A Memorial Offered to John Williams, Part of biography 2 · Floating text 1

A Memorial Offered to John Williams · Part of biography 2 · Floating text 1

p. 11Mr. Speaker,

YOU have endeavour'd to excuſe yourſelf from this place of great Truſt. But I perceive, by his moſt Excellent Majeſty, that I was not much amiſs, when I took you to be in the ſame Caſe that Evathlus was to Protagoras, as Gellius reports it, Lib. 5. c. 11. That is, ſure to be denied, and to loſe your Cauſe whether you argued ſtrongly or faintly. St. Paul was called Mercurius by the Lycaonians, becauſe he was the chief Speaker, Acts 14.12. But to whom ſhall I liken you? Truly to nothing but to yourſelf; who have ſpoken more too learnedly, and pithily; the manner whereof hath confuted the Matter: and your Rhetorick hath ſpoil'd your Logick. For no Man that hath heard you ſpeak, can believe your unfitneſs to be a Speaker. His Majeſty therefore doth applaud and confirm your Election, and commands me to return an Anſwer to ſome parts of that you have delivered. Which, though it was (as all great and excellent Bodies are obſerv'd to be) round, and ſphaerical in the Compoſition, without a nook, or a corner for a Man to lay hold upon, yet as ſome late Mathematicians have born us in hand, that they can find Quadraturam circ uli, ſome corners in a Circle, ſo for Method, and Memory's ſake, Aut inveniam, aut faciam, where I do not find, you muſt give me leave to make ſome parts, and to run them over briefly, diſtinctly, and orderly. You have ſaid ſomewhat concerning yourſelf; ſomewhat concerning the laſt Parliament, ſomewhat of the Primus motor, and Divine Intelligence which enliv'd the ſame: ſomewhat of his Majeſty's Entrance upon his Government, and that in five ſeveral Reſpects. Firſt in reſpect of the Way, which is by Parliament. Secondly in reſpect of his Blood, as the Son of Nobles, Thirdly in reſpect to Succeſſion to ſo worthy a Father. Fourthly in reſpect of our Hopes of a rare and religious Government. And Laſtly in reſpect of his great Delivery in his famous Journey by Sea and Land. Somewhat alſo you have ſaid of our Religion, as much recommended unto the King, and much proſperous and profitable to the People: Somewhat of the ancient Common-Law: ſomewhat of cheriſhing our Friends abroad: Somewhat of abating our Foes at home: Somewhat of the Four Petitions preſented to all Kings, Immunity of Perſons, Liberty of Speech, readineſs of Acceſs, and benign Interpretation, the four corner Stones, which bear up the Structure of the Houſe of Parliament. I ſhall from his moſt Excellent Majeſty make anſwer to theſe things according to your Senſe, and with my Method, as they lie in order.

11. Firſt for your ſelf you ſay little, but you do much in yielding thus to his Majeſty's Pleaſure. You offer'd a Sacrifice before, the Sacrifice of your Lips, an excuſe from this Service: and that was refuſed. Now you offer up Obedience, and that is amply accepted. For Obedience is better than Sacrifice. Quod felix fauſtumque ſit, a moſt happy Concatenation to open a Parliament, when the Hearts of the People are in the Hands of the King, and the Heart of the King in the Hand of God. Secondly, for the laſt Parliament it was happy indeed: ſo accompted by our late, ſo eſteemed by our preſent Sovereign, ſo denominated by the Effects which it produced. For therein (as you well obſerve) thoſe male-ſida foedera, and unfaithful Treatiſes were diſſolv'd, the King and his People indiſſolubly united, the Flowers of the Crown a little pruned, but with the Love of the Subjects better ſcented and perfumed: Laſtly, if not more Bills of Grace, yet ſurely more Bills from pure Grace paſſed, and were enacted, than in that Seſſion of Magna Charta: Gratia enim non eſt gratia, ſi non ſit gratis data. And ſurely as Pliny ſaid of Nerva, Debebatur maximo operi haec veneratio, ut noviſſimum ſit, autorque ejus ſtatim conſecraretur It became a Prince, who was now ready to be Sainted in Heaven, to cloſe in that manner his Government here on Earth. For I could never learn, in all my Reading, any other way for King or Subject than this one, by the Kingdom of Grace to paſs along to the Kingdom of Glory. Thirdly for the part the King our Maſter bore in the late Parliament, ſurely he was Actus primus, the very proper Soul of that Politick Body, Tota in toto, & tota in quâlibet parte, now in the Committees as in the Members, by and by with