortune, and that if he could not be entertained on the one side, he would betake himself to the other; and by this Means he became Governor of Reading: for the Parliament, as they had several Papists in their Service, so 'twas nothing but a vile Interest made them reject the rest, force them into the King's Quarters, that they might have the benefit of their Estates, and the King the Odium of their Company. In the mean while I would gladly know whether a Loyal Papist be not a better Man, ay and Christian too, than a Rebel Protestant; to be sure Ludlow and his Gang agreed with them in the most exploded, and pernicious Doctrine, was ever laid to their Charge, and what but few of them, and that very clandestinely have maintained, viz. that of Deposing, and Murdering Kings; for which Reason I look upon him, as a base Man than Friar jacob, or Ravillac, and the whole set of Regicides, the most abominable Assembly that ever met, since the Scribes and Pharisees preferred Barrabas; to be sure they brought upon the Reformation the greatest Reproach Hell its self could suggest, and yet for aught I see not only the Reproach but the Practice is like to continue.  
Though Essex was Master of the Field in Spring, the King had the Command all Summer, his Forces making so great a Progress in the West as to take Exeter, Bristol, and many other considerable places, give a total defeat to Sir Will. Waller at Devizes, and so cleared all those Parts from any Enemy in a Body, as indeed they had none at London; hereupon it was debated in several Councils, of War and private Cabals, whether was best, to march directly thither or to stay and take Gloucester first, the only place of any considerable Strength, which remained to the Enemy in those Parts; the general Vogue went for the March, and very considerable Reasons urged for it, both Essex's, and Waller's Armies, were crumbled away, the City of London in Mutiny, an Insurrection in Kent for the King, the Lords voting a Treaty, and the Commons in dismal Frights. On the other side it was urged how ill it would look to leave such a place behind them, that 'twas ill situated, and not well fortified, or provided with Men, so that a few Days would certainly make the King Master thereof, long before the Enemy could get a Recruit, much less March so far to relieve it: Of this Persuasion was Prince Rupert, and most of the Swordmen, which made some suspect they feared the War would be done too soon, and were the more confirmed therein, for that the Siege was carried on at such a slow rate; so that after a whole Month of precious time lost, and Essex appearing unexpectedly with a considerable Army, they were forced to raise the Siege. I have been told a Passage much credited by honest Gentlemen in those times; that a little before the King made that fatal halt, a certain Peer finding Essex very pensive in the Lord's Lobby, asked him how Affairs went? He replied, very ill, and they must be all ruin'd, unless the King could be induced to lie down before Gloucester, which he hoped by one Engine to bring about; what or who that Engine was the World is yet to learn; but that there were too many such about his Majesty, appeared in most undertake he engaged in. Neither was the Battle upon their Retreat, at Newberry, so advantageously managed as it might have been, for the Royal Army having happily got Possession of the Town, and consequently stood in their way to London, should have been wholly upon the Defensive, so placed their Artillery, and lined the Hedges, that the difficulty should have been on the Enemy's side to force their Passage, which they must either have done or starved, for to my certain information, in the Village where they were obliged to stop two Miles West of the Town they had neither Bread, nor Drink, not somuch as Water, it having been a dry Season, the Ponds were little else than Puddle, the Springs low, and the few Wells so soon drained, as several Officers did proffer a handful of Money for a Pint of clear Water; so that it must be right down Grinning Honour, as Hudibras terms it, which put the Cavaliers upon attacking them in their thick Hedges, or otherwise coming within reach of their Cannon, which let alone, they must have tried to Eat; yet at this rate Things were carried till having lost a great many Noble and Brave Gentlemen, and their Ammunition almost Spent, they withdrew into the Town, and set the Enemy a free return, more than they expected, or to be sure deserved.  
Our Author ends this Year with bringing in the Scots, and relates how prettily Sir Henry Vane tricked them, In removing the last and greatest difficulty, about some doubtful Words in the Covenant which was to be taken by both Nations, concerning the Preservation of the King's Person, and reducing the Doctrine and Discipline of both Churches to the Pattern of the best Reform; For which Sir H. found an expedient, by adding to the first Clause, In preservation of the Laws of the Land, and Liberty of the Subject: And to the second, According to the Word of God, p. 79. and by this Evasion looked upon themselves as obliged by neither, but left free to Murder their King, and use the Covenant as it deserved. He saith likewise that for their, the Scots Encouragement, the Lords and Commons sentenced, and caused Execution upon William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, their Capital Enemy. Which nevertheless was not till that time Twelvemonth; however done it was, and perhaps thought a very Christian act, by such as had nothing thereof. And here to put his Murders together, we are also told Sir john Hotham and his Son, were condemned to lose their Heads, for they could make Treason in reference to themselves at pleasure, though the King was not to be heard upon the justest Accusation; yet this is certain, had not they acted that Treason against the King, there could have been no occasion for the Parliaments pretences. Sir Alexander Carew was also beheaded for endeavouring to betray Plymouth; whereupon I must relate this passage, that Worthy Brave Gentleman Sir Bevill Greenvil, was Knight of the Shire for Cornwall, with this Sir Alexander, and upon the Earl of Strafford's Business, came to him with this request; I pray Sir Alexander let it not be said the Representatives of our County, had any thing to do in the Blood of this Great Man; Whereto he replied with much earnestness, I will vote for the Bill, though sure my Head were to be Cut off on the same Block, which accordingly fell out. Could the fanatics meet with any thing like such Instances of Divine Vengeance on the other side, what a Noise would they make? what an Annus Mirabilis should we be plagued withal?  
In this following Year 44. Ludlow scarce finds occasion to make one Invective against his Majesty; the Misfortune, or as he would have it Mismanagement of their own Affairs, took up all the Gall he had to vent, tho' very well stored therewith: For now I perceive the Independent, Commonwealth Party both in House and Army, began to pique at Essex; indeed all the Nobility, in Command, and most of the Presbyterians, as Linsy-woolsy Brothers, which did their Business by halfs. His greatest Disgust is that Essex and Waller divided their Army, yet owns that Waller had the more Forces when routed at Cropredy-Bridge; and the King's Forces were very prevalent in the West, so that the Design was laid well enough, only the forementioned Rout gave the King an Opportunity of following Essex, to his total Defeat in Cornwall; where his Majesty was put upon another most destructive Halt, in lying down before Plymouth, and not marching up to London, by which Delay the two shattered Armies had time to recruit, and the Foot which the King had seized in Cornwall, being discharged upon Condition, never to take Arms against him more, were absolved by Calamy, and the other Presbyterian jesuits, and so took up Arms again, which (Ludlow commends for an Heroic Act,) and fought like perjured Villains, who knew they ought to be hanged if taken. But the greatest Prejudice to his Majesty's Affairs this Year, was Prince Rupert's rash Conduct, and consequent Defeat at Marston Moor, which lost most of the North, and gave part of the Rebel Army leisure to return, and obstruct his Majesty's further Progress in the West: The two Armies meeting, a second time about Newberry, where the King relieved Denington Castle, and proffered Battle: But the Rebel Generals disagreeing amongst themselves, it was not accepted; whereupon he Marched to Oxford; and they, dispersing their Army to London. His Majesty upon both his Successes, at Cropredy Bridge, and in Cornwall, sent Overtures of Peace to the Men at Westminster, which were coldly received; yet being further pressed by him from Oxford, they could not but comply, to have a Treaty at Uxbridge, but to little Purpose; for though the King's Commissioners consented to many Particulars, and Alterations of great Importance, the others would not abate one tittle, but insisted peremtorily upon the Parliaments first Propositions, which were an Absolute, Dissolution of all Old Establishments, indeed the whole Frame of Government, both Ecclesiastical and Civil: So that all Ludlow's Flourish upon this Occasion is false, and mentioned only to express his continued Spite at the Church, as if the Treaty came to nothing upon that sole Account, that the Proposition concerning Episcopacy was rejected; p. 150. whereas they were as positive, in reference to the Militia, Ireland, and whatever else came under Debate. It had likewise been a great Omission in such a foul-mouthed Fellow as himself, to have passed by, what that Lecturing Beautifeu Love preached in the Town whilst the Treaty was on Foot, although every Word he saith of the Matter is as false, as what the other preached; for first he was not Chaplain attending the Parliament's Commissioners; for when the King's Commissioners complained of his Treasonable Insolence, they answered he was not of their Train; neither in the Second Place is it probable the Preachment was before the Commissioners, for it was a Lecture, on the Market-Day, and they had something else to attend. Nor Thirdly, were the Words spoken as he relates, that the King was a Man of Blood, etc. they were not come to that height of Impudence, till the Independents were Trump, and the King in their Hands, and therefore as it was related, when complained of, the Words run thus, That the Commissioners came with Hearts full of Blood, and there was as great distance between this Treaty, and Peace, as Heaven and Hell. I shall only add further, that when Ludlow and his Complices had murdered the King, and assumed the Power, they cut off Love's Head, though upon another Account; yet not without the just Reflections of many, as a retaliating Vengeance, for his Seditions, and Bloody Disposition, with so much Untruth and Impudence, vented here.  
We are come now to that unhappy Year 45. wherein Ludlow according to his no Divinity, would have judgement given against the King, by that Power to which both Parties had made their solemn Appeal; for though indeed it put an End to the Fight Part between King and Parliament, yet thereby the Nation did but Triumph over its self, and perish, as Rome of Old, suis & ipsa viribus; the two forementioned Factions being the more at leisure, to foment their Feuds, and multiply those Distractions, which the People now saw, and were sorry for, but could not prevent. The first Onset the Independents gave the other junto, was the Selfdenying Ordinance, which our Author handles very Tenderly, yet cannot forbear to let us know. By this means the Earl of Essex, Manchester, and Sir William Waller, were laid aside, the latter rather to show their Impartiality, than from any distrust of him, he having never discovered to that Time, any Inclination to favour the King's Cause, p. 146. The Truth of it is, the two former were sensible, with several of their Confederates, to how deplorable a Condition they had brought Affairs, sed revocare gradum; but to set them right, heal the Wounds, repair the Breaches they had made, 'twas as much beyond their Power, as to get to Heaven.  
Neither is it without something of malicious Satisfaction that he mentions, about the same time the Parliament made Sir Thomas Fairfax General, the King made Prince Rupert so of his Forces, notwithstanding his late ill Success at Marston Moor, 
Short Life of K. Ch. by P. H.  p. 148. whereto I find a much honester Man adding, his apparent want of Age, Experience and Conduct for so great a Trust. I say this was probably mentioned with no little Satisfaction, because that Prince's Rashness, and Indiscretion, contributed more than any one Thing, to their cursed Success at the fatal Naseby, which he gives an Account of with great Insult; but what he adds, that it was the more astonishing, because obtained by Men of little Experience in Affairs of that Nature, and upon that Account despised by their Enemies, is false; besides several Old Soldiers, there were few or none but had had the Experience of three Years War, and if that will not inform any Man of Sense, I would advise him to follow some more innocent Employment: Neither were they despised by their Enemy, but looked upon as the best Body of Men the Parliament ever had together; notwithstanding which, had not Prince Rupert given Cromwell the same Advantage here, as before at Marston-Moor, it might have proved the Deciding Battle to the King.  
