P A ß r L Reverend Mr. Richard Baxter: >r 7 And they faid that the King having long difufed Parliaments upon Difpleafure á- gainft them, becaufe they curbed Monopolies, and corre&edAbufès öf Officers, &.. -had no way to lay them by for ever, but to invade the Subje is Propriety, and to affume the power of laying Taxes and rafting Moneys without them ; and that if thus Parliaments and Propriety were deftroyed , the Government was diffolved or altered, and no Man had any Security of Eftate or Liberty or Life, but the Plea- fure of the King, whofe Will would be the onlyLaw. They faid alto, that thofe that.counfelled him to this were Enemies to the Commonwealth, and hnftter to counfel him thanParliaments, who are his higheft Court and Council. The poor Plowmen underftood but little of thefe Matters ; but a little would ftir up their Difcontent when Money was demanded : But it was the more intelli- gent part of the Nation that were the great Complainers. infomuch that fome of them denied to pay the Ship - money, andput theSheriffs to diftrain ; the Sheriffs; though afraidof a future Parliament, yet did it in obedience to the King. Mr: Hampden and the Lord Say brought it to a Suit ; where Mr. Oliver Si. John and o- ther Lawyers boldlypleaded the PeoplesCaufè. TheKing hadbefore called all the Judgesto give their Opinions, Whether in a Cafeof need he might impofe filch a Tax, or nor. And all of them gave their Opinion for the Affirmative, except Judge Hatton and Judge Crook. The Judgment puffed for the King againft Mr. Hampden : But this made the Matter much more talk ofthroughout the Land, and confrdered of by thofe that thought not much of the Importance of it bè- \fore. § 25. Some fufpeeted that many of the Nobility of England did fecretly Confe- derate with the Scots, fo far as to encourage them to come into England; thinking that there was no other way to caufethe Calling of a Parliament , which was the thing that now they bent their minds toas the Remedyof thefe things. The Earl ofEflex, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Bedford, the Earl ofClare , the Earl of Bullingbrook, the Lai 1 of falgrave, the Earl of Holland, the Lord Say , the Lord Brook, and I know not how many more, were laid to be of this Confederacy. But Heylin himlèlf bath more truly given you the Hillory of this, That the Scots, after they came in, did perfwade theft Men of their own danger in England, if Ar- bitrary Government went on, and fo they petitioned the King for a Parliament, which was all their Confederacy ; and this was after their fecond Coming into England. TheScots came with an Army, and the King's Army met them near Nearca/Ile ;4551639 but the Scots cameon till an Agreement was made, and a Parliament called ; and theSear went home again. But shortly after thisParliamentfo difpleafed the King that he Diffolved- ít, and the War againft the Scots was again undertaken, (towhich, betides others, the Papills by the Queens means did voluntarily contribute ): whereupon the Scots complain of evil Connfelsand Papifts as the caufe of their renewed dangers, and again raifean Army and come into England. And the Englifh at York petition the 4n i6 9 King for aParliament, and once more it is refolvedon, and an Agreement made, 4 but neither' the Scottifh or EngliA Army disbanded. And thus began the Long Parliament as it wasafter called. § z6.The Et cætera Oath was the heft thing that threatned me ai Bridgenortb; and the fècond was the paffageof the Earl of Bridgwater, Lord Prefideni of the Marches ofWaler,through the Town in his Journey fromLudlow to the King in the North: For his coming being on Saturday Evening, the molt malicious perfons of the Town went to him, and told him that Mr :. Made/fard and I did not tign with the Croft, nor wear the Surplice, nor pray againft the Scott ( who were then upon theirEntrance into England ; and for which wehad no Command from the King, but a printed Form of Prayer fromthe Bílhops.) The LordPrefident told them, That he would himfelf come to Church on the morrow, and fee whether we would do thefe things or not: Mr. Maclellan!went away., and left Mr. Swain (the Reader) and myPelf in the danger. But after he had fpoken for his Dinner, and was ready to go to Church, theLord Prefident fuddenly changedhis purpofe, and went away on the Lord'sDay as far as Lichfield ; requiring the Acculèrs and the Bailiffs to fend after him to inform him what we did. On the Lord's Day at E- vening they fent after him to Lichfield to tell him that we did not conform : but though they bodied of no lefs than thehanging of us, they received no other An- fwer from him, but that he had not the Ecclefiaftical Jurifdi&ion, and therefore could not meddle with us ; but if hehad, he lhould take fuch order in the butt. nets as were fit : And the Bailiffs andAccufers had no more wit than to readhis . D Letter
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