the Lords as in the Heart, anon with the King his Father as in the Head of the Body, and every where the principal Author of Life, Motion, and Reſolution. So that we may p. 12ſay to our now Sovereign, as the Romans did by their Orator to the Emperor Trajan, that he is no ſtranger to our Aſſembly, Meminit quae optare. quae ſit queri ſolitus, he cannot forget the Deſires of the Commons, nor the …iſhes of the upper Houſe of Parliament. Fourthly your five Circumſtances (for ſo I number them) of his Majeſty's Entrance into his Reign are very well noted, and obſerv'd. 1. That he begins it with a Parliament. It is a ſign indeed of his Love to that way. Thoſe Actions of Men are moſt pure, and ſincere, Quae ſingendi non habent tempus, that are done in ſuch haſte, as admits no Fiction. His Majeſty was ſcarce proclaimed, when the Writs went out: and before the Solemnities of his Coronation, behold him preſent in the midſt of his People. 2. That he comes into it with the Blood of Nobles. Yes, Mr. Speaker, Deus est in utroque parente. No King in Europe, that breaths this day, can ſhew ſo fair, and ſo Royal a Pedigree. 3. That by his Succeſſion he hath ſweetned much our loſs of his Father. A great, and a glorious Act indeed. And ſuch an act, as I will be bold to ſay in his Majeſty's hearing, could never have been done by any King, not by himſelf, had he been the Son of his Body only, and not withal of his Mind, and Vertues. Herein indeed he equals his Father, Neque enim de Caeſaris actis—Ullum majus opus, quàm quòd Pater extitit hujus. 4. For our hopes they have good cauſe (God make us thankful to him for the ſame) to ſore high, and to expect a King, that ſhall exceed Hezekias in Policy of State (for our Maſter, I hope, will never diſcover the Secrets of his Dominion to Foreigners, and Strangers) and equal him, at the leaſt, in the Advancement of Religion. You heard his Profeſſion the laſt day. His God above him, his People under him, his Heart within him, and his Kindred about him muſt enflame his Zeal to this true Religion, Et pater Aeneas, & avunculus excitat Hector. Laſtly, for his great delivery by Sea and Land, which ſo filled our Mouths with Laughter, and our Tongues with Joy, it ſhew'd him betimes a Child of King James, and withal a Child of God, and being ſo, Nolite tangere, no Evil might touch him. As God was with Moſes, ſo he was, and will be with him, non deſeret, aut derelinquet, he will never fail him, nor forſake him; To the which Prayer all we his repreſentative Kingdom will never fail to ſay, Amen.

12. What you ſaid of the true Religion is moſt apparently true, that it hath been very piouſly charged upon our King, and hitherto full of Bleſſings upon our Kingdom. For the firſt his Majeſty well remembers (what I ill forgot in another occaſion) that the laſt Bleſſing of all his Father gave him (and I think upon a Motion of mine) was with a Recommendation of his Religion, and of his People to his ſpecial Care, Love, and Protection. And I nothing doubt but that Bleſſing ſhall ſo bleſs him, that he ſhall ſee Jeruſalem in Proſperity all his Life long. And for the effect of our Religion, it hath hitherto produced in this Kingdom a very Kingdom of Heaven, not only after this Life, but even in this Life, for the ſpace of ſixty Seven Years, wherein it hath been moſt conſtantly profeſſed. All that time Peace hath been within our Walls, and plenteouſneſs within our Palaces. Non fecit ſic omni nationi, God hath not dealt ſo with many, nor with any Nation in Europe, that I know, or read of. Sixthly, what you recommended to the King concerning the Laws of the Land, the King hath already in private, and doth now in publick recommend to his Judges, and by them to the Profeſſors, and Students of the Laws, to wit, that they would ſpend their time, as their Fore-fathers did, in the ancient Common-Laws of the Kingdom, and not altogether, as the Complaint hath been of late, in Statutes, new Caſes, and modern Abridgments. In the former Studies you meet with Reaſon created by God, in the latter with Opinion only invented by Men. Here you find peradventure ſome ſtrong Concluſions, but upon weak Grounds, and Premiſes: there you learn ſtrong Premiſes, that can never produce a weak Concluſion. In a word, to borrow the Simile of St. Baſil, there like Ulyſſes you Court Penelope herſelf; here, like the fooliſh Wooers, but her Hand-maids only. Seventhly, that juſt Reſentment