TO HIS EMINENCE, THE LORD FRANCISCO BARBERINI, Cardinal of the moſt holy Apoſtolick See, and Protector of the Engliſh Nation, at his Palaces in Rome.
MY laſt to your Eminence was but ſhort, in regard I had been but a ſhort time in this Countrey, I have now made a longer ſojourn here, and taken a leiſurely information of all matters; therefore I ſhal give your Eminence an account proportionably: For by converſation with the moſt indifferent, and intelligenc'd men, and by communication with the Ambaſſadors here reſident, I have taken ſome paines to pump out the truth of things.
I find, that angry ſtar, which hath lowr'd ſo long upon Europe2 in generall, hath been as predominant, and caſt as direfull aſpects upon this poor Iland, as upon any other part: Truly, my Lord, in all probability this people have paſſ'd the Meridian of their happineſſe, and begin to decline extreamly, as well in Repute abroad, as alſo in the common notions of Religion, and indeed in the ordinary faculty of Reaſon: I think verily the Ill Spirit never reign'd ſo much in any corner of the earth by thoſe inhumane and horid things that I have obſerv'd among them, Nor is it a petty Spirit, but one of the greateſt Cacodaemons that thus drives them on, and makes them ſo active in the purſuance of their own perdition.
To deduce matters from their Originall, Your Eminency may pleaſe to underſtand, that this King at his acceſſe to the Crown had deep debts to pay, both of His Fathers, and his own, he was left ingaged in a freſh warre with Spain; and had another preſently after with France, and both at one time, but he came off well enough of thoſe: Afterwards never any Countrey flouriſhed in that envied happineſſe, and wanton kind of proſperity; This City of London was grown to be the greateſt Mart, and miſtreſſe of Trade, of any in the world, Inſomuch, as I have been certainly inform'd, the King might have eaten meerly upon His cuſtomes 4000 crownes a day: Moreover, ſhe had a vaſt bank of money being made the ſcale of conveying the King of Spaines treaſure to Flanders: Inſomuch that in a few yeers ſhe had above ten millions of his moneys brought hither, which ſhe might have remitted in ſpecie or in marchandize, and for which this King had five in the hundred for coynage: Yet could he not get beforehand with the world, having a ſiſter with ſo many Nephews and neeces, having a Queen with diverſe children of His own, (at leaſt 16 of the Blood-Royall) to maintaine, with divers profuſe Courtiers beſides, which made Him more parſimonious then ordinary. The Warres then growing more active 'twixt Spaine and France, as alſo 'twixt Holland and Spaine both by Land and Sea, and divers great Fleets of Men3 of War as well French (who were growne powerfull that way) as Dunkerkers, Spaniards, Hollanders, and Hamburgers, appearing daily in His narrow Seas, and ſayling cloſe by His Chambers, the world wondred this King had no greater ſtrength at Sea, in caſe that any of the foreſaid Nations ſhould doe him an affront, as ſome of them had already done, by denying to daſh their Colours to His Ships: Inſomuch that in Holland and other places he was paſquill'd at, and pourtrayed lying in his cradle lullaby'd and rock'd aſleep by the Spaniard: Hereupon being by advertiſements from His Agents abroad, and frequent advice of His Privie Councell at home, made ſenſible of the danger, and a kind of diſhonour he was falne into, and having intelligence that the French Cardinall began to queſtion his title to the Dominion of the Narrow Seas, conſidering He employed no viſible power to preſerve it, He began to conſult of meanes to ſet forth a Royall Fleet: but in regard the Purſe of the Crowne was lightly ballaſted, and that he had no mind to ſummon the three Eſtates, becauſe of ſome indignities he had received in former Parliaments by the Puritan party, (a race of people averſe to all Kingly Government, unleſſe they may pare it as they pleaſe) his then Atturney Generall, a great cryed-up-Lawyer, put it in his Head to impoſe an old Tax called Ship-mony upon the Subject, which the ſaid Lawyer did warrant upon his life to be Legall, for he could produce diverſe Records how many of his Progenitors had done the like: The King not ſatisfied with his ſingle opinion, referred it to His Learned Councell, and they unanimouſly averred it to be agreeable to the Law of the Land; yet this would not fully ſatisfie the King, but He would have the Opinion of His twelve Judges, and they alſo affirmed by their ſeverall vouches the ſaid Tax to be warrantable; Hereupon it was impoſed and leavied, but ſome refuſing to pay it, there was a ſuite commenc'd, during which all the Judges were to re-deliver their opinions joyntly, and the buſineſſe being maturely debated and canvaſed in open4 Court divers months, and all arguments produc'd pro & con, nine of the ſaid twelve Judges concluded it Legal: Thereupon the King continued the impoſition of the ſaid Tax, and never was money imployed ſo much for the Honour and advantage of a Countrey, for he ſent out every Summer a Royall fleet to ſcowre and ſecure the Seas; he cauſed a Galeon to be built, the greateſt and gallanteſt that ever ſpread ſaile: Nor did he purſe up, and diſpoſe of one peny of this money to any other uſe, but added much of his own Revenues yeerly thereunto: So the world abroad cried up the King of England to be awake againe; Trade did wonderfully encreaſe, both Domeſtic and forrein in all the three Kingdomes; Ireland was reduced to an abſolute Settlement, the Arreares of the Crown payed, and a conſiderable Revenue came thence cleerly to the Exchequer of England every year, the ſalaries of all Officers, with the pay of the ſtanding Army there, and all other Charges being defrayed by Ireland her ſelf, which was never done before. Yet for all this height of happineſſe, and the glorious fruites of the ſaid Ship-money, (which was but a kind of petty inſenſible Tax, & a thing of nothing to what hath happened ſince) there were ſome fooliſh people in this Land which murmured at it, and cryed out nothing elſe but a Parliament, a Parliament; and they have had one ſince with a vengeance.
