An Appeal to All Rational Men Concerning His Trial, Text

An Appeal to All Rational Men Concerning His Trial · Text

p. 5An Appeal to all Rational men, that love their God, Juſtice and Countrey, more then their Honor, Pleaſure and Money, Concerning the Kings Tryal.

May it pleaſe your Lordſhip,

MY Lord Preſident, and this High Court, erected for the moſt Comprehenſive, Impartial, and Glorious piece of Juſtice, that ever was Acted and Executed upon the Theatre of England, for the Trying and Judging of Charls Stuart, whom God in his wrath gave to be a king to this Nation, and will, I truſt, in great love, for his notorious Prevarications and Blood-guiltineſs, take him away from us; He that hath been the Original of all Injuſtice, and the Principal Author of more miſchiefs to the Free-born People of this Nation, then the beſt Arithmetician can well enumerate, ſtands now to give an account of his Stewardſhip, and to receive the good of Juſtice, for all the evil of his Injuſtice and Cruelty. Had he Ten thouſand lives, they could not all ſatisfie for the numerous, Horid and Barbarous Maſſacres of Myriades, and legions of Innocent perſons, which by his Commands, Commiſſions and Procurements (or at leaſt all the world muſt needs ſay, which he might have prevented; and he that ſuffers any man to be kill'd, when he may ſave his life without danger of his own, is a Murtherer) have been cruelly ſlain, and inhumanely murthered, in this renowned Albion; Anglia hath been made an Aceldama, and her yonger ſiſter Ireland a Land of Ire and Miſery; and yet this hard-hearted man, as he went out of the Court, down the ſtairs Jan. 22. ſaid (as ſome of his Gnard told me and others) That he was not troubled for any of the blood that hath been ſhed, but for the blood of p. 6one man (peradventure he meant Strafford) He was no more affected with a Liſt that was brought in to Oxford of Five or ſix thouſand ſlain at Edgehill, then to read one of Ben: Johnſons Tragedies: You Gentlemen Royaliſts that fought for him, if ye had loſt your lives for his ſake, you ſee he would have no more pitied you by his own confeſſion, then you do a poor Worm; and yet what heart but would cleave, if it were a Rock, melt, if it were Ice, break, if it were a Flint, or diſſolve, if it were a Diamond, to conſider that ſo much precious Proteſtant blood ſhould be ſhed in theſe three kingdoms, ſo many gallant valiant Men of all ſorts and conditions, to be ſacrificed and loſe their lives, and many of them to dye ſo deſperately in regard of their Eternal conditions, and all this meerly and onelyonly for the ſatisfying and fulfilling of one mans ſinful luſt and wicked will; a good Shepherd is he that lays down his life, or ventures it to ſave the Sheep; but for one to be ſo proudly wedded to his own conceits, as ſo maliciouſly to oppoſe his private Opinion, againſt the publique Judgement and Reaſon of State, and to make head againſt the Parliament, who acknowledged him to be head thereof, ſo far as to give him the Honor of the Royal Aſſent, in ſettling the Militia and Safety of the People: I ſay, for a Proteſtant Prince, ſo beloved at home, and feared abroad, that in love, and by gentle means might have had any thing from the Parliament, for him to occaſion the ſhedding of ſo much blood, for a pretended Prerogative, as hereafter will appear nothing in effect but to fix and perpetuate an abſolute Tyranny; I can ſay no leſs, But, O Lucifer, from whence art thou faln, and what hereticks are they in politicks, that would have had ſuch a man to live? much more that think his Actions to have merited love and praiſe from Heaven and Earth. But now to diffect the Charge.

1. That the kings of England are truſted with a limited power to govern by Law, the whole ſtream and current of Legal Authorities run ſo limpid and clear, that I ſhould but weary thoſe that know it already, and trouble thoſe that need not know the particular caſes; for it is one of the Fundamentals of Law, That the king is not above the Law, but the Law above the King: I could eaſily deraign it from 1 Edward 3. to the Juriſdiction of Courts, That the king has no more Power or Authority then what by Law is concredited and committed to p. 7him; but the moſt famous Authority is Forteſcue, Chancellor to H. 6. (and therefore undoubtedly would not clip his Maſters Prerogative) who moſt Judicially takes a difference between a Government wholly Regal and Seignoral; as in Turkey, Ruſſia, France, Spain, &c. and a Government Politique and mixt, where the Law keeps the beam even between Soveraignty and Subjection, as in England, Denmark, Swede, and Poland; the firſt, where the Edict of a Prince makes the Law, reſembles an impetuous inundation of the waters, whereby the Corn and Hay, and other Fruits of the Earth are ſpoiled, as when it is Midwinter at Midſummer; the latter is like a ſweet ſmooth Stream, running by the pleaſant Fields and Meadows: That by the Law of England the King ought not to impoſe any thing upon the people, or take any thing away from them to the value of a farthing, but by common conſent in Parliaments or National meetings; and that the people of Common-Right, and by ſeveral Statutes ought to have Parliaments yearly, or oftner if need be, for the Redreſs of publique grievances, and for the Enacting of good and wholſome Laws, and repealing of old Statutes of Omeri which are prejudicial to the Nation: And that the king hath not by Law ſo much power as a Juſtice of Peace, to commit any man to Priſon for any offence whatſoever, becauſe all ſuch matters were committed to proper Courts and Officers of Juſtice: And if the King by his verbal command ſend for any perſon to come before him, if the party refuſed to attend, and the meſſenger endevoring to force him, they fell to blows; if the meſſenger killed the party ſent for, this by the Law is Murther in him, but if he killed the meſſenger, this was juſtifiable in him, being in his own defence, ſo as to ſue forth a pardon of courſe; theſe and many other Caſes of like nature are ſo clear & well known, that I wil not preſume to multiply particulars.

That the king took an Oath at his Coronation to preſerve the Peace of the Nation, to do Juſtice to all, and to keep and obſerve the Laws which the people have, himſelf confeſſes: And it was charged upon the late Arch-Biſhop, that he Emaſculated the Oath,1. Book of Ord. fol. and left out very material words, Which the people ſhall chuſe, which certainly he durſt not have done, without the kings ſpecial Command; And it ſeems to me no light preſumption, that from that very day he had a Deſign to alter and ſubvert the Fundamental Laws, and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government; p. 8but though there had been an Oath, yet by ſpecial Office and duty of his place, every King of England is obliged to Act for the peoples good, for all power, as it is originally in the people (he muſt needs be extream ignorant, malicious, or a ſelf-deſtroyer, that ſhall deny it) ſo it is given forth for their preſervation, nothing for their deſtruction; for a king to rule by luſt and not by Law, is a creature that was never of Gods making, not of Gods approbation, but his permiſſion; And though ſuch men are ſaid to be Gods on Earth, 'tis in no other ſence then the Devil is called the God of this world: It ſeems that one paſſage which the king would have offered to the Court (which was not permitted him to diſpute the Supreme Authority in the Nation, and ſtanding mute, the Charge being for High Treaſon, it is a conviction in Law, was, That 1 Sam. 8. is a Copy of the kings Commiſſion, by vertue whereof, he as a king might rule and govern as he liſt, that he might take the Peoples Sons and appoint them for himſelf, for his Chariots, and to be his Horſemen, and take their Daughters to be his Confectionaries, and take their Fields and Vineyards, and Oliveyards, even the beſt of them, and thair goodlieſt yong men, and their Aſſes, and give them to his Officers, and to his Servants; which indeed is a Copy and Patern of an abſolute Tyrant, and abſolute Slaves, where the people have no more then the Tyrant will afford them: The holy Spirit in that Chapter does not inſinuate what a good king ought to do, but what a wicked king would preſume to do. Beſides, Saul and David had extraordinary callings, but all juſt power is now derived from, and conferred by the people; yet in the caſe of Saul, it is obſervable, that the people out of pride to be like other Nations, deſired a king, and ſuch a king as the Heathens had, which were all Tyrants; for they that know any thing in Hiſtory, know that the firſt four Monarchs were all Tyrants at firſt, til they gained the peoples conſent. Nimrod the great Hunter was Ninus that built Nineveh, the firſt Tyrant and Conquerer that had no Title, & ſo were all kingdoms, which are not Elective till the peoples ſubſequent conſent, and though it be by deſcent, yet 'tis a continuation of a Conqueſt till the people conſent, & voluntarily ſubmit to a Government, they are but Slaves, & in reaſon they may free themſelves if they can: In France the king begins his Raign, from the day of his Coronation; the Archbiſhop asks the people if he p. 9ſhall be King; the twelve Peers, or ſome that perſonate them, ſay, yes, they girt the ſword about him, then he ſwares to defend the Lawes: And is any thing more naturall then to keepe an Oath? And though vertuous Kings have prevailed with the People to make their Crownes Hereditary, yet the Coronation ſhews the ſhell, that the kernell hath been in▪ Samuel was a good Judge, and there was nothing could be objected againſt him, therefore God was diſpleaſed at their inordinate deſire of a King; and it ſeemes to me that the Lord declares his diſlike of all ſuch Kings as the heathens were, that is, Kings with an unlimited power, that are not tied to laws; for he gave them a King in his wrath, therein dealing with them as the wiſe Phyſitian with the diſtempered and impatient Patient, who deſiring to drink wine, tels him the danger of inflammation, yet wine he will have, and the Phyſitian conſidering a little wine will do but little hurt, rather then his Patient by fretting ſhould take greater hurt, preſcribes a little whitewine, wherein the Phyſitian doth not approve his drinking of wine, but of two evils chooſeth the leaſt. The Jewes would have a King for Majeſtie and Splendor, like the Heathens; God permits this, he approves it not; it ſeems to me that the Lord renounces the very Genus of ſuch Kings as are there mentioned, and the old word Conning (by Contraction king,) does not ſignifie power or force to do what he will, but a knowing, wiſe, diſcreete man, that opens the Peoples eyes, and does not lead them by the noſes, but governe them with wiſedome and diſcretion for their owne good. Therefore Gentlemen-Royaliſts, be not ſo mad as to miſconſtrue, either the Oaths of Allegiance or Supremacy or any League or Covenant that any man ſhould ſweare to give any one leave to cut his throat; the true meaning is that the King of England was ſupreme in this land, in oppoſition to the Pope, or any other Prince or Potentate, as the words of the Oath do import, that no foraigne State Prince or Potentate, &c. In caſe of any forraigne invaſion, the King was by Law to be Generaliſſimo, to command the People for their owne ſafety, and ſo it was expounded by the Parliament in 13. Eliz. which for ſome reaſon of State was not permitted to be printed with the Statutes, beſides God told p. 10thoſe Kings whom he had formerly annoynted, what their duty was; not to exalt themſelves overmuch above their brethren, to delight themſelves in the Law of God; out of which I inferre that the Turkes, Tarters, Muſcovites, French, Spaniards, and all people that live at the beck and nod of tyrannicall men, may and ought to free themſelves from that tyranny, if, and when they can; for ſuch Tyrants that ſo domineer with a rod of iron▪ do not governe by Gods permiſſive hand of approbation or benediction, but by the permiſſive hand of his Providence, ſuffering them to ſcourge the People, for ends beſt known to himſelfe, untill he open a way for the people to work out their owne enfranchiſements.