you expreſs of the Diſhonour of our Nation, in that hoſtile Acquiſition, and Detenſion of the Palatinate, you cannot imagine, Mr. Speaker, how much it contents his moſt Excellent Majeſty. Now he finds indeed his People to be lively Members of this Politick Body, becauſe they ſympathize ſo ſeelingly with the grievous Pains, and Troubles of their Head. And ſurely he is no true Part, but an Excreſcency, or dead Fleſh upon the outſide of the State, that is not ſenſible of his Majeſty's Sufferings in thoſe Affairs. God forbid, againſt p. 13all theſe Profeſſions, this Kingdom ſhould prove to a People ſo allied, either a Meroz, as you term it, for Inhumanity, or an Aegypt for Infidelity, or a whit inferior to Caeſar himſelf to aid, and relieve them. You heard the full Meaſure of the King's Reſolution the laſt day, Ire oportet, vivere non oportet; He doth not deſire to live otherwiſe than in Glory, and Reputation. And ſo he cannot live, you know it well enough, till ſomewhat be vigorouſly effected in that great buſineſs of the Palatinate. Eightly, for the abandoning of thoſe Sons of Bichri, the Prieſt and Jeſuits, his Majeſty returns you this Anſwer. As he doth approve your Zeal, and Devotion herein, and acknowledgeth that of St. Ambroſe to be true, Quod in religionem committitur, in omnium vertitur injuriam, that the meaneſt Subject in this Kingdom hath a great right, and Intereſt in the Religion, ſo being appointed by, and under God, Cuſtos utriuſque tabulae, the Guardian, and Keeper of both the Tables, he deſires you to truſt him (whoſe Zeal was never yet queſtioned, or ſuſpected) with the ways, and means to propagate the ſame, Yet in this Petition of yours his moſt Excellent Majeſty doth abſolutely grant the Effect, and the Matter, that is to be moſt careful of our Religion, or (which you more deſire) to improve, and better the Form, and Manner. But as St. Auſtin ſaith of God himſelf, Non tribuit aliquando quod volumus, ut quod malimus attribuat. Laſtly, for your four ordinary Petitions, for Immunity of Perſons, liberty of Speech, readineſs of Acceſs, benign Interpretation, his moſt Excellent Majeſty grants them all, and will have them limited by no other bounds, than your own Wiſdom, Modeſty, and good Diſcrietion. So his Majeſty bids God Speed the Plow.

13. I look upon him that ſpake ſo well for the King two days together, as Antiquarius did upon the L. Picus Mirandula, Ratio, & oratio cum ipſo ex côdem utero natae videantur, Ep. 279. Here's ſtrong Mettle, and a keen Edge, able to cleave the hardeſt Knot. Here's Reaſon to convince Judgment, with ſtore of Eloquence to delight the Affections. Which could not be paſt over without this cenſure: for it is an ill thrift, to be parſimonious in the praiſe of that which is very good. The King repoſed much upon the Succeſs of this Meeting, becauſe his Mind was ſo well deliver'd, and ſo ſtrongly put on. The Cauſe of the War was made the Kingdoms: The Counſel that began it was the Parliaments, and were they not bound to find the Succours? As our Poet Mr. Johnſon ſays upon Prince Henry's Barriers, He doth but ſcourge himſelf his Sword that draws. Without a Purſe, a Counſel, and a Cauſe. But the Regiſters of all Ages, I believe, will not ſhew a Man, in whom Vertue was more perpetually unfortunate, than in this King. The Influence of thoſe ill Stars, that reigned over all his Reign, began thus ſoon. The Parliament was told, as if a Dictator had been nominated for this War, that all muſt be conſulted and executed together; that the preſent Sacrifice muſt be eaten in haſte, like the Lord's firſt Paſſover: for in that juncture ſlow help was no help. Yet in five Weeks (ſo long they ſat at Weſtminſter) there was not an Arrow to any purpoſe ſhot towards that Mark. Theſe were they that thruſt his Majeſty upon a War, to the mortifying of his Father's part: and now his Enemies were awak'd with the Alarum, they let him ſhift for himſelf. Being told enough that there muſt be Gold, as well as Iron to play this Game, and that a good Purſe made a good Army, they gave him ſuch diſcouragement, that they dropt no more than two Mites into the Corban. An incredible diſproportion between what was found, and what was lookt for: and ſuitable to a Paſſage in an Italian Comedy, where a Gueſt complains of his ill Entertainment at a Miſer's Table, that there was not enough to make a good Supper, nor ſcarce enough to make a good Salad.