But before this occaſion, it was obſerved, that the ſeedes of diſobedience, and a ſpirit of inſurrection was a long time engendring in the hearts of ſome of this peace-pampred People, which is conceived to proceed from their converſation and comerce with three ſorts of men, viz. the Scot, the Hollander and the French Huguenot. Now an advantage happened that much conduced to neceſſitate the convoking of a Parliament, which was an ill-favoured traverſe that fell out in Scotland; For the King intending an Uniformity of Divine worſhip in all His three Kingdomes, ſent thither the Lyturgie of this Church, but it found cold and coorſe entertainment there, for the whole5 Nation, men, women and children riſe up againſt them: Hereupon the King abſolutely revoked it by Proclamation, wherein He declared 'twas never His purpoſe to preſſe the practice thereof upon the Conſciences of any; therefore commanded that all things ſhould be in ſtatu quo prius, but this would not ſerve the turn, the Scot took advantage hereby to deſtroy Hierarchy, and pull down Biſhops to get their demeanes: To which purpoſe they came with an Army in open Field againſt their own Native King, who not diſgeſting this indignity, Muſtred another Engliſh Army; which being upon the confines of both Kingdomes, a kind of Pacification was plaiſtred over for the preſent. The King returning to London, and conſulting His ſecond thoughts, reſented that inſolency of the Scots more then formerly: Hereupon He ſummons a Parliament, and deſires aid to Vindicat that Affront of the Scot. The Scot had ſtrong Intelligence with the Puritan Faction in the Engliſh Parliament, who ſeemed to abet his quarell, rather then to be ſenſible of any nationall diſhonour received from him; which cauſed that ſhort-lived Parliament to diſſolve in diſcontent, and the King was forced to finde other meanes to raiſe and ſupport an Army by private Loanes of His Nobler ſort of Subjects and Servants: The Scot having punctuall Advertiſments of every thing that paſſed, yea, in the Kings Cabinet Councell was not idle all this while, but rallies what was left of the former Army (which by the articles of Pacification ſhould have been abſolutely diſmiſſed) and boldly invades England, which he durſt never have done, if he had not well known that this Puritan Party which was now grown very powerfull here, and indeed had invited him to this expedition, would ſtand to him. This forrein Army being, by the pernicious cloſe machinations of ſome mongrell Engliſhmen aforementioned, entred into the Bowels of the Country, the King was forced to call this preſent Parliament, with whom he complied in every thing, ſo far as to ſacrifice unto them both Judge, Biſhop, Councellor and Courtier; yea, He yeilded to the tumbling down of many tribunalls of Juſtice, which were an advantage6 to his Prerogative; He aſſented that the Prelates, who were the moſt Ancient and Prime Members of the upper Houſe, and had priority of all others, ſince the firſt conſtitution of Parliament in the enrollment of all Acts, He aſſented I ſay that theſe, who were the greateſt prop of His Crown ſhould be quite outed from among the Peers; He granted them alſo a Trienniall Parliament, and after that, this Perpetuall; which words, to the apprehenſion of any rationall man, carry with them a groſſe abſurdity in the very ſenſe of the thing: And touching this laſt Grant, I had it from a good hand, that the Queen was a friend to this Parliament, and your Eminence knowes how they have requited Her ſince, but the maine open Councellor to this fatall Act was a Scot.
Now the reaſon which they alledged for this everlaſting Parliament was one of the baldeſt that ever I heard of, it was, that they might have time enough to pay the Scots Army, whereas in one morning they might have diſpatched that, by paſſing ſo many Subſidies for that uſe, and upon the credit of thoſe, they might have raiſed what money they would.
The Parliament finding the King ſo pliable, and His pulſe to beat ſo gently, like ill-natur'd men they fall from inches to ells in ſeeking their advantages: They grew ſo peremptory as to demand all the military ſtrength of the Kingdom, the Tower of London, with the whole Royall Navy, which they found in an excellent equipage, gramercy ſhipmony; ſo that the benefit of Ship-mony, which they ſo clamoured at, turned moſt to their advantage of any thing afterwards.
The Scot being Fidler-like returned to his Country with meat, drink, and mony, the King went a while after to keep a Parliament there, wherein he filled every blank, they did but ask and have, for He granted them what poſſibly they could propound, both for their Kirk and State, many received Honour, and they divided Biſhops Lands amongſt them: for all which unparallel'd Conceſſions of Princely grace, they cauſed an Act already in force to be publiſhed, viZ. that it ſhould be7 damnable Treaſon in the higheſt degree that could be, for any of the Scots Nation conjunctly or ſingly to levy armes, or any military Forces, upon any pretext whatſoever, without His Majeſties royall Commiſſion; and this they caus'd to be don by way of gratitude, but how they perform'd it afterwards the world knowes too well.
