EIGHT Occasional Speeches, made in the house of Commons this Parliament, 1641. 1 Concerning Religion. 2 Upon the same subject.— 3 Upon dismounting of the Cannons. 4 Upon the Scotch Treaty. 5 Upon the impeachment of the Lord Strafford, and Canterbury, etc. 6 Upon the Straffordian knot. 7 Upon the same subject. 8 A seasonable motion for a loyal Covenant. By Sir john Wray Knight and Baronet. LONDON, Printed for Francis Constable, 1641. EIGHT Occasional Speeches, made in the House of Commons, this Parliament. 1641. The first, concerning Religion. Novemb. 12. 1640. Mr. Speaker, IT was well observed by my Lord Keeper, that a multiplying Glass may deceive; but the right English Glass of the Commonwealth, never. In which I discern, so comely and active a Motion, that out of all question, some great work is here to be done, some thing extraordinary is here to be decreed; or else God and the King beyond all our expectations, at the last breath, would never so soon have cemented us again, to meet in this great Council. Mr. Speaker, What an happy sight will it be to see the King and his people accord? A threefold cord is not easily broken; and I hope King Charles his threefold Kingdoms shall never be so divided, as to break in pieces. Mr. Speaker, God knows, the divisions of Great Britain, have half untwisted our long union; and I fear that God is angry with our Nationall lukewarm temper: The zeal of his house hath not kindled that flame in our hearts; which our seeming good actions, have blown abroad; much like the walking of a Ghost, or liveless body which affrights many, but pleaseth no beholder. Omnia honesta opera, voluntas inchoat; It is the heart or will which gives the beginning to every good action; and I hope our constant resolutions will be to settel religion in his splendour and purity, by pulling Dagon from the Altar; and whipping the Buyers and sellers out of the Temple; Pars prima bonitatis est velle fieri bonum. The first part of goodness is to have the will of being good. God knows all our hearts, and takes notice of our inward resolutions, and for what ends we come hither, if to propagate and advance his glory and Gospel, blessed shall this Parliament and Nation be, and then most happy we, whose God is the Lord, all things shall work together for our good. For Mr. Speaker, he that turns the hearts of Kings like the rivers of waters, will make the King and his Kingdoms all of one mind: Long live King Charles the Great, and his numerous Royal Issue, to defend the true Faith, which will protect and keep him and his, safe in his father's Throne. Never King gave more full content to his people, than his Majesty now hath done, and I hope never subjects came with better hearts and affections to their King and Country than we do: let it then appear Mr. Speaker, by our outward actions and practice, that our inward obedience both of heart and hand, is true, loyal, and currant coin, not false nor counterfeit; for, Nemo veraciter dicit, velo, qui non facit illud quod potest; no man truly says, I am in will and heart resolved, unlessen according to his ability, he endeavour to perform his resolution, which, to speak the hearts of us all in this renowned Senate, I am confident, is fully fixed upon the true reformation of all disorders and innovations in Church or Religion, and upon the well uniting, and close rejoynting of the now dis-located great Britain: For let me tell you Mr. Speaker, that, God be thanked, it is but out of joint, and may be yet well set, by the skilful Chirurgeons of this Honourable House, to whose loving and Christian care, and to whose tender and upright hands I leave it, only with this Aviso, let brotherly love continue, and be constant and of good courage; for the keeper of Israel who neither slumbers nor sleeps, who delivered us from Rome's November powder-blast, will no doubt still preserve his Anointed our gracious King, and us his loyal Subjects from all dangers of fire, or sword; For, Si Deus nobiscum quis contra nos? The second, upon the same subject. Novemb. 20. 1640. Mr. Speaker, BY the report made from the Committee of Religion, you may see to what an exorbitant height Popery is grown; and yet how slowly we go on to suppress it; I fear God is displeased with us, or else no disaster should have prevented the sealing of our Covenant, when intended: And I hope it shall be performed the next Sabbath. Had our Fast been accepted, and our outward humiliation cordial, no blow should have distracted our preparations. Mr. Speaker, If we had taken the good Counsel of our Teachers at the Fast, and believed their report we had done well, and by this time no doubt we might have found out Achan, with his Wedge of Gold, and Babylonish Garments: but we have spent our time only in pilling off the Bark, and snatching the boughs and the branches of Popery, and that will do no good, for they will grow thicker and harder; what must we do then, Mr. Speaker, to preserve our Religion safe and sound, to us and our posterity, that our golden Candelstick be not removed? Why, the only way is to fall to our work in earnest, and lay the Axe to the root, to unloose the long and deep Fangs of Superstition and Popery: which being once done; the Bark will soon fall down. Let us then Mr. Speaker, endeavour a thorough Reformation, for if it be imperfect, it will prove the seed of dissolution, if not desolation; (which God forbidden) And to prevent that, I shall humbly move that the groves and high places of Idolaty, may be removed, and pulled down, and then God's wrath against England will be appeased; until then, never. The third, upon dismounting the Cannons, Decemb. 