TWO SPEECHES

SPOKEN BY

THE EARL OF MANCHESTER AND JOHN PYM, ESQ.

AS A REPLY TO HIS MAJESTY'S ANSWER

TO THE

CITY OF LONDON'S PETITION,

SENT FROM HIS MAJESTY.

By Capt. Hearne, and read at the Common Hall, on Friday, the Thirteenth of January, 1642.

ALSO,

A TRUE NARRATION OF THE PASSAGES OF THAT DAY.

Ordered by the Commons in Parliament, that these Speeches be forthwith printed and published. H. Elsing, Cler. Parl. D. Com.

London, printed for John Norman, for the Good of the Commonwealth, 1642Quarto, containing eight pages.

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A Speech, delivered by the Earl of Manchester.

My Lord Mayor and gentlemen, you of the City of London, this

assembly can never be looked upon by any members of both houses of parliament, but there must be some offering of gratitude made to you, both of thanks and acknowledgment, for your former large-hearted expressions both of affection and care for the preservation both of the parliament and kingdom. The occasion, why my lords and these gentlemen of the house of commons are come hither, is this: They have read an answer to an humble petition of the Lord Mayor and common-council and citizens of London to his Majesty; in which answer they find many wounding aspersions cast upon persons of very eminent authority in your city, and upon others of very great fidelity and trust among you; this answer they do find, as it is printed, to agree with that, which the gentleman from his Majesty hath here read; and they, owning themselves equally interested (in all things that concern you) with you, have commanded this gentleman to make some observations, by way of vindication, both of the proceedings of both houses of parliament, and of the proceedings of the city, with this assurance,

That they will never desert you, but will stand by you, with their lives and fortunes, for the preservation of the city in general, and those persons in particular, who have been faithful, and deserved well, both of the parliament and kingdom; and they will pursue all means, both with their lives and fortunes, that may be for the preservation of this city, and for the procuring of safety, happiness, and peace to the whole kingdom.

The speech of this noble lord being entertained with loud expressions of joy and thankfulness by the commons, and after some time of silence being made, Mr. Pym, that worthy member of the house of commons, and patriot of his country, gave the sense of both houses, upon the several passages of his Majesty's answer, expressing it as follows:

A Speech, delivered by John Pym, Esq.

MY Lord Mayor, and you worthy citizens of this noble and famous city of London, I am commanded by the Lords and Commons to let you know, that, in this answer, which hath been published to you, they do observe many things of great aspersion upon the proceedings of parliament, very scandalous and injurious to many particular members of this city; whereupon they think, that it becomes them, both in tenderness of their own honour, and in respect to you, to take away all those aspersions, and to let you know the truth of their proceedings, which have been full of honour and justice, as they stand in relation to their own duty, and full of humility and obedience towards his Majesty, and of care for the common good, and so shall ever be. And they have commanded me to let you know the true answer to most of those things that are imputed either to the parliament, or to the city, by observing some particulars of this book which hath been read to you, and to let you know the proceedings in their own native condition, clear from those misrepresentations, which make them appear in a quality much different from the truth; which before I enter into, I am to declare, as the sense of both houses, That your petition was so full of loyalty, humility, and obedience, that you might well have expected an answer of another kind.

The first observation I am to make you is this: That it is said here, 'That his Majesty was inforced by tumults to leave the parliament, and to go from Whitehall, and to withdraw himself into those courses, which now he hath taken.'

I answer thereunto, I am commanded to tell you, That there was no occasion given, by any tumults rising out of this city, or the suburbs, which might justly cause his majesty's departure; and you may very well remember, that, after his violent coming to the commons house of parliament in that unusual and unheard-of manner, which was the beginning of these unhappy differences, the very next day his Majesty came into the city without any guard; that he was present at the commoncouncil, dined at the sheriff's, and returned back again, with manifold

evidences of fidelity on the part of the city, and without any such expressions, as were unbeseeming the majesty of a King, or the duty of subjects; that he resided divers days at Whitehall, and afterwards at Hampton-court, Windsor, and places adjoining, with small forces about him, and yet never any attempt was made, which might give him any apprehension of fear: By all which it is manifest, that this is an unjust aspersion cast upon this city, That any tumultuous carriage of your's was the occasion of his Majesty's leaving the parliament, and withdrawing himself to remoter parts.

It is affirmed, That the government of your city hath been managed by a few desperate persons, and that they do exercise an arbitrary power. In answer to which, the two houses of parliament give you this testimony, That you have, in most of the great occasions concerning the government of the city, followed their direction; and that direction, which they have given, and you have executed, they must and will maintain to be such, as stands with their honour in giving it, and your trust and fidelity in the performance of it.

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It is objected, in the third place, That contributions have been publickly made for the maintenance of that army, which did jõin battle with the king, and did, by all the means that treason and malice could suggest, endeavour to take away his life, and destroy his issue.' To this I am commanded to say, That the design of bringing up the English armies, the gathering together of the cavaliers about Whitehall, the violent coming to the house of commons, the king's going into the north, and raising armies there, are clear evidences, that violence was first intended, and divers practices were made against the parliament, before they took any course, or made any preparation to take up arms for their defence. For the danger of his Majesty's person, they were sorry for it, and did, by divers humble petitions, labour to prevent it; and, as touching the royal issue, they have sufficiently declared to the world their good affections towards them, by the care, they have taken, both for the safety and maintenance of those who are left here.