The King returning to London, in lieu of a wellcom to his two Houſes of Parliament (to whom alſo before his departure he had paſſed more Acts of Grace then all his Progenitors, take them all in a lump) they had patch'd up a kind of Remonſtrance, which was voted in the dead of night, wherein they expos'd to the world the leaſt moat in former government, and aggravated to the very height every grievance, all which the King had redreſſed before; and this Remonſtrance, which breath'd nothing but a baſe kind of malice, they preſented as a noſegay to their Soverain Prince, to congratulate his ſafe return from a forren Countrey; which they caus'd to be printed & publiſh'd before he could give any anſwer thereunto. The King finding ſuch a virulent ſpirit ſtill raign in the Houſe, and knowing who were chiefly poſſeſs'd with it (whom he had impeach'd before, but ſaw he could get no juſtice againſt them) in ſuch an extremity, he did an act like a generous Prince, for taking the Palſgrave with him, he took the firſt coach he met withall at his Court gate, and went to his Houſe of Commons in perſon to demand five Members, which he wold prove to be Traitors in the higheſt degree, and to be the Authors of all theſe diſtempers, proteſting upon the word of a King, that they ſhold have as fair & legall a tryall as ever men had; in the interim he only deſir'd that their perſons might be ſecur'd: The walls of both Houſes, and the very ſtones in London ſtreet did ſeem to ring of this high cariage of the Kings, and the ſound went thence to the Countrey, whence the ſilly Plebeians came preſently in whole heards to this City, and ſtrowting up and down the ſtreets, had nothing in their mouths, but that the priviledg of Parlement, the priviledg of Parlement was broken, though it be the known cleer Law of the Land, that the Parlement cannot ſuperſede or ſhelter any treaſon.
The King finding how violently the pulſe of the gr•ſly ſeduced people did beat, and there having been formerly divers riotous8 crues of baſe Mechaniques and Mariners, who had affronted both his own Court, and the two Houſes beſides, which the Commons, to their eternall reproach, conniv'd at, notwithſtanding that divers motions were made by the Lords to ſuppreſſe them, the King alſo having private intelligence that there was a miſchievous plot to ſurprize his perſon, remov'd his Court to the Countrey.
The King departing, or rather being driven away thus from his two Houſes, by this mutinous City, he might well at his going away have obraided her in the ſame words as Henry the 3. did upbraid Paris, who being by ſuch another tumultuous rabble driven out of her in the time of the Ligue, as he was loſing ſight of her, he turn'd his face back, and ſayed, Farewell ingratefull Cittie, I will never ſee thee again till I make my way into thee through thy Walls: Yet, though the King abſented himſelf in perſon thus from the two Houſes, he ſent them frequent meſſages, that they wold draw into Acts what he had already aſſented unto, and if any thing was left yet undon by him, he wold do it; therfore he will'd them to leave off thoſe groundles feares and jealouſies wherwith they had amus'd both Cittie and Countrey; and he was ready to return at all times to his Palace in Weſtminſter, provided that his Perſon might be ſecur'd from the former barbariſms & outrages: But in lieu of a dutifull compliance with their Prince, the thoughts of the two Houſes ran upon nothing but war: The King then retiring into the North, & thinking with a few of his ſervants only to go viſit a Town of his, he was denied entrance by a fatall unlucky wretch, who afterwards was ſhamefully executed, with his eldeſt ſon, by command of his new Maſters of the Parlement: The King being thus ſhut out of his own town (which open'd the firſt dore to a bloudy war) put forth a Declaration, wherein he warn'd all his people that they ſhould look to their proprieties, for if Hee was thus barr'd of his owne, how could any private Subject be ſure to be Maſter of any thing he had, and herein he was as much Prophet as Prince; For the Parlement-men afterwards made themſelfs Land-Lords of the whole Kingdome, it hath been uſuall for them to thruſt any out of his freehold, to take his bed from under him, and his ſhirt from off his very back. The King being9 kept thus out of one of his townes, might well ſuſpect that he might be driven out of another, therefore 'twas time for him to look to the preſervation of his Perſon, and the Countrey came in voluntarily unto him by thouſands to that purpoſe, but hee made choice of a few only to be his gard, as the Parlementteers had don a good while before for themſelfs: But now they went otherwiſe to worke, for they fell a levying, liſting, and arming men by whole Regiments and Brigades till they had a verie conſiderable Army a foot, before the King had one Muſqueteer or Trooper on his ſide: yet theſe men are ſo notoriously impudent, as to make the King the firſt Aggreſſor of the war, and to lay upon Him all the blood that was ſpilt to this day, wherein the Devill himſelf cannot be more ſhameles. The Parliamenteers having an army of foot and horſe thus in perfect Equipage, 'twas high time for the King to look to himſelfe, therefore he was forced to diſplay his royall Standard, and draw his ſword quite out: Thus a cruell and moſt cruentous civill war began which laſted neer upon foure yeers without intermiſſion, wherin there happen'd more battailes, ſieges and skirmiſhes, then paſſed in the Netherlands in foureſcore yeers, and herein the Engliſhmen may be ſaid to get ſom credit abroad in the world, that they have the ſame blood running in their veines (though not the ſame braines in their ſculls) which their Anceſtors had, who were obſerved to be the activeſt peeple in the field, impatient of delay, and moſt deſirous of battaile then any Nation.
But it was one of the greateſt miracles that ever happen'd in this Land how the King was able to ſubſiſt ſo long againſt the Parlamenteers, conſidering the multiplicity of infinite advantatages they had of him by water and land: for they had the Scot, the Sea and the City on their ſide; touching the firſt, he ruſhed in as an Auxiliary, with above 20000. Horſe and Foot compleatly furniſh'd both with ſmall and great ammunition and arms, well cloth'd and money'd: For the ſecond, they had all the Kings Ships well appointed, which are held to be the greateſt ſecurity of the Iſland both for defence and offence, for every one of them is accounted one of the moving Caſtles of the Kingdome: beſides they had all the other ſtanding ſtone-Caſtles,10 Forts, and tenable places to boot: Concerning the laſt, (viz. the City) therein they had all the wealth, bravery, and prime ammunition of England, this being the onely Magazin of men and money: Now if the King had had but one of theſe on his ſide, he had in all probability cruſh'd them to nothing: yet did he bear up ſtrangely againſt them a long time, and might have don longer, had he kept the campane, and not ſpent the ſpirits of his men before Townes; had he not made a diſadvantagious election of ſom Commanders in chief, and laſtly, had he not had cloſe Traitors within dores, as well as open Rebells without; for his very Cabinet Councell, and Bed-Chamber were not free of ſuch vermin, and herein the Parlementeers ſpent unknown ſums and were very prodigall of the Kingdomes money.