But before I ſpeak of the warre, it will be neceſſary for the ſatisfaction of rationall men, to open and prove the Kings wicked deſigne, wherewith he ſtands charged. Now that he had from the beginning of his raigne, ſuch a deſigne and indeavour ſo to teare up the foundations of Government, that Law ſhould be no Protection to any mans perſon or eſtate, will clearly appeare by what follows.

1. By his not taking the Oath ſo fully as his Predeceſſours did, that ſo when the Parliament ſhould tender good laws to him for the Royal aſſent, he might readily anſwer that he was not by Oath obliged to confirme or corroborare the ſame.

2. By his diſhonourable and perfidious dealing with the People at his Coronation, when he ſet forth a Proclamation, that in regard of the infection then ſpread through the Kingdome, He promiſed to diſpenſe with thoſe knights, that by an old ſtatute were to attend at the Coronation, who were thereby required not to attend, but did notwithſtanding with in few months after take advantage of their abſence, and raiſed a vaſte ſumme of money out of their eſtates at the Councel Table, where they pleading the ſaid Proclamation, for their juſtification, they were anſwered that the law of the land was above any Proclamation, like that Tyrant that when he could not by law execute a virgin, commanded her to be deflored, and then put to death.

3. By his altering the Pattents and Commiſſions to the Judges, w^ch having heretofore had their places granted to them ſo long as they ſhould behave themſelvs therin, he made them but during p. 11pleaſure, that ſo if the Judges ſhould not declare the Law to be as he would have it, he might with a wet ſinger remove them▪ and put in ſuch as ſhould not only ſay but ſwear if need werethat the Law was as the king would have it▪ for when a man ſhall give five or ten thouſand pounds for a Judges place during the kings pleaſure, and he ſhall the next day ſend to him to know his opinion, of a difference in law between the king and a ſubject, & it ſhalbe intimated unto him, that if he do not deliver his opinion for the king, he is likely to be removed out of his place the next day, which if ſo; he knows not how to live, but muſt rot in a Priſon for the money which he borrowed to buy his place, as was well known to be ſome of their caſes, who underhand and cloſely bought great places; to elude the danger of the ſtatute, whether this was not too heavy a temptation for the ſhoulders of moſt men to bear, is no hard matter to determine; ſo as upon the matter, that very act of his made the King at the leaſt a potentiall Tyrant; for when that ſhall be law, which a King ſhall declare himſelfe, or which ſhall be declared by thoſe whom he chooſes, this brings the People to the very next ſtep to ſlavery.

But that which does irrefragably prove the deſign▪ was his reſtleſſe deſire to deſtroy Parliaments, or to make them uſeleſſe: And for that, who knowes not but that there were three or four National meetings in Parliament in the firſt foure yeares of his Reign, which were called for ſupply to bring mony into his coffers in point of Subſidies, rather then for any benefit to the People, as may appear by the few good Lawes that were then made. But that which is moſt memorable, is the untimely diſſolving of the Parliament in 4^o. Car. when Sir John Elliot and others (who managed a Conference with the Houſe of Peers concerning the Duke of Buckin ham, who amongſt other things was charged concerning the death of King James) were committed cloſe priſoner to the Tower, where he loſt his life by cruel indurance. Which I may not paſſe over without a ſpecial Animadverſion: for ſure there is no Turk or Heathen but will ſay that if he were any way guilty of his Fathers death, let him die for it.

I would not willingly be ſo injurious to the honeſt Reader, as to make him buy that again which he hath formerly met with in p. 12the Parliaments Declaration or elſwhere; in ſuch a caſe a marginal reference may be ſufficient. Nor would I herein be ſo preſumptuous as to prevent any thing that happily may be intended in any Declaration for more general ſatisfaction; but humbly to offer a Students mite which ſatisfies my ſelf, with ſubmiſſion to better judgments.

How the King firſt came to the Crown, God and his own Conſcience beſt knew. It was well known & obſerved at Court, that a little before, he was a profeſſed enemy to the Duke of Buckingham; but inſtantly upon the death of King James, took him into ſuch ſpecial protection, grace and favour, that upon the matter he divided the Kingdom with him. And when the Earl of Briſtol had exhibited a Charge againſt the ſaid Duke, the 13. Article whereof concerned the death of King James, He inſtantly diſſolved that Parliament, that ſo he might protect the Duke from the juſtice thereof, and would never ſuffer any legal inquiry to be made for his Fathers death. The Rabbines obſerve that that which ſtuck moſt with Abraham about Gods command to ſacrifice Iſaac, was this: Can I not be obedient, unleſſe I be unnaturall? What will the Heathens ſay, when they heare I have killed my only ſon? What will an Indian ſay to this caſe? A King hath all power in his hands to do juſtice; There is one accuſed upon ſtrong preſumptions at the leaſt, for poiſoning that Kings Father; The King protects him from juſtice; Whether do you believe that himſelf had any hand in his Fathers death? Had the Duke been accuſed for the death of a begger, he ought not to have protected him from a Judicial Trial. We know that by Law it is no leſſe then miſpriſion of Treaſon to conceal a Treaſon; and to conceal a Murder, ſtrongly implies a guilt thereof, and makes him a kind of Acceſſary to the fact. He that hath no nature to do juſtice to his own Father, could it ever be expected that he ſhould do juſtice to others? Was he fit to continue a Father to the people, who was without natural affection to his own Father? Will he love a Kingdome, that ſhewed no love to himſelf, unleſſe it was that he durſt not ſuffer Inquiſition to be made for it? But I leave it as a riddle, which at the day of Judgement will be expounded and unridled, for ſome ſinnes p. 13will not be made manifeſt till that day; with this only, That had he made the Law of God his delight, and ſtudied therein night and day, as God commanded his Kings to do; or had he but ſtudied Scripture half ſo much as Ben: Johnſon or Shakeſpear, he might have learnt, That when Amaziah was ſetled in the2 King. 12. 20. & 14. 1, 5.2 Kgs 12:202 Kgs 14:12 Kgs 14:5 Kingdom, he ſuddenly did juſtice upon thoſe ſervants which had killed his father Joaſh: he did not by any pretended prerogative excuſe or protect them, but delivered them up into the hands of that Juſtice which the horridneſſe of the fact did undoubtedly demerit.27 Mar. 5. Car.Mark 5

That Parliament 4. Car. proving ſo abortive, the King ſets forth a Proclamation, That none ſhould preſume to move him to call Parliaments, for he knew how to raiſe monies enough without the help of Parliaments, therefore in 12 years refuſeth to call any. In which interval and intermiſſion, how he had oppreſſed the people by incroachments and uſurpations upon their liberties and properties; and what vaſt ſummes of mony he had forceably exacted and exhauſted by illegal Patents and Monopolies of all ſorts, I referre the Reader to that moſt judicious and full Declaration of the ſtate of the Kingdeme, publiſhed in the beginning of this Parliament. That Judgment of Ship-mony did upon the matter formalize the people abſolute ſlaves, and him an abſolute Tyrant: for if the King may take from the people in caſe of neceſſity, and himſelf ſhall be Judge of that neceſſity, then cannot any man ſay that he is worth 6^d. for if the King ſay that he hath need of that 6^d. then by Law he muſt have it; I mean that great Nimrod, that would have made all England a Forreſt, and the People which the Biſhop call his ſheep, to be his Veniſon to be hunted at his pleaſure.

Nor does the common objection, That the Judges and evil Counſellors, and not the King, ought to be reſponſible for ſuch male-Adminiſtrations, injuſtice and oppreſſion; beare the weight of a feather in the ballance of right reaſon. For, 1. Who made ſuch wicked and corrupt Judges? were they not his own Creatures? and ought not every man to be accountable for the works of his own hands? He that does not hinder the doing of evil, if it lies in his power to prevent it, is guilty of it as a commander p. 14thereof. He that ſuffered thoſe black Starres to inflict ſuch barbarous cruelties and unheard of puniſhments, as Brandings, Slitting of Noſes, &c. upon honeſt men, to the diſhonour of the Proteſtant Religion, and diſgrace of the Image of God ſhining in the face of man, He well deſerv'd to have been ſo ſerved. But, 2. He had the benefit of thoſe illegal Fines and Judgments. I agree, That if a Judge ſhall oppreſſe I. S. for the benefit of I. D. the King ought not to anſwer for this, but the Judge, unleſſe he protect the Judge againſt the complaint of I. S. and in that caſe he makes himſelf guilty of it. But when an unjuſt judgment is given againſt I. S. for the Kings benefit, and the Fine to come immediately into his Coffers; he that receives the mony, muſt needs be preſumed to conſent to the judgement. But, 3. Mark a Machiaveipolicy; Call no Parliaments to queſtion the injuſtice and corruption of Judges for the Peoples relief, And make your own Iudges, and let that be Law that they declare; whether it be reaſonable or unreaſonable it is no matter.

