M r. MAINARDS SPEECH BEfore both Houses in Parliament, on Wednesday the xxiiij. of March, in reply upon the Earle of Straffords answer to his Articles at the Barre.
I Shall repeat little of that which hath bin said, onely this: That whereas my Lord of Strafford, did answer to many particulars; yet he did not answer to that which was particularly objected against him; that is, you were to heare the complaints of the whole Kingdome: now the particular of our ayme, is to take off the vizard, which my Lord hath put on; [Page 2] wherein the truth and honour which is due to his Majesty, he would attribute to himselfe.
My Lords, there is one thing which I desire your Lordships to remember, it being the maine of our complaints.
The alteration of the face of government, and traduceing of his owne Lawes; and this is the burthen upon all the Lords and Commons of Ireland. Concerning the breach of Parliament, he would put it on Sir George Ratcliffe; but i'me sure, he cannot put off himselfe: for Sir George Ratcliffe was not the man alone, but others joyned with him in that Assembly, and I am sure my Lord of Strafford moved it for the breach of Parliament.
I shall addresse my selfe to the body of his answer: Now give me leave my Lords, that J may open the nature of this great offence.
My Lords, it is a charge of Treason, which is a Treason not ended, or expired by one single Act; but a trade envied by this Lord of Strafford, ever since the Kings favour hath bin bestowed upon him.
My Lords, it hath two parts to deprive us that which was good. And secondly, to bring in a Tyrannicall government, it takes away the lawes of the land, and it hath an arbbitrary government, bounded [Page 3] by no law, but what my Lord of Strafford pleaseth.
It is the law, my Lords, which we reverence, and cheerfully render to our gracious Soveraigne: The Law as it is the ground of our liberty, so it is the distribution of Iustice.
My Lords, in all this; my Lord of Strafford hath endeavoured to make them uncapable of any benefit: It is true, my Lords; that Treason against the person of a Prince is high Treason, and the highest Treason that can be to man; but it falls short of this Treason against the State.
When blessed King Iames was taken to heaven, he commended the lawes to his Sonne, our gratious Soveraigne. But my Lords, if such a designe as this should take effect, that the law of Justice should be taken from the Throne, we are without hope of ever seeing happy dayes, power is not so easily laid downe, unlesse it bee by so good and just a Prince as we have.
My Lord of Straffords accusation is conveyed into twenty eight Articles, and J shall but touch the heads, that wee shall insist upon, and I thinke the best [Page 4] way to this, is to consider what he did before he went into Ireland, what then, and what since.
He hath encroached jurisdiction, where none was, taking upon him a power to repell the lawes, and to make new lawes, and in domineering over the lives and goods, and what ever else was the subjects.
My Lords, this hee hath notdone onely upone the meaner sort but upon the Peeres and auntient Nobilitie and what may your Lordships expect, but the same measure at his hands, here as they have found there when hee committed any to prison, if a habeas Corpus were granted the Oficers must not obey, and if any Fine were put upon the Officer, for refusing them, there was a command that he should bee discharged: so that he did not onely take power to himselfe, but the Scepter of Iustice out of the Kings hand.
When he was a member of the house of Commons, it was his owne motion, all Ministers of State should serve the King, according to the lawes which hee hath broken himselfe.
He doth as much as say, that Fines shall not bee payed by Officers, if in this they fulfill his commands, but those that release a prisoner upon a habeas corpus shall finde his displeasure.
[Page 5] My Lords, if this had beene a single Act, we should not have accused him of high Treason, but this hath been his Common course, and this we present to your Lordships consideration.
The next thing is, that in the North the people attending for Justice, you shall see what a dishonor he flung vpon the sacred Majestie of the King, that did advance him: some of the Iustices (saith he) are all for Law but they shall find that the Kings little finger is heavier then the Loynes of the Law.
My Lords, what a sad Speech was this, and what sad Accidents happened upon it, you all know, and he said in a solemne speech; That Ireland was a Conqaered Nation, and that the King might doe with them what he would, their Charters were nothing worth, they did bind the King no longer then he pleased. Surely you may see what he would doe if he had power, but we hope never such Counsell shall have acceptation in so gracious an Eare as our Soveraignes, and be doth not stay in words but proceeds to Actions, when a Peere of the Kingdome was expelled the Kingdome for suing at Law for recovering of his Right, he saith, hee would-have Ireland know that neither Law nor [Page 6] Lawyers should question any thing that hee ordered.
My Lords, hee goes higher, for when there was an occasion to speake of an Act of State, he said it shoutd be as binding as an Act of Parliament.
My Lords, he cannot goe higher then this he tels them in Parliament; they were a Conquered Nation, and they must expect the vsage of a Counquered Nation.
The Lord Mountnorr is for a few words that fell from his mouth spoken privatly at his Table, had a Counsell of Warre called against him and was judged to death.
My Lords, it is no marvaile that hee saie; That the Kings little finger should be so heavy, when his little toe was so heavy to tread downe a Peere vnder his foote.
My Lords, hee makes Lawes of himselfe, and hee makes a difference in matters of Justice betweene the poore and the rich, but when hee hath executed his power upon the poore, he will fall upon the rich.
[Page 7] My Lords, he hath made that which was worth but five shillings to be valued at twenty, and my Lords, by this he doth in effect take away what ere this commodity is worth, he saith he doth it for the Kings gaine, but we shall make it appeare, that the Crowne hath lost, and hee hath gained.
And for the Commodity of Flax my Lords, it is but a Womans Commodity, but yet it is the Staple Commodity of Ireland.
Now my Lords, this Commodity he hath gotten wholly into his owne hands, for he made such a Proclamation, that it should be used in such wayes as the Women could not doe it, and if it were not vsed in such wayes that it should be seized vpon, no he doth not onely put impositious upon the Subject, but take away the goods too, and thus he hath levyed warre against the Kings Subjects, and this is his course that if a Decree were made by him and not obeyed, there issued a warrant to Souldiers, that they should make garrison, and that they should goe to the houses of those that [Page 8] were pretended to be disobedient.
My Lords, they have killed their Sheep and their Oxen, and bound their horses and tooke them Captives till they have rendered obedience, which is expressely contrary to Law, for it saith; If any man set horse or foote upon the Kings Subjects in a Military way, it is high Treason.
My Lords, it doth not onely oppresse them in their estates, but provoke and incite his Majestie to lay downe his mercy and goodnesse, and to fall into an offensive warre against his Subjects, and say they are Rebels and Traytors.
Hee tels his Counsell that the Parliament having forsaken the King, and the King having tryed the Parliament, hee might vse other wayes to procure money to supply his necessities.
My Lords, the same day that the Parliament was broken, he tels the King, he had 8000 foote and 1000 horse, to reduce this Kingdome to obedience.
My Lords, consider in what a sad time this man tooke to infuse this sad Counsell into the Kings eare.
My Lords, he doth advise the King that he was absolved from all rules of government, but if no rule of government, what rule of obedience; Surely he meant to reduce [Page 9] us to a Chaos and confusion, &c. would have us without all rule of government or obedience.
My Lords, those that he would have brought to reduce us were Papists, Enemies of our Religion. This strikes us neere, my Lords, and is the griefe of our hearts; that an Irish Army should be brought into England to reduce vs.
My Lords, I hope wee were nere so far gone, as to need an Army to reduce us to obedience.
My Lords, he had raised this Army, and if such Counsell should have taken effect in his Majesties eare, he, like proud Haman, would have thought to have been Generall of the Army.
And thus my Lords, you see this Lord of Strafford fals upon a Counsell, which might make an irreconciliable difference to subdue us by his power.