The King, after many traverſes of war, being reduced to a great ſtreight by croſſe ſucceſſes and Counſells, rather then to fall into the hands of the Parlementeers, withdrew himſelfe in a Servingmans diſguiſe to the Scors army, as his laſt randevous, and this plott was manag'd by the French Agent then reſiding here; A man wold think that that Nation wol'd have deem'd it an eternall honor unto them to have their own King and Countreyman throw himſelf thus into their armes, and to repoſe ſuch a ſingular truſt in them upon ſuch an Extremity: but they correſponded not ſo well with him as he expected, for though at firſt when the Parlamenteers ſollicited their deer Brethren for a delivery of the Kings perſon unto them, their note was then, if any forren petty Prince had ſo put himſelf upon them, they could not with honor deliver him, much leſſe their own Native King; yet they made a ſacrifice of him at laſt for 800000. Crownes; whereupon Bellieure the French Ambaſſador being convoyed by a Troop of horſe from the King towards London, to ſuch a ſtand, in lieu of larges to the ſouldiers, he drew out an halfe crown peece, and asked them how many pence that was, they anſwered 30. He replied, for ſo much did Judas betray his Maſter, and ſo he departed
And now, that in the cours of this Hiſtoricall Narration I have touch'd upon France, your Eminence may pleaſe to underſtand, that nothing allmoſt could tend more to the advantage of11 that King, then theſe commotions in England, conſidering that he was embark'd in an actuall war with the Houſe of Auſtria and that this Iland did do Spain ſom good offices; among other, by tranſport of his treaſure to Dunkerk in Engliſh bottomes, wherunto this King gave way, and ſomtimes in his own Galeons, which ſav'd the Spainard neer upon 20. in the hundred, then if he had ſent it by way of Genoa; ſo that ſom think, though France made ſemblance to reſent the ſad condition of her Neighbour, and thereupon ſent the Prince of Harcour, and the foreſaid Monſieur Bellieure to compoſe matters, yet ſhe never really intended it, as being againſt her preſent intereſt and engagements: yet the world thinks it much that ſhe ſhold publiquely receive an Agent from theſe Parlamenteers, and that the French Nobility who were us'd to be the gallanteſt men in the world to vindicate the quarrels of diſtreſſed Ladies, are not more ſenſible of the outrages that have bin offer'd a daughter of France, ſpecially of Henry the great's.
But to reſume the threed of my Narration, the King (and with him, one may ſay, England alſo) being thus bought and ſold, the Parlamenteers inſteed of bringing him to Weſtminſter, which had put a Period to all diſtempers toſs'd him up and downe to private houſes, and kept the former Army ſtill a foot: And truly I think there was never Prince ſo abus'd, or poor peeple ſo baffled, and no peeple but a purblind beſotted peeple wold have ſuffred themſelfs to be ſo baffled: for notwithſtanding that no Enemy appeer'd in any corner of the Kingdom, yet above 20000. Tagaroons have bin kept together ever ſince to grind the faces of the poore, and exhauſt the very vitall ſpirits of town and Countrey, and keep them all in a perfect ſlavery: Had the Parlement-men, when the Scots were gone, brought their King in a generous and frank way (as had well becom'd Engliſhmen) to ſitt among them, and truſted to him (which of neceſſity they muſt do at laſt) as they had gain'd more honor far in the world abroad, ſo they had gain'd more upon his affections then I beleeve they will ever do hereafter.
But to proceed, the King having bin a good while priſoner to the Parlement, the Army ſnatch'd him away from them, and ſom of the chiefeſt Commanders having pawn'd their ſoules unto12 him to reſtore him ſpeedily, in lieu thereof they tumbled him up and down to ſundry places, till they juggled him at laſt to that ſmall Ile where now he is ſurrounded with a gard of ſtrange faces and if happly he beginns to take delight in any of thoſe faces, he is quickly taken out of his ſight. Theſe harſh uſages hath made him becom all gray and oregrown with hair, ſo that he lookes rather like ſom Silvan Satyr then a Soverain Prince: And truly my Lord the meaneſt ſlave in St. Marks gallies or the abiect's Captif in Algier bannier is not ſo miſerable as he in divers kinds, for they have the comfort of their wifes, children and frends, they can convey and receive Letters, ſend Meſſenggers upon their errands, and have privat diſcours with any; all which is denied to the King of great Britain, nay the young Princes his children are not permitted as much as to ask him bleſſing in a letter. In ſo much that if he were not a great King of his paſſions, and had a heart caſt in an extraordinary Mould, theſe preſſures & thoſe baſe aſperſions that have bin publiquely caſt upon him by the Parlement it ſelf, had bin enough to have ſent him out of the world e're this, and indeed 'tis the main thing they drive at, to torture his brain, and tear his very heartſtrings if they could: ſo that wheras this fooliſh ignorant peeple ſpeak ſuch horrid things of our Inquiſition, truly my Lord 'tis a moſt gentle way of proceeding being compar'd to this Kings perſecutions.