14. Yet the hardeſt Remedy had been the beſt Patience. For by the ſecond Week in July the Plague was in its rage about London, and Weſtminſter. The Members of both Houſes were half ſlunk home, and they that ſtaid it out, wiſht every hour the Seſſion were ended. The King was in a mervellous ſtrait: neither knew how to hold them, nor to let them go. His mind was much upon it, to try them, though not there, yet ſome where elſe, for an augmentation of Supply. Whoſe excuſe was the ſame, which the Queen of Carthage made to Aeneas, Lib. 1. Aen. Res dura, & novitas regni me talia cogunt —Moliri. His Majeſty thought change of Air would do good, and propoſed to ſome of his Council at Hampton-Court, July 10. to adjourn to Oxford againſt the firſt of Auguſt. A Propoſition mainly favour'd by the Lord-Duke, ſo that he grinn'd at the Lord-Keeper, all the while he diſſwaded it. But take away liberty from Speech, p. 14and take away Bitterneſs from Wormwood, nay take away Spirit from Wine. Yet he went on, and ſpake to theſe two Heads, that it was not another place, but another time that muſt ſpeed the Work. Firſt, the Infection of the Peſtilence had overſpread the whole Land: that no Man, that travell'd from his own home, knew where to lodge in ſafety: that the Lords and Gentlemen would be ſo diſtaſted, to be carried abroad in ſuch a Mortal time, that it is likely, when they came together, they would Vote out of diſcontent, and diſpleaſure: that his Majeſty was ill counſell'd to give Offences, though ſmall ones, in the bud of his Reign, Quae nulli magis evitandae ſunt, quàm juveni & Principi, cujus gratia cum aetate debet adoleſcere, as Symmachus, Lib. 1. Ep. writes to his Maſter Theodoſius. Secondly, the Parliament hath given two Subſidies at Weſtminſter, though they remove to Oxford it is yet the ſame Seſſion: and if they alledge, it is not the uſe of the Houſe to give twice in a Seſſion, (though I wiſh heartily they would) yet how ſhall we plead them out of their Cuſtom, if they be ſo ſtiff to maintain it? It is not fit for the Reputation of the King, to fall upon a probable hazard of a denial. The Duke, who had heard this with impatience, ſaid, That publick Neceſſity might ſway more than one Man's Jealouſie. Hereupon the Keeper beſought that he might commit a few words to the King's Ear in private: which was granted. And he acquainted his Majeſty, That the Lord-Duke had Enemies in the Houſe of Commons, who had contrived Complaints, had made them ready to be preferr'd, and would ſpend the time at Oxford about them. And what folly it were to continue a Seſſion, that had no other aim, but to bring the Duke upon the Stage? But if your Majeſty think that this is like a Hectick, quickly known, but hardly cur'd; My humble Motion is, that this Malady, or Malice, call it which you will, may ſleep till after Chriſtmas. There is no time loſt in whetting the Sythe well. For I hope to give ſuch account by that time, by undertaking with the chief Sticklers, that they ſhall ſuperſede from their Bitterneſs againſt your great Servant, and that Paſſage to your weighty Councils ſhall be made ſmooth, and peaceable. And why do you conceal this from Buckingham, ſays the King? Good Lord Sir, ſays the Keeper, fain I would begin at that end, but he will not hear me with moderation. Which was rightly foreſeen. Eraſmus in an Epiſtle to one Gonel asks, How a good turn can be worſe beſtowed than upon ungrateful Men? Yes, ſays he, Magis perit quod praeſtatur non intelligentibus. 'Tis worſe placed upon them, that will not underſtand. Becauſe it was the miſhap of this Man to give the firſt notice of that Storm that was a gathering, the Duke as in defiance, bid him and his Confederates do their worſt, and beſought that the Parliament might be continued, to confront that Faction; though he lookt upon himſelf in that innocency, that he preſum'd they durſt not queſtion him. Here began the Downfall of the Lord-Keeper; miſtruſted to ſet that Wheel a going, whoſe Motion he diſcover'd, and offer'd to put a Spoke into it. But Truth faileth: And he that departeth from Evil maketh himſelf a Prey, Iſa. 59.15. And here began the Troubles of mighty Buckingham: who would not gain ſix Months time, which might have made Miſchiefs mellow, and rot. But to ſhew the Greatneſs of his Power, he made haſte to deſtroy himſelf: being in one Character too like to Pope Julius the Second, Nunquam ab eo, ad quod ingenio feroci impellebatur; recedendum putavit. He would never retreat from that, to which the Violence of his Paſſions hurried him.