But what Completed the Triumph to their unworthy, mean-spirited Souls, was the taking his Majesty's Cabinet, with several Letters in it, most of them to the Queen, which they Published to their eternal Reproach, and this Fellow with like Baseness revives here again. The Grecians in their Wars with Philip of Macedon, a Foreign Prince, and most unjust Usurper upon his Neighbours, having intercepted a Packet of his Letters, of the rest indeed they made what use they could, but those to his Queen, they never offered to open, but sent them back with all Respect, and Tenderest regard imaginable; how much those Heathen Greeks outdid our Christian Barbarians is very unhappy to reflect: Yet not at all strange that Ludlow should continue the same inhuman way of Procedure, 'tis as Natural to him as Poison to a Toad, although he is much put to it, to find any thing there which may feed that base Humour; what he urgeth of the Lord Digbies Letter, that the Design of making War upon the Parliament, was therein discovered to be early, is absolutely false, p. 154. for it was after the Tumults had forced the King from White-Hall; the Parliament had fixed their Guards, and were securing the Militia, etc. and then `twas time for his Majesty to consult his Friends, and look to himself. But I find our Author very forward to catch at every thing which may tend in the least to make the King first Aggressor, wherein his many Fetches have as ill Success, as that of the Commission with Sir Phelim Oneal. He adds, besides the many Printed, others of no less Consequence were suppressed, as I have been informed, by some of those that were entrusted with them, who since the King's return have been rewarded for it, p. 156. The little Truth herein stands thus: A Person employed by the Parliament to uncypher those Letters, found several Figures he could not compass, and so was forced to let them stand; and to save his Bacon upon the Restaration, alleged it a designed Omission in regard to his Majesty's Honour and Reputaution, which nevertheless few or none believed, he being then as zealous and forward in the Faction as any, though to so little Purpose, as he hath, since run into the contrary Extreme of as great Indifferency; neither do I believe he had any other reward, than what the General Indemnity obliged him with; which was too much to a great many, unless they had made more grateful Returns.  
But whatever was really writ, or their venomous Rancour think fit to Comment thereupon, all Men of Honour and Virtue must acknowledge, what his Majesty writ to Secretary Nicholas, and published in a Declaration upon that Account, that the Papers contain nothing an honest Man, or good Protestant may blush at, yet would fain know that Person, who would be willing the Freedom of his private Letters should be publicly seen, as mine have been, however (so that one Clause be rightly understood) I care not so the rest take their Fortune; it is concerning the Mongrel Parliament. The Truth is, the Earl of Sussex his Factiousness at that time, put me somewhat out of Patience, which made me freely vent my Displeasure against those of his Party, to my Wife, etc. This Expression I find Ludlow and his Fellow Libelers more than once carping at, which yet cannot be stretched further than that some cross-grained Dispositions might be among them, who having some Ferment of the Westminster Leven, halted between both Parties, for whom no Epithet could be more proper than that of Mongrel, and with too many such the King was plagued: Upon the whole there was no one thing exposed the Factions more to Obloquy and Scorn than this unworthy Act, all their own Party, who had any regard for Modesty and good Manners were ashamed of it; and such as more narrowly looked into things, observed there such a Royal Mixture of Good Nature, and Great judgement, as considering him in those several Respects of Husband, Father, Master, or King, it would be hard to find his Parallel: Afterwards when at too much leisure, in his Confinement, he penned that Excellent Meditation of his, upon this their inhuman Usage, which I fancy few of them ever dared to read, for fear Remorse and Gild should oblige themselves to supply the Place both of judge and Executioner.  
Upon these two great Victories over his Majesty's Army, and Honour, as this worst natured Fellow of the whole Rebellion, would have it thought, he goes on to relate, the great Successes their Forces daily met with, and having mentioned as many as he could call to Mind, adds by way of Insult, with divers others of less Importance, and therefore unnecessary to be mentioned here. The Truth of it is, the King was never able to weather that dismal Storm which scattered him so at Naseby; though he himself made several Noble Efforts, for having the remains of his broken Horse recruited out of several Garrisons, he marched up and down to encourage such Loyal Souls as changed not their Faith with his Condition; which alas were too few; for the Parliament having made Propositions in order to a Composition for Delinquents Estates; 'tis incredible what a Number flocked in, and how deservedly they were Cheated, every Days new Success producing new Qualifications, whereby some were to forfeit a Third Part, others a Moyity of their Estates, and all upon this Condition, that they should cordially submit, and take the National Covenant appointed by Ordinance of Parliament; and therefore it was observed that such as stood out and yielded not but by force upon their Garrisons, obtained much better Terms from the Commanders and Generals, than others found from those Sneaking Fellows at Westminster, who indeed would be sometimes angry at it, especially the Oxford Articles; but the Army beginning to grow Masterless, they must begin to let them have their Humour. Things standing thus, and his Majesty failing in the Relief of Chester, and hearing the Lord Digby was defeated in his March with a Body of Horse to the Noble Montross, who did Wonders in Scotland: Finding likewise great Disorders amongst his Officers at Newark, where his two Nephews failed much of their Duty and Respect; and his Council at Oxford, either gone to make their Peace, or in such Confusion as not able to advise him; the Rebel Army being just ready to Besiege that his chief Garrison, he was forced to make a Virtue of Necessity, and once more try the Sincerity of his Ancient and Native Subjects the Scots.   

CHAP. IU. Of the King in Custody of the Scots and English.  
THE King's being withdrawn from Oxon, and not known whither gone, made a mighty Disturbance amongst the Grandees at Westminster; Ludlow tells us, they suspected he might design to come to London, to raise a Party against them, publishing an Ordinance, that whosoever should harbour or conceal the King's Person, should be Proceeded against as a Traitor to the Commonwealth; p. 176. By what Law this I beseech you? The truth of it is, the Expenses and other Mischiefs by the War, had made the City so sensible of their former Infatuations; that 'twas generally believed had the King appeared amongst them, the Rabble as well as more sensible Part of Men, would have endeavoured their utmost to set him upon his Throne; but 'tis easier to pull down, than build up, to make, than retrieve, Alterations, as appeared afterward when the Army so tamely rid them. But in few Days they were freed from that Suspicion, though not more surprised at his Loss, than to find him in the Scotch Hands, who would be sure to make the best of so good a Prize. There had been no small Contrasts between them and their English Brethren before, who finding the fight Work nigh over, were desirous to be quit of some of their own Forces, much more of such troublesome, and chargeable Hirelings: The Scots on the other Side, as Ludlow tells us, repeated their Instances, for a Consideration of the Articles of Religion contained in the Covenant, to give a speedy Peace to his Majesty, to pay them near two hundred thousand Pounds, which they pretended to be due for their Arrears, and make a just Estimate of the Losses they had sustained by Land and Sea, etc. which they computed at more than the former Sum, p. 174. He goes on to relate, how the Parliament thought it not convenient to comply with the King's Propositions; demanded an exact Account of what was due to them, and required that they would withdraw their Garrisons from such Places as they possessed in England. Some differences he saith likewise there were with the Scotch Commissioners, about the King's Concern in the Militia; their intermeddling with the Government of England, the Education of the King's Children, the disbanding the Army, and an Act of Oblivion; in which Matters the Parliament would not have the Scots to interpose; and by degrees the Debates grew so warm, as there being found in those Demands of the Scots some Expressions very much reflecting upon the Parliament, the two Houses declared them to be Injurious and Scandalous, and ordered them to be Burnt by the Hands of the Common Hangman, p. 175. During these Controversies the Scotch Army continued in the Northern Parts upon free Quarter, at an abominable rate harressing the Poor People to the utmost Extremity; till after some Month's Time, Matters being accommodated a little for the present, upon the Advance of 30000. l. with Shoes, Stockings and other Necessaries; they were prevailed upon to Besiege Newark, at which Leaguer the King came to them, just as Articles of Surrender were agreed upon, and so the more at leisure to march off with him to Newcastle, for 'tis false what Ludlow affirms, that the King soon after his Arrival in the Scots Quarters, gave Order for the Delivery of Newark into their Hands; the Articles were agreed upon before the King came thither, or his Friends in the Garrison dreamt thereof; however it happened very Opportunely for the Scots to march off with their Royal Purchase, and prevent the Clamours from their Brethren at Westminster, who as Ludlow tells us, forthwith sent an Order to their Commissioners in the Scots Army to demand the Person of the King, judging it unreasonable that the Scots being in their Pay, should dispose of him otherwise than by their Order; resolving further that he should be Conducted to Warwick Castle, and the next Day commanded their Army to advance, in Order to hinder the Conjunction of the King's Forces with the Scots, p. 176. Whereof doubtless they were sore afraid, 'tis pity they were not hurt, the Scots by that one Act might have expiated all their former Perfidy, but to expect that, had been to wash a Blackamoor, so Blessed a good was not to, be thought of from those accustomed so much to the worst of Evils, Rebellion and Sacrilege; and therefore 'tis probable it gave them some ease to hear, that though Levens the Scotch General, had marched with the King to Newcastle, he had by Proclamation forbidden his Forces to have any Communication with the King's Party; and thereupon only ordered that the Scots should keep him for the English Parliament, and so they did, but must pay a round Sum of Money, before they should have him.  
We are next to see what Entertainment the King had among the Scots, who though they pretended to be much surprised, as Ludlow tells us, yet afterwards it appeared that this Resolution had been Communicated to them before, p. 116. The Truth of it is, Montrevil a French Ambassador or Agent in the Scotch Camp, had adjusted the Matter with Levens, and other General Officers, who engaged to secure him, and as many of his Party as should seek for Shelter with them, and to stand to him with their Lives and Fortunes: Yet in that excellent Meditation his Majesty, penned upon this Occasion, 'tis owned a forced Push, where Necessity was his Counsellor, in an Adventure upon their Loyalty, who first began his Troubles, for which Reason he studied to fortify his Mind, so as not to offer up his Soul's Liberty, or make his Conscience their Captive; but no less conform his Words to his inward Dictates now, than if they had been, as the Words of a King ought to be amongst Loyal Subjects full of Power: And Good Prince he was soon put to his Trial, for though the Committee of Estates at Edingburgh, upon the first Notice of his being in their Hands, sent Commissioners, with great Expressions of their Duty, and good Intentions, protesting how dear the Preservation of his Sacred Person, and his just Power and Greatness should ever be to them, yet their Actions immediately spoke the contrary, as if all were intended with the tacit Condition of a Covenant Clog, and such harsh Usage as might bring, or force him thereto, for within few Days the King called both the chief Officers of the Army, and the Commissioners sent out of Scotland, and in presence of Monsieur de Montrevil did Expostulate; That whereas he did come to their Army upon the Assurances Monsieur Montrevil had given him, that he should be safe in his Person, Honour and Conscience, the two last were not kept; for he was pressed to settle Religion as they desired, wherewith his Conscience was not satisfied: Next his Subjects had not free access to him, but Proclamations were issued out, forbidding them to come to him; neither was the Ceremony due to him as King, suffered to be paid him at his entry to Newcastle: And lastly his Servants were not suffered to wait on him. And his Majesty attested Montrevil, if those Conditions were not made to him, who confidently affirmed it in all their Presence, and that he had the Authentic Assurances in French. The Commissioners retired to think of an Answer; but when they returned they desired his Majesty would put Montrevil to it, to declare what those Assurances were, and who gave them; but this was not done. Next they said, they would not treat with the King in his Presence, nor admit the Interposition of any Foreign Agent, between them and their Native Prince. And the Commissioners of the Army resolved, that no suspected Person should be suffered to wait on the King, with which his Majesty was highly displeased, and for some Days would not eat in Public, but only in his Chamber.  