As the King himſelfe is thus in quality of a captif, ſo are all his Subjects becom perfect ſlaves, they have fool'd themſelfs into a worſe ſlavery then Jew or Greek under the Ottomans, for they know the bottom of their ſervitude by paying ſo many Sultaneſſes for every head; but here, peeple are put to endles, unknowne, tyrannicall Taxes, beſides plundring and AcciZe, which two words, and the practiſe of them (with ſtorming of Townes) they have learnt of their pure brethren of Holland: and for plundrings, theſe Parlementeer Saints think they may robb any that adheres not to them as lawfully as the Iewes did the Egiptians: 'Tis an unſommable maſſe of money theſe Reformers have ſquandred in few yeers, whereof they have often promis'd and ſolemnly voted a publike account to ſatisfie the Kingdome: but as in a hundred things more, ſo in this precious13 particular they have diſpens'd with their Votes: they have conſumed more treaſure with pretence to purge one Kingdome, then might have ſerved to have purchas'd two; more (as I am credibly told) then all the Kings of England ſpent of the public ſtock ſince the Saxon Conqueſt: Thus have they not only begger'd the whole Iland, but they have hurld it into the moſt fearfull'ſt Chaos of confuſion that ever poore Countrey was in; they have torne in pieces the reines of all Government, trampled upon all Lawes of heaven and earth, and violated the very Dictamens of nature, by making mothers to betray their ſonnes, and the ſonnes their fathers, but ſpecially that great Charter, which is the Pandect of all the Lawes and Liberties of the freeborn Subject, which at their admiſſion to the Houſe they are ſolemnly ſworn to maintaine, is torn in flitters: beſides thoſe ſeverall Oaths they forg'd themſelfs, as the Proteſtation and Covenant, where they voluntarily ſweare to maintain the Kings Honor and Rights, together with the eſtabliſhed Lawes of the Land, &c. Now I am told, that all Acts of Parlement here are Lawes, and they carry that Majeſtie with them, that no power can ſuſpend or repeale them, but the ſame power that made them, which is the King ſitting in full Parlement; theſe mongrell Polititians have bin ſo notoriouſly impudent as to make an inferior Ordinance of theirs to do it, which is point-blank againſt the very fundamentalls of this Government, and their owne Oaths, which makes me think that there was never ſuch a perjur'd pack of wretches upon earth, never ſuch Monſters of mankind.
Yet this ſimple infatuated peeple have a Saint-like opinion of theſe Monſters, this fooliſh Citie gards them daily with Horſe and Foot, whereby ſhe may be ſayd to kiſſe the very ſtones that are thrown at her, and the hand whence they came, which a dogg wold not do: But ſhe falls to recollect her felf now that ſhe begins to be pinch'd in Trade, that that her Mint is ſtarv'd, and that the Prince commands both Sea and River: yet the leading'ſt men in her Common-Councell care not much for it, in regard moſt of them have left traffiqueing abroad, finding it a more eaſie and gainefull way of trading at home, by purchaſing Church-lands, plunder'd goods, and debts upon14 the Public Faith; thus the Saints of this Iland turn godlineſſe into gaine.
Truly my Lord, I give the Engliſh for a loſt Nation, never was there a more palpable oblaeſion of the brain, and a more viſible decay of reaſon in any race of men: it is a ſtrange judgement from heaven, that a peeple ſhold not be more ſenſible how they are becom ſlaves to Rebells, and thoſe moſt of them the ſcumm of the Nation, which is the baſeſt of miſeries: how they ſuffer them to tyrannize by a meer arbitrary extrajudiciall power o're their very ſoules and bodies, o're their very lifes and livelihoods; how their former freedom is turn'd to fetters, Molehills into Mountaines of grievances, Ship-money into Accize, Juſtice into Tyranny: For nothing hath bin and is daily ſo common amongſt them as impriſonment without charge, and a charge without an accuſer, condemnation without apparance, and forfaitures without conviction.
To ſpeak a little more of the King, if all the infernall fiends had ligu'd againſt him, they could not have deſignd & diſgorg'd more malice: they wold have laid to his charge his fathers death, as arrand a lie as ever was hatch'd in hell: they wold make him fore-know the inſurrection in Ireland, whereas the Spaniſh Ambaſſador here, & his Confeſſor who is a very reverend Iriſh man, told me, that he knew no more of it then the grand Mogor did: they charge him with all the bloud of this civill warre, wheras they and their inſtruments were the firſt kindlers of it, and that firſt prohibited trade: they intercepted and printed his privat letters to his Queen, and hers to him, (Oh barbarous baſeneſſe!) but therin they did him a pleaſure, though the intent was malitious, their aym in all things being to imbitter and envenom the hearts of his peeple towards him; and this was to render him a glorious and well-belov'd Prince, and for making him rich, all which they had vow'd to do upon paſſing the Act of Continuance, they have made him poorer then the meaneſt of all his vaſſalls, they have made him to have no propriety in houſe, goods, or Lands, or as one may ſay, in his wife and children: 'Twas uſuall for the father to hunt in his Park while the ſon hunted for his life in the field, for the wife to lye in his bedds, while the husband layed wait to15 murther him abroad; they have ſeiz'd upon and ſold his privat Hangings and Plate, yea his very Cabinets, Jewells and Pictures.
Nor are they the honorableſt ſort of peeple, and men nobly extracted (as in Scotland) that do all this, (for then it were not ſo much to be wondred at) but they are the meaneſt ſort of Subjects, many of them Mechaniques, whereof the lower Houſe is full; ſpecially the ſubordinate Committees, who domineer more ore Nobles and Gentry, then the Parliament-Members themſelfs their Maſters.
