DIE Lunæ, videlicet, 6 die Februarii.
PRAYERS.
Earl of Manchester was appointed to be
Speaker this Day.
Letter from Lord Stamford at Plymouth, for a Supply of Money and Arms.
A Letter sent from the Earl of Stamford, to (fn. *) the
Speaker of this House, was read, dated from Plymouth,
the First of February, 1642; shewing, "That he is
in Plymouth, but hath not Force enough to go abroad;
that the Enemy is too strong as yet for him, because
he wants Money and Arms; that there hath been a
Treaty of Peace between (fn. *) him and the Lord Mohun,
Sir Ralph Hopton, and Colonel Godolphin; but they
demanded the Town and the Fort: Whereupon they
(fn. †) broke off their Treaty."
Sent to the H. C.
Ordered, To communicate this to the House of
Commons; which was accordingly sent down to the
House of Commons, by Sir Edward Leech and Doctor
Bennett.
Mrs. Cane, a Pass.
Ordered, That Mrs. Cane and her Woman shall
have Leave to go to Oxford.
Mrs. Fanshaw, a Pass.
Ordered, That Mrs. Dorothy Fanshawe shall have
Leave to go to Ditchley, in Oxfordshire.
Ordinance for quieting the Possession of Sutton Marsh, sent to the H. C.
The Ordinance concerning the quieting of the Possession of Sutton Marsh, was read, and aproved of by
this House, and sent down to the House of Commons,
by Message, by Doctor Aylett and Doctor Heath, to desire their Concurrence.
The Answer returned was:
Answer.
That the House of Commons will send an Answer,
to the Ordinance concerning Sutton Marsh, by Messengers of their own.
Sir Basil Brooke and Sir J. Winter. versus Mr. Mynn.
Ordered, That the Cause between Sir Basill
Brooke and Sir John Wintour, against Geo. Mynn Esquire,
shall be referred to be proceeded in at the Common
Law, in the Course as it is already in.
Report of the delivering of the Propositions to the King.
The Earl of Northumb. with the rest of the Lords
that were sent to Oxford, to present the Propositions
to the King, reported, "That, on Wednesday last, they
presented the same to the King; and, after they were
read to Him, He made a short Answer: the Effect
was, That He would give a further Answer." (Here
enter it.)
"That, on Friday following, the King sent for them
again, and told them, that He had considered of the
Propositions presented unto Him from both Houses of
Parliament, and (fn. *) hath returned this Answer; which
he commanded the Earl of Holland to read."
This Answer was commanded to be read, which [ (fn. †) was
accordingly,] in hæc verba:
"My Lords,
The King's Answer to them.
"I was always for Peace; and I am more concerned
in it than any, being the Father of the Country,
next under God. I cannot chuse but speak, though
I thought to have said nothing: I confess I am surprized. Though I have seen somewhat of this, yet I
believed them not to have been such. They that principally contrived [ (fn. ‡) and penned] them, had no Thoughts
of Peace in their Hearts, but to make Things worse
and worse. Yet I shall do My Part, and take as much
Honey out of the Gall as I can. I will think of
them, and take a Time to give you My Answer."
The House Resolved, To communicate this Answer
of His Majesty to the House of Commons, as a Matter
of great and serious Consideration; and to desire them
to take it into their Care and serious Thoughts.
Message to the H. C. for a Conference about it.
A Message was sent to the House of Commons, by
Doctor Aylett and Doctor Heath:
To desire a present Conference, concerning the King's
Answer to the Propositions sent unto Him from both
Houses of Parliament.
The Answer returned was:
Answer.
That the House of Commons will give a present
Conference, as is desired.
Ordered, That this House will take the King's
Answer to the Propositions [ (fn. ||) into Consideration] Tomorrow Morning.
House was adjourned during Pleasure, and the Lords
went to the Conference; which being ended, the House
was resumed.
And the House was adjourned until Ten of the
Clock To-morrow Morning.
His Majesty's further Answer to the Propositions of both Houses.