But then how came it to paſſe that we had any more Parliaments? Had we not a gracious King to call a Parliament when there was ſo much need of it? and to paſſe ſo many gracious Acts to put downe the Starre-Chamber, &c? Nothing leſſe, It was not any voluntary free Act of grace, not the leaſt ingredient or tincture of love or goodaffection to the people, that called the ſhort Parliament in 16▪ but to ſerve his owne turne againſt the Scots, whom he then had deſigned to enſlave; and thoſe ſeven Acts of grace which the King paſt, were no more then his duty to do, nor halfe ſo much but giving the people a take of their own griſts, and he diſſents with them about the Militia, which commanded all the reſt; he never intended thereby any more good and ſecurity to the people, then he that ſtealing the Gooſe, leaves the feathers behinde him: But to anſwer the queſtion, thus it was;

The king being wholly given up to be led by the counſels of a Jeſuited Party, who indeavoured to throw a bone of diſſention p. 15among us, that they might caſt in their net into our troubled waters, and catch more fiſh; for St. Peters Sea perſwaded the King, to ſet up a new forme of Prayer in Scotland, and laid the bait ſo cunningly that whether they ſaw it or not, they were undone; if they ſaw the myſtery of iniquity couched in it they would reſiſt, and ſo merit puniſhment for rebelling; if they ſwallowed it, it would make way for worſe; well, they ſaw the poiſon and refuſed to taſte it; the King makes warre; and many that loved honour and wealth more then God, aſſiſted him; down he went with an Army, but his treaſure waſted in a ſhort time▪ fight they would not for feare of an afterreckoning; ſome Commanders propound that they ſhould make their demands, and the King grants all, comes back to London, and burnes the Pacification, ſaying it was counterfeit, they reaſſume their forts, he raiſes a ſecond warre againſt them, and was neceſſitated to call a Parliament, offering to lay down ſhipmoney for twelve ſubſidies; they refuſe; the King in high diſpleaſure breakes off the Parliament, and in a Declaration commands them not to thinke of any more Parliaments, for he would never call another.

There was a King of Egypt that cruelly oppreſt the People, they poore ſlaves complaining to one another, he feared a riſing, and commanded that none ſhould complaine upon paine of cruell death; Spies being abroad, they often met, but durſt not ſpeake, but parted with tears in their eyes, which declared that they had more to utter, but durſt not; this ſtruck him to greaterfears, he commanded that none ſhould look upon one anothers eyes at parting; therefore their griefes being too great to be ſmothered, they fetcht a deep ſigh when they parted, which moved them ſo to compaſſionate one anothers wrongs that they ran in and killed the Tyrant. The long hatching Iriſh treaſon was now ripe, and therefore it was neceſſary that England and Scotland ſhould be in Combuſtion, leaſt we might help the Iriſh Proteſtants; well, the Scots get Newcaſtle, he knew they would truſt him no more, he had ſo often broke with them, therefore no hopes to get them out by a treaty; many Lords and the City p. 16petition for a Parliament, the King was at ſuch a neceſſity, that yield he muſt, to that which he moſt abhorred, God had brought him to ſuch a ſtraite, he that a few moneths before aſſumed the power of God, Commanding men not to thinke of Parliaments to reſtraine the free thoughts of the heart of man, was conſtrained to call one which they knew he would breake off when the Scots were ſent home, therefore got a Confirmation of it, that he ſhould not diſſolve it without the conſent of both Houſes, of which he had no hopes, or by force which he ſuddenly attempted, and the Engliſh Army in the North, was to have come up to confound the Parliament and this rebellious and diſloyall City, as the King called it, and for their paines was promiſed thirty thouſand pounds and the plunder as by the examinations of Colonel Goring, Legge, &c. doth more fully appeare.

And here by the way I cannot but commend the City Malignants, He calls them Rebels, they call him a gracious King; He by his Proclamation at Oxford prohibits all commerce and entercourſe of trade betweene this populous City (the life and intereſt whereof conſiſts in trade, without which many thouſands cannot ſubſiſt) and other parts of the kingdome, ſtill they do good againſt evill, and petitioning him ſo often to cut their throats, are troubled at nothing ſo much as that they are not reduced to thatDarlingrub. former and a worſe bondage then when there was a Lord Warden made in the City, and the King ſent for as much of their eſtates as he pleaſed. But ſurely the Oxford-ſhire15. Apr. 20. Car. men are more to be commended; for when the King had commanded by his Proclamation, that what Corne, Hay, and other proviſion in the County of Oxford could not be fetcht into the ſaid City for his Gariſon, ſhould be conſumed and deſtroyed by fire, for feare it ſhould fall into the hands of the Parliaments friends; a cruelty not to be parallel'd by any Infidell, Heathen, or pagan King, nor to be preſidented amongſt the moſt avowed and profeſſed enemies, much leſ…e from a King to his Subjects; they reſolved never to truſt him any more.

p. 17But the great Queſtion will be, What hath been the true ground and occaſion of the War? which unleſs I clear, and put it out of queſtion, as the Charge imports, I ſhall fall ſhort of what I chiefly aym at, viz. That the King ſet up his Standard of War, for the advancement and upholding of his Perſonal Intereſt, Power, and▪ pretended Prerogative, againſt the Publique Intereſt of Common-Right, Peace and Safety; and thus I prove it:

1. He fought for the Militia by Sea and Land, to have it at his abſolute diſpoſe, and to juſtifie & maintain his illegal Commiſſions of Array; and this he pretended was his Birthright by the Law of England: which if it were ſo, then might he by the ſame Reaſon command all the money in the kingdom: for he that carries the Sword, will command the Purſe.

2. The next thing that he pretended to fight for, was his Power to call Parliaments when he pleaſed, and diſſolve them when he liſt: If they will ſerve his turn, then they may ſit by a Law to inſlave the People; ſo that the People had better chooſe all the Courtiers and Kings Favorites at firſt, then to trouble themſelves with ludibrious Elections to aſſemble the Freeholders together, to their great labor & expence both of time & coyn, and thoſe which are choſen Knights & Burgeſſes to make great preparations, to take long Journeys to London themſelves & their Attendants, to ſee the King & Lords in their Parliament robes ride in ſtate to the Houſe, and with Domitian, to catch Flies; and no ſooner ſhall there be any breathings, or a Spirit of Juſtice ſtirring & diſcovered in the Houſe of Commons, but the king ſends the Black-Rod, and diſſolves the Parliament, and ſends them back again as wiſe as they were before, but not with ſo much money in their purſes, to tell ſtories to the Freeholders of the bravery of the king and Lords.

3. Well, but if this be too groſs, and that the People begin to murmure and clamor for another Parliament, then there goes out another Summons, and they meet, and ſit for ſome time, but to as much purpoſe as before; for when the Commons have preſented any Bill for Redreſs of a publique Grievance, then the king hath ſeveral games to play to make all fruitleſs; as, firſt his own Negative Voyce that if Lords and Commons are both agreed▪ then he will adviſe; which (I know not by what ſtrange Doctrine) hath been of late conſtrued to be a plain denyal, though under favor at the firſt it was no more but to allow him two or three days time p. 18to conſider of the Equity of the Law; in which time if he could not convince them of the Injuſtice of it, then ought he by his Oath and by Law to conſent to it.

4. But if by this means the king had contracted hard thoughts from the people, and that not onelyonly the Commons, but many of the Lords, that have the ſame noble blood running in their veins, as thoſe Engliſh Barons, whoſe Swords were the chief Inſtruments that purchaſed Magna Charta: then, that the king might be ſure to put ſome others between him and the peoples hatred, The next prerogative that he pretended to have, was to be the ſole Judge of Chivalry, to have the ſole power of conferring Honors, to make as many Lords as he pleaſed, that ſo he may be ſure to have two againſt one, if the Houſe of Commons (by reaſon of the multitude of Burgeſſes, which he likewiſe pretended a power to make as many Borough-Towns and Corporations as he pleaſed) were not pack'd alſo: And this is that glorious priviledge of the Engliſh Parliaments, ſo much admired for juſt nothing; for if his pretended Prerogative might ſtand for Law, as was challenged by his adherents, never was there a purer cheat put upon any people, nor a more ready way to enſlave them, then by priviledge of Parliament, being juſt ſuch a mockery of the people, as that Mock-Parliament at Oxford was, where the kings conſent muſt be the Figure, and the Repreſentative ſtand but for a Cypher.

5. But then out of Parliament the people are made to believe, That the king hath committed all Juſtice to the Judges, and diſtributed the execution thereof into ſeveral Courts; and that the king cannot ſo much as impriſon a man, nor impoſe any thing upon, nor take any thing away from the people, as by Law he ought not to do: But now ſee what prerogative he challenges.

1. If the King have a minde to have any publique ſpirited man removed out of the way, this man is killed, the murtherer known, a Letter comes to the Judge, and it may be it ſhall be found but Manſlaughter; if it be found Murther, the man is condemned, but the King grants him a Pardon, which the Judges will allow, if the word Murther be in it; but becauſe it is too groſs to pardon Murther, therefore the king ſhall grant him a Leaſe of his life for ſeven years, and then renew it (like a Biſhops Leaſe) as he did to Major Prichard, who was lately Juſticed, who being a Servant p. 19to the Earl of Lindſey, murthered a Gentleman in Lincolnſhire, and was condemned, and had a Leaſe of his life from the king, as his own friends have credibly told me.

2. For matter of Liberty: The King or any Courtier ſends a man to Priſon, if the Judge ſet him at liberty, then put him out of his place, a temptation too heavy for thoſe that love Money and Honor more then God, to bear; therefore any Judgement that is given between the King and a Subject, 'tis not worth a ruſh, for what will not money do?

Next he challenges a Prerogative to enhance and debaſe moneys, which by Law was allowed him, ſo far as to ballance Trade, and no further; that if gold went high beyond Sea, it might not be cheap here, to have it all bought up and tranſported: but under colour of that, he challenges a Prerogative, that the king may by Proclamation make Leather currant, or make a Six pence go for Twenty ſhillings, or a Twenty ſhillings for Six pence: which not to mention any thing of the project of Farthings or Braſs money, He that challenges ſuch a Prerogative, is a potential Tyrant; for if he may make my Twelve pence in my pocket worth but Two pence, what property hath any man in any thing that he enjoys?

Another Prerogative pretended was, That the king may avoid any Grant, and ſo may couſen and cheat any man by a Law; the ground whereof is, That the kings Grants ſhall be taken according to his intention▪ which in a ſober ſence I wiſh, that all mens Grants might be ſo conſtrued according to their intentions, expreſt by word or writing; but by this means it being hard to know what the king intended, his Grants have been like the Devils Oracles, taken in any contrary ſence for his own advantage.