15. 1640. Mr. Speaker, A Man may easily see to what tend all these Innovations and alterations in Doctrine, and Discipline; and (without a perspective) discover a fare off the active toylesomnesse of these Spiritual Engineeres, to undermine the old and true foundations of Religion, and to establish their tottering Hierarchy in room thereof; which lest it should not hold, being built with untempered mortar, you see how careful they are by a vast Oath to force men's consciences, not to alter their government archiepiscopal etc. Mr. Speaker, the thoughts of the righteous are right, but the Counsels of the wicked are deceit, and nothing else is in their hearts but destruction and devastation; but to the Councillors of peace is joy; So long as they kept themselves within the circle of spiritual commerce; and studied to keep men's hearts upright to God and his truth; there was no such complaining in our streets of them, nor had we ever seen so many thousand hands against them, as now there are come in; and no marvel though God withdraw so many hearts and hands from them, who have turned so many out of the way of truth: via Tuta, they have stopped up; but via Devia, they have enlarged and laid open, as appears by their crooked Cannons: Mr. Speaker, I shall not go about to overthrow their government in the plural, but to limit and qualify it in some particulars; for as Sir Francis Bacon long since well observed, there were two things in the government of Bishops; of which he could never be satisfied: no more am I. The first was the sale exercises of their Authority: And secondly, the deputation of that authority. But Mr. Speaker, I shall not now dispute of either; for my own part I love some of them so well, and am so charitable to the rest, that I wish rather their reformation, than their ruin; but let me tell you withal, that if we shall find among them any proud Becket, or Wolsey Prelates, who stick not to write, Ego & Rex meus: or if there shall be found any cruel Bonners etc. such, I profess, I would not spare; for they will spare none: But if in the counterbalance there may be found but one good Cranmer, or one good Latimer, or Ridley, I would esteem and prize them (as rich jewels) fit to be set in the Kings own Cabinet; for such I am sure will pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for the peace of King Charles, and his three Kingdoms; which God long preserve in concord and unity. But Mr. Speaker, we must also be actors in the preservation of religious concordance, which will never be safe, nor well at quiet, until these heavy drossy Cannons with all their base mettle, be melted, and dissolved: let us then dismount them, and destroy them, which is my humble motion. The fourth, upon the Scotch Treaty. january 21. 1640. Mr. Speaker, THere is no malady more destructive to the natural, or politic body, than the mal Caduque, or falling sickness, nor is there any Physician or compound more to be esteemed than that which can cure it in either. Mr. Speaker, this unknown remedy, if we be wise to apply it, and take the receipt withal the ingredients, without any scruple of distaste; I am confident the recovery will be perfect, and the whole body of Great Britain safe and sound. Mr. Speaker, the happy union of Scotland and England, hath thus long ever since flourished in interchangeable blessings of plenty, and mutual love and friendship. But of late by what fatal disasters, and dark undermine we are divided, and severed into Scotish and English Armies; let their well composed preambles speak for me, which I wish were printed as an excellent emblem of brotherly love, that discovers who hath wounded us both, and how each should strive to help the other in distress, seeing their and our Religion and Laws lie both at stake together. Think of it what you will, (Noble Senate) their subsistence is ours, we live or die, rise or fall together. Let us then find out the Boutefaux of this Prelatical war, and make them to pay the shot for their labour, who no doubt, long for nothing more than that we should break with them, who worship but one God, and serve but one Master with us: Nor need we fear that they intent to dispossess the English of their inheritance or freehold, being ready to withdraw their forces upon reasonable terms, referring their demands of reparation for losses, to the justice and courtesy of this house, which I assure myself will give both a bountiful, cheerful, and speedy supply in this case of necessity; for, Bis dat, qui Cito dat, is the best motto, or motion at this time. The fifth, upon the impeachment of the Lord Strafford, and Canterbury, etc. February 26. 