Touching thoſe few Peers that ſit now voting in the upper Houſe, they may be ſayed to be but mee•Cyphers, they are grown ſo degenerate as to ſuffer the Commons to give them the Law, to ride upon their backs, and do moſt things without them: There be many thouſand Petitions that have been recommended by theſe Lords to the lower Houſe, which are ſcornfully thrown into corners and never read; their Meſſengers have us'd to dance attendance divers houres and dayes afore they were vouchſafed to be let in or heard, to the eternall diſhonor of thoſe Peers, and yet poor ſpirited things they reſent it not: The Commons now command all, and though, as I am inform'd, they are ſummon'd thither by the Kings Originall Writt but to conſent to what the King and his great Counſell of Peers (which is the true Court of Parlement) ſhall reſolve upon; They are now from Conſenters becom the chiefeſt Counſellors yea Controwlers of all; nay ſom of this lower Houſe fly ſo high as to term themſelfs Conquerors, and though in all conferences with the Lords•hey ſtand bare before them, yet by a new way of mix'd Committees they cary themſelfs as Collegues: Theſe are the men that now have the vogue, and they have made their Priviledges ſo big ſwoln, that they ſeem to have quite ſwallowed up both the Kings Prerogatives, and that of the Lords: Theſe are the Grandees, and Sages of the times, though moſt of them have but crack'd braines and crazy fortunes; Nay ſom of them are ſuch arrand Knaves and coxcombs, that 'tis queſtionable whither they more want common honeſty, or common ſenſe; nor know no more what belongs to true policy then the left legg of a joint-ſtoole: They are grown ſo high a tiptoes,16 that they ſeem to ſcorn an Act of Amneſtia•, or any grace from their King, wheras ſom of them deſerve to be hang'd as oft as they have haires upon their heads; nor have they any more care of the common good of England then they have of Lapland, ſo they may ſecure their perſons, and continue their Power and Authority, is ſweet, though it be in Hell. Thus, my Lord, is England now govern'd, ſo that 'tis an eaſy thing to take a proſpect of her ruine; The Scot is now the riſing man, who is the third time ſtruck into her bowells with a numerous Army: They ſay he hath vow'd never to return till he hath put the Crown on the Kings head, the Scepter in his hand, and the ſword by his ſide; if he do ſo, it will be the beſt thing that ever he did, though ſom think that he will never be able to do England as much good as he hath don her hurt; He hath extremely outwitted the Engliſh of late yeers: And they who were the cauſers of his firſt and laſt coming in, I hold to be the moſt pernicious Enemies that ever this Nation had; for 'tis probable that Germany will be ſooner free of the Swed, then England of the Scot, who will ſtick cloſe unto him like a burr, that he cannot ſhake him off; He is becom allready Maſter of the Engliſhmans ſoul, by impoſing a religion upon him, and he may hereafter be maſter of his body.
Your Eminence knowes there is a periodicall fate hangs over all Kingdoms after ſuch a revolution of time, and rotation of fortunes wheele; the cours of the world hath bin, for one Nation, like ſo many nailes, to thruſt out another; But for this Nation, I obſerve by conference with divers of the ſaddeſt and beſt weighdſt men among them, that the ſame preſages foretell their ruine as did the Iſraelites of old, which was a murmuring againſt their Governors; It is a long time that both Judges Biſhops, and privy Counſellors have bin mutter'd at, wherof the firſt ſhold be the oracles of the Law, the other of the Goſpell, the laſt of State-affaires, and that our judgments ſhold acquieſce upon theirs; Here as I am inform'd; 'twas common for evry ignorant client to arraign his Judg; for evry puny Clerk to cenſure the Biſhop; for evry ſhallow-brain home-bred fellow to deſcant upon the reſults of the Councell Table: and this ſpirit of contradiction and contumacy hath bin a long time fomenting17 in the minds of this peeple, infus'd into them principally, by the Puritanicall Faction. Touching the ſecond of theſe (I mean Biſhops) they are grown ſo odious (principally for their large demeanes) among this peeple, as Monks were of old, and one may ſay it is a juſt judgment fallen upon them, for they were moſt buſy in demoliſhing Convents and Monaſteries, as theſe are in deſtroying Cathedralls and Ministers; But above all, it hath bin obſerv'd that this peeple hath bin a long time rotten-hearted towards the ſplendor of the Court, the very glory of their King, and the old eſtabliſh'd Government of the land: 'Tis true there were a few ſmall leakes ſprung in the great veſſell of the State, (and what veſſell was ever ſo tite but was ſubject to leakes?) but theſe wiſeakers in ſtopping of one have made a hundred: Yet if this Kings raign were parallell'd to that of Queen EliZabeth's, who was the greateſt Minion of a peeple that ever was, one will find that ſhe ſtretch'd the Prerogative as much: In her time as I have read in the Latin Legend of her life, ſom had their hands cut off for writing againſt her matching with the Duke of Aniou, others were hang'd at Tyburn for traducing her government; ſhe pardon'd thrice as many Roman Prieſts as this King did ſhe paſſ'd divers Monopolies, ſhe kept an Agent at Rome, ſhe ſent her Sargeant at Armes to pluck out a Member then ſitting in the Houſe of Commons by the eares, and clap'd him in priſon; ſhe call'd them ſawcy fellowes to meddle with her Prerogative, or with the government of her houſhold, ſhe mannag'd all forren affaires, ſpecially the warrs with Ireland ſoly by her privy Counſell; yet there was no murmuring at her raign, and the reaſon I conceave to be, that there was neither Scot or Puritan had then any ſtroke in England.