16. He had his Will, and Auguſt the 1st. the Seſſion continued at Oxford. Of which place it may be ſaid as Caſſiodor did of Athens, Aëris puritate peruncta lucidiſſimos ſenſus ad contemplationem felici largitate praeparavit. But it appears by experience it hath been more renown'd for good Wits, than for good Parliaments. The Commons ſat in the Divinity-School, who for the moſt part begin with a Grievance about increaſe of Popery. And on the firſt Morning, no ſooner had the Speaker taken his place, but a Weſtern Knight enlargeth the Senſe of his Sorrow, that he had ſeen a Pardon for ſix Prieſts, bearing Teſt, July 12. Whereas, but the day before it, when they were to part from Weſtminſter, the Lord-Keeper had promis'd in the King's Name before them all, that the Rigor of the Laws againſt Prieſts ſhould not be deluded. Many of the Members were ſore offended, and veyed who ſhould blame it moſt. What! their Hopes blaſted in one Night? What the King's Promiſe ſo early broken? Nunquam major ſpes eſt quàm in bonorum Principum ſponſione, Symmachus, Ep. to Theodoſ. Lib. 1. But for a Lord-Keeper that brought the King's Meſſage, and knew it beſt, and for a Biſhop to ſet the Seal to ſuch a Warrant, for him to do that wrong to Religion, it was enormous. But for his part he was ſecure enough. Indeed it was a Pit-fall ſet to cruſh him, but it fell upon another. God had given him Wiſdom p. 15to know the Violence of Winds, and the Reaſonings of Men, Wiſd. 7.20. The Warrant was twice brought to him, but he would not paſs it. Mr. Bembo, a Servant to the Clerk of the Crown, confeſt before the Houſe, that he brought the Writ to be ſealed, but it was ſtopt. Mr. Devike, Servant to Sir Edward Conway, confeſt he brought it from his Maſter: but it could not ſpeed. It was my Lord Buckingham's hard Hap, to move the King to command the Warrant to be Sealed in his ſight at Hampton-Court the Sunday following: which being evidenced, the Vote of the Commons turn'd about to clear the Keeper, and to commend him: which did him hurt at Woodſtock (the Court was there) to pleaſe the Parliament, which had not pleas'd the King. An Error like to that of Adrians in Spartianus, Non admiſit Terentium Gentianum: eſt eò vehementiùs, quod à Senatu diligi eum videret. But the Commons, while they were in heat, ask'd a Conference with the Lords Afternoon in Chriſt's-Church-Hall: where Sir Edward Coke opened the Complaint ſharply againſt Secretary Conway: and like an Orator did ſlide away with a ſhort Animadverſion upon the Duke. It was not ſo well for his Grace, that the noiſe of the Grievance had entred into both Houſes. Arcus cum ſunt duplices pluviam nuntiant, ſays Pliny, Lib. 2. N. H. c. 59. If our Rain-bow multiply another by its Reflection, it prognoſticks a Shower. And the Storm burſt out in the lower Region: when he was rather declam'd againſt, as I would call it, than accus'd, becauſe the Gentlemen that did proſecute contain'd themſelves in generals. The moſt upon which inſiſtance was made, was, that he held the moſt, and the moſt important Offices of Truſt, and Honour by Sea and Land. Though it was fooliſh and ſuperſtitious in the Heathen Romans, to think it was not for the Majeſty of their Common-wealth to ſerve but one God, Majeſtatem imperii non decuiſſe, ut unus tantùm Deus colatur, Tull. Orat. pro Flacco: Yet it were to be deſir'd, if it might be dutifully obtain'd, that one Subject ſhould not poſſeſs all thoſe Places, which require the Sufficiency of many to diſcharge them. Much to this purpoſe is that of the Lord Herbert, Harry. 8. p. 318. That it was a great Error, that ſuch a multitude of Offices was inveſted in Woolſey: as it drew Envy upon the Cardinal, ſo it derogated not a little from the Regal Authority, while one Man alone ſeems to comprehend all. The King may be ſatisfied, to ſettle the Choice of his high Promotions in one Minion: ſo will never the People. And the Advanced is ſure to be ſhaken for his height, and to be malign'd for over-dropping. He that ſees a Stone-wall ſwelling, looks every day when it will fall. And one Stalk is not ſtrong enough, to hold a cluſter of Titles hanging at it. Salmaſius hath a Note upon the firſt Book of Solinus, That if a Man grow ſo faſt, that it exceeds the uſual way of Nature, he will fall into ſickneſs. His Inſtance is in the Son of Euthymenes, that grew three Cubits in three Years, Et immoderatis aegritudinum ſuppliciis compenſaſſe praecipitem incrementi celeritatem. But what Grandee will believe this? Becauſe there is more in our corrupt Nature that will obey Ambition, than Wiſdom.