This last Passage I have from an unexceptionable Authority, whose Affection to his Native Country could give Place to nothing but Truth, and therefore he seems to palliate the Matter a little on their behalf; that Montrevil did not declare what the Assurances were, nor who gave them, which yet seems not to be his Fault, for that they fully resolved against his Presence and Interposition for the future in any such like Affairs. And upon the same account, he declares further on, it did not appear what Grounds Montrevil had for giving the King those Assurances, and must be very slight, and only from single Persons, not any junto or judicatory, Such a secret Transaction could not be done with all the Formalities of a Solemn Treaty, yet doubtless Montrevil had his Assurances from Levens with most of the other General Officers, and Scotch Commissioners then before Newark, which was a considerable junto; and I humbly conceive judicatories have little to do in concerns of that Nature. But it had been all one though never so exactly drawn up, and would have been as little observed, as the first Pacification, or last promise, of never drawing Sword against him more.  
But my particular Business is to trace Ludlow, who tells us, The Commissioners of Parliament joining with those who were before with the King, endeavoured to persuade him to agree to the Propositions of the Parliament; but he disliking several Things in them, and most of all the abolition of Episcopacy, to which Interest he continued obstinately steadfast, refused his consent, upon private Encouragement from some of the Scots and English, to expect more easy Terms, or to be received without any at all, p. 183. The Encouragement he mentions is only a Flame of his own, the Scots kept too strict a Guard upon him, to have any but his Enemies to converse with; nay, which is worse, they obliged him to discharge all his Friends then in Arms, not only here in England, but Montross in Scotland, and Ormond in Ireland. Neither was the Abolition of Episcopacy the main Obstacle although it was hard, when he alone by himself had so shamefully baffled their great Champion Henderson upon that Subject, to be so violently pressed from a Truth they could so little disprove. But setting aside this Fellow's Spite, who would needs make this the chief obstacle, the King in his brisk Answer to the whole body of their Propositions from Newcastle August. 1. 46. tells them, They were such as did import the greatest Alterations in Government both in Church and Kingdom; yet these were positively sent for his Majesty's Concurrence, without allowing the Commissioners to give Reasons for their Demands, or the hearing the King's Reasons against them, which occasioned his smart Reply upon their saying, They had no Power to treat that, saving the Honour of the Business, an honest Trumpeter might have done as much. To these Propositions, Ludlow tells us, the Scots Commissioners, especially Lord Lowdon, pressed the King very earnestly to comply; telling him that though they were higher in some Particulars than they could wish, yet if he continued to reject them, he must not expect to be received in Scotland, whither they must return, and deliver him up to the Parliament in England. But whatever they or the English said made no impression, etc. p. 184. The Truth of it is after all the Scotch Rodomantades, Lowdon's in particular, how much it was against the Laws of Nature, Nations and Hospitality, to Deliver, and betray those that had fled to any for Succour; their Brethren at Westminster knew how much there was of judas amongst them, and having reduced their demand of a Million, to 400000 l. agreed upon the Payment of one Moiety, and the Public Faith for the other, to have the King Delivered to them, 
Upon the Scots Delivery the K.  who good Man laments that his Price should be so much above his Saviour's. And to clear himself from the base Reflections they made upon his Steady, well grounded Resolves, he declares what they call Obstinacy, I know God accounts honest Constancy, from which, Reason and Religion, as well as Honour forbid me to recede. For you must know the Scots, whilst in their Hands, not only permitted, but encouraged the most Rigid of their Kirkmen, to bait him at an impudent Rate, as well from the Pulpit as otherwise, as positively denouncing him damned for refusing the Covenant, as 'tis to be feared, might fall to their lot, for forcing it.  
In the next Paragraph, p. 186. Ludlow Commenceth a Quarrel with all the World both at Home and abroad; for upon the French Embassador's coming over to endeavour a Reconciliation between King and Parliament, he tells you how it was rejected, they resolving to determine it themselves without the interposition of any (an infallible sign of a just Cause, where no body but themselves must judge) having experienced that most of the Neighbouring States, especially the Monarchical, were at the bottom their Enemies. That they were not their Friends was certain, but that they should be so little their Enemies, was a great Shame, that so many Crowned Heads should stand by and see a Brother Monarch, dethroned and Murdered at so barbarous a rate, was a Sign that which is called Ancient Honour was at a very low Ebb, and the Sacrosancta Mrjestas left destitute of all Appeal but to the King of Kings, who for aught we know may be still making Inquisition for that Blood, this Son of Belial so much thirsted after, and never at rest till poured forth: and therefore henceforward 'tis his sole Business to inveigh against all that would not go along with him, and his Crew, in that horrid Perpetration; first he falls upon the Parliament, for their frequent Overtures of Peace made to the King, though he had not a Sword left wherewith to oppose them, p. 187. The Overtures were not frequent, or if so, always the same, and totally destructive of all old Establishments without condescending to debate or alter any thing. And for his not having a Sword left, denotes our Author to be of the same Principle with that Atheist, Virgil so judiciously exposes for his Dextra mihi Deus; because they depended upon the Sword, must it follow the King had no other Right? To be sure they found it a very precarious Title, for the same Sword which set them up, more than once pulled them down, and after all, Right took place of the several Usurping Powers, and it will be never found so in the end. But what makes him the more out of Humour, is the People's expectation of the King's return to the Parliament, being informed the Presbyterian Heads had promised the Scots, that as soon as they had disbanded the Army they would bring him to London in Honour and Safety: The People might expect, and certainly did desire this, but whoever observed the Presbyterians deportment both in Scotland, and here, how obstinately they adhered to their Covenant Rigours; and how conscientiously positive the King was to the contrary, could see little hopes of an Accord. These Things, he saith, made the People ready to conclude, that though his Designs had been wonderfully defeated, his Armies beaten out of the Field, and himself delivered into the Hands of the Parliament, against whom he had made a long and Bloody War; yet certainly he must be in the Right; and that tho' he was guilty of the Blood of many Thousands, yet was still unaccountable, in a Condition to give Pardon, and not in need to receive any: which made them flock from all Parts to see him as he was brought from Newcastle to Holmby, falling down before him, bringing their Sick to be touched by him, and courting him as only able to restore to them their Peace and Settlement. This really was the Temper of the People at that time, who now fully discovered those Mists, and Misrepresentations, wherewith the Factions had so long amused them; and were very earnest to have the King reestablished, that they might be once more so, in that abundance of all things, they even wantonised in, when under his sole Government. 'Twas likewise well known to them that a violent Party in Parliament forced the King to stand upon his own Defence; and when to make an Invasion upon all his just Rights and Prerogatives, they had opened an Issue of Blood, how incessantly did he endeavour to stop it, by Messages and Overtures of Treaty, and Peace? which like so many deaf Adders, he could never Charm them into: and as at the time he is now upon, there was not one in many Thousands had the impudence to charge the King with beginning the War, and the Effusion of Blood thereupon, so those few that did, knew or believed the contrary, (amongst whom our Ludlow is chief) but could not otherwise carry on that execrable Design, the Devil had so thoroughly engaged them in; and this makes our Author so forward to inveigh against all the rest of his Partisans, whom either Shame, Gild, or Sense of their Country's Desolation, had caused to desist, or desire an Accommodation, as Men of a neutral Spirit, who would not, Catiline like, add to their former Evils, the total Ruin of the Nation, for that was its, then real Condition, the King their Prisoner, and the whole Kingdom their Slaves; and that decisive judgement from Heaven, by which alone they claimed their Power, was no other than what a Gang of Highway Robbers may pretend to, which in several Sets, the just Vengeance of Heaven, suffered to harress this proud and foolish People, till in the end they were broke quite in Pieces, some of them Hanged, though not enough, by our Author at least, unless his long and lingering Exile, had brought him to something of Remorse; and this I take to be the decisive judgement, as to this Life, and as to the next shall only say, that if every one whose Conscience doth not accuse him were thereby justified, final Imponitency would be an happy End.  
Ludlow takes little Notice of the King whilst at Holmby, being I presume well satisfied with the ill Treatment he received from the Commissioners there, which could not in that Conjuncture have been more rude and insolent, had he been one of them; for they denied him his Chaplains, Discharged all his Ancient Servants, and would not permit any one of acceptable Conversation, to come into his Presence; which Restraint was devoutly improved in more constant Addresses to Almighty God, as we find from those Meditations and Vows in his Solitude at Holmby. Neither were their Impositions less Vexatious, those two Pulpit Beautifeus, Marshal, and Caryl, having attended, as Chaplains upon the English Commissioners at Newcastle, returned with them to Holmby, and were recommended to Preach before the King, and say Grace at Meals; but were denied as to both, the King always saying Grace himself, with an audible Voice, standing under the State: Though 'tis said, that Marshal did on a Time put himself more forward than was meet to say Grace, and while he was long in forming his Chaps, as the Manner was among the Saints, and making ugly Faces, His Majesty said Grace himself, and had eaten up some part of his Dinner, before Marshal had ended his Cant. But this Scene lasted not long, Cornet joice gave these Commissioners, and their Chaplains, an unwilling Discharge, carrying the King to the Army; 'tis unaccountable to what a height the Feuds between those two Factions, Presbyterian and Independents were now grown, how cursedly that Hell was divided within its self, what Plots, and Counterplots, were continually carrying on, each Party conceiving the King's Person, and Presence, of great Advantage to their Designs, though both of them no less against him, than each other: For his Majesty's Thoughts hereof, take from his own Excellent Words; 
Upon the Army's surprisal of the King.  What Part God will have me now to Act, or suffer in this new and strange Scene of Affairs, I am not much Solicitous; some little Practice will serve that Man who only seeks to represent a part of Honesty and Honor. In this my Surprise I tell the World, That a King cannot be so low but he is considerable, adding weight to that Party where he appears: And so goes on, most judiciously observing the Hand of Divine justice, how they that by Tumults, first occasioned the raising of Armies, are now chastened by their own Army for new Tumults; The Members of both Houses who at first withdrew, (as myself was forced to do) from the rudeness of the Tumults, were counted Deserters, and outed their Places in Parliament; such as stayed and enjoyed the Benefit of the Tumults, were asserted for the only Patriots: Now on the contrary the Deserters are abetted by the Army, and such as remained, and kept their Stations, are charged for Tumultuary Insolences, and betrayers of the Freedom and Honour of Parliaments; and doubtless amidst those many Distractions and Perplexities this Excellent Prince laboured under, it could not but be some Satisfaction to see such visible Retaliations, since there was not a Member of the Covenant Class, but might take up Adonibezek's Acknowledgement, As we have done, so the Lord hath requited us.  