It is further expressed, in this answer, That the king demands the Lord Mayor, Mr. Alderman Fowke, Col. Ven, and Col. Manwaring to be delivered up, as guilty of schism and high treason.' Concerning which, I am commanded to tell you, as the sense of both houses of parliament, That this demand is against the privilege of parliament (two of them being members of the commons house) and most dishonourable to the city, That the Lord Mayor of London should be subjected to the violence of every base fellow, be assaulted, seized on, without due process or warrant, which the law doth afford every private man; and that you should be commanded to deliver up your chief magistrates, and such eminent members of the city to the king's pleasure, only because they have done their duty, in adhering to the parliament for the defence of the kingdom; and that it is against the rules of justice, that any men should be imprisoned upon such a general charge, when no particulars are proved against them; and this you are to take notice of, as the answer to those scandals, and to that dis grace upon my Lord Mayor and the other members of the city.

And I am further to tell you, That there is little cause for his Majesty to make this demand, considering that he himself doth, by force, keep away many accused in parliament, as my Lord Digby, and many more impeached of high-treason, besides divers other great delinquents, that stand charged there for heinous crimes; all which, by force, are kept from the due proceedings and legal trial in parliament.

It is alledged, in this answer, That my Lord Mayor, and those other persons named, are countenancers of Brownists, and Anabaptists, and all manner of sectaries.' To this I am commanded to say, That hereof there is no proof; it doth not appear, that they give any such countenance to sectaries of any kind whatsoever; and, if it did, his Majesty hath little reason to object it, while, notwithstanding the profession, he hath often made, That he will maintain the protestant reformed religion, he doth in the mean time raise an army of papists, who, by the principles of their religion, are bound, if power be put into their hands, to destroy and utterly to root out the protestants, together with the truth which they profess.

It is affirmed, That men's persons have been imprisoned, and their houses plundered, because they will not rebel against his Majesty. To this I am commanded to declare, that no men's houses have heen plundered by any direction of the parliament, but that they have been very careful to restrain all such violent courses, so far as they were able; and that they have never committed any man, but such as, by due information, they conceived to be seditious persons, and like to trouble the peace of the state.

It is objected further; "That the property of the subject is destroyed by taking away the twentieth part, by an arbitrary power. To this they say, That that ordinance doth not require a twentieth part, but doth limit the assessors, that they shall not go beyond a twentieth part, and that this is done by a power derived from both houses of parliament; the lords, who have an hereditary interest in making laws in this kingdom, and the commons who are elected and chosen to represent the whole body of the commonalty, and trusted for the good of the people, whenever they see cause to charge the kingdom: And they say further, That the same law that did enable the two houses of parliament to raise forces to maintain and defend the safety of religion, and of the kingdom, doth likewise enable them to require contributions, whereby these forces may be maintained; or else it was a vain power to raise forces, if they : had not a power likewise to maintain them in that service for which they were raised.

And to this point I am commanded to add this further answer, That there was little reason for this to be objected, on his Majesty's behalf, when it is well known that, from the subjects, which are within the power of his army, his majesty doth take the full yearly value of their lands, and in some cases more; that not only particular houses, but whole towns have been plundered by command and design; and that by proclamations men are declared to forfeit all their estates, because they will not obey arbitrary commands; and this is commonly practised by his majesty, and on his part, and therefore, there was little reason,

to charge the parliament with so necessary and moderate a contribution as the twentieth part.

It is declared, That the king expects to be kept from tumults and affronts.' Upon which, I am commanded to observe, that his Majesty's expressions, in his answer, tend to the making of a division in this city, and to the raising of a party, which may make some disturbance in that orderly government, which is now established; both which will certainly prove equally destructive to him and both houses of parliament, and more prejudicial to his quiet abode here, than any thing that hath ever been acted by the houses of parliament, or the present governors of the city.

They observe further, that in this answer, His Majesty doth pro fess, that he will seize upon the estates of those that shall contribute any thing towards the maintenance of the parliament's army, and will put them out of his protection, and by his ministers in foreign states, will take such course, that they may be proceeded against as enemies; that is, destroyed and spoiled. To which the Lords and Commons do declare, That this is an excess of rigour and injustice beyond all example, that particular men should lose their private estates, here without law, or judicial proceeding: And that our prince, who owes protection to the kingdom, as well as to particular persons, should suffer the wealth thereof to be robbed and spoiled by foreign states; upon due consideration whereof, they hope his Majesty will be induced, by better counsel, to forbear the execution, than that, by which he hath been per suaded to publish such a resolution.

Besides these observations, out of the answer, I am to observe one out of a narrative that was received from the common-council, that the king did declare, that he would send some messengers here, to observe your carriage in the city, and what was done amongst you; the parliament have just cause to doubt, that these will be messengers of sedition and trouble, and therefore desire you to observe them and find them out, and that they may know, who they are.

I am for a conclusion to commend to your considerations, that you see by the proceedings to which the king is drawn by the ill council now about him, that religion, the whole kingdom, this glorious city, and the parliament, are all in great danger, and that this danger cannot be kept off in all likelihood, but by the army, that is now a foot; and that the Lords and Commons are so far from being frighted by any thing ihat is in this answer, that they have for themselves, and the members of both houses, declared a further contribution towards the maintenance of this army, and cannot but hope and desire, that you, that have shewed so much good affection in the former necessities of the state, will be sensible of your own, and of the condition of the whole kingdom, and add to that, which you have already done, some further contribution, whereby this army may be maintained for all your safeties.

At the end of every period of this speech, the applause was so great, that he was fain to rest, till silence was again made, and at last, the company ready to be dissolved, after some pause and consultation with