A WORTHY SPEECH Spoken in the Honourable House OF COMMONS, By Sir Benjamin Rudyard.  
This present July, 1642.  
July 18. Printed for R. Thrale. 1642.   

A Speech spoken in the House of Commons by Sir Benjamin RUDYARD. July 9 1642.  
Mr SPEAKER,  
IN the way we are, we have gone as far as words can carry us: We have voted our own Rights, and the King's Duty: No doubt there is a Relative Duty between a King and Subjects; Obedience from a Subject to a King, Protection from a King to His People. The present unhappy distance between His majesty and the Parliament, makes the whole kingdom stand amazed, in a fearful expectation of dismal Calamities to fall upon it: It deeply and conscionably concerns this House to compose and settle these threatening ruining distractions. M. Speaker, I am touched, I am piered with an apprehension of the Honour of the House, and success of this Parliament. The best way to give a stop to these desperate, imminent mischiefs is, To make a fair way for the Kings return hither; It will likewise give best satisfaction to the people, and will be our best Justification. M. Speaker, That we may the better consider the condition we are now in, let us set ourselves three years back: If any man then, could have credibly told us, That within three years the Queen shall be gone out of England into the Low-Countries, for any cause whatsoever, The King shall remove from his Parliament, from London to York, declaring himself not to be safe here, That there shall be a total Rebellion in Ireland, Such discords and distempers both in Church and State here, as now we find; certainly we should have trembled at the thought of it: Wherefore it is fit we should be sensible now we are in it.  
On the other side, If any man then, could have credibly told us, That within three years ye shall have a Parliament, it would have been good News; That ship-money shall be taken away by an Act of Parliament, the Reasons and Grounds of it so rooted out, as that neither it, nor any thing like it, can ever grow up again; That Monopolie●, The high-Commission Court, The star-chamber, The Bishop's Votes shall be taken away, The council Table regulated and restrained, The forests bounded and limited; That ye shall have a triennial Parliament; and more than that, A perpetual Parliament, which none shall have power to dissolve without yourselves, we should have thought this a dream of happiness; yet now we are in the real possession of it, we do not enjoy it, although His majesty hath promised and published he will make all this good to us: We stand chiefly upon further security; whereas, the very having of these things, is a convenient, fair security, mutually securing one another: there is more security offered, even in this last answer of the Kings, By removing the personal Votes of Popish Lords, By the Better Education of Papists children, By supplying the defects of Laws against Recusants, besides what else may be enlarged and improved by a select Committee of both Houses, named for that purpose. Wherefore, Sir, let us beware we do not contend for such a hazardous unsafe security, as may endanger the loss of what we have already; let us not think we have nothing, because we have not all we desire; and though we had, yet we cannot make a mathematical security; All human Caution is Susceptible of corruption and failing; God's providence will not be bound, success must be his: He that observes the wind and rain, shall neither sow nor reap; if he do nothing till he can secure the weather, he will have but an ill harvest.  
M. Speaker, It now behooves us to call up all the wisdom we have about us, for we are at the very brink of Combustion and confusion: If blood once begin to touch blood, we shall presently fall into a certain misery, and must attend an uncertain success. God knows when, and God knows what. Every man here is bound in conscience to employ his uttermost endeavours to prevent the effusion of blood; blood is a crying sin, it pollutes a Land; let us save our Liberties and our Estates, a 〈…〉 we may save our Souls too. Now I have clearly delivered mine own conscience, I leave every man freely to his.  
FINIS.