The manner of Ioyce's carrying off the King hath not one Syllable of Truth as to the Circumstances thereof, in Ludlow's Relation. He saith, joice had an Order in writing to take the King out of the Hands of the Commissioners of Parliament, p. 191. whereas upon the King's demanding a sight of his Instructions, that, saith the impudent Fellow, you shall see presently, and drawing up the best part of his Party into the inner Court as near as he could to the King, said, these Sir are my Instructions; whereto his Majesty Smilingly replied, Your Instructions are in fair Characters, and Legible without Spelling: Neither is it true, that the King would have retracted his Promise to joice upon the Commissioner's Persuasion; it was by his Inducement the Guards were taken off their Lodgings; and when joice pressed the King to go along with him, no Prejudice being intended, but rather his Satisfaction, upon the King's saying he would not stir unless the Commissioners went with him; the other replied, that for his Part he was indifferent. Neither did the King take Horse, but went in a Coach, with the Earls, Pembroke, Denbeigh, and Lord Montague, who as the rest of their Fellows were very Shagreen upon this Force, his Majesty being observed the Merryest in the Company: And when Colonel Brown, and Mr. Crew returned to the Parliament is not certain, to be sure they did not go from Holmby, but attended the King to Hinchingbrook, though an Express was sent from the first Notice of Ioyce's Approach. The whole Passage of this Force, (with several others very considerable from hence forward, to his Majesty's Murder) is most faithfully related in the Athenae Oxon. as the Author had them from Sir Thomas Herbert, a constant, and sometimes sole Attendant upon the King, in all those his Solitudes and Sufferings.  
In all probability, it was with no little regret to our Author, before he saw whether it tended, that the Army paid so great a Deference to the King, suffered his Officers to continue, and publicly owned the Design. Colonel Francis Russel, and others attending the King, became soon converted by the Splendour of his Majesty, etc. p. 193. And some Pages before, 177. he inveighs bitterly against Colonel Brown the Woodmonger, for that having been as great a Rebel as himself, (indeed much more Considerable and Mischievous) he no sooner came into the King's Conversation, but became a Convert, which Ludlow would have the effect of a low and abject Original and Education, whereas there cannot be a greater Instance of a generous Temper, to acknowledge his Mistakes, and beg his Majesty's Pardon when there was nothing but Obloquy and Persecution from the prevailing Power, which he met withal sufficiently, and was as forward to return when occasion served, being one of the Bloodyest Butchers of the Parliament's Friends, p. 178. Indeed upon the Restauration he was very forward in apprehending, and condemning the Regicides, and it was by an unlucky Chance this Fellow escaped his Hands. The Devils knowing themselves under Sentence of Eternal Reprobation, are never better pleased, than to have engaged a Man so far, as to lay aside all Thoughts of Pardon, of Reconciliation with God; and really I never met with a Person more truly Proselyted to Hell, upon that, and indeed all other Concerns, than our Author, as having not only abandoned all Thoughts of Peace and Mercy in himself, but an implacable Spite against such as were any ways inclined thereto; on the contrary wherever his Majesty met any of such ingenuous Christian Dispositions, he certainly Convinced them of their Mistakes, and brought them over to his Party: There are too many Instances of this Kind, and too well known to be here set down; 
Pag. 244.  That of Mr. Vines, in Dr. Perenchief's Life, is very Considerable, because as rigid a Presbyterian as the rest, who declared he had been deluded into unworthy Thoughts of the King, but was now convinced to an exceeding Reverence of him, and hoped so of others, etc. There was one Dell an Army Chaplain, counterpart to Hugh Peter, and tho less a Buffoon, yet as much a Rogue, they jointly giving out, when their Villainies were ripe, that the King was but as a dead Dog: This unworthy Wretch said once in my hearing, that whilst in the Army, it was told him the King expressed a desire to see Dell; but said the Fellow, I would not come at him, because we found he had a cunning way of getting into Men, and making them think well of him, and his Cause: This indeed I find from several Particulars, that the Prejudices of such Ulcerous Minds kept them off upon a false Surmise, that the King could Pardon and Forgive no more than they; upon which String I observe Ludlow often harping, especially upon his Observation of the Army's respect in this Juncture, whom he seems to laugh at for not considering how easy it would be for him to break through all his Promises and Engagements, upon pretence of being under a Force, p. 193. 'Tis true, they had violated the solemnest Oaths and Ties imaginable in putting a Force upon him; whereas he, good Man, was so Religious to his bare Promises, as in the end it cost him his Life.  
What he further relates of Transactions between the King and Army, is, as we are told from a Manuscript, written by Sir john Barkly, and left in the Hands of a Merchant at Geneva: That Sir john, since Lord john Barkly, was attending upon the King at this Time, is certain, and we will grant 'tis his Manuscript, to be sure none of our Authors, being of a more polite Style, penned like a Man of Sense and Business, so that wherever brought in, it looks like a piece of New Cloth, to make bold with the Parable, put to an Old Garment, and renders his threadbare Stuff, an abominably patched Business. From these Papers he would have us believe that the Grandees of the Army, Cromwell, Ireton, etc. were once in so good a Mood as to design the Restauration of his Majesty, whose ill Conduct in not following Sir John's Directions, and caressing them as expected, spoiled all. And this aught to be taken into Consideration, because I have met some honest Gentlemen too forward in giving Credit thereto; and the Commonwealth's Men run away with it as infallible, notwithstanding the quite contrary appears from Ludlow's own Relation; who perhaps too hath perverted several of Sir John's Expressions to the King's Prejudice, (for there is nothing so base and false he would not be guilty of upon that Account) as when he is reported to break away from them, and say, Well, I shall see them glad e'er long to accept of more equal Terms, p. 203. and that p. 205. you cannot be without me; you will; fall to ruin if I do not sustain you; which manner of Carriage he saith was observed with Amazement, and so it might well, for he was never observed to do so by any other Author, or Person: And when a little further on, 'tis said Dr. Hammond was the governor's own Kinsman, it must certainly be Ludlow, for Sir john certainly knew him to be his Brother. From these and several such like Instances, it may be inferred, that though such Papers were left by Sir john, yet might they be altered, or added to by Ludlow, to Blacken, as their Term was, his Majesty's Discretion and Policy, though they could not his Virtue. It may be further observed there was no good Understanding between Sir john, and Mr. Asburnham, though both of them doubtless very Faithful and Loyal; Sir john really believed the Army was in good Earnest, the other very much suspected, and who of the two had most Reason therein, the Event declared, the King in the mean while might hesitate between both, and rather incline to Mr. Asburnham's Opinion. To pass by therefore, those Difficulties and Distractions the several contending Parties lay under; and how impossible it was for his Majesty to come to any thing of a fixed Resolution amidst so many Confusions; we will come to this one Enquiry, whether Cromwell, and Ireton ever really intended to establish the King upon his Throne? For I look upon them two as the gand Intriguers, driving on a distinct Design of their own, which none of their Comrades then so much as dreamt of, but were implicitly carried on to promote what at first they could not see, nor at last prevent: For that Cromwell was the exactest Piece of Dissimulation Hell ever inspired, must be owned on all Hands; so that he and his Confederates, sending Sir Allen Appesly to Sir John Barkly, and desiring them both to assure the Queen, and Prince of their good Intentions, was but a Blind to fortify their Interest against the Presbyterians, who as Ludlow, or the Paper tells us, though much weakened by the Absence of the Eleven Members, passed a Vote, that the King should be brought to Richmond, whereto he inclined, so that the Army were obliged to cause the Parliament to recall their Vote: Neither were Cromwel's Protestations to Sir john the least to be regarded, Of that tenderest Sight his Eyes ever beheld, the Interview between the King and his Children; and that never Man was so abused as he, in his sinister Opinion of the King, who he thought was the most Upright, and Conscientious of the Kingdom, etc. concluding with this Wish, That God would be pleased to look upon him according to the Sincerity of his Heart towards the King, pag. 199. Such Tricks as these were as natural to him as his Meat and Drink; and no less requisite to support the Life of his cursed Designs: Did he not at the same time assure the Parliament, That the Army should at their first Command, cast their Arms at their Feet; and solemnly Swear, that he had rather himself, with his whole Family should be consumed, than the Army break out into Sedition? Yet at the same time did he by his Creatures, administer new Fuel to those Flames; and posting down to the Head Quarters, set the whole Synagogue of Agitators on Work, and directed them in carrying on the Conspiracy; and therefore however Sir John's Sanguine Temper, and good-natured Disposition might be imposed upon by Cromwel's Arts, the King was not without considerable Cautions from others, of the no Trust which was to be put in any thing he said, that amongst his Confidents he did frequently boast of his fine Arts in imposing upon the King, and that thereby he intended nothing less than his Destruction: It must indeed be acknowledged that some of the General Officers were Sincere to his Majesty, really his Converts, one of which seeing Cromwell hold the King's Hand between his own during a solemn Protestation of unfeigned Assurances, and even washing it with Tears; when he came out, asked the Officer who stood by, whether he had not acted his Part very well? Who replied, Why were you not in good Earnest? Not in the least replied he, for which he ever after Abominated him, and acquainted the King with what a Devil incarnate he had to deal withal.  
And here I must observe no small Piece of Perfidy in our Author, that he will not let us know what Part Sir john, what himself bears in relating these Affairs; for what I questioned as to some harsh Expressions he would have the King use towards the Army, seems much confirmed from an absolute Falsehood he relates, as the effect thereof, which runs thus, pag. 205. The King having thus bid Defiance to the Army, thought it necessary to bend all his Force against them, and especially to strengthen their Enemies in the Parliament. To this end a Petition was framed to press them to speedy Agreement with the King, and presented in a Tumultuous manner, by a great Number of Apprentices and Rabble, backed by many Dismissed and Disaffected Officers, etc. This indeed was the last Effort of the Presbyterian junto to preserve themselves from the Army's Lash; but as it took no Effect, so the King was not at all concerned therein, but continued with the Army, and upon very good Terms; for it was not time to throw off the Vizard, till as Cromwell whispered Ludlow, they had pulled the Parliament out by the Ears, page 189. In the mean while, to show how Ludlow contradicts himself; the King who just now was said to bid defiance to the Army, upon showing his Answer to the Officers before it was sent, they seemed much satisfied with it, and promised to use their endeavours for a Personal Treaty; Cromwell and Ireton and many of their Party in the House, pressing the King's desires with great earnestness; wherein contrary to their expectation, they found a vigorous opposition, etc. pag. 213. This Fellow Ludlow, cannot be so ignorant of those Intrigues as he would seem: That Cromwell and his Confidents ran with the Hare, and hunted with the Hound; set on their Properties in the House, and Agitators in the Army, to complain of that free Access all the Cavaliers had to the King at Hampton-Court: Of Sir John Barkly 's, and Mr. Ashburnham 's Intimacy with the Chief Officers of the Army; that Cromwell 's and Ireton 's Doors were open to them, when shut to those of the Army; whereat, saith our Author, Cromwell was much offended, telling Mr. Ashburnham and Sir John, that if he were an honest Man, he had said enough of the sincerity of his intentions; and if he were not, nothing was enough, etc. pag. 212. So likewise he tells us, Cromwell wheadled with the King, acquainting him with his danger, and protesting it was not in his power to undertake for his security in the place where he was, viz. Hampton-Court; assuring him of his real service, and desiring God to deal, etc. as before; all which was abominable Trick to affright the King into those Nets and Toils, he had so craftily set for him, till a fit opportunity of proceeding to his Murder: And that all the Caresses, wherewith most of the Army, more especially those two Nonparells of Treachery, the Father and Son in Law courted the King, tended thereto, is clear from every Circumstance of their Proceedings; as likewise from that Assurance Ireton gave Ludlow at first, who tells us, he went down to Maidenhead, their Headquarters, where Ireton suspecting these Things (their caressing his Majesty) might occasion Jealousies in me, and others of their Friends in Parliament, desired me to be assured of their steadfast Adherence to the public Interest, and that they intended only to dispense with such Things as were not material, till they could put themselves into a Condition of serving the People effectually, pag. 194. And when the Army drew up that bloody Remonstrance November, 48. in order to taking away the King's Life, the same Ireton sent him Word, that now he hoped he should please him, which he owns they did, by the way they were taking, etc. pag. 266. Now had Ludlow been a Man of any Thought, any Reflection upon himself, he must needs have considered, what a contemptible Fellow they took him to be, as not vouchsafing to trust him in a Design, his wicked Soul most earnestly desired to have Accomplished.  