Yet, for all their diſobedience and grumblings againſt their Liege Lord the King, this peeple are exactly obedient to their new Maſters of the Houſe of Commons, though they ſit there but as their Servants and entitle themſelfs ſo; and alſo though in lieu of the ſmall ſcratches which England might happily have receiv'd before (all which the King had cur'd) theſe new Maſters have made ſuch deep gaſhes in her, and given her ſuch deadly wounds, that I believe are incurable.
My Lord, I find by my reſearches, that there are two great18 Idolls in this Kingdome the greateſt that ever were, they are the Parliament and the Pulpit; 'tis held a kind of blaſphemy, if not a ſin againſt the Holy Ghoſt to ſpeak againſt the one, and the whole body of Religion is nailed unto the other, for there is no devotion here at all but preaching, which God wot is little better then prating. The abuſe of theſe two hath bin the ſource of all the diſtempers which now raign: touching the latter, it hath ſerv'd as a ſubſervient Engin to prop up the power and popularity of the firſt; theſe malicious Pulpit-men breath out nothing thence but either ſedition, ſchiſme or blaſphemy: poor ſhallow brain'd Scioliſts, they wold queſtion many things in the old Teſtament, and find Apocrypha in the New: And ſuch is the violence wherewith the minds of men and women are tranſported towards theſe Preachmen, and no other part of devotion beſides, that in all probability they will in time take a ſurfet of them: ſo that give this giddy peeple line enough there will be no need of Ca•holique Arms to reduce them to the Apoſtolic Church, they will in time pave the way to it themſelves, and be glad to return to Rome to find out a Religion again.
There was here before, as I am informed, a kind of a face of a Church, there were ſome ſolemnities, venerations and decencies us'd that a man might diſcover ſome piety in this peeple; there was a publick Liturgie that in pithy Patheticall prayers reach'd all occaſions; the Sacraments were adminiſtred with ſome reverence, their Churches were kept neat and comly; but this••ſty race of miſcreants have nothing at all of ſweetneſſe, of piety and devotion in them; 'tis all turn'd to a fatuous kind of more zeal after learning, as if Chriſtianity had no ſobriety, conſiſtence, or end of knowledg at all: Theſe ſilly things, to imitate the Apoſtles time, wold have the ſame form of diſcipline to govern whole Nations, as it did a chamberfull of men in the infancy of the Church ▪ they wold make the ſame coat ſerve our Saviour at 30. yeers, which fitted him at three: Tis incredible how many ugly ſorts of hereſies they daily hatch, but they are moſt of them old ones newly furbiſh'd; they all relate to Aerius, a perfect hater of Biſhops, becauſe he could not be one himſelf. The two Sectaries which ſway moſt, are the Preſbyterians19 and Independents, the Presbyterian is a ſpawn of a Puritan, and the Independent a ſpawn of the Presbyterian: there's but one hop 'twixt the firſt and a Iew, and but half a hop 'twixt the other and an Infidell; they are both oppoſite to Monarchy and Hierarchy; and the latter would have no Government at all, but a parity and promiſcuous confuſion, a race of creatures fit only to inhabit Hell: and one of the fruits of this bleſſed Parlement, and of theſe two Sectaries is that they have made more Jewes and Athieſts then I think there is in all Europe beſides; but truly my Lord I think the judgments of Heaven were never ſo viſible in any part of the Earth, as they are now here, for there is Rebell againſt Rebell, Houſe againſt Houſe, Cittie againſt Army, Parlement againſt Scot, but theſe two Sectaries, I mean the Presbyterian and Independent, who were the fire-brands that put this poor Iland firſt in a flame, are now in moſt deadly feud one againſt the other (though they both concur in this to deſtroy government:) And if the King had time enough to look only upon them, they would quickly hang, draw, and deſtroy one another.
But indeed all Chriſtian Princes ſhold obſerve the motions & ſucceſſes of theſe two unlucky Incendiaries, for if they ſhold ligue together againe (as they have often plaid faſt and looſe one with another) and prevail here, this Iland wold not terminate their deſignes, they wold puzzle all the world beſides. Their Preachmen ordinarily cry out in the Pulpit, there is a great work to be done upon earth, for the reforming all mankind, and they are appointed by Heaven to be the chief Inſtruments of bringing it about: They have already bin ſo buſie abroad, that (with vaſt ſommes of money) they brought the Swed upon the Dane, and the very Savages upon the Engliſh Cavalier in Virginia; and could they confederat with Turk, or Tartar, or Hell it ſelf againſt them, they wold do it: they are monſtrouſly puff'd up with pride, that they ſtick not to call themſelfs Conquerors; and one of the chief ring-leaders of them, an ignorant home-bred kind of Brewer, was not aſhamed to vaunt it publiquely in the Commons Houſe, that if he had but 20000. men, he wold undertake to march to Conſtantinople, and pull the Ottoman Emperour out of his throne.
Touching the other grand Idoll the Parlement, 'tis true that20 the primitive conſtitution of Parlement in this Iland was a wholſome peece of policy, becauſe it kept a good correſpondence, and clos'd all ruptures 'twixt the King and his people, but this thing they call Parlement now, may rather be term'd but a cantle of one, or indeed a Conventicle of Schiſmatiques, rather then a great Counſell; 'tis like a kind of headleſſe Monſter, or ſom ectropiated carkas; for there is neither King nor Prelate, nor ſcarce the ſeventh part of Peers and Commons, no not the twelfth part fairely elected; nevertheleſſe they draw the peeple, ſpecially this City, like ſo many ſtupid animalls, to adore them.