1. R. In the famous Caſe of Altonwoods, there is vouched the Lord Lovels Caſe, That the king granted Lands to the Lord Lovel and his Heirs males, not for ſervice done, but for a valuable conſideration of money paid: The Patentee well hoped to have enjoyed the Land, not onelyonly during his life, but that his Heirs males, at leaſt of his body, ſhould have likewiſe enjoyed it: but the Judges finding, it ſeems, that the king was willing to keep the money, and have his Land again (for what other reaſon no mortal man can fathom) reſolved that it was a void Grant, and that nothing paſſed to the Patentee. I might inſtance in many p. 20caſes of like nature, through out all the Reports, as one once made his boaſt that he never made or paſt any Patent or Charter from the Crown, but he reſerved one ſtarting hole or other, and knew how to avoid it, and ſo meerly to couſen and defraud the poor Patentee. So that now put all theſe Prerogatives together: 1. The Militia by Sea and Land. 2. A liberty to call Parliaments when he pleaſed, and to adjourn, prorogue or diſſolve them at pleaſure. 3. A Negative voice, that the people cannot ſave themſelves without him, and muſt cut their own throats, if commanded ſo to do. 4. The nomination and making of all the Judges, that upon peril of the loſs of their places, muſt declare the Law to be as he pleaſes. 5. A power to confer Honors upon whom, and how he pleaſes: A covetous baſe wretch for Five or Ten thouſand pounds to be Courted, who deſerves to be carted. 6. To pardon Murtherers, whom the Lord ſays ſhall not be pardoned. 7. To ſet a value and price of Moneys as he pleaſes, that if he be to pay Ten thouſand pounds, he may make Leather by his Proclamation to be currant that day, or a Five ſhillings to paſs for twenty ſhillings; and if to receive ſo much, a Twenty ſhillings to paſs for Five ſhillings. And laſtly, a Legal theft to avoid his own Grants: I may boldly throw the Gantlet, and challenge all the Machiavels in the world, to invent ſuch an exquiſite platform of Tyrannical Domination, and ſuch a perfect Tyranny without maim or blemiſh, as this is, and that by a Law, which is worſt of all. But the truth is, theſe are no Legal Prerogatives, but Uſurpations, Incroachments and Invaſions upon the Peoples Rights and Liberties, and this eaſily effected without any great depth of policy; for tis but being ſure to call no Parliaments, or make them uſeleſs, and make the Judges places profitable, and place Avarice upon the Bench, and no doubt but the Law ſhall ſound as the king would have it: But let me thus far ſatisfie the ingenuous Reader, that all the Judges in England cannot make one Caſe to be Law that is not Reaſon, no more then they can prove a hair to be white that is black which if they ſhould ſo declare or adjudge, it is meer nullity; for Law muſt be Reaſon adjudged, where Reaſon is the Genus, and the Judgement in ſome Court makes the Differentiae; and I never found that the fair hand of the common Law of England, ever reached out any Prerogative to the king above the meaneſt man, but in three caſes: 1. In matters of honor and preeminence to his perſon, p. 21and in matters of Intereſt, that he ſhould have Mines Royal of Gold and Silver, in whoſe Land ſoever they were diſcovered; and Fiſhes Royal, as Sturgeons and Whales, in whoſe ſtreams or water ſoever they were taken, which very rarely happened, or to have tythes out of a Pariſh that no body elſe could challenge; for ſays the Law, The moſt Noble Perſons are to have the moſt Noble things: 2. To have his Patents freed from deceit, that he be not overreached or couſened in his Contracts, being imployed about the great and arduous affairs of the Kingdom. 3. His Rights to be freed from incurſion of time, not to be bound up by any Statute of Non▪claim; for indeed poſſeſſion is a vain plea, when the matter of Right is in queſtion, for Right can never dye; and ſome ſuch honorable priviledges of mending his plea, or ſuing in what Court he will, and ſome ſuch prerogatives of a middle indifferent nature, that could not be prejudicial to the people: but that the Law of England ſhould give the King any ſuch vaſt immence precipitating power, or any ſuch God▪like ſtate, that he ought not to be accountable for wicked actions, or Male-Adminiſtrations and Miſgovernment; as he hath challenged and averr'd in his anſwer to the Petition of Right, or any ſuch principals of Tyranny, which are as inconſiſtent with the peoples Liberties and Safety, as the Ark and Dagon, light and darkneſs▪ in an intenſive degree, is a moſt vain and irrational thing to imagine; and yet that was the ground of the War, as himſelf often declared, and that would not have half contented him, if he had come in by the Sword. But ſome rational men object, How can it be murther, ſay they, for the king to raiſe Forces againſt the Parliament? ſince there is no other way of determining differences between the king and his Subjects, but by the Sword, for the Law is no competent Judge between two Snpreme powers; and then if it be onelyonly a contending for each others Right, Where is the malice, that makes the killing of a man murther? Take the anſwer thus, firſt, How is it poſſible to imagine two Supreme powers in one Nation, no more then two Suns in one Firmament; if the king be Supreme, the Parliament muſt be Subordinate; if they Supreme▪ then he Subordinate: But then it is alleaged, That the king challenged a power onelyonly co-ordinate, that the Parliament could do nothing without him, nor he without them: Under favor, two powers co-ordinate is as abſurd as the other, for though in p. 22quiet times the Commons have waited upon the king, and allowed him a Negative voyce in matters of leſs concernment, where delay could not prove dangerous to the people, yet when the Commons ſhall Vote that the kingdom is in danger, unleſs the Militia be ſo and ſo ſetled, now if he will not agree to it, they are bound in duty to do it themſelves: and 'tis impoſſible to imagine that ever any man ſhould have the conſent of the people to be their king upon other conditions (without which no man ever had right) to wear the diadem; for Conqueſt makes a Title amongſt Wolves and Bears, but not amongſt men.

When the firſt agreement was concerning the power of Parliaments, if the king ſhould have ſaid, Gentlemen, are you content to allow me any Negative Voyce, that if you Vote the kingdom to be in danger, unleſs ſuch an Act paſs, if I refuſe to aſſent, ſhall nothing be done in that caſe? ſurely no rational man but would have anſwered, May it pleaſe your Majeſty, we ſhall uſe all dutiful means to procure your Royal Aſſent, but if you ſtill refuſe, we muſt not ſit ſtill and ſee our ſelves ruined, we muſt and will ſave our ſelves whether you will or no; and will any man ſay that the kings power is diminiſhed becauſe he cannot hurt the people, or that a man is leſs in health that hath many Phiſitians to attend him? God is Omnipotent that cannot ſin, and all power is for the peoples good, but a Prince may not ſay that is for the peoples good, which they ſay and feel to be for their hurt. And as for the malice, the Law implies that; as when a thief ſets upon a man to rob him, he hath no ſpite to the man, but love to the money: but it is an implyed malice, that he will kill the people unleſs they will be Slaves.

Q. But by what Law is the King condemned?

R. By the Fundamental Law of this kingdom, by the general Law of all Nations, and the Unanimous conſent of all Rational men in the world, written in every mans heart with the Pen of a Diamond in Capital Letters, and a Character ſo legible that he that runs may read, viz. That when any man is intruſted with the Sword for the protection and preſervation of the people, if this man ſhall imploy it to their deſtruction, which was put into his hand for their ſafety, by the Law of that Land he becomes an Enemy to that people, and deſerves the moſt exemplary and ſevere puniſhment that can be invented: And this is the firſt neceſſary p. 23Fundamental Law of every kingdom, which by Intrinſecal rules of Government muſt preſerve it ſelf: and this Law needed not be expreſt, That if a King become a Tyrant, he ſhall dye for it, 'tis ſo naturally implyed; we do not uſe to make Laws which are for the preſervation of Nature, that a man ſhould eat, and drink, and buy himſelf cloaths, and injoy other natural comforts; no kingdom ever made any Laws for it: And as we are to defend our ſelves naturally, without any written Law, from hunger and cold, ſo from outward violence; therefore if a king would dedroy a people, 'tis abſurd and rediculous to ask by what Law he is to dye. And this Law of nature is the Law of God written in the fleſhly tables of mens hearts, that like the eldeſt Siſter, hath a prerogative right of power before any poſitive Law whatſoever; and this Law of nature is an undubitable Legiſlative authority of it ſelf, that hath a ſuſpenſive power over all humane Laws. If any man ſhall by expreſs Covenant under hand and ſeal give power to another man to kill him, this is a void Contract, being deſtructive to humanity; and by the Law of England any Act or AgreementCom E▪ Leiceſters Caſe. againſt the Laws of God or Nature, is a meer nullity: for as man hath no hand in the making of the Laws of God or Nature, no more hath he power to marre or alter them. If the Pilot of a Ship be drunk, and running upon a Rock, if the paſſengers cannot otherwiſe prevent it, they may throw him into the Sea to cool him; And this Queſtion hath received Reſolution this Parliament: When the Militia of an Army is committed to a General, 'tis not with any expreſs condition, That he ſhall not turn the mouths of his Canons againſt his own Soldiers, for that is ſo naturally and neceſſarily implyed, that it's needleſs to be expreſt; inſomuch as if he did attempt or command ſuch a thing againſt the nature of his Truſt and Place, it did ipſo facto eſtate the Army in a right of diſobedience, unleſs any man be ſo groſly ignorant to think that obedience bindes men to cut their own throats, or their companions: Nor is this any ſecret of the Law which hath lyen hid from the beginning, and now brought out to bring him to Juſtice; but that which is connatural with every man, and innate in his judgement and reaſon, and is as ancient as the firſt king, and an Epidemical binding Law in all Nations in the world: For when many Families agree, for the preſervation of Humane Society, to inveſt any king or Governor with power and authority, upon the acceptance p. 24thereof, there is a mutual Truſt and confidence between them, That the king ſhall improve his power for their good, and make it his work to procure their ſafeties, and they to provide for his honor, which it done to the Commonwealth in him, as the Sword and Enſigns of Honor carried before the Lord Major are for the honor of the city; now as when any one of this people ſhall compaſs the death of the Governor, ruling well; this is a Treaſon puniſhable with death for the wrong done to the Community, and Anathema be to ſuch a man: ſo when he or they that are truſted to fight the peoples Battels, and to procure their welfare, ſhall prevaricate, and act to the inſlaving or deſtroying of the people, who are their Liege Lords, and all Governors are but the peoples creatures, and the work of their hands, to be accomptable as their Stewards (and is it not ſenſeleſs for the veſſel to ask the Potter by what Law he calls it to account) this is high Treaſon with a witneſs, and far more tranſcendent then in the former caſe, becauſe the king was paid for his Service, and the Dignity of the Perſon does increaſe the offence; for a great man of noble Education and knowledge to betray ſo great a Truſt, and abuſe ſo much love as the Parliament ſhewed to the king by Petitioning him as good Subjects, praying for him as good Chriſtians, adviſing him as good Counſellors, and treating with him as the great Counſel of the kingdom, with ſuch infinite care and tenderneſs of his honor (a courſe which Gods people did not take with Rehoboam, they never petitioned him, but adviſed him, he refuſed their counſel, and hearkened to yong Counſellors, and they cry, To thy tents, O Iſrael, and made quick and ſhort work of it) after all this, and much more longanimity and patience) from the Lord to the Servant, for him not onelyonly to ſet up a Standard of War, in defiance of his dread Soveraign, The People (for ſo they truly were in Nature, though Names have befool'd us) but to perſiſt ſo many years in ſuch cruel perſecutions, who with a word of his mouth might have made a Peace. If ever there were ſo ſuperlative a Treaſon, let the Indians judge; and whoſoever ſhall break and violate ſuch a truſt and confidence, Anathema Maranatha be unto them.