"If His Majesty had not given up all the Faculties
of His Soul to an earnest Endeavour of a Peace and
Reconciliation with His People; or if He would suffer Himself, by any Provocation, to be drawn to a
Sharpness of Language, at a Time when there seems
somewhat like an Overture of Accommodation; He
could not but resent the heavy Charges upon Him in
the Preamble of these Propositions, and would not
suffer Himself to be reproached with protecting of
Delinquents by Force from Justice (His Majesty's
Desire having always been, that all Men should be
tried by the known Law, and having been refused it);
with raising an Army against His Parliament; and to
be told that Arms have been taken up against Him,
for the Defence of Religion, Laws, Liberties, Privileges of Parliament, and for the sitting of the Parliament in Safety, with many other Particulars in that
Preamble, so often and so fully answered by His Majesty; without remembering the World of the Time
and Circumstances of raising those Arms against Him,
when His Majesty was so far from being in a Condition to invade other Mens Rights, that He was not
able to maintain and defend His own from Violence;
and without telling His good Subjects, that their Religion (the true Protestant Religion, in which His
Majesty was born, hath faithfully lived, and to which
He will die a willing Sacrifice), their Laws, Liberties,
Privileges, and Safety of Parliament, were so amply
settled and established, or offered to be so, by His
Majesty, before any Army was raised against Him,
and long before any raised by Him for His Defence;
that, if nothing had been desired but that Peace and
Protection, which His Subjects and their Ancestors
had in the best Times enjoyed under His Majesty or
His Royal Predecessors, this Misunderstanding and
Distance between His Majesty and His People,
and this general Misery and Distraction upon the
Face of the whole Kingdom, had not now been the
Discourse of Christendom. But His Majesty will forbear any Expressions of Bitterness, or of a Sense of
His own Sufferings, that, if it be possible, the Memory thereof may be lost to the World; and therefore, though many of the Propositions presented
to His Majesty by both Houses appear to Him
very derogatory from, and destructive to, His just
Power and Prerogative, and no Way beneficial to
His Subjects, few of them being already due to them
by the Laws established (and how Unparliamentary
it is, by Arms to require new Laws, all the World
may judge); yet (because these may be waved or
mollified, and many Things that are now dark or
doubtful in them cleared and explained, upon Debate) His Majesty is pleased (such is His Sense of
the Miseries this Kingdom suffers by this unnatural
War, and His earnest Desire to remove them by a happy
Peace) that a speedy Time and Place be agreed upon, for the Meeting of such Persons as His Majesty
and both Houses shall appoint, to discuss these Propositions, and such others here following as His Majesty doth propose to them:
"1. That His Majesty's own Revenue, Magazines,
Towns, Forts, and Ships, which have been taken or
kept from Him by Force, be forthwith restored unto
Him.
"2. That whatsoever hath been done or published,
contrary to the known Laws of the Land, or derogatory to His Majesty's legal and known Power and
Rights, be renounced, and re-called, that no Seed
may remain, for the like to spring out for the future.
"3. That whatsoever illegal Power hath been claimed and exercised by or over His Subjects, as imprisoning their Persons without Law, stopping their
Habeas Corpusses, and imposing upon their Estates
without Act of Parliament, &c. either by both or either House, or any Committee of both or either, or
by any Persons appointed by any of them, be disclaimed; and all such Persons, so committed, forthwith discharged.
"4. That, as His Majesty will readily consent (having done so heretofore) to the Execution of all Laws
already made, and to any good Acts to be made, for
the suppressing of Popery, and for the firm settling
of the Protestant Religion now established by Law;
so He desires that a good Bill may be framed, for the
better preserving of the Book of Common Prayer
from the Scorn and Violence of Brownists, Anabaptists, and other Sectaries, with such Clauses for
the Ease of tender Consciences as His Majesty hath
formerly offered.
"5. That all such Persons as, upon the Treaty, shall
be excepted out of the General Pardon, shall be tried
per Pares, according to the usual Course and known
Law of the Land; and that it be left to that, either
to acquit or condemn them.
"6. And, to the Intent this Treaty may not suffer
Interruption by any intervening Accidents, that a
Cessation of Arms, and free Trade for all His Majesty's Subjects, may be first agreed upon.
"This Offer and Desire of His Majesty, He hopes,
will be so chearfully entertained, that a speedy and
blessed Peace may be accomplished. If it shall be rejected, or, by insisting upon unreasonable Circumstances, be made impossible, which, He hopes, God
in His Mercy to this Nation will not suffer, the Guilt
of the Blood which will be shed, and the Desolation
which must follow, will lie upon the Heads of the Refusers. However, His Majesty is Resolved, through
what Accidents soever He shall be compelled to recover His Rights, and with what prosperous Successes
soever it shall please God to bless Him, that, by His
earnest constant Endeavours to propagate and promote the true Protestant Religion, and by His governing according to the known Laws of the Land, and
upholding the just Privileges of Parliament, according to the frequent Protestations made before Almighty God, which He will always inviolably observe, the World shall see that He hath undergone
all these Difficulties and Hazards, for the Defence
and Maintenance of those; the zealous Preservation
of which, His Majesty well knows, is the only Foundation and Means for the true Happiness of Him and
His People."
Committee to assess the Assistants of this House.
Ordered, That these Lords following shall assess
the Assistants of this House for the Twentieth Part, according to the Ordinance of Parliament:
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E. Pembrooke.
E. Sarum.
E. Bollingbrooke.
E. Warwicke. |
L. Viscount Say & Seall.
Ds. Wharton.
Ds. Brooke.
Ds. Grey de Warke. |
Their Lordships, or any Three, to meet when they
please.