As for Cromwel's ambitious Enthusiastical Spirit, that he had some thoughts by removal of the King, to ascend the height he at last attained unto; there are several inducements to persuade. Ludlow tells us of many Passages and Actions which when the Riddle was unfolded, discovered what he aimed at. Particularly about this Time, when the King was in the Isle of Wight, there were frequent Consults and Conferences amongst them, about reconciling Parties, and fixing a Government; wherein Cromwell kept himself in the Clouds, and would declare neither for Monarchical, Aristocratical, nor Democratical, maintaining that any of them might be good in themselves, or for us according as Providence should direct, pag. 238. And when Providence suffered this glaring Meteor, with all it's Evil Influences, to rest so long upon our Horizon, and his vain Mind affected to add the Regal Title to that Power, he had so unjustly assumed, one main Inducement of his attempting it, was thought to be a Dream he had of being King, whilst a young Rake in Sidny College, Cambridge, (for so he really was) which he frequently declared to his Companions, and was not a little proud of; and that it made a deeper Impression upon his Mind, than any Learning he got there, give me leave to add this odd Passage, when he was Protector, I knew an Old Man, who in his younger Days had been Servingman to his Uncle Sir Thomas Stewart, was the Fac totum in the Family, and had more especially charge of the Cellar, where he told me, Cromwell and he tossed the Pot many a Time, and when his natural Enthusiasm, was assisted by a good Dose of strong Liquor, would thus vent himself; Well, james, notwithstanding my Uncle's and Aunt's Unkindnesses, I may yet be a great Man before I die; I had a lucky Dream at the College, and I have a young Daughter, a shrewd Girl she is, who will be often telling me, Father you will be a Great Man Father, I cannot sleep sound a Nights for Dreaming of your being a Great Man; indeed Father you will be as Great as the King; and then he would go on; I don't know james, nor can I see any thing of likelihood yet; but God often times brings strange things about, and if he should call me to any thing extraordinary, sure I should understand to prosecute my own advantage. This the Old Man told me, he would be often repeating over his Cups, several years before the Wars broke out; which as he laughed at then, so he had thought upon it a thousand times with astonishment, since he came to be Protector. I hope this Story will not be thought altogether impertinent upon this consideration; that it shows how much his Mind was puffed up with hopes, even when there was no ground for them; but when he saw all sorts of Mischiefs and Rebellions, begin to work with such Hellish success, and himself got into the Second Command of the whole Army, under such a cipher of a General, as he managed him no less than he did the Inferior Officers, most of whom he engaged to oppose all Superiors, as well their Masters the Parliament, as their Sovereign; This doubtless made him dream of a Crown every Night, and think a Year an Age, till possessed of the sole Power. For having Modelled the Parliament according to his Will, made them as tractable as Setting-Dogs, to whatsoever he and his Myrmidons thought fit to put them upon; and wheadled the King into a Prison, under a Property of his own; for whatever Ludlow or Sir john relates of Hammond's Surprise and Consternation at the News, pag. 218. the History of Independency assures us, he had been with Cromwell, who sent him down fully Instructed, as to his Deportment in that Critical Affair: And from hence forward we hear no more of his Caresses and Protestations: May the Lord deal with him according to the Sincerity of his Heart towards the King, etc. But a tendency on all hands to the Destruction both of his Person and Government.   

CHAP. V. Of the King's Murder.  
WE are now come to the last Act; so full of Horror and Amazement, as nothing but the doing it could make the Attempt credible; and seems to transverse that Old Conceit of the Lycanthropis, Wolves and Tigers appearing not only in humane Shape, but humane Societies; for of some such Composition must those several Scenes of Regicides be, which made up those Conferences our Author mentions, p. 238. and forward; in the first of which he tells us, the Commonwealth's-men declared, Monarchy was neither good in its self, nor for us. That it was not desirable in its self they urged from the 8 th' Chapter of the first Book of Samuel, the 8 th'. Verse, where the rejecting of the Judges, and the choice of a King, was charged upon the Israelites by God himself as to rejecting him. Scripture is so much out of these People's way, as they never blunder more, than when they think to support their Cause from thence, as will appear from this short Account of the whole Story: Where first, it was not the Israelites rejecting the judges, but the Theocracy which gave the Provocation, for so Almighty God himself declares in the precedent Verse 7. upon Samuel's Complaint, they have not rejected thee, but me they have rejected that I should not reign over them. Samuel was not only as a Viceroy to see those Laws observed, which the Supreme Sovereign had already Enacted, but as a Prophet, and so the Mouth of God, further to declare whatever Divine Will thought fit to Prescribe. And if in the second Place, if he believed or would have it thought there was any thing of Democracy in the judge's Regency, it is a gross Mistake; indeed when the Monarchy was interrupted upon the Death of joshua, we find no Successor appointed by him, as Moses had done, nor fixed upon by the People; and 'tis probable every Tribe became a State Provincial in their several Allotments, for the Text saith, The People served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and of the Elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great Works the Lord did for Israel, Judg. 2. 7, 8. But when all that Generation were gathered to their Fathers, there arose another Generation which knew not the Lord, nor the Works he had done, but followed other Gods of the People that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to Anger; and here indeed I take them to be a true Commonwealth, a Free-State, with a General Toleration, every one doing what was right in his own Eyes. But this admired Liberty pleased none but themselves, nor themselves long neither, for the Text further adds, the Anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the Hands of the Spoilers, that spoilt them, etc. vers. 14. till sensible of their Folly, and Ingratitude, upon their humble Address unto the Lord, he raised up judges, and was with the judges, and delivered them out of the Hand of the Enemy all the days of the judges, vers. 18. Yet to see how steady all popular Resolves are, the next Verse declares, when the judge was dead, they returned and corrupted themselves more than their Forefathers, in following other Gods, etc. they ceased not from their own doings, and their stubborn ways, vers. 19 Whereupon I shall take leave to make this general Observation, That when God designs to curse a People into Misery and Ruin, he leaves them to their own evil and foolish Ways, which will never be redressed, without true Repentance, and a return to such Establishments as are agreeable to his Will. And therefore, Thirdly, 'tis an abominable Mistake to urge that Text in Samuel as an Argument against all Monarchy, in general, whereas the Charge God brings against them, the People of Israel, was their rude and undutiful Deportment, their Mutinous manner of demanding a King, and the reason they gave for it, that they might be like other Nations, which he had taken all possible care they should not be, and most strictly enjoined them not to imitate any of their Practices; and this is clear; for that as their Government had been always Monarchical when under God's Hand; so he foresaw, and consequently cautioned them against such popular tumultuary Heats, Deut. 17. 14, etc. when thou art come unto the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, etc. and shalt say, I will set a King over me, like as all the Nations which are about me: Thou shalt in any wise set him a King over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall Choose. God was well content that they should have a King, but reserved the Election to himself; he would have no transferring of Rights, no mutual Contracts, but choose his own Representative.  
He proceeds to his other Topick, That it was no ways conducing to the Interest of the Nation, (viz. Monarchy) was endeavoured to be proved by the infinite Mischiefs and Oppressions we have suffered under it. 'Tis the modestest Expression in his whole Book to say it was endeavoured to be proved, since it hath been already made appear, that the little Finger of these Commonwealth-Iobbers proved heavier to the whole Nation than all the Monarches which ever sat upon the Throne. So likewise further on he tells us, The Question in dispute between the King's Party, and us, being as I apprehend it, whether the King should Govern like a God by his own Will? etc. or the People be governed by Laws made by themselves? etc. p. 267. If he will apprehend things wrong it cannot be helped, for neither the King nor his Party ever intended the People should be otherwise Governed than by their own Laws; 'twas what they stood up for, and endeavoured to preserve according to all ancient Establishments; but God thought not fit to give them a present Success, that the People might experimentally find the Madness and Folly of their Innovations. Mr. Thomas Farnaby, who had been the famous Schoolmaster of those Times, was committed by an Order of the House in 41. for saying, he believed we should find it better to live under one King than 500; how Legal that Commitment was is easily resolved, yet went they on in the same Arbitrary Course for five or six Years together, Committing whomsoever they disliked, or so much as suspected to dislike them. Did not these Men govern by their own Wills? Yes surely, though more like Devils, than God. Neither yet did it rest here, the 500 were reduced to a Rump of less than 50. and they overawed by a Military Rabble of more than twice 15 Thousand; Were not the Good People of England excellently represented now? Their Laws and Liberty in a hopeful Condition? And their Purses free, when the Soldiers commanded them?  
And this is the next Diabolical Intrigue our Author very frankly declares they designed to enterprise; for however the several juntoes had hitherto jointly concurred, nay even contended who should make the greatest Invasions not only upon the People's, but there Prince's Liberty; yet now hath become divided within its self, a major part of the House being not willing to concur with the Army in Murdering that Person whom they had nevertheless both agreed to Un-King; and this, as Ludlow tells us, occasioned another Meeting between some Members and Officers of the Army, wherein it was resolved to purge the House once more of all such Members as should attempt to frustrate what these Sons of Belial were resolved to go through with, p. 266. and to justify himself herein he brings another Text of Scripture, whether with more Impudence or Folly let the Reader judge, that Blood defileth the Land, and cannot be cleansed but by the Blood of him that shed it, Numb. 35. 33. I have already observed if the Wolf may be Judge, no Sheep shall be Innocent, and as these Beasts of Prey, began the Chase, and worried all that would not go with, or dared to oppose them, till their Blood was shed like Water round about the Land, so that Royal Effusion in the end, must doubtless have brought such a Stain upon it as we may justly fear will never be washed out; whereof several worthy Loyal Patriots in the Parliament 60. were so Religiously sensible, as they propounded, that not only the rest of the Regicides should have received their due Reward, but that for every one of the King's Party who suffered by their pretended Forms of justice, there should have been a Retaliation upon the same Number of such as had been most forward, in those base and unjust Prosecutions; this might have done something towards an Expiation, and put away the Gild of Innocent Blood amongst us, by neglect whereof to return the Text upon Ludlow and his Party, 'tis to be feared the Land still continues defiled therewith.  