Q. But why was there not a written Law to make it Treaſon for the King to deſtroy the people, as well as for a man to compaſs the Kings death?

p. 25Reſp. Becauſe our Anceſtors did never imagine, that any King of England would have been ſo deſperately mad, as to leavy a War againſt the Parliament and people: as in the Common inſtance of Paricide, the Romans made no Law againſt him that ſhould kill his Father, thinking no childe would be ſo unnatural to be the death of him who was the Author of his life; but when a childe came to be accuſed for a Murther, there was a more cruel puniſhment inflicted, then for other Homicides: for he was thrown into the Sea in a great Leather Barrel, with a Dog, a Jackanapes, a Cock, and a Viper, ſignificant companions for him, to be deprived of all the Elements, as in my Poor mans Caſe, Fol. 10. Nor was there any Law made againſt Parents that ſhould kill their children; yet if any man was ſo unnatural, he had an exemplary puniſhment.

Obj. But is it not a Maxime in Law, That the King can do no wrong?

Reſp. For any man to ſay ſo, is blaſphemy againſt the great God of Truth and Love: for onelyonly God cannot erre, becauſe what he wills is right, becauſe he wills it; and 'tis a ſad thing to conſider how learned men, for unworthy ends, ſhould uſe ſuch art to ſubdue the people, by tranſportation of their ſences, as to make them believe that the Law is, That the King can do no wrong.

Firſt, For Law, I do aver it with confidence, but in all humility, That there is no ſuch Caſe to be found in Law, That if the King Rob, or Murther, or commit ſuch horrid Extravagancies, that it is no wrong: Indeed the caſe is put in H. 7. by a chief Judge, that If the King kill a man, 'tis no felony to make him ſuffer death; that is to be meant in ordinary Courts of Juſtice: But there is no doubt but the Parliament might try the King, or appoint others to judge him for it. We finde Caſes in Law, that the King hath been ſued even in Civil Actions.

In 43 E 3. 22. it is reſolved, That all maner of Actions did lie againſt the King, as againſt any Lord; and 24 E. 3. 23. Wilby a learned Judge ſaid, that there was a Writ Praecipe Henrico Regi Angliae.

Indeed E. 1. did make an Act of State, That men ſhould ſue to him by Petition; but this was not agreed unto in Parliament, Thelwall title Roye digeſt of Writs, 71. But after, when Judges p. 26places grew great, the Judges and Biteſheeps began to ſing Lullaby, and ſpeak Platentia to the king, that My Lord the King is an Angel of light: Now Angels are not reſponſible to men, but God, therefore not kings: And the Judges they begin to make the king a God, and ſay, that by Law his ſtile is Sacred Majeſty▪ though he ſwears every hour; and Gracious Majeſty, though gracious men be the chief objects of his hatred; and that the king hath an Omnipotency and Omnipreſence.

But I am ſure there is no Caſe in Law, That if the king leavy a War againſt the Parliament and people, that it is not Treaſon. Poſſibly that Caſe in H. 7. may prove, That if the king ſhould in his paſſion kill a man, this ſhall not be Felony to take away the kings life: for the inconveniency may be greater to the people, by putting a king to death for one offence and miſcarriage, then the execution of Juſtice upon him can advantage them: But whats this toa leavying of War againſt a Parliament? never any Judge was ſo devoid of underſtanding, that he denyed that to be Treaſon. But ſuppoſe a Judge that held his place at the kings pleaſure did ſo, I am ſure never any Parliament ſaid ſo. But what if there had in dark times of Popery been an Act made, That the king might Murther, Raviſh, Burn and perpetrate all miſchiefs, and play Reaks with impunity, will any man that hath but wit enough to meaſure an Ell of cloath, or to tell Twenty, ſay, That this is an Obligation for men to ſtand ſtill and ſuffer a Monſter to cut their throats, and grant Commiſſion to rob at Suters hill, as ſuch and no better are all Legal thefts and oppreſſions: The Doctor ſays, That a Statute againſt giving an alms to a poor man is void: He is no Student, I mean, was never bound Prentice to Reaſon, that ſays, A king cannot commit Treaſon againſt the people.

Ob. But are there not Negative words in the Statute of 25 Ed. 3. That nothing elſe ſhall be conſtrued to be Treaſon, but what is there expreſt?

Reſ. That Statute was intended for the peoples ſafety, that the kings Judges ſhould not make Traytors by the dozens to gratifie the king or Courtiers; but it was never meant, to give liberty to the king to deſtroy the people; and though it be ſaid, That the king and Parliament onelyonly may declare Treaſon, yet no doubt, if the king will neglect his duty, it may be ſo declared p. 27without him for when many are obliged to do any ſervice, if ſome of them fail, the reſt muſt do it.

Obj. But is there any preſident, that ever any man was put to death that did not offend againſt ſome written Law? For where there is no Law, there is no tranſgreſſion.

R. 'Tis very true, where there is neither Law of God, nor Nature▪ nor poſitive Law, there can be no tranſgreſſion, and therefore that Scripture is much abuſed to apply it onelyonly to Laws poſitive. For

Firſt, ad ea quae frequentius, &c. 'Tis out of the ſphaere of all earthly Law-givers to comprehend and expreſs all particular caſes that may poſſibly happen, but ſuch as are of moſt frequent concurrence; particulars being different, like the ſeveral faces of men different from one another, elſe Laws would be too tedious, and as particulars occur, rational men will reduce them to general reaſons of State, ſo as every thing may be adjudged for the good of the Community.

2. The Law of England, is Lex non ſcripta, and we have a direction in the Epiſtle to the 3. Rep. That when our Law Books are ſilent, we muſt repair to the Law of Nature and Reaſon; Holinſhed, and other Hiſtorians, tell us, That in 20 H. 8. the Lord Hungerford was executed for Buggery, for which there was then no poſitive Law to make it Felony; and before any Statute againſt Witchcraft, many Witches have been hanged in England, becauſe it is death by Gods Law: If any Italian Mountebanck ſhould come over hither, and give any man poyſon that ſhould lie in his body above a year and a day, and then kill him, as it is reported they can give a man poyſon that ſhall conſume the body in three years, will any make ſcruple or queſtion to hang up ſuch a Raſcal? At Naples, the great Treaſurer of Corn being intruſted with many Thouſand quarters, at three ſhillings the buſhel, for the common good, finding an opportunity to ſell it for five ſhillings the buſhel to Forraign Merchants, inriched himſelf exceedingly thereby, and Corn growing ſuddenly dear, the Counſel called him to account for it, who proffered to allow three ſhillings for it, as it was delivered into his Cuſtody, and hoped thereby to eſcape, and for ſo great a breach of Truſt, nothing would content the people but to have him hanged; and though there was no poſitive Law for it, to make it Treaſon, yet it was reſolved by p. 28the beſt Politicians, that it was Treaſon to break ſo great a Truſt by the Fundamental Conſtitution of the Kingdom, and that for ſo great an offence he ought to dye, that durſt preſume to inrich himſelf by that which might indanger the lives of ſo many Citizens; for as ſociety is natural, ſo Governors muſt of neceſſity, and in all reaſon provide for the preſervation and ſuſtenance of the meaneſt member, he that is but as the little toe of the body politique.

But I know the ingenuous Reader deſires to hear ſomething concerning Ireland, where there were no leſs the 152000 men, women, and children, moſt barbarouſly and ſatannically murthered in the firſt four moneths of the Rebellion, as appeared by ſubſtantial proofs, at the kings Bench, at the tryal of Maoquire. If the king had a hand, or but a little finger in that Maſſacre, every man will ſay, Let him dye the death; but how ſhall we be aſſured of that? How can we know the Tree, better then by its fruits? For my own particular, I have ſpent many ſerious thoughts about it, and I deſire in doubtful caſes, to give Charity the upper hand; but I cannot in my conſcience acquit him of it. Many ſtrong preſumptions, and ſeveral Oathes of honeſt men, that we have ſeen the kings Commiſſion for it, cannot but amount to a clear proof. If I meet a man running down ſtairs with a bloody Sword in his hand, and finde a man ſtabbed in the Chamber, though I did not ſee this man run into the body, by that man which I met, yet if I were of the Jury, I durſt not but finde him guilty of the murther; and I cannot but admire that any man ſhould deny that for him, which he durſt never deny for himſelf: How often was that monſtrous Rebellion laid in his diſh? and yet he durſt never abſolutely deny it: never was Bear ſo unwillingly brought to the ſtake, as he was to declare againſt the Rebels; and when he did once call them Rebels, he would ſuffer but forty Copies to be printed, and thoſe to be ſent to him ſeal'd; and he hath ſince above forty times called them his Subjects, and his good Subjects; and ſent to Ormond to give ſpecial thanks to ſome of theſe Rebels, as Muskerry and Plunket, (which I am confident by what I ſee of his height of Spirit and undaunted reſolution at his Tryal, and ſince acting the laſt part anſwerable to the former part of his life; He would rather have loſt his life, then to have ſent thanks to two ſuch incarnate Devils, if he had not been as guilty as themſelves) p. 29queſtionleſs if the King had not been guilty of that blood, he would have made a thouſand Declarations againſt thoſe Blood-hounds and Hell-hounds, that are not to be named but with fire and brimſtone, and have ſent to all Princes in the world for Aſſiſtance againſt ſuch accurſed Devils in the ſhape of men: but he durſt not offend thoſe Fiends and Fire-brands; for if he had, I verily believe they would ſoon have produced his Commiſſion under his hand and ſeal of Scotland at Edenburgh, 1641. A copy whereof is in the Parliaments hands, atteſted by Oath, diſperſed by copies in Ireland, which cauſed the general Rebellion.