Yet though this inſtitution of Parlement be a wholſom thing in it ſelf, there is in my judgment a great incongruity in one particular; and I believe it hath bin the cauſe of moſt diſtempers; It is, That the Burgeſſes are more in number then the Knights of Shires; for the Knights of the Shires are commonly Gentlemen well born, and bred, and vers'd in the Lawes of the Land, as well as forren governments, divers of them; but the Burgeſſes of Townes are commonly Tradeſmen, and being bred in Corporations, they are moſt of them inclining to Puritamiſm, and conſequently to popular government; theſe, exceeding the Knights in number, carry all before them by plurality of Voices, and ſo puzzle all: And now that I have mentioned Corporations, I muſt tell your Lordſhip, that the greateſt ſoloeciſm in the policy of this Kingdom, is the number of them; eſpecially this monſtrous City, which is compos'd of nothing els but of Corporations; and the greateſt errors that this King, ſpecially his Father committed, was to ſuffer this town to ſpread her wings ſo wide; for ſhe bears no proportion with the bi•neſſe of the Iland, but may fit a Kingdom thrice as ſpacious; ſhe engroſſeth and dreines all the wealth and ſtrength of the Kingdom; ſo that I cannot compa•e England more properly then to one of our Cremona geeſe, where the cuſtom is, to fatten onely the heart, but in doing ſo the whole body growes lank.
To draw to a concluſion, This Nation is in a moſt ſad and deſperate condition, that they deſerved to be pittied, and preſerved from ſinking, and having caſt the preſent ſtate of things and all intereſts into an equall balance, I find, my Lord there be three waies to do it, one good, and two bad:
211. The firſt of the bad ones is the Sword, which is one of the ſcourges of heaven, eſpecially the Civill ſword.
2. The ſecond bad one is the Treaty, which they now offer the King in that ſmall Iland where he hath bin kept Captif ſo long, (in which quality the world will account him ſtill while he is detain'd there) and by that Treaty to bind him as faſt as they can, and not truſt him at all.
3. The good way is, in a free confiding brave way (Engliſhmen-like to ſend for their King to London, where City, and Countrey ſhold petition him to ſummon a new and free full Parlement, which he may do as juſtly as ever he did thing in his life, theſe men having infring'd as well all the eſſentiall Priviledges of Parlement, as ev'ry puntillio of it, for they have often riſen up in a confuſion without adjournment, they had two Speakers at once, they have moſt perjuriouſly and beyond all imagination betrayed the truſt both King and Countrey repos'd in them, ſubverted the very fundamentalls of all Law, and plung'd the whole Kingdom in this bottomleſſe gulf of calamities: another Parlement may happly do ſom good to this languiſhing Iland, and cure her convulſions, but for theſe men that arrogat to themſelfes the name of Parlement (by a locall puntillio only becauſe they never ſtirr'd from the place where they have bin kept together by meer force) I find them by their actions to be ſo pervers, ſo irrational and refractory, ſo far given over to a reprobat ſenſe, ſo fraught with rancor, with an irreconcileable malice and thirſt of bloud, that England may well deſpaire to be heal'd by ſuch Phlebotomiſts, or Quackſalvers; beſides they are ſo full of ſcruples, apprehenſions, and jealouſies proceeding from black guilty ſoules, and gawl'd conſciences, that they will do nothing but chop Logic with their King, and ſpin out time to continu their power, and evade puniſhment, which they think is unavoydable if there ſhould be a free Parlement.
Touching the King he comports himſelf with an admired temper'd equanimity, he invades and o'remaſters them more and more in all his anſwers by ſtrength of reaſon, though he have no ſoul breathing to conſult withall, but his owne Genius: he gaines wonderfully upon the hearts and opinion of his peeple,22 and as the Sun uſeth to appear bigger in winter, and at his declenſion in regard of the interpoſition of certain meteors 'twixt the eye of the beholder and the object, ſo this King being thus o'reclouded and declined ſhines far more glorious in the eyes of his peeple; and certainly theſe high morall vertues of conſtancy, courage and wiſdom com from above; and no wonder, for Kings as they are elevated above all other peeple and ſtand upon higher ground, they ſooner receave the inſpirations of heaven; nor doth he only by ſtrength of reaſon outwit them, but he wooes them by gentlenes and manſuetude; as the Gentleman of Paris who having an Ape in his houſe that had taken his only child out of the cradle, and dragged him up to the ridge of the houſe, the parent with ruthfull heart charmed the Ape by faire words and other blandiſhments to bring him ſoftly down, which he did; England may be ſaid to be now juſt upon ſuch a precipice, ready to have her braines daſht out, and I hope theſe men will not be worſe natur'd then that brute animal, but will ſave her.
Thus have I given your Eminence a rough account of the ſtate of this poor and pittifully deluded peeple, which I wil perfect when I ſhall com to your preſence, which I hope will be before this Autumnall Equinox; I thought to have ſojourn'd here longer, but that I am growne weary of the clime, for I feare there s the other two ſcourge of heaven that menace this Iland, I mean the famin and peſtilence, eſpecially this City, for their prophanenes, rebellion and ſacriledge: it hath bin a talk a great while whether Anti-Chriſt be com to the world or no, I am ſure Anti-Jeſus, which is worſe, is among this peeple, for they hold all veneration though voluntary proceeding from the inward motions of a ſweet devoted ſoule, and cauſing an outward genuflexion, to be ſuperſtitious, inſomuch that one of the Synodicall Saints here printed and publiſhed a Book entitling it againſt Ieſu Worſhip.