And next to this of Bloodguiltiness, give me leave to add my Suspicion, that we have another deep Arrear, for their gross Abuse and Profanation of Scripture, whereof our Author hath given an exact Specimen in the two forementioned Texts, although he is very sparing in comparison with his Fellow-Rebels, especially the violent Pulpit-Drivers, who studied nothing so much as to pervert it, and that not only to their own, but the whole Nations destruction: Curse ye Meroz, etc. did more Mischief than all the Trumpets in the Army, and made as loud a Noise; and their numberless Fast-Sermons, were but a wresting so many Texts to Sedition and Treason. In the same manner likewise they managed Controversies: All Church-Government must be framed according to the new-fangled Conceits of their Geneva Rabbis, though the continued Sense and Practice of Antiquity, speak the quite contrary: And because the Doctrine of Obedience is so expressly laid down in 13th. to the Romans, and elsewhere, they hammered out this Impudent Evasion, that the Apostles delivered what the Circumstances they lay under forced them unto, not having Strength to make Opposition, otherwise might have been as very Rebels as themselves. In the mean while the AEquivocal Sense of our English word Power, was thought to give them so great a Latitude, as they might submit to whatever came uppermost, and if you urged them with the different Acceptations of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Original, 'twas Heathen Greek to them, the Language of the Beast, and ought not to restrain the Liberty of their perverse Spirits; neither are such Prejudices altogether laid aside, but seem rather to be assumed afresh, too many of our present Divines being very backward to consider those two Words themselves, or attend to the Information of others, and yet a very nice Case depends thereupon. But commend me to our Modern Commonwealth's Men, who finding with how ill Success their Predecessors made use of Scripture, have taken a much shorter Cut, set up for Theists, or Atheists, and thereby supersede all Authority from thence.  
What he relates as to the Treaty in the Isle of Wight, is a barefaced discovery of their Design, that having got the King there, with the Parliament, and City under their Lash, they were now resolved to kill and take Possession; his Majesty therefore is no more caressed by the Army, Sir Iohn Barkly's cold Entertainment from the Officers at Windsor, was a full discovery of what they all along had in purpose. Yet since he takes no Notice of the King's Deportment in that grand Affair, but represents their Jealousies of him, according to the Gild of their own just Deservings; I shall take leave to observe, that never any Prince struggled with so many different and violent Interests, as this good Man at that Treaty, nor deported himself with greater Honour, judgement, and Discretion. The Presbyterian junto in the House, though sensible of that deplorable Condition they had brought both King and Kingdom into, yet stood so stiffly upon their first Propositions, as their Commissioners were not allowed to recede one Ace from them. The Scotch likewise stood by rather to serve themselves than him, and observe how they should next play their Game, for now every Eye could discover whatever Protestations they made, Money and Covenant was the only Diana they contended for. The Independent Party in the House, though out-Voted as to the Treaty, yet were able to start so many Scruples, Restrictions, and Delays, as might baffle much sincerer Intentions than appeared in their Opponents. Yet contrary to all their Expectations, the King in his own Person managed the whole Debate with such incredible Prudence, found out such Temperaments for their harshest Demands, and made such Concessions, with a reserve both of Honour, and Conscience, as astonished them all, and wrought a full Conviction in such as had any Reserve even of Humanity left in their Breasts. One Passage I must needs relate from our Author, whereby we may guests at his, and all his Complices Ingenuity; he saith when some Commissioners who had been with the King pleaded in the House for a Concurrence with him, etc. p. 268. Sir Henry Vane opposed it, and inveighed against the King in his Reasons against it; concluding, that if they should accept of these Terms without consent of the Army, it would prove but a Feather in their Caps: And yet this base Fellow, Vane, persuaded the King at the Isle of Wight not to be too prodigal of his Concessions; that he had already yielded more than 'twas fit for him to give, or them to ask, and undertook to make it evident to the whole World: How could any Prince, or indeed other Person, of a steady Virtue, and undesigning Integrity, deal with such Proteus' as these? Quo teneam nodo? What Hold can be laid on them? What escape from so damned a Perfidy? All which his Majesty at that time fully discovered, that tho' some were of a sensible Compliance, yet those of most Power were most obstinate, intended nothing less than Peace, nor could they more than his Destruction.  
The breaking off that Treaty by the Army, their Force upon his Majesty there, bringing him from thence to London, with the Hellish Pageantry of his Trial, was insult enough for our Author's bloody Mind, to relate Matter of Fact in Common with others, and is too Melancholy a Subject for me to repeat: Only what he saith as to Bishop juxton, must be all his own, and probably invented to be revenged on him and the King, because his Majesty he saith, and I believe truly, refused such Ministers as their Court of Injustice had appointed to attend him, amongst whom that unhallowed Buffoon, Peter was one, and the rest had been all most violent Firebrands of Rebellion, and therein of his Murder: At last therefore, tho' with some Reluctancy, (and I doubt not but with Ludlow's Negative) it was granted that Bishop juxton should be permitted to attend his King, and Master in this his Translation from a Temporal to an Eternal Crown; and though doubtless it was with unexpressable Regret, as to the manner of his Departure, that he was put upon these holy Offices, yet that he should declare himself altogether unprepared, or complain for want of warning, as having nothing ready, is a true Piece of Fanatic Wit, that is, a snarling Reflection, without any Truth at the Bottom, or Ingenuity in the Expression; as no Man approved himself more Eminent both for Parts and Integrity, than this worthy Prelate, in those several Public Trusts, Ecclesiastical and Civil committed to his Care; so his Piety, and exact Understanding in all Religious Rites, qualified him for the most devout Performance of all holy Duties: With like Rudeness and Impertinency he continues; But recollecting himself a little, he put on his Scarf, and other Furniture, and went to the King, where having read the Common-Prayer, and one of his old Sermons, he Administered the Sacrament to him, etc. pag. 282. Could any thing like a Christian, or indeed a Man, play the Buffoon at so silly a rate, upon so solemn and sad an Occasion? Whether the Sermon was old or not, is more than he knows, to be sure it was very much to the Purpose, that is, of the final judgement, when God shall judge the Secrets of all Men by jesus Christ; whereat had Ludlow, or any of his Confederates been, there is no doubt but their guilty Souls would have Trembled, as much as Felix did; but withal too, persevered as little in their Recognitions: With like impious. Contempt he reflects upon the Holy Sacrament, most ignorantly cavils at, and as profanely Ridicules it; a true Saint of the new Edition; above Ordinances in their Lives, and without them at their Deaths; according to that great Author in the Book of Wisdom, 
Wisd. Ca 2 v. 22.  As for the Mysteries of God, they knew them not, neither hoped they for the Wages of Righteousness, nor discerned a Reward for blameless Souls: 'Tis represented likewise, according to his no Understanding of such Religious Preparations, as if all these Holy Offices were huddled together on that fatal last Day, whereas the Bishop was with the King on Saturday, had the Sermon and Sacrament on Sunday, where Mr. Herbert, the only Person they permitted to attend his Majesty, was another Communicant with them, however the foolish Fellow flouts, and considers not what Dispensations are allowed upon such sad Necessities.  
But since he is for relating Circumstances, as to this worthy Prelate's holy Performances, there is one, which though all good Men must be well acquainted with, ought never to be omitted when upon this Subject, viz. That the last Lesson his Majesty heard read, in that Morning Office of his Suffering, was the History of our Saviour's Passion, in the 27 th'. of Matth. which he supposed the Bishop had made Choice of, as most applicable to his present Condition, till he otherwise informed him, that it was the proper Lesson for the Day, as appeared by the Calendar, wherewith saith Mr. Herbert, then present, his Majesty was much Affected, and doubtless received great Consolation thereby. Others have gone further and made several Parallels between their Sufferings, which I shall only mention in general; that as there was never a more barbarous Act, since that Lord of Life was Crucified; so neither a more Innocent Soul through his Merits and Satisfaction, assumed into the Regions of Bliss: So that a certain Lord upon the Scaffold, the Noble Capel I think it was, had great Reason to say, that if he were to wish his Soul in any one's stead, it should be in his; and Sat anima mea cum Carolo; Heaven cannot be so, if he be not there: And therefore to take my leave of this worst of Men Ludlow, it shall be in the Words of the forementioned Author of the Book of Wisdom, where declaring that the Souls of the Righteous are in the Hands of God, however in the Sight of the unwise and wicked they seemed to die; he adds, For though they be punished in the sight of Man; yet is their hope full of Immortality. And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded; for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself. 
Cap. 3. v. 4, 5.   
This strange, and never before heard of Procedure, against the Sacred Person of their Monarch, being thus accomplished, and in him the Ancient Monarchy of England totally Subverted, our Author is too intent upon their new Project of Liberty-Keeping, to pursue his Calumnies any further, and therefore relating how his Body was Interred at Windsor, by some Good Men, Noble and Worthy Persons, who attended it thither (he might have added the Lamentation made over it, not only by them, but the whole Kingdom through, for doubtless never was there greater for any Prince in the World) whether, as I said, from the many Designs his projecting Head was carrying on, or to show that Humanity had not totally Abdicated his Breast, he lets it rest there, without farther Disturbance.  
But that pitiful Fellow Roger Coke was so Spiteful as to rake into those Sacred Ashes, and not permit so much as the Grave to give them rest. Can any thing be more base than to reflect, that the Office of our Church was not suffered to be read at his Innterment? A Man of Sense, of Virtue, and Loyalty might have been justly severe upon the Governor, who refused so innocent a Request; but his Majesty's very Memory must be thereby the more Eminent, in that their Baseness pursued him so far, as not to permit his dead Corpse, the External Rites of Religion.  
And as he was buried without an Office; so his next Insult is, that he lies without a Monument; and thereupon relates how the Commons had Voted, 50. (he saith) but 'twas really 70000 l. for the Charge of taking up the King's Body, with making a Solemn Funeral, and Monument, which yet came to nothing: Whereto he Maliciously adds, that 'twas said his Son forbid it; which indeed was likely to be said; for Lying, with Whiggism, began about that Time to be much in Vogue, and several Plots there were on Foot to serve the Son, as they had done the Father; but the People were not then mad enough to follow their Lure, and it was the Old Loyal Party, and Principle, which preserved the King at that Time. But for the 70000 l. in order to a Monument, the true Account stands thus: That Session in which it was Voted, rose in some Heat without passing any Bills, whereby this amongst the rest was Obstructed: And at their next Meeting, their continued Heats cooled this worthy Design, the rather for that a certain busy Female assumed the Honour of having it first moved. Although 'tis likewise probable, that the Old Faction, which with their young Spawn, began about this Time to be very busy in the House, might not be wanting to put by so ungrateful a Memorial of their Villainy: And thus the Court was too justly repaid, for the Care they took at the Restauration, to Sweeten the Sowr-humored Fanatic, and amongst other things, that their Consciences should not be over-jogged, by too many Remembrances of this Eternal Reproach, which though an Indemnity pardoned, no Oblivion will ever be able to deface; and this occasioned a worthy Divine (in this Critical Juncture most eminently deserving of the English Church) preaching at White-Hall upon that cursed Day, to tell them freely, They had added to his Ignominy, by Burying his Funeral: To be sure had the least motion for a Monument been made in those early Days, it would have passed without Control, but in that Juncture we were mighty fearful of offending those who could never be obliged. Dr. Donne in that odd Poem of his, The Progress of the Soul, when he had placed it in the Whale, and declared, how without any Provocation the Thresher, and Swordfish, plotted together, and destroyed him, the next Stanza turns off with this Apostrophe, 
Who will revenge his Death? Or who will call?  
Those to Account that sought, and wrought his Fall?  

Stanz. 37.  The Heirs of slain Kings, we see are often so  
Transported with the joy of what they get,  
That they Revenge, and Obsequies forget, etc.   
For what remains is as Applicable to that unhappy Neglect, when the whole Kingdom thought nothing too much for expiating the Gild, and honouring the Memory of so excellent a Prince, so barbarously Treated.  