Obj. He did not give Commiſſion to kill the Engliſh, but to take their Forts, Caſtles, Towns and Arms, and come over and help him.

And is it like all this could be effected without the ſlaughter of the poor Engliſh? Did the king ever call them Rebels, but in forty Proclamations wrung out of him by force, by the Parliaments importunity? Murthering the Proteſtants was ſo acceptable to him, and with this limitation, That none ſhould be publiſhed without his further directions, as appears under Nichols his hand, now in the Parliaments cuſtody: But the Scots were proclaimed Rebels before they had killed a man, or had an Army, and a Prayer againſt them, injoyned in all Churches, but no ſuch matter againſt the Iriſh.

Well, when the Rebels were worſted in Ireland, the King makes War here to protect them, which but for his fair words had been prevented, often calling God to witneſs, He would aſſoon raiſe War on his own children; And men from Popiſh principles aſſiſt him. Well: We fought in jeſt, and were kept between winning and loſing: The king muſt not be too ſtrong, leſt he revenge himſelf: nor the Parliament too ſtrong, for the Commons would rule all, till Naſeby fight, that then the king could keep no more days of Thanksgiving ſo well as we: Then he makes a Ceſſation in Ireland, and many Iriſh came over to help him: Engliſh came over with Papiſts, who had ſcarce wiped their Swords ſince they had killed their wives and children, and had their Eſtates.

But thus I argue, The Rebels knew that the king had proclaimed them Traytors, and forty Copies were Printed; and the firſt clauſe of an Oath enjoyned by the General Councel of Rebels, p. 30wrs, To bear true Faith and Allegiance to King Charls; and by all means to maintain his Royal Prerogative, againſt the Puritans in the Parliament of England. Now is any man to weak in his intellectuals, as to imagine, That if the Rebels had without the kings command or conſent murthered ſo many Proteſtants, and he thereupon had really proclaimed them Rebels, That they would after this, have taken a new Oath, to have maintained his Prerogative: No, thoſe bloody Devils had more wit, then to fight in jeſt. If the king had once in good earneſt proclaimed them Rebels, they would have burnt their Scabbards, and would not have ſtiled themſelves, The King and Queens Army, as they did. And truly, that which the king ſaid for himſelf, That he would have adventure d himſelf, to have gone in Perſon into Ireland, to ſuppreſs that Rebellion, is but a poor Argument to inforce any mans belief, That he was not guilty of the Maſſacre: For it makes me rather think, That he had ſome hopes to have returned in the head of 20 or 30000 Rebels, to have deſtroyed this Nation: For when the Earl of Leiceſter was ſent by the Parliament to ſubdue the Rebels, Did not the king hinder him from going? and were not the cloaths and proviſions which were ſent by the Parliament, for the relief of the poor Proteſtants there, ſeized upon by his command, and his men of War, and ſold or exchanged for Arms and Ammunition, to deſtroy this Parliament? And does not every man know, That the Rebels in Ireland gave Letters of Mart, for taking the Parliaments Ships, but freed the kings as their very good friends? And I have often heard it credibly reported, that the king ſhould ſay, That nothing more troubled him, but that there was not as much Proteſtant blood running in England and Scotland, as in Ireland. And when that horrid Rebellion begun to break forth, How did the Papiſts here triumph and boaſt, that they hoped ere long to ſee London ſtreets run down in blood? and yet I do not think, that the king was a Papiſt, or that he deſigned to introduce the Popes Supremacy in Spiritual things, into this kingdom: But thus it was, A Jeſuitical party at Court was to prevalent in his Counſels, and ſome mungrel Proteſtants that leſs hated the Papiſts, then the Puritans, by the Queens Mediation joyned altogether to deſtroy the Puritans, hoping that the Pa piſts, and the Laodicean Proteſtant would agree well enough togeth er. And laſtly, if it be ſaid, that if the king p. 31and the Rebels were never faln out, what need had Ormond to m ake a pacification or peace with them by the kings Commiſſion, under the Great Seal of Ireland. Truly there hath been ſo m uch daubing, and ſo little plain dealing, that I wonder how there comes to be ſo many beggars.

Concerning the betraying of Rochel, to the inſlaving of the Proteſtant party in France, I confeſs, I heard ſo much of it, and was ſo ſhamefully reproached for it in Geneva, and by the Proteſtant Miniſters in France, that I could believe no leſs, then that the king was guilty of it. I have heard fearful exclamations from the French Proteſtants againſt the king, and the late Duke of Buckingham, for the betraying of Rochel. And ſome of the Miniſters told me ten years ſince, That God would be revenged of the wicked king of England, for betraying Rochel: And I have often heard Deodati ſay, concerning Henry the fourth of France, That the Papiſts had his body, but the Proteſtants had his heart and ſoul; but for the king of England, The Proteſtants had his body, but the Papiſts had his heart: Not that I think he did believe Tranſubſtantiation (God forbid I ſhould wrong the dead) but I verily believe, That he loved a Papiſt, better then a Puritan.

The Duke of Roan, who was an honeſt gallant man, and the kings God-father, would often ſay, That all the blood which was ſhed in Daulphin, would be caſt upon the king of Englands ſcore: For thus it was, The king ſent a Letter to the Rochelers by Sir William Breecher, to aſſure …hem, That he would aſſiſt them to the uttermoſt againſt the French king, for the liberty of their Religion; conditionally, That they would not make any peace without him; and Mountague was ſent into Savoy, and to the Duke of Roan, to aſſure them from the king, That 30000 men ſhould be ſent out of England, to aſſiſt them againſt the French king, in three Fleets, One to land in the Iſle of Ree, a ſecond in the River of Bourdeaux, and a third in Normandy: whereupon, the Duke of Roan being General for the Proteſtanrs, not ſuſpecting that the French durſt aſſault him in Daulphin (becauſe the king of England was ready to invade him, as he had promiſed) drew out his Army upon diſadvantage: Whereupon the French king imployed all his Army into Daulphin againſt the Proteſtants, who were forced to retreat, and the Duke of Roan to flie to Geneva, p. 32and the Proteſtants to accept of peace upon very hard conditions, to ſtand barely at the Kings devotion for their liberties, without any cautionary Towns of aſſurance, as formerly they had, being ſuch a peace as the Sheep make with the Wolves, when the Dogs are diſmiſt. And the Proteſtants have ever ſince cryed out to this very day, It is not the French King that did us wrong, for then we could have born it, but it was the King of England, a profeſt Proteſtant that betrayed us. And when I have many times intreated Deodati and others, to have a good Opinion of the King, he would anſwer me, That we are commanded to forgive our enemies, but not to forgive our friends.

There is a French Book printed about two years ſince, called Memoires du Monſieur de Roan, where the Kings horrid perfidiouſneſs, and deed diſſimulation, is very clearly unfolded and diſcovered: To inſtance but in ſome particulars, The King having ſolemnly ingaged to the Rochelers, that he would hazard all the Forces he had in his three Kingdoms, rather then they ſhould periſh; did in order thereunto, to gain credulity with them, ſend out eight Ships to Sea, commanded by Sir John Pennington, to aſſiſt the Rochelers as was pretended, but nothing leſs intended; for Pennington aſſiſted the French King againſt the Rochelers, which made Sir Ferdinando Gorge to go away with the great Neptune, in deteſtation of ſo damnable a plot; and the Engliſh Maſters and Owners of Ships, refuſing to lend the Ships to deſtroy the Rochelers, whom with their ſouls they deſired to releive, Pennington in a mad ſpite, ſhot at them.

Subiſe being Agent here in England for the French Proteſtants, acquainted the King how baſely Pennington had dealt, and that the Engliſh Ships had mowed down the Rochel Ships like Graſs, not onelyonly to the great danger and loſs of the Rochelers, but to the eternal diſhonor of this Nation, ſcandal of our Religion, and diſadvantage of the general Affairs of all the Proteſtants in Chriſtendom. The King ſeems to be diſpleaſed, and ſays, What a knave is this Pennington? but whether it was not fained, let all the world judge: But the thing being ſo plain, ſaid Subiſe to the King, Sir, why did the Engliſh Ships aſſiſt the French King, and thoſe that would not, were ſhot at by your Admiral? The French Proteſtants are no fools; how can I make them believe that you intend their welfare? The King was much put to it for a ready p. 33anſwer, but at laſt thus it was patcht up, That the French king had a deſign to be revenged of Genoa for ſome former affront; and that the king lent him eight Engliſh Ships to be employed for Genoa, and that ſailing towards Genoa, they met with ſome of the Rochelers accidentally▪ and that the Engliſh did but look on, and could not help it, not having any Commiſſion to fight at that preſent; wherein the Rochelers might and would have declined a Sea-fight, if they had not expected our aſſiſtance. But ſtill the poor Proteſtants were willing, rather to blame Pennington then the king; who in great ſeeming zeal, being ſurety for the laſt peace between the French king, and his Proteſtant Subjects, ſends Devick to the Duke of Roan, to aſſure him, That if Rochel were not ſpeedily ſet at liberty (which the French king had beſieged, contrary to his Agreement) he would employ his whole ſtrength, and in his own perſon ſee it performed; which being not done, then the king ſends the Duke of Buckingham to the Iſle of Ree, and gives new hopes of better ſucceſs to Subiſe, commanding the Admiral and Officers in the Fleet, in Subiſes hearing, to do nothing without his advice: But when the Duke came to land at the Iſle of Ree, many gallant Engliſh men loſt their lives, and the Duke brought back 300 Tuns of Corn from the Rochelers, which he had borrowed of them, pretending a neceſſity for the Engliſh men, which was but feined, knowing it was a City impregnable, ſo long as they had proviſion within. I confeſs the Rochelers were not wife to lend the Duke their Corn, conſidering how they had been dealt with: But what a baſe thing was it, ſo to betray them, and to ſwear unto them, That they ſhould have Corn enough ſent from England, before they wanted it: And for a long time, God did miraculouſly ſend them in a new kinde of Fiſh, which they never had before. But when the Duke came to Court, he made the honeſt Engliſh believe, that Rochel would ſuddenly be relieved, and that there was not the leaſt danger of the loſs of it; but Secretary Cook, an honeſt underſtanding Gentleman, and the onelyonly friend at Court to the Rochelers, laboring to improve his power to ſend ſome ſuccor to Rochel, was ſuddenly ſent away from Court upon ſome ſleeveleſs errand, or as ſome ſay, to Portſmouth, under colour of providing Corn for Rochel; p. 34but the Duke ſoon after went thither, and ſaid, His life upon it, Rochel is ſafe enough: and the next day, Subiſe being at Portſmouth, he preſt the Duke of Buckingham moſt importunately to ſend relief to Rochel then or never; the Duke told him that he had juſt then heard good News of the victualling of Rochel, which he was going to tell the King: which Subiſe making doubt of, the Duke affirmed it by an Oath, and having the words in his mouth, he was ſtabd by Felton, and inſtantly dyed: the poor Rochellers ſeeing themſelves ſo betrayed, exclaimed of the Engliſh, and were conſtrained through Famine to ſurrender the City; yet new aſſurances came from the King to the Duke of Roan, that he ſhould never be abandoned, and that he ſhould not be diſmaid nor aſtoniſht for the loſs of Rochel.