1640. Mr. Speaker, I Take it we have now sat in this great Council fifteen or sixteen weeks, a longer time than any Parliament hath done these many years; God hath given us a fair and blessed opportunity, if we lay hold of it; and call to mind the best Motto for a Parliament, which is, Non quàm diu, sed quàm benè. Mr. Speaker, We have had thus long under our Feathers many Estriges Eggs, which as some observe are longest in hatching, but once hatched, can digest Iron; and we have many Irons in the fire, and have hammered some upon the anvil of justice into nails; but we have not struck one stroke with the right hammer, nor riveted one nail to the head. Mr. Speaker, God forbidden we should be cruel or vindicative to any; but let us take heed we be not so to ourselves, and them that sent us; if we do not mend our pace, and so run as we may obtain. Mr. Speaker, I hope we shall make good the work we have undertaken, and win that prize and goal we aim at; else if we fail in this our pursuit of justice, it is time to look about us: for than I fear that we ourselves shall hardly scape . It will not be our six Subsidies, that will help us, unless we be good husbands, and cut of all superfluous charges, disband all needless Armies, and disarm all Papists, and banish all Priests, and Jusuits; and then we shall thrive and prosper. Provided always that we deny ourselves, and trust not too much in the arm of flesh, but be careful to preserve brotherly love and concord, lest discord and faction break, divide, and ruin us: but I hope God will make us all of one mind and one public spirit, that as we are descended from that ancient and noble English quiver, we may prove ourselves a right sheaf of English Arrows well united, well feathered, and sharply piled for public use, stoutly to defend and preserve the public good and safety of this famous Island of Great Britain, and that is my humble prayer and motion. The sixth, upon the Straffordian Knot. March 10. 1640. Mr. Speaker, IN this great and weighty cause, we ought seriously to consider, First, What we ourselves have done already in the accusation and impeachment of this great Earl, of high Treason. Secondly, let us remember what we now are, not only Parliament men, but public men, and English men. As Parliament men, let us follow the steps of our Ancestors, and be constant to that rule of Law which was their guide, and should be ours. As public men, forget not whom we here represent, and by how many chosen and trusted. As English men let us call to mind the undaunted spirits, and stout hearts of those ancient Heroës, from whom we are descended, how free they were from Pusillanimity, and how they scorned all Flattery, and Slavery; let us then now or never, Mr. Speaker, show the same blood runs in our veins. Thirdly, let us be well advised what to do, if in case we shall be denied justice in this particular, upon which depends not only the happiness, but the safety of this Parliament, of this Kingdom, of ourselves, and of our Posterities: and this is my Aviso. The seventh, upon the same subject. April 9 1641. Mr. Speaker, TRuth is the daughter of time, and experience the best Schoolmaster, who hath long since taught many men and estates the sad and woeful effects of an halfe-done work; those convulsions and renting pains, which the body of great Britain now feels, shows us that the ill humours and obstructions are not yet fully purged, nor dissolved. Mr. Speaker, God will have a through work done; if in stead of redressing evils, we think to transact all, by removing of persons, and not things, well may we hust our troubles for a season, but they will return with a greater violence. For believe it, Mr. Speaker (let us flatter ourselves as we please) a dim-sighted eye may see, that although we think we have now passed the equinoctial of the Straffordian line, and seem to have gone beyond Canterbury; yet their faction and undermining Agents (of all Religions) grow daily more and more powerful; and no doubt do labour an extirpation of all Parliaments, and men that will not think, say, and swear to their opinions and practice. Have we not then, Mr. Speaker, a wolf by the ears? is there any way to go , or wolfe-free, but one? then let us take, and nor forsake, that old English Parliamentary Road, which is Via tuta, and will bring us safely to our journey's end: that is my humble motion. The eighth, a seasonable motion for a loyal Covenant. May 3. 1641. Mr. Speaker, IF ever we intent to perfect and finish the great works we have begun, and come to our journey's end, let us take and follow the right way, which is Via tuta; and that is in a word to become holy Pilgrims, not Popish, and to endeavour to be loyal Covenanters with God and the King; first binding ourselves by a Parliamentary and Nationall Oath, (not a Straffordian, nor a Prelatical one) to preserve our Religion entire and pure, without the least compound of Superstition, or Idolatry: next, to defend the defender of the Faith, his Royal person, Crown, and dignity, and maintain our Sovereign in his glory and splendour, which can never be eclipsed, if the balance of justice go right, and his laws be duly executed. Thus doing, Mr. Speaker, and making Jerusalem our chiefest joy, we shall be a blessed Nation, and a happy People. But if we shall let go our Christian hold, and lose our Parliament proof, and old English well-tempered mettle▪ Let us take heed that our Buckler break not, our Parliaments melt not, and our golden Candlestick be not removed; which let me never live to see, nor England to feel the want of: that is my prayer to conclude my former motion. FINIS.