But tho' the Bill did not pass for the Monument, yet the same Parliament had done another Thing before, which may outlast all of that Kind, in Westminster, or elsewhere in the whole Nation, viz. Enacted that the Day of that horrid Parricide, be observed as a Solemn Fast throughout the Kingdom for ever; and doubtless could they have foreseen any Person would have taken the Confidence to Asperse his Sacred Person, or Memory, at that impudent Rate, our Libelers, and too many 〈◊〉 do, it had been Voted no less Treason than his Murder; yet however there be Enemies still which speak Evil of him, and some that hate him wrongfully are Mighty; with all that are Wise and Good, his Name will be Blessed, and his Righteousness had in Everlasting Remembrance. To which purpose I shall here add a little Passage of a Reverend Divine lately deceased in Buckinghamshire, who amongst other Ingenious Legacies out of the Common Road, gave 40 s. per Annum for ever to New College, whereof I presume he had been formerly Member, for a Speech on this dismal Day. And 'tis to be hoped the continual Provocations, of such bold Profligates, as dare to open their Mouths against, and Blaspheme whatever is Superior to them, either in Heaven or Earth, may in due time rouse up some generous, Public Spirits, which shall at leastwise put to Silence, if not punish the Ignorance and Impudence of those foolish Men; for 'tis not an easy thing to stem a strong Tide of Virtue, or hold out long against the Truth; and therefore as my foremention'd Author denounces, 
Wisd. 3. v. 17. 18, 19  Though they live long, yet shall be nothing regarded, and their last Age shall be without honour; or if they die quickly they have no hope, nor comfort in the Day of Trial; for horrible is the end of an unrighteous Generation.  
And this brings me to one further Consideration, of greatest Consequence, though I fear least regarded; that however defective Men have been as to the deserved Obsequies of this our Royal Martyr; the justice of Heaven failed not to do him Right; and kindled such a Pile to his Memory, as the Romans most pompous Magnificence of that Kind, could never reach in the least Degree; indeed it never was, nor ever will be paralleled, till the last Conflagration; I mean the dismal Fire of London, which to my Observation when that judgement was immediately upon them, there was scarce a Fanatic so hardened, as not to think it a return from Heaven for that impious, and abominable Fact, though since they have learned to Palliate the Matter, or shuffle it off with Plots and Popery, whereas could they prove, nay granting, that it no ways hinders, but the Almighty Avenger might make use of them as well as any other secondary Causes, to kindle the Flames of his most high Displeasure; to speak really, and the Truth, a groundless Suspicion thereof, did so far infatuate them into a stupid, careless Neglect, as even that seemed to be part of their Curse, although it was impossible for the utmost of Humane Industry to stop so violent and rapid a Current, which was driven on by one continued Breath from Heaven, flying over all with an irresistible Force, agreeable to the Severity of that upright, and omnipotent Power which made the Inquisition.  
I shall not here omit a Passage, which however now it may seem Ridiculous, made no little Impression upon most Men, even of Sense, at that Time, that Nostredamus a French Man in a Ramble of Prophecies, Printed above an Hundred Years before, expressly foretold this Fire, and for this Cause: The Original indeed is somewhat obscure, as nothing of that Nature was ever supposed to be positively declared; yet was it then thought so clear, as it occasioned an Impression of the whole Book in French and English, with Annotations upon every Stanza, according to which, take it thus rendered by a Friend of mine, with the Original.  
Le sang du just a Londres fera faute,  
Brusser par feu, de vingt & trois, les six  
La Dame antique cherra de place haute,  
De mesme secte plusieurs seront ovis.  
A Righteous Monarch's Blood shall London spill  
(Which to avenge, not expiate the Ill)  
Her lofty Piles to Ruins shall be turned,  
At least three parts in four to Ashes burned.  
Her Ancient Temple too shall be consumed,  
And many more to the like Fate be doomed.  
We are told likewise that the Numbers seem to imitate the very Year in which it should happen 1666, and really they look very much that way. That this Account will meet a different Reception now, from what it had at first when that judgement was abroad amongst us, 
Isa. 26. 9  I am fully sensible, yet the same Text declares that to be the time for the Inhabitants of the Earth to learn Righteousness; and could wish our Modern Wits had some better Argument to refel what they are so forward to run down, than an affected ridiculous Contempt. That Reply the soothsayer made julius Caesar, The Ides of March were not past, proved almost as sharp as the Daggers which soon followed: If all Predictions of this Kind must be Exploded, because we cannot tell from whence they come, History will have but little Faith, and Men by degrees must disbelieve their Senses. However this is only en Passant, we depend upon a more sure Word of Prophecy, that the true and Righteous judge will avenge the Blood of his Servants, and more especially upon such, as stretch forth their Hands against his Anointed.  
It was a Saying amongst the jews, that whatever judgements they lay under, tho' upon other Accounts, there was always some Grains of the Golden Calf mixed with them: and I have found the Application several times made, in Discourses upon that Day, that whatever Calamities this Nation hath hitherto or shall for the future lie under, there are some Drops of this Royal Blood in the Composition; and therefore could I prevail, one of the largest Chapels in this New St. Paul's, should be finished all with Black Marble, and the Corpse of our Royal Martyr removed thither, to which the Lord Mayor, aldermans, and Common Council, should repair every 30 th' of january, and with a particular Office for that sad Occasion, Deprecate those Remains of Divine Vengeance, which may yet hang over that City, as well as the whole Kingdom. But let this pass for a Conceit, a Wish of mine; yet there is something of a Memento in the Monument, which no good Man can behold, without reflecting upon the Premises, and let them alter the Inscriptions as often as they please, they cannot alter the Decrees of Heaven.  
I shall here further add, that two other large Towns, N— n, and W— k, have since met with the same Fate, in the same irresistible manner, without the least surmise either of French, or Fireballs; and I desire it may be enquired, whether next the forementioned Metropolis of Rebellion, as well as otherwise, any two Corporations in England were more zealous for the Factions, and consequently more violent against our Royal Martyr's Cause and Person. And that the Sovereign judge of the Universe, still continues his Inquest upon this Righteous Prince's Sufferings, with those Generous Loyal Spirits, which Sacrificed themselves, or were otherwise cut off upon his Account, is no more to be doubted, from the Oeconomy of Divine Providence, than that jerusalem was destroyed, for Crucifying our Saviour, and Persecuting his Church; which nevertheless, our Republican whigs, and fanatics, will no more believe now, than the jews did then, and God grant it be not for the same Reason, hid from their Eyes.  
The last thing to be considered in this Just Defence, are those Sacred Remains of our Royal Martyr, his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which for height of Matter, elegancy of Style, and most Devout Addresses of an afflicted Soul, equally express the Resignation of job, and Inspiration of David. But 'tis not for me to recommend, what all Men great, and good, have ever had in the profoundest Veneration: My Province is to reflect upon those railing Shime's, who have so impudently traduced these Glorious Relics of his extraordinary Parts, and exemplary Piety; for that Bradshaw himself was forced to acknowledge, ask, in his Examination of Roiston, who Printed it, how so bad a Man could write so good a Book? No better Character of his Person, could be expected from the Monster which passed Sentence upon his Life; and therefore 'tis abominable Stuff in the Defence, as ridiculous, as impudent, though he voucheth a Peer for his Author, who saith, Let that Book be written by the King, or any body else, there is little in it deserves Esteem, pag. 14. There was nothing shocked the several Sets of Rebels more, nor made a deeper Impression upon the Minds of all such, as had any thing left of an ingenious Recognition: Upon which, and many such like Accounts, I always looked upon that Pamphlet, as coming from one of their Grubstreet Scribblers, who write for Bread, and so must resolve to Sacrifice both Truth and Reputation, in gratifying their Party, with groundless Stories, and malicious Lies: Neither was I much beside the Mark if it came, as by a late View, I have Reason to Conjecture, from the Author of Milton's Life, where I find this excellent Piece, treated in the like rude, and foul-mouthed Manner, in many Places, even to the same Expressions. That the Person wants no Assurance, his other Treaties speak, both as to Matter and Management; but that he should repeat all those vile Calumnies to render it Spurious, which either Dr. Walker's Ignorance, or from him, the Faction's Impudence, have so lamely urged, and take no notice of the Vindication which so clearly, so fully refels every Particular as groundless and false; argues a very broad Forehead, and most profligate disregard of whatever tends to Reputation, good Manners, or civil Esteem: But this is not the first Time by many, that Person hath discovered how naturally he abounds with such bad Qualities: And therefore, as a worthy Divine lately observed, 
Mr. Black. Serm. Jan. 30. p. 16.  We may cease to wonder that he should have the Boldness, without Proof, and against Proof to deny this Book's Authority; since for several Years last passed, he hath endeavoured to do the same with Holy Writ, whereas were it for no other Reason, than that it is the Established National Religion, even Heathen Rome, would have before this given him a toss into Tiber: And surely those to whom it belongs, will sometime or other awake, and call him to Account for both. When his Majesty we are now discoursing of, had so far baffled Henderson in that grand Point of Episcopacy, as the peevish old Fellow in the end would not vouchsafe him a Reply, He pleasantly tells him, you may have something of that which Chaucer saith belongs to the People of England, What they not like they never Understand; the common Practice of Fools and Knaves; Prejudice of judgement upon Conviction becomes Perverseness of Will; the Conclusion they are resolved to stick to, though convinced their Premises, prove nothing: And hence it is that these abominable Fellows have the Confidence still to insist upon Pamelia's Prayer, though the Vindicator hath made it fully appear, that many Impressions were wrought off, and Sold, before that appeared; as likewise how Bradshaw and Milton imposed upon Dugard, to put it at the end of his Edition. I remember, when a Boy, to have heard some Relations of mine say that Dugard had lost them, and all his honest old Acquaintance, by that vile Compliance; as likewise, that besides the King's Book, He in his Private Press had Printed Dr. Bates' Elenchus Motuum, etc. which gave a due, that is, severe Character of many Rebels, more especially the Regicides, upon Detection whereof they had got the Schoolmaster under their Lash, and would not take the Rod from over him, till gratified in this abominable Foregery.  