But Subiſe ſpoke his minde freely at Court, that the Engliſh had betrayed Rochel, and that the loſs of that City was the apparent perdition and loſs of Two and thirty places of ſtrength from the French Proteſtants in Langurdock, Piedmont, and Daulphin, therefore it was thought fit that he ſhould have a fig given him to ſtop his mouth: Well, not long after, two Capuchins were ſent into England to kill honeſt Subiſe, and the one of them diſcovered the other; Subiſe rewarded the diſcoverer, and demanded Juſtice here againſt the other who was a Priſoner, but by what means, you may eaſily imagine, that aſſaſſinate Raſcal, inſtead of being whipt, or receiving ſome more ſevere puniſhment, was releaſed and ſent back into France with money in his purſe, and one of the Meſſengers that was ſent from Rochel to complain of thoſe abominable Treacheries, was taken here, and as the Duke of Roan writes, was hanged for ſome pretended Felony or Treaſon, and much more to this purpoſe may be found in the Duke of Roans Memorials; but yet I know many wiſe ſober men do acquit the King from the guilt of the loſs of Rochel, and lay it upon the Duke, as if it were but a loſs of his reputation; they ſay that the Duke of Buckingham agitated his affairs neither for Religion, nor the honor of his Maſter, but only to ſatisfie his paſſion in certain fooliſh Vows which he made in France, entred upon a War; and that the buſineſs miſcarryed through ignorance, and for want of underſtanding to manage ſo difficult a Negotiation, p. 35he being unfit to be an Admiral or a General.

I confeſs that for many years I was of that Opinion, and thought that the King was ſeduced by evil Councel, and ſome thought that Buckingham and others ruled him as a childe, and durſt do what they liſt: but certainly he was too politique and ſubtile a man to be ſwayed by any thing but his own judgement; ſince Naſeby Letters I ever thought him principal in all Tranſactions of State, and the wiſeſt about him but acceſſaries; he never acted by any implicite faith in State matters, the proudeſt of them all durſt never croſs him in any Deſign, when he had once reſolved upon it: Is any man ſo ſoft-brained to think that the Duke or Pennington durſt betray Rochel without his Command? would not he have hanged them up at their return, if they had wilfully tranſgreſſed his Commands? A thouſand ſuch excuſes made for him, are but like Iriſh Quagmires, that have no ſolid ground or foundation in reaſon: He was well known to be a great Sudent in his yonger days, that his Father would ſay, He muſt make him a Biſhop: He had more learning and dexterity in State Affairs undoubtedly, then all the kings in Chriſtendom: If he had had grace anſwerable to his ſtrong parts, he had been another Solomon, but his wit and knowledge proved like a ſword in a mad-mans hand; he was a ſtranger to the work of Grace and the Spirit of God, as the poor creature confeſt to Mr. Knowls after he was condemned; and all thoſe Maeanders in State, his ſerpentine turnings and windings, have but brought him to ſhame and confuſion; but I am fully ſatisfied, none of his Councel durſt ever adviſe him to any thing, but what they knew before he reſolved to have done; and that they durſt as well take a Bear by the tooth, as do, or conſent to the doing of any thing, but what they knew would pleaſe him; they did but hew and ſquare the timber, he was the Maſter builder, that gave the form to every Architecture, and being ſo able and judicious to diſcern of every mans merits. Never think that the Duke or Pennington, or any Judge or Officer, did ever any thing for his advantage without his command, againſt Law or Honor.

Upon all which premiſes, may it pleaſe your Lorſhip, I do humbly demand and pray the Juſtice of this High Court, and yet p. 36not I, but the innocent blood that hath been ſhed in the three kingdoms, demands Juſtice againſt him: This blood is vocal, and cryes loud, and yet ſpeaks no better, but much louder then the blood of Abel; for what proportion hath the blood of that righteous man, to the blood of ſo many thouſands? If king Ahab and Queen Jezabel, for the blood of one righteous Naboth (who would not ſell his inheritance for the full value) were juſtly put to death, what puniſhment does he deſerve, that is guilty of the blood of thouſands, and fought for a pretended prerogative, that he might have any mans Eſtate that he liked, without paying for it? This blood hath long cryed, How long Parliament, how long Army, will ye forbear to avenge our blood? will ye not do Juſtice upon the capital Author of all Injuſtice? When will ye take the proud Lyon by the beard, that defies you with imperious exultations, Whats the Houſe of Commons? whats the Army? as Pharaoh ſaid, Who is the Lord? and who is Moſes? I am not accountable to any power on earth, thoſe that were murthered at Brainford, knockt on the head in the water, and thoſe honeſt ſouls that were kild in cold blood at Bolton and Leverpool in Lancaſhire, at Bartomley in Cheſhire, and many other places, their blood cryes night and day for Juſtice againſt him, their wives and children cry, Juſtice upon the murtherer, or elſe give us our fathers and husbands again; nay, ſhould the people be ſilent, the very ſtones and timber of the houſes would cry for Juſtice againſt him. But, my Lord, before I pray Judgement, I humbly crave leave to ſpeak to two particulars, 1. Concerning the Priſoner: When I conſider what he was, and how many prayers have been made for him, though I know that all the world cannot reſtore him, nor ſave his life, becauſe God will not forgive his temporal puniſhment, yet if God in him will be pleaſed to adde one example more to the Church, of his unchangeable love to his elect in Chriſt, not knowing but that he may belong to the election of grace; I am troubled in my ſpirit, in regard of his eternal condition, for fear that he ſhould depart this life, without love and reconciliation to all thoſe Saints whom he hath ſcorned under the notion of Presbyterians, Anabaptiſts, Independents and Sectaries: It cannot be denyed, but that he hath ſpent all his days in unmeaſurable p. 37pride; that during his whole raign, he hath deported himſelf as a God, been depended upon, and adored as God; that hath challenged and aſſured an Omnipotent power, an earthly Omnipotence, that with the breath of his mouth hath diſſolved Parliaments; his Non placet hath made all the Councels of that Supreme Court to become Abortives: Non curo hath been his Motto, who in ſtead of being honored as good Kings ought to be, and no more, hath been idolized and adored, as our good God onelyonly ought to be; A man that hath ſhot all his arrows againſt the upright in the Land, hated Chriſt in his members, ſwallowed down unrighteouſneſs, as the Ox drinks water, eſteemed the needy as his footſtool, cruſht honeſt publique ſpirited men, and grieved when he could not afflict the honeſt more then he did, counted it the beſt art and policy to ſuppreſs the righteous, and to give way to his Courtiers ſo to gripe, grinde, oppreſs and overreach the free People of the Land, that he might do what he liſt (the remembrance whereof would pierce his ſoul, if he knew the preciouſneſſe of it) but all fins to an infinite mercy are equally pardonable, therefore my prayer for this poor wretch ſhall be, That God would ſo give him repentance to life, that he may beleeve in that Chriſt, whom he hath impriſoned, perſecuted and murthered in the Saints; that he which hath lived a Tyrant, and hated nothing ſo much as holineſſe, may die a convert, and in love to the Saints in England, that ſo the tears of the oppreſſed and the afflicted, may not be as ſo many fiery ſtinging ſerpents, cauſing an eternal deſpairing, continual horror to this miſerable Man, when all Tyrants ſhall be aſtoniſht, and innocent blood will affright more then twelve legions of Devils. All the hurt I wiſh to him is, That he may look the Saints in the face with comfort, for the Saints muſt judge the world; and however it may be he or this adherents may think it a brave Roman ſpirit, not to repent of any thing, nor expreſſe any ſorrow for any ſin, though never ſo horrid, taking more care and fear not to change their countenance upon the Scaffold, then what ſhall become of them after death? Yet I beſeech your Lordſhip that I may tell him and all the Malignants now living but this, Charls Stuart, unleſſe you depart this life in love and reconciliation to all thoſe Saints and p. 38godly men whom you have either ignorantly or maliciouſly oppoſed, mockt and perſecuted, and ſtill ſcorn and jeer at, as Heretiques and Sectaries, there is no more hopes for you ever to ſee God in comfort, then for me to touch the Heavens with my finger, or with a word to annihilate this great building, or for the Devil to be ſaved, which he might be, if he could love a Saint as ſuch: No, Sir, it will be too late for you to ſay to thoſe Saints, whom you have defied, Give me ſome of your holineſs, that I may behold Gods angry countenance; You can expect no anſwer, but, Go, buy Sir of thoſe Soul-huckſters, your Biſhops, which fed you with chaff and poyſon, and now you muſt feed upon fire and brimſtone to all eternity.