16. Yet to ſpeak to the other ſide, Might not this have been forborn to be objected by the Parliament to this great Lord at this time? When his Head, and his Hands were wholly taken up to prepare that War, which was their own Creature. He was at their Plough, he was under their Yoke, if it were well remembred. Now Grotius marks well from the old Law, Deut. 21.3. That Beaſts that had been put to labour, might not be ſacrificed (Eliſha's Act was haſty and ſingular) foreign, as he quotes it out of Chaeremon: They were priviledged by the Work, in which they had been profitable. Nay, could it be objected as a Fault at any time? I ſay as a Fault: for I plead not for the Convenience. What Phariſee would be ſo corrupt to ask, Maſter who ſinned? This Man, or his Parent, that he was made a Duke, as Lord Admiral, a Maſter of the Horſe, &c.? No Inch of Sin is in ten Cubits of Honour, that are lawfully conferr'd. But there is a Fault for which Budaeus knew no direct Name, Lib. 2. Pandec. fol. 10. Cum milites Imperatori infenſi vincere nolunt. Let it be termed foreign, ſays he, when Souldiers will loſe a Victory wilfully, becauſe they are diſcontented at their General. All was tending much this way at Oxford. The great Expedition in hand, and the Fleet ready at Plimouth loſt its ſeaſon, the Souldiers and Sailors diſhearten'd for want of Pay, yet not the Supply of a Subſidy could be drawn, to give courage to the Onſet, becauſe the Generaliſſimo, that manag'd the Voyage, had loſt their Favour. Numbers there were, ſome Friends, ſome Flatterers, that brought Fuel to the Fire to enflame the Duke againſt theſe Dealings. The Lord-Keeper was not ſought to. Yet came, and offer'd himſelf p. 16to confer about it. And certainly all that knew him would ſay, no Man could pluck the Graſs better, to know where the Wind ſat: no Man could ſpie ſooner from whence a Miſchief did riſe. I'll begin thus:

My Lord, I come to you unſent for: and I fear to diſpleaſe you: Yet becauſe your Grace made me, I muſt and will ſerve you, though you are one that will deſtroy, that which you made. Let me periſh: Yet I deſerv'd to periſh ten times, if I were not as earneſt, as any Friend your Grace hath, to ſave you from periſhing. The Sword is the Cauſe of a Wound: but the Buckler is in fault, if it do not defend the Body, You have brought the Two Houſes hither, my Lord, againſt my Counſel. My Suſpicion is confirm'd, that your Grace would ſuffer for it. What's now to be done? but wind up a Seſſion quickly. The occaſion is for you; becauſe two Colledges in the Univerſity, and eight Houſes in the City are viſited with the Plague. Let the Members be promis'd fairly and friendly, that they ſhall meet again after Chriſtmas. Requite their Injuries done unto you with benefits, and not revenge. For no Man, that is wiſe, will ſhew himſelf angry with the People of England. I have more to ſay, but no more than I have ſaid to your Grace above a Year paſt at White-hall. Confer one or two of your great Places upon your faſteſt Friends: ſo ſhall you go leſs in Envy, and not leſs in Power. Great Neceſſities will excuſe hard Propoſals, and horrid Counſels. St. Auſtin ſays it was a Punick Proverb in his Country; Ut habeas quietum tempus perde aliquid. At the Cloſe of this Seſſion declare your ſelf to be the forwardſt to ſerve the King and Common-wealth, and to give the Parliament ſatisfaction. Fear them not, when they meet again in the ſame Body: whoſe ill Affections I expect to mitigate: but if they proceed, truſt me with your Cauſe, when it is tranſmitted to the Houſe of Lords, and I will lay my Life upon it, to preſerve you from Sentence, or the leaſt Diſhonour. This is my Advice my Lord. If you like it not, Truth in the end will find an Advocate to defend it. The Duke replied no more but, I will look whom I truſt to, and flung out of the Chamber with Minaces in his Countenance. Yet the other did not think he had play'd the Game ill, though he loſt his Stake by it. Dangerous Faithfulneſs is