So likewise for the Author they would assign, of that incomparable Book, Bishop Gauden, to repeat the several Testimonies of Dr. Walker, Madam Gauden, etc. and take no notice with how irrefragable an Evidence the Vindicator hath replied to every, the least Particular urged by them, is a Modern way of managing Controversies, the World was never before acquainted with, and hath some Affinity with what I have heard related of a no very wise Judge in those Times of, Rebellion, who having heard the Council on one side thought it very clear, and took up such as spoke on the other for perplexing so good a Cause. Nevertheless according to Civil Law, Testes Domestici are adjudged invalid, which will wholly exclude the two aforementioned, who relate nothing but what they had from the Bishop himself; a Person so Ambitious, Popular, and vainly Affected, as because his Lady a rich Widow, and of some Quality, fell in Love with him, fond conceited all others must have the like Admiration; whereas indeed his Composition was of such an unhappy Eantre deux as to fix him no where; he had too much of a Gentile, Good-natured Humour to be a Presbyterian, and too little of a Solid Divine for the Church of England; however being patronised by, and matched into Puritanical Families, he ran with that Stream, and took it very ill Thomas Goodwin was tricked into the Assembly of Divines, when he was designed for the same Place, and County: Although about the same time he fell into better Company, that is, Archbishop Laud's, whose Convert he became, and that upon this Occasion: The Archbishop tho' kept in the Tower by the two Houses, yet neither of them would dispose of any of his Preferment when fallen void, but only recommended such as could make best Friends amongst them, whereupon the Deanery of Bocking (for so that Rectory is termed) being vacant, Dr. Gauden, by the Earl of Warwick's Interest, was recommended by the Lords, and the Archbishop liking him the best of those many, wherewith he was every Day Solicited, gave him his Nomination, and withal set him right as to the several Prejudices, his Puritanical Conversation had possessed him, both against the Archbishop in particular, and the whole Church in general, all which he owns in his Ecclesiae Anglicanae Suspiria, and from thence forward set himself more impartially to consider both the Truth and Necessity of our Church Constitutions, in order to our Nation's Peace and Happiness. But when it appeared they designed the King's Life, than his old Party, and that he was come over to, joined Issue, and his Interest in the former, rendered him the better qualified to do Service, amongst the several juntoes; and it must be owned he used the best of his endeavours, to prevent that fatal Blow; and as the Vindicator observes, the Protestation he writ upon that Occasion, might occasion the Thanks and Acknowledgements he received from the Loyal Party.  
But to return to the King's Book, I shall here likewise venture to give a little Account of my own Private Knowledge; for going to School with a Reverend Sequestered Divine, (during those times of Anarchy, and Commonwealthism) I remember to have heard him frequently mention, with much Respect, and tender Affection, his Brother Symonds; that they were Comrades together in the King's Quarters, all that War; from whence they accompanied one another beyond Seas; and that upon their return to London, Dr. Gauden very kindly treated, and relieved them both, (they having been old Acquaintance, and all Puritans, till they saw what Madnesses that desperate Party ran into) furnished my Master with Money to go to his Family in Suffolk, and as he would say, was very liberal to Brother Symonds, whilst he attended upon Printing the King's Book; and this agrees with what the worthy Vindicator relates from William Allen, sometimes Servant to the Doctor, that the Copy was borrowed of Mr. Symonds, p. 32. which his Charitable Obligations in those Necessitous Times, might easily command. And upon this doubtless was the Doctor's Claim founded; Mr. Symonds dying soon after at Graves-End, stealing over to the Young King, then at the Hague, there was no other Copy left, nor indeed need of any, the Book being Printed, but to serve a false Pretence. Nevertheless it was very cunningly done of the Doctor to continue it a Secret at the Restauration; for had it been then as publicly pretended to as now, more than enough would have appeared to divest him of his borrowed Plumes, and sufficiently expose both his Folly and Presumption; as another was, though not in a pretence of so high a Nature, which it may not be amiss here to relate; when at that time the two Bishops, Sheldon, and Morley were more especially entrusted to recommend such Suffering Divines, as deserved Preferment, upon the Church's Re-establishment; a certain Person came to the latter, Bishop Morley, desiring to be considered upon that Account; he having moreover written several Things very beneficial to the King's Interest; the Bishop desired to know what they were, that he would name some one Piece; whereto he replied, Killing no Murder; nay said the Bishop, herein you must excuse me, that was written by a Lay Man, and beyond Seas, I saw every Page as it was Penned before dry upon the Paper: And there is no doubt had Dr. Gauden made his Declaration then, before the same Bishop, he would have made the like Reply, or something of that Nature, which should as easily disprove him; and that might have hindered his first Advance, and next Remove; as likewise, saved the Expense of Clapham-house, which if it were built upon an Expectation of Winchester, was such a Vanity as none but the two Brothers could be guilty of; for had the Thing been really done, the pretended Secret a Truth, there were several others who had done, and suffered to a much higher degree, and every way infinitely more deserving both of Church and Crown.  
What the Vindicator further urgeth as to their different Styles, must likewise be absolutely convincing, to every unprejudiced Mind; no two Things as to Speech and Writing, can bear a greater Disproportion, than that Strength of Reason, and Majesty of Expression, which flows through every Line of the one; compared with those Frothy, Metaphorical Flourishes, the sole-set off to whatever the other said or writ. It well became his Eminence and Gravity to write an Apology for Woman's Painting, yet that Discourse of Artificial Beauty was certainly his, and the Language hath great Affinity with the Subject, a daub a fucus of Words, without any thing underneath, either Solid or Satisfactory. And I would desire the Author of the forementioned Life, (who as he abounds in Words, so pretends to Sense,) that he, and his Fraternity, would for a little while divert their Thoughts and Discourse, otherwise continually employed in undermining Religion and Government, in considering the forementioned Difference both as to Words and Matter, and then resolve whether there is not the same Disproportion, as between the abominable Rhymes, and Prose, of Withers, Prynn, and Vicars, compared with that Masculine way of Expression their admired Milton hath in both those Kind's, the abused Excellencies of a very bad Man. In the mean while it looks not well, and can bode no good to the Nation, that upon a little Turn of the Monarchy, no Dissolution, the most injured Prince which ever Reigned, and the best Defence injured Innocence ever made, and so allowed by all Men of Judgement and Integrity for half a Century together, should on a sudden be run down, and exploded, not disproven, by a Pragmatical Set of young Upstarts, who think themselves wise enough to control all Ancient Constitutions, both Sacred and Civil, despise Dominion, and speak evil of Dignities: But not to nauseate the foul Stomaches, or Minds rather, of their Deistships with fulsome Scripture, I shall remit them to the just Censure of unexceptionable Tully, 
Pro Ba●●●  Estenim Saeculi hujus labes quaedam & macula, virtuti invidere, vel ipsum florem Dignitatis infringere.   

The CONCLUSION.  
IT was an Observation I made at the Beginning, that whatever Distempers happen to the Head, they arise from such Malignant Vapours, or too violent Concourse of Spirits, which the Body sends up; and this whole Book, as big as it is, hath been little else than an Enlargement upon, and Proof of, that sad Truth, making it appear, that our many State-Empyricks have proceeded in so odd a Course, as to heighten the Crisis, and so habituate the Indisposition, as it seems gone beyond, not only their own, but all abler Men's Cure: For as the Learneder Physicians further declare, when that Sovereign Part comes to be once joged, either with Apoplexies, Epilepsies, Frenzies, etc. though for the present it may be recovered from that Fit, yet they seldom find it brought to that Strength of Sense or Health, as formerly, and under continual Apprehensions of a more dangerous Relapse. How many returns we have had of this Kind, is a very Melancholy Reflection; to be sure we seem so much weakened thereby, in our Intellectual Part, as to admit none but the same, or such like Quacks as first brought us into this unhappy Condition, and have all along discovered, that they design more the Trial of their own foolish Experiments, than to Re-estate us in that perfect Vigour of Health and Strength, which before their tampering, we abundantly enjoyed: And hereupon some have further taken notice that a Gubernandi Pruritus seems to have superseded that other of Disputandi; an Epidemical Itch of being all Governors, sets not only our Fingers, but our Heads on Work; hath more than once already brought us from Scratching to right down Blows, and in the end must certainly ruin all Government. And therefore to step out of these cloudy Allegories, I shall presume here in the Close, frankly to declare, that as our Indisposition first began, from rejecting that Excellent Regimen, wherewith this Royal Martyr and his Predecessors, for so long a Time perserv'd us in perfect Health and Happiness: So perhaps after another half Century of Experiments, we may be brought to full Conviction, that nothing but that old Course, can Work an effectual Cure.  
And from hence doubtless more especially it is, that our Commonwealth Impostors, (who cannot live without Opposition, even amongst themselves, when they have gained their Point upon others) continue to asperse the Memory of this Excellent Prince, with a Spite inveterate as Hell, and false as their own Souls, and with an Impudence, none but themselves can reach. To take no Notice of whatever is said in his Vindication, though clear even to Demonstration, or as the Noonday Sun; I say were not these Prejudices perpetually kept up against his Person and Government, wherein they first began their Freaks, and set the whole Nation a madding, most of the People, as the Spanish Proverb propounds, might chance to rise Sober and Wise some few Mornings together, and then not only their Projects, but the Projectors would soon meet with such an End as they deserve.  
Could I think these Provocations might have any Influence upon them, so as to reply, or own a Conviction, I should then add this further Request, To consider, and from thence try what they can object against that great, yet withal just Account, Dr. Perencheif gives both as to the Active and Passive Part of his most Religious Deportment, when their Mouths, and their Canon roared with equal Force, and Noise against him; for that is no Hyperbole or strain of Rhetoric from the Doctor's Loyal and Affectionate Pen, but a Collection of such Observations, as several Noble and Worthy Persons made during their Attendance upon him, especially under his Confinement, and was obliged alone to Combat those many Brutish Adversaries, who had nothing but the Shape of Men, which many Conflicts rather than Disputes, he managed with so much judgement, Temper, and truly Conscientious Care, both of his own Soul, and People's Safety, as astonished those hardened Reprobates, which would not be convinced, and fully assured all others, that Almighty God never fails to furnish great and good Men with Assistances answerable to the Afflictions he brings them under; whereto he was likewise adapted from that nat●●ral Steadiness of Mind his very Infant Studies applied themselves unto; for I find when Prince of Wales, at an Entertainment in Oxon, he Matriculated himself, as their Custom is, a Member of that University, by writing this Sentence, Si vis omnia Subjicere, Subjice te rationi; according to which the whole Course of his Life was most exactly steered, both in Prosperity and Adversity. Tho' Plato may be thought a little partial to his own Profession, yet was it a pretty Conceit, That nothing conduced more to the Happiness of any State, than to have their King's Philosophers, or Philosopher's Kings: To be sure the forementioned Golden Rule spoke so much of both, as had his Parliaments in any degree endeavoured the same, the fabulous Golden Age, might have found here, something of Reality; but they were for Subjecting their King rather than themselves, and by that means subjected all to Slavery and Confusion.  
There is but one Mistake I shall further take Notice of, wherewith this Petulant, Licentious Humour, of Libelling and Lying, hath prejudiced and prepossessed many a good Man, who are thereupon prone to think of a vast difference between Queen Elizabeth, and the two following Reigns; whereas paying all the profoundest Defference to that Wise and Happy Princess, there was a continual Advance, in every thing but the Humour and good Disposition of the People, for nigh 40 Years after: To be sure during King Charles' first Fifeteen, the Wealth, and Trade of the Nation was Trebled to what it had been at any time in her Days, and every thing else Proportionable; and tho' the Trade is, or at leastwise was till of late, upon the Improve; yet take all things together, and I am afraid the Child is still unborn who may see them so again; their sole Defects were in reference to themselves, studying more the People's Satisfaction, than their own Security, all which I hope hath been made out in the Premises.  
And here I must take leave of our Royal Martyr, without venturing to Characterise those Divine, Superlative Perfections, the ablest Pens could never yet fully reach. As Man, what they have borrowed from Vell. Paterc. is highly applicable, Homo virtuti simillimus, & per omnia Ingenio, Diis quam Hominibus proprior, etc. and as Christian none ever came nigher that Man of Sorrows than He; So that however some foul-mouth Hellhounds still continue to Bark at, and Blaspheme his Memory, there is no doubt but less Partial Posterity, will unanimously agree with all good Men now, and Seat him in the uppermost Room amongst those Sacred Sufferers, OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY.   
FINIS.