2. Concerning my ſelf, I bear no more malice to the Mans perſon, then I do to my dear Father; but I hate that curſed principle of Tyranny, that hath ſo long lodged and harbored within Him, which hath turned our waters of Law into blood; And therefore upon that Malignant principle, I hope this High Court (which is an habitation of Juſtice, and a Royal Palace of principles of Freedom) will do ſpeedy Juſtice, That this Lyon which hath devoured ſo many Sheep, may not onelyonly be removed out of the way, but that this Iron Scepter, which hath been lifted up to break this poor Nation in pieces like a Potters veſſel, may be wreſted out of the hands of Tyrants, That my honorable Clients (for whom I am an unworthy Advocate) The people of England, may not onelyonly taſte, but drink abundantly of thoſe ſweet Waters of that Well of Liberty, which this renowned Army hath digg'd with their ſwords, which was ſtopt by the Philiſtines, the fierce Jew, and uncircumciſed Canaanite, the hopes whereof made me readily to hearken to the call to this ſervice, as if it had been immediately from Heaven, being fully ſatisfied, That the priſoner was long ſince condemned to dye by Gods Law (which being more Noble and ancient then any Law of man, if there had been a Statute that he ſhould not dye, yet he ought to be put to death not withſtanding) and that this High Court was but to pronounce the Sentence and Judgment written againſt him: And though I might have been ſufficiently diſcouraged, in reſpect that my reaſon is far leſs then others of my profeſſion; yet conſidering that there are but two p. 39things deſireable, to make a dumb man eloquent, namely, A good Cauſe, and good Judges, The firſt whereof procures the Juſtice of Heaven, and the ſecond Juſtice upon Earth; And thinking that happily God might make uſe of one mean man at the Bar, amongſt other learned Counſel, that more of his minde might appear in it (for many times the leſs there is of man, the more Gods glory does appear, and hitherto very much of the minde of God hath appeared in this action) I went as chearfully about it, as to a Wedding; And that the glory of this adminiſtration may be wholly given to God, I deſire to obſerve to the praiſe of his great name, the work of God upon my own ſpirit, in his gracious aſſiſtance and preſence with me, as a return of Prayer, and fruit of Faith, believing that God never calls to the acting of any thing ſo pleaſing to him, as this moſt excellent Court of Juſtice is, but he is preſent with the honorable Judges, and thoſe that wait upon them: I have been ſometimes of Counſel againſt Felons and Priſoners, but I never moved the Court to proceed to Judgement againſt any Felon, or to keep any man in Priſon, but I trembled at it in my thoughts, as thinking it would be eaſier to give an account of mercy and indulgence, then of any thing that might look like rigor; but now my ſpirits are quite of another temper, and I hope it is meat and drink to good men, to have Juſtice done, and recreation to think what benefit this Nation will receive by it.

And now, my Lord, I muſt as the truth is, conclude him guilty of more tranſcendent Treaſons, and Enormous Crimes, then all the Kings in this part of the world have ever been: And as he that would picture Venus, muſt take the eyes of one, the cheeks of another beautiful woman, and ſo other parts to make a compleat beauty: ſo to delineate an abſolute Tyrant, the cruelty of Richard the third, and all the ſubtilty, treachery, deep diſſimulation, abominable projects, and diſhonorable ſhifts, that ever were ſeparately in any that ſwayed the Engliſh Scepter, conſpired together to make their habitation in this Whited-wal; therefore I humbly pray, That as he hath made himſelf a preſident in committing ſuch horrid acts, which former Kings and Ages knew not, and have been afraid to think of, That your Lordſhip, and this High Court, out of your ſublime wiſdoms, and for Juſtice ſake, would make him an p. 40example for other kingdoms for the time to come, That the Kings of the Earth may hear, and fear, and do no more ſo wickedly; That he that would not be a patern of Vertue, and an example of Juſtice in his life, may be a preſident of Juſtice to others by his death.

Courteous Reader, for thy full ſatisfaction in Reaſon of Law, how the late King was by the Law of the Land accountable for his Tyrannous, and Trayterous Exorbitances, I refer thee to my Lord Preſidents moſt Learned and Judicious Speech, before the Sentence read: And I have one word to adde, That High Court was a Reſemblance and Repreſentation of the great day of Judgement, when the Saints ſhall judge all worldly powers, and where this Judgement will be confirmed and admired, for it was not only bonum, but bene; not onelyonly good for the matter, but the maner of proceeding: This High Court did not onelyonly conſult with Heaven for wiſdom and direction (a preſident for other Courts to begin every ſolemn action with Prayer) but examined witneſſes ſeveral days upon Oath to inform their conſciences, and received abundant ſatisfaction in a judicial way (which by the Law of the Land was not requiſite in Treaſon, the Priſoner ſtanding mute) as Judges, which before was moſt notorious and known to them, as private perſons, and having moſt perſpicuouſly diſcerned, and weighed the merits of the Cauſe in the Ballances of the Sanctuary, Law and right Reaſon, pronounced as righteous a ſentence as ever was given by mortal men. And yet what Action was ever ſo good, but was traduced? Not onelyonly by unholy men, but by the holy men of the world; that profeſſors ſhould pray for Juſtice, and then repine at the execution of it: Bleſſed Lord! How does the God of this world ſtorm, now his kingdom is ſhaking? An enlightened eye muſt needs ſee that it is the deſign of Heaven to break all humane glory with an iron Scepter, that will not kiſs his golden Scepter, and to exalt Juſtice and Mercy in the Earth. I confeſs, if the greater part of the world ſhould approve ſuch High and Noble Acts of Juſtice, it might be ſuſpected, becauſe the moſt people will Judge erroneouſly; but that Chriſtians that have faſted and prayed many years for Juſtice, ſhould now be angry to ſee it done, what is it? but like fooliſh paſſengers that having been p. 41long at ſea in dangerous ſtorms, as they are entring into the quiet haven, to be mad with the Pilot becauſe he will not return into the angry Seas: but I ſhall obſerve one paſſage in the Lord Preſidents Speech, as a Schollar may preſume to ſay a word after his Maſter, concerning the many menaces & minatory dangerous ſpeeches w^ch are given forth concerning this High Court: If men muſt be kill'd for the faithful diſcharge of their duties to God & their Countrey, I am ſure the murtherer will have the worſt of it in concluſion, if he ſhould not be known here (though murther is a ſin that ſeldom goes unpuniſht in this world, and never did any Jeſuit hold it meritorious to kill men for bringing tyrants and murtherers to Juſtice, or to do ſuch horrid acts in the ſight of the Sun) It was a noble ſaying of the Lord Preſident, That he was afraid of nothing ſo much as the not doing of Juſtice: and when he was called to that High place which was put upon him, he ſought it not, but deſired to be excuſed more then once: not to decline a duty to God and the people for fear of any loſs or danger (being above ſuch thoughts by many Stories, as actions teſtifie) but alledging, That of himſelf, out of an humble ſpirit, which if others had ſaid of him, I am ſure they had done him a great deal of wrong: And though he might have been ſufficiently diſcouraged, becauſe it was a new unpreſidented Tribunal of condemning a King (becauſe never did any king ſo Tyrannize and Butcher the People, finde me but that in any Hiſtory, and on the other ſide the leaf you ſhall finde him more then beheaded, even to be quartered, and given to be meat to the fowls of the Air) yet the glory of God, and the love of Juſtice, conſtrained him to accept it, and with what great wiſdom and undauntedneſs of Reſolution, joyned with a ſweet meekneſs of ſpirit he hath performed it, is moſt evident to all, the Malignants themſelves being Judges. Concerning this High Court, to ſpeak any thing of this glorious Adminiſtration of Juſtice, is but to ſhew the Sun with a candle (the Sun of Juſtice now ſhines moſt gloriouſly, and it will be fair weather in the Nation; but alas, the poor Mole is blinde ſtill, and cannot ſee it, but none ſo blinde as they that will not ſee it) however, it is not proper or convenient for me at preſent, to ſpeak all the truth that I know (the Generations that are to come will call them bleſſed) concerning p. 42the Integrity and Juſtice of their proceedings, leſt I that a ma… ſervant ſhould be counted a Sycophant, which I abhor in my ſoul, as my body does poyſon; and this I will be bold to ſay (which I hope God guides my hand to write) This High Court hath cut off the head of a Tyrant, and they have done well; undoubtedly it is the beſt action that they ever did in all their lives, a matter of pure envy, not hatred, for never ſhall or can any men in this Nation, promerit ſo much Honor as theſe have done, by any execution of Juſtice comparable to this; and in ſo doing, they have pronounced ſentence not onelyonly againſt one Tyrant, but Tyranny it ſelf; therefore if any of them ſhall turn Tyrants, or conſent to ſet up any kinde of Tyranny by a Law, or ſuffer any unmerciful domineering over the Conſciences, Perſons, and Eſtates of the Free People of this Land, they have pronounced Sentence againſt themſelves: But good trees cannot bring forth bad fruits; therefore let all deſperate Malignants repent ere it be too late, of any ſuch ungodly purpoſes, and fight no longer againſt God. Every man is ſowen here as a ſeed or grain, and grows up to be a tree, it behoves us all to ſee in what ground we ſtand: holy and righteous men will be found to be timber for the great building of God in his love, when Tyrants and Enemies to Holineſs and Juſtice, will be for a threſhold or footſtool to be trodden upon, or fit for the fire.

Laſtly, for my ſelf, I bleſs God, I have not ſo much fear as comes to the thouſand part of a grain; it is for a Cain to be afraid, that every man that meets him will ſlay him! I am not much ſolicitous, whether I dye of a Conſumption, or by the hand of Ravilliacks, I leave that to my heavenly Father: If it be his will that I ſhall fall by the hand of violence, it is the Lord, let him do what he pleaſeth: If my Indentures be given in before the term of my Apprenticeſhip be expired, and that I be at my Fathers houſe before it be night, I am ſure there is no hurt in all this: If I have but ſo much time left, I ſhall pray my Father to forgive the Murtherer; the blood of Chriſt can waſh away ſins of the deepeſt ſtain, but when he ſees his childrens blood ſprinkled upon the bloody wretch, he loves every Member as he loves himſelf. But know this, ye that have conceived any deſperate intentions p. 43againſt thoſe Honorable Juſtices, who have made you Freemen, unleſs you will return to Egypt: If God in wrath to you▪ and love to any of his people, ſhould ſuffer you to imbrue your hands in any of their innocent blood, either you will repent or not; if you repent, it will coſt you ten times more anguiſh and grief of heart, then the pleaſure of the ſin can cauſe delight, and what a baſe thing is it to do that which muſt be repented of at the beſt? But if you repent not, it had been better for you to have never been born. But let every man be faithful in doing his duty, and truſt God with the ſucceſs, and rejoyce in Chriſt in the teſtimony of a good Conſcience; for he that hath not a ſoul to loſe, hath nothing to loſe: but bleſſed be God, I have no ſoul to loſe, therefore I deſire onelyonly to fear him, whom to fear, is the beginning of wiſdom: And for all Malignants to come in, and joyn with honeſt men in ſettling this Nation upon Noble Principles of Juſtice, Freedom, and Mercy to the poor, will be their beſt and greateſt underſtanding.

FINIS.

End of the text · John Cook, An Appeal to All Rational Men Concerning His Trial (1649)