honeſter than cunning Silence. And once more he was bold to wreſtle with this Potentate in high Favour, before he fell. The Commons of this Parliament was cenſur'd at Woodſtock for ſpiteful, and ſeditious: therefore not fit to continue, but to be diſſolv'd. Which Reſolution being brought to the Clerk of the Crown, to diſſolve them on the 12th. of Auguſt; the Keeper did never ſo beſtir him ſince he was born, as to turn the Tide, with Reaſons, with Supplications, with Tears, imploring his Majeſty to remember a time, when, in his hearing, his bleſſed Father had charg'd him to call Parliaments often, and continue them, though their raſhneſs ſometimes did offend him; that in his own Experience, he never got good by falling out with them. But chiefly Sir, ſays he, let it never be ſaid, that you have not kept good Correſpondence with your firſt Parliament. Do not diſſeminate ſo much unkindneſs through all the Counties, and Boroughs of your Realm. The Love of the People is the Palladium of your Crown. Continue this Aſſembly to another Seſſion, and expect alteration for the better. If you do not ſo, the next ſwarm will come out of the ſame Hive. To this the Lords of the Council did almoſt all concur; but it wanted Buckingham's Suffrage: who was ſecure that the King's Judgment would follow him againſt all the Table. So this firſt Parliament was blaſted, Et radicis vitium in fructibus naſcentibus oſtenditur. The Root fail'd, and the Fruit was unſavory in all the Branches that grew up after it. I would the Builders had laid a better corner Stone: then the Lord had not ſmote the great Houſe with Breaches, and the little Houſe with Clefts, Amos 6.11. Yet I would the King's Aequanimity had ſuffered it to ſtand, that Concord might have cemented the Hearts of all the Nation to his Government. It is a Trivial, but a dangerous Overſight, Senec. lib 3. de prâ.Initia morborum quis curat? Providence is not ſenſible of a little harm when it begins; and when the increaſe is felt, the Evil is incurable.

17. Now the time came that as the Parliament had chaſed the Duke, ſo the Duke chaſed the Keeper, Torva Leaena Lupum ſequitur, Lupus ipſe Capellam. Was it for Michaias's Crime, he doth not propheſie good concerning me but evil? 1 Kings 22.8. His Fidelity would not let him conceal it. Or did his Grace doubt him for under-dealing? He could never prove it. And he that can leave to be a Friend for Suſpicion, is juſtly ſuſpected that he was never a Friend. What ſhall we ſay to ſuch Men, as would fall out, and are angry when they cannot find a juſtifiable occaſion? This was the Misfortune: like Caelius the Orator in Seneca, Lib. 3. de irâ, c. 8. meeting with one that obſerv'd him in all that he ſaid, and longing for a Quarrel, ſays Caelius, Dic aliquid contra me, p. 17ut duo ſimus. The Keeper could not be provok'd to give the Duke the leaſt joſtle: All's one, when Power conteſts, there's no ſafety for Innocency: great Men can maintain their Violence by ſome colour of Right. So the Accuſation broke out, that this Man had fomented Suggeſtions againſt my Lord of Buckingham, among the chief Tribunes of the Parliament. Wherein the King was ſatisfied to the contrary, while he ſtaid at Woodſtock, by an Apology that follows, drawn up haſtily in an hour, into ſhort Heads. Yet it ſtuck in the Credulity of thoſe, that were remote from the Scene, and ſaw not the Part acted. Therefore I believe that ſome intelligent Man might tell ſo much to the Obſervator, p. 36. Yet he knows, that for an intelligent Man to judge upon Report, is worſe than to take Judgment of a ſick Man's Diſtemper only by his Water. And as intelligent a Man as the Obſervator himſelf may have the Infirmity which Longinus imputes to Timaeus, foreign, p. 8. foreign, cenſorious of others, partial to himſelf, and inſenſible of his own Errors. But let truth break forth by a Paper, which the Lord-Keeper put into the King's Hand, Aug. 14. which diſcloſeth all, Judex ipſe ſui totum ſe explorat ad unguem. Auſonius.