THE SPEECHES OF Sr. Edward Deering In the COMMONS House of Parliament. 1641. Printed in the year, 1641. SIR EDWARD Deering's First SPEECH In the Commons House of Parliament. Novem. 9 1640. Mr. Speaker, YEsterday the affairs of this House did borrow all the time allotted to the great Committee of Religion. I am sorry, that having but half a day in a whole week, we have lost that. Mr. Speaker, The sufferances that we have undergone, are reduceable to two heads: the First concerns the Church. The second belongs to the commonwealth. The first of these must have the first fruits of this Parliament, as being the first in weight and worth, and more immediate to the honour of God, and his glory, every dram whereof is worth the whole weight of a kingdom. The commonwealth ('tis true) is full of apparent dangers; the Sword is come home unto us, and the two twinned Nations united to each other under one royal head, breathing together in the bowels and bosom of the same Island; & which is above all, imbounded together with the same Religion (I say the same Religion) by a devilish Machination, like to be fatally imbrued in each others blood; ready to dig each others' grave, Quantillum abfuit! For other grievances also, the poor disheartened Subject sadly groans, not able to distinguish between Power and Law, and with a weeping heart (no question) hath prayed for this hour, in hope to be Relieved, and to know hereafter whether any thing he hath, besides his poor part and portion of the common air he breathes in, may be truly called his own. This (Mr. Speaker) and many other, do deserve, and must shortly have our deep regard, but suo gradu, not in the first place. There is a unum necessarium, above all our worldly sufferings and dangers; Religion, the most immediate service due unto the honour of Almighty God: and herein let us all be confident, that all our Consultations will prove unprosperous, if we put any determination before that of Religion. For my part, let the Sword reach from the North to the South, and a general perdition of all our remaining Rights and safety threatening us in open view, it shall be so far from making me to decline the first settling of Religion, that I shall ever argue, and rather conclude it thus, That the more great, the more eminent our perils of this world are, the stronger, the quicker ought our care to be for the glory of God, and the pure Law of our souls. If then Mr. Speaker, it may pass with full allowance, that all our cares may give way to the Treaty of Religion, I will reduce that also to be considered under two heads: First of ecclesiastical Persons. Secondly, of ecclesiastical Causes. Let no man start, or be affrighted at the imagined length of this Consultation: it will not, it cannot take up so much time as it is worth. This is God and the King; this is God and the kingdoms; nay, this is God and the two kingdom's Cause: And therefore Mr. Speaker, my humble Motion is, that we may all of us seriously, speedily, and heartily enter upon this the best, the greatest, the most important Cause we can treat of. Now Mr. Speaker, in pursuit of my own Motion, and to make a little entrance into this great affair, I will present to you the Petition of a poor oppressed Minister, in the County of Kent, a man conformable in his practice, orthodox in his Doctrine, laborious in the Ministry, as any we have, or I do know. He is now a sufferer (as all good men are) under the general obloquy of a Puritan, as with other things, was admirably delivered by that silver Trumpet * Sir Benjamin Rudyerd. near the bar. The pursuivant watcheth his door, and divides him and his Cure asunder, to both their griefs: For it is not with him, as perhaps with some that set the pursuivant at work, glad of an excuse to be out of the Pulpit: it is his delight to preach. About a week since I went over to Lambeth to move that great Bishop (too great indeed) to take this danger off this Minister, and to recall the pursuivant; and withal I did undertake for Mr. Wilson, (so your Petitioner is called) that he should answer his Accusers in any of the King's Courts at Westminster. The Bishop gave me this answer (as near as I can remember) in haec verba, I am sure that he will not be absent himself from his Cure a twelvemonth together, and then I doubt not but once in a year we shall have him. This was all I could obtain: but I hope by the help of this House, before the year of threats be run out, his Grace will either have more grace, or no grace at all. For our manifold griefs doth fill a mighty, a vast circumference, yet so that from every part, our lines of sorrow do lead to him, and point at him, the Centre from whence our Miseries grow. Let the Petition be read, and let us enter upon the work. Sr. EDWARD Deering's SECOND SPEECH Novem. 23. 1640. Mr. Speaker, YOU have many private particular Petitions, give me leave by word of mouth to interpose one more general, which thus you may record: God's true Religion is violently invaded by two seeming Enemies, but indeed they are like Herod and Pilate, fast Friends, for the destruction of Truth, I mean the Papists for one part, and our prelatical Faction on the other: between those two in their several progress, I observe the occurrence of some few parallels, fit as I conceive to be presented to this Honourable House. First with the Papists, here is a severe Inquisition, and with us (as it is used) there is a bitter high Commission, both these (contra fas & jus) are Judges in their own Cause: yet herein their Inquisitors are better than our High Commissioners. They for aught I ever heard, do not saevire in suos, punish for delinquents and offenders, such as profess and practise Religion, according as it is established by the Laws of the Land, where they live: but with us how many poor distressed Ministers we have; how many scores of them in a few years past have been suspended, deprived, degraded, excommunicated, not guilty of the breach of any of our established Laws. The Petitions of many are here with us, more are coming; all their prayers are in Heaven for redress. Down with the Tables of these Money-Changers: they do profess Commutation of penance, and I may therefore justly call them so. Secondly, with the Papists there is a mysterious Artifice, I mean their Index expurgatorius, whereby they clip the tongues of such Witnesses, whose evidence they do not like: To this I parallel our late Imprimators Licences for the press, so handled, that Truth is suppressed, and Popish Pamphlets fly abroad Cum Privilegio, witness the andacious libels. against true Religion, written by Cosi●s, Daw, Heylin, Pecklington, Mede, Shelford, Swan, Roberts, and many others; I name no Bishops: but I add, &c. Nay they are already grown so bold in this new trade, that the most learned labours of our ancient and best Divines, must he new corrected and defaced with a Deleatur, by the supercilious pen of my Lord's young chaplain (fit perhaps) for the technical art, but unfit to hold the chair for Divinity. But herein the Roman Index is better than our English Licences; they thereby do preserve the current of their own established doctrines, a point of wisdom. But with us, our Innovators by this Artifice do alter our settled Doctrines: nay, they do introduce points repugnant, and contrariant; and this I dare assume upon myself to prove. 3. One parallel more I have, and that is thus, amongst the Papists there is one acknowledged Supreme in Honour, in Order, and in Power, from whose judgement there is no appeal. I confess Mr. Speaker, I cannot altogether match a Pope with a Pope; yet one of the ancient titles of our English Primate was alterius orbis Papa: But thus far I can go ex ore suo, it is in Print. He pleads fair for a Patriarch, and for such an one whose judgement he beforehand professeth aught to be final; and then I am sure it ought to be unerring; put thief two together, and ye shall find that the final determination of a Patriarch, will want very little of a Pope, and then we may say mutato nominede te fabula narratur: he pleaded Pope ship under the name of a Patriarch, and I much fear lest the end and top of his patriarchal plea may be as that of Cardinal Poole (his Predecessors) who would have two heads, one caput regale, another caput Sacerdotale, a proud parallel, to set up the Mitre as high as the Crown. But herein I shall be free and clear, if one there must be; be it a Pope, be it a patriarchal, this I resolve upon for mine own choice, procul à Jove, procul à fulmine, I had rather serve one as far off as Tiben, then to have one come so near me as the Thames. A Pope at Rome will do less hurt than a Patriarch at Lambeth: I have done. And for this third parallel, I submit it to the wisdom and consideration of this grave Committee for Religion: In the mean time I do ground my motion on the former two; and it is this in brief, that you will please to select a Subcommittee of 4, 6, 8, or 10. at the most, and to empower them for the discovery of the great number of oppressed Ministers, under the Bishop's tyranny: For these 10. years' last past, We have the complaints of some, but more are silent, some are patient and will not complain; others are fearful and dare not; many are dead; many are beyond Seas, and cannot complain. And in the second place that the Subcommittee may examine the Printers, what Books by bad Licences have been corruptly issued forth: the work I conceive will not be difficult, but will quickly return into your hands full of weight; and this is my motion. SIR EDWARD Deering's Third SPEECH In PARLIAMENT, 1640. Mr. Speaker, THIS Morning is designed for the consideration of the late Cannons, and the former; and of that which the Clergy have miscalled a benevolence, I shall for the present, only touch the first of them, and that is the Roman Velites, who did use to begin the battle: so shall I but velita●de, and skirmish, whilst the main battle is setting forwards. The POPE, as they say, hath a triple crown, answerable thereunto; and to support it, he pretendeth to have a threefold Law. 1. The first that is Ius divinum, Episcopacy by Divine Right: and this he would have you think to be the crown next his head, which doth circle and secure his power, our Bishops have in an unlucky time entered their Plea, and presented their title to this Crown, Episcopacy, by Divine Right. 2. The second is Ius humanum Constantij donativum, the gift of Indulgent Princes temporal power; this Law belongs to his middle or second crown, this is already pleaded for, by our Prelates in Print. These two crowns being already obtained (He the POPE) Creates and makes the third himself, and sets it highest upon the top: This crown also hath its Law, and that is Ius canonicum, the Canon Law of more use un to his Popeship, if once admitted then both the other. Just so our Prelates from the pretended Divinity of their Episcopacy, and from the temporal power, granted by our Princes, would now oberude a new Common Law upon us: They have charged the Commons to the full, and never fearing they would requoyle into a Parliament, they have rammed a prodigious ungodly Oath into them. The Illegality, and Invalidity of these Cannons, is manifested by one short question, (vizt.) what do you call the meeting wherein they were made? Mr Speaker, who can frame an Argument aright, unless he can tell against what he is to argue? Will you confute the Convocation-house? they were a holy Synod: will you argue against their Synod? they were Commissioners, will you dispute their Commission? they will mingle all power together, and perhaps answer, they were something else that we neither knew, nor imagined, unless they would unriddle themselves, and own what they were, we may prosecute non concludent Arguments. Mr. Speaker, I have conferred with some of the founders of those Cannons, but I profess here, that I could never yet meet with any one of that Assembly, who could well answer to that first question of the catechism, What is your name? Alas, they were parted before they knew what they were, when they were together. The sum of all the several answers that I have received, do altogether amount unto this: They were a convocational, synodical Assembly of Commissioners: Indeed a threefold Chaemera, a Monster to our Laws, a Cerberus to our Religion. A strange Commission, where no Commissioners name is to be found! A strange Convocation, that lived when the Parliament was dead. A strange holy Synod, when the one part never saw nor conferred with the other. But indeed, there needed no conference, if it be true of these Cannons which I read of the former, quis nescit, canon's lamb thae formari priusquam in Synodo ventilentur? Well Mr. Speaker, they have Innovated upon us; we may say, It is Lextalionis to innovate upon them, and so I hope we shortly shall do. In the mean time my humble motion is, that every member of that Assembly, who voted their Canons, may come severally to the bar of this House, with a book of Cannons in his hand, and there unless he can answer that catechism question, as I called it, better than I expect he can, concept is verbis, in such express terms as this Honourable House shall then think fit, he shall abjure his own Issue, and be commanded to give fire to his own Cannons. And this motion I take to be Just. FINIS.