House of Lords Journal Volume 7: 22 April 1645

DIE Martis, 22 die Aprilis.

PRAYERS, by Mr. Mewe.

Ds. Grey de Warke, Speaker.

Message from the H. C. with an Ordinance and Order;

A Message was brought from the House of Commons, by Sir Peter Wentworth Knight;

To desire Concurrence in these Particulars following:

1. An Ordinance concerning giving Power of Martial Law to Commissioners, to try the Persons that are taken in the late Rebellion in Kent.

Read, and Agreed to, with a small Alteration.

with the Establishment of Sir T. Fairfax's Artillery;

2. The Establishment of the Pay of the Officers and Train of Artillery, in the Army under the Command of Sir Tho. Fairefaix.

with a Letter to Venice;

3. A Latin Letter, to be sent to the Duke of Venice. (Here enter it.)

Read, and Agreed to.

for the Lord Mayor, &c. to name the Lieutenant of The Tower.

4. That the Lord Mayor and Aldermen and Common Council of London do present the Name of a sit Person to be Lieutenant of The Tower of London.

Agreed to, with an Alteration.

5. An Order for Guns, to be employed in the Army. (Here enter.)

Agreed to.

The Answer returned was:

Answer.

That this House will take the Particulars of this Message into Consideration, and send an Answer by Messengers of their own.

Letter from the E. of Leven, that he is preparing to march Southward.

The Earl of Northumb. reported a Letter from the Committee of both Kingdoms, received from the Earl of Leven, General of the Scottish Army, "That he hath sent a Party of the Scottish Army towards Sir Wm. Brereton; and he will put the Army in a Preparation to march Southward."

Ld. Herbert thanked for his good Affections.

The Lord Herbert of Cherbury this Day gave the House an Account of his Actions since he had Leave to be absent from the Parliament; and expressed his good Affections to the Parliament.

Hereupon the Speaker, by the Command and Directions of the House, gave his Lordship Thanks for the said Account, and for his good Affections and Fidelity to the Parliament.

Ordinance for settling a Preaching Ministry in the North.

The Earl of Warwicke reported to the House, "That the Committee hath considered of the Ordinance for settling Ministers in the North; and the Committee thinks it fit to pass, with the Addition of a Minister to be put into the Town of Caram."

And the said Ordinance, with the Addition, was read, and Agreed to with the said Addition.

Legay, Fairfax, and Jhannes.

Upon reading the Petition of Isaac Legay and Daniell Fairefax, touching the Business between them and Wm. