THE
EARLE of PEMBROKE'S
SPEECH
IN T HE
HOVSE OF EE E%SS
VVhen the Seven Lords were
accufed of HighJTreafm,
Qopia vera
Mic; OldswoRiI,
I
Printed in the Yeare, i d 4. 8.
Lords,
Ou know I feldomc make Speeches, yet (my
Lords ) every thing would live; and now I
muft either nnd a Lorigue, or lofe my head. I
am accus'dfor fitting here when your Lord-
jhifs fled to the flyirmj • Alas, my Lords ^ I am,
an old man, I muft ftt^ you may ride or run
any whither, but I am an old man. You voted them Tray-
tours who left the Houje, and went to Tork • they told us then
they were fore'd away by Tumults: do not You fay fo too ^
were they Tray tours forgoing, and am I a Tray tour forflay-
tug "i 'sDeath (my Lords ) what would ye have me doe 1
hereafter He neithernorfl^. I have ferv'd ye feven years,
what have ye given me, unlefle part of a Thanksgiving-T>in-
ner^ for which you made me flafl once a Month < I was fed
like a Prince at the Ki n g's coft, twice everyday, (long
before fome of you were born,) and this King continued,
nay out-did his Father in heaping favours upon me: Yet
( for your fakes) I renounc'd my Mafter wlien he had moft
need of me ^ Voted againft him, [wore againft him, hired
men rofight againft him : I confelfe, I my felf neither flruck
at him, norjhot at him; but I pray'd for thofe that did; I
gave my Tenants their Leafes Fine-free if they would rife
. reflflthe King. And yet (my after all this muft
^ \he2iTrayteur ? Have I notfor ye over and over a-
J gain ^ You fent me on your errands,to Oxford,x.o Ifxbridge.^
. ^ to Newcaflle^ to Holdenby ; you hurry'd me up and down as
^ if I had been a King .• you made me carry a world of Pro-
^ fofittons, 1 brought them all fafe and found ^ what you bade
" me fay, I fpake to a fyllable; and had the K i n g ask'd me
how old I was, without your Commiflion I fhould not have
% told him, and yet (my Lords) I am an old man. Remem-
-'V Lz ber
cC
bcr how I ftuck to you againft Strafford and Canterbury •
fomc of ye flirunk at Strafford's TryAU that your Names
were like to be poajled with cMal/gnants ; and for Canter-
bury^ many of you would have had him Iwe^ my Lord of
Northumberland and others would have no hand in his
Bloud, but I gave ye the capng voice which fcnt him pack-
ing into another world- And yet now would ye fend me
after him < Have I not fate with you early and late ? When
the Parliament tumbled, and tofs'd, and rolfd it feif, on this
fide, and on that fide, ftill I was for the Parliament • though
liizy d.\\txt\v\t\iPresbyterian Lords, yet wheiijyow return'd
I was firm for Ton : all the ether Lords left you in the Houfe
when Sir Thomas's (Zhz^hin gave thanks for yowr Return^
but I ftay'd and pray'd with you, and am (for ought I
know) as great an Independent as any of ye all. I Rejoic'd
with ye, Fafted, fung Pfalms, Pray'd with you, and (here-
after) will run away with ye. Nay, I had done it now, but
who knew ypur minds 1 if ye meant I ihould follow ye, why
did ye not wink upon mef think ye I could run away by
inffinU i My Lords^ you know I love Dogs, and {though I
fay it) I thank God I nave as good Dogs as any man in Eng-
landnow (my Lords j if a Dog follow me when I do not
call him I bid him begone; if I call him and he comes nor,
then I beat him ^ but if I beat him for not comming when I
never call'd him, you'l th nk me mad; 'sDcath (my Lords)
Vw a poor Dog is not worth the whijlling.
But perhaps my fault is not meer flaying here^ but being
aSlive in your abfence, becaufe in my Robes & collar of S-S
I brought up Mr the Commons ntw Speaker : why,
what if I did < Is not Mr Pelham my owne Cofen i would
Your Lordfiiips have me uncivill to my kindred < why might
not i entertaine the new Speaker^ as well as Sir Robert Hurley
intreat us to admit him t" Mr Pelham is none of Sir Robert's
Cofen, and yet Sir Robert \s an old man.
Ib^refomcfay, thsft I was forward to begm a new War^
tha-t
that nt'j hmd is to aH the War rants for Lifiing Men and Hcrfe i
and in order thereunto, / 'voted His tJ'i'la^efiy jhouldcome to
London. 'Tistrue my Lords) I did give my Votcfortlie
K i n g's comming hither; but wherefore was itc" 'twas
only to come to choofe a New Speaker ; what, would ye
have Vs dumb, and fit here like my Lords, I love
to hear men (peak ;and all the Lawyers told me. No King.^ no
Speaker; that either the Commons muft name their Speaker
and the King appro've him, or the King name him and
the Commons approve him; No King^ no Speaker: And fo I
wzsfor the Ning^ that is,/or the Speaker.
Then (my Lords) obfervethe /»4;?»or of His comming;
the King was to come according to the Covenant mark
ye that ? I was ftill for my Oathes: let Him come when He
will, if the Covenant fetch Him, He had as good ftay away.
And yet men cry lliamc on the Covenant; thofe that took it
do caji it up againe; and thofe that refufe it have given a
world of Arguments that it is Unreafonable •, which Reafons
our Ajfemhly {like a company of Rafcals) never yet anfwer'd.
I know V my Lords) many of our friends never took this
Oath^ but they refus'd it out of meet Confcicnceihall UHa-
lignants Confciences be as tender as ours ? why, what do
they think our Confciences are made of c* But (my Lords)
fuppofe this Oath ht Unreafonable can we do nothing but
we m-uft give Reafen for it 1 this is as bad as the Houfc of
Commons.^ who when we deny to pafie any Ordinance, pre-
feuily lend to know our ifthough themfelves give no
Reafons for demanding Ours. And fo Malignants would
have Reafonable Oaths ; only here's the difference, the Houfc
of Commons do ufe to Reafons, and Malignants de-
fire to be fuffer'd logive Reafons: my Lords, I love not thys
giving of Reafons •, though I l"told the Covenant is Extreame
Reafonable; for as fome Malignants take it to fave their E-
fates, fo v<'tgive it to make them loje their Eftates; both love
the Eflate., and both hate the Covenant. Thus ( my Lords)
A 3 wc
we hav^c Reafon for this Oath, and Your Lordflups have No
Reafoa to make me a Jrajtour while I give my Vote accer^
ding to the Covenant.
As for^gning Warrants to ra 'tfe a Netv Wary I wonder you'I
fpeakofit; have not ye all done it a hundred times ^ how.
many Reames of Paper have we fubfcrib'd to raife forces
for King and Parliament i 'tis known I can fcarce write a
word befides my Name : cannot a man write his own Name
without lofing his head iT if 1 muft give Accompt for what
I fet my hand to, Lord have mercy upon me; I lee now my
Grandfather was a wife man, he could neither write nor read,
and happy for me if I were fo too: Come, come my Lords,
be plain and tell me, do I look like one that would a
New War ? I muft confelTe I love a good Army, but if there
be none till I raife it, Souldiers of Fortune may change their
Names. No, (myLords) 'twas not I, 'twas the Eleven
fJMembers would have rais d a War •, you fee they were guilty
by their running away, 1 neither ran with Them nor with Tou^
I do not like this running away, I love to flay by it •, and whe-
ther was for War^ I that ftay'd in Town^ or You that went to
an Army < the Dcvill of Horfe did 1 lift but in my New
Coach, nor us'd any Harnefte but my Collar of S-S. And
will ye for this clap me in the Tower < you fcnt me thither
fix years fince for but handling a Stand/jh, and now youl
commit me for writing my Name ; what (my Lords) do ye
hate Learning < can ye not end or begin a Parliament without
fending me to the ^ Doe Your Lordfliips meane to
make me a Lord Maior -r If I needs muft go, I pray ye, fend
me home, to Baynard's Caflle or Durham Houfe^ va dam-
nable fire burnt my houfe at Wdton juft that hovver I mov'd
Your Lordfiiips to drive Malignants out of London.) But
why to the Tower am I company for lAons ? do ye think
me a Cattamountaine.^ fit to be fliown through a grate for two
pence No, my Lords., keep the Tower for Malignants., they
can endure it, fomc of them have been Prifoners feven years 5
^5;
they can feed upon bare Allegiance^ pleafe thcmfelves with-
Difcourfes of Confcience^ of Honour y of a Righteous Caufe,
and I know not what: But what's this to meHow will
thofe Malignants look upon me ■: nay, how fliall I look upon
Them''. I confcfle fome of'em love my Sons company,
they fay he's more a Gentleman^ and ha's rvit: 'sDeath (my
Lords) muft I now xumCentleman i I thought I had been
a Peer of the Realm^ and am I now a Gentleman < let my Son
keep his Wit^ his poor Father ne're got two pence by his Wit.
Alas, (my Lords) what hurt can I do ye ^ or whsxgood will
it do ye to have my Head r I am but a Ward, my Lord Say
hath difpos'd of me thefe ^even years; I am no Lawyer though
the Littletons call me Cofen; I am no Scholavy though I have
been their Chmcellour •, I am no States-man, though I was a
Privy Counfellour; 1 know not what ye mean by the Three
Efiates • laft ^une the Army demanded a Releafe for Lil-
hurne, i%''ufgrove^ and Overton^ I thought They were the
Three Efiates : I thank God I have a good Eftate of my
own, and I have the Eftates of my hoxa Baynings Children,
and I have my Lord of Carnarvons Eftate, thefe are my
Three Efiates. And yet (my Lords ) muft I to the Toxver ^
Confider we are but a few Lords left, come, let's love, and
be kind to one another; The Cavaliers c^mxxeW'd among
themfclves, beat one another, and loft all: Let Vs be wifec
my Lords •, for had we fallen into their condition, my Con-
fcicnce tells me we had lookt moft wofully.
I perceive Youx Lordfhips begin to think better of me, and
I hear you would quit me if I were not charg'd by the Agita-
tors and Generall Counceil of the Army. How Agitator C
'sDeath what's that 'I who ever heard that word before <1 I
underftand Clafiicall^ Provincial, Congregattonall^ Nationall •
but for Agitator, it may f for ought I know j be a Knave not
worth three Pence; if Agitators cut Noblemcns throats
you'l find the Bevill ha's been an Agitator. As for the Gene-
rail Counceil 1 hate the Name of it, 'tis old and naught, and
(e)
Us'd to be full of Bfjhaps •, thofc fellows have troubled us c-
vcrfince the Jpo(fles\ I thought we had made 'em poor
enough, and is their Name come again to torment me 1 My
Lords, I underftand not thefe Cenerdl Councells^ thofe of old
fthcy fayjwerc Chrtfiiansy and thefe are Independents: What
a damnable deal of GeneralUpig is here ! Generall Jffembly^
Generallofthe Armj^ Generall Come ell of the Army; we never
had quiet hower fince we had fo many Generalls. Well, my
Lords, thefe are hard times, arid we make them worfe with
hards words, which neither we nor our Fathers underftood.
Heretofore Bipops went fure Divino^ then Elders would be
^ure Divine, and now Agitators will be fure Divine^ (Dam
me, I think nothing is ^ure Divino but God.) Call ye this a
through Reformation < what betwixt the Affemblers and the
Agitators I am reformed to meer skin and bone. My Lords^
if thefe 'tators muft rule the Kingdome, why are not we our
felves K^gitators <; why may not 1 make Oldftvorth an Agi-
tator c" his abilities and honefty are equall to moft of'em. But
(for ought I fee) Agitators will fboner be Earls of Pembroke
and Mongomery than we Agitators: for the Parliament \czds
the people^ the Army \ezds the Parliament^ Six Ehomas leads
the Army^ Cromwell leads SiixThomas^ Ireton leads Cromwell^
Agitators will lead Ireton.^ whither the Devil! Ihall we all lead
at laft <
My Lords^ ye fee I have fpoke my mind; I hope every week
fome of your Lordjhips will do the like •, and the Commons in
this (, though in nothing elfe) will follow the Houfe of Peers.
But I have done, I have done, my Lords : Remember I
befeecli yc I am an old man, I have been a Grandfather time
out of mind (for I was fo when this Parliament began,) and
now muft I be food for Agitators O my Lords, Ihave ufed
the Ki N G fo ill,and He lov'd me fo well,& i have ferv'd you
fo well, and you ufe me fo ill, that no man is forry for me;
Therefore my Requeft is, that you would not think of fen-
ding me to the Tower, till fome body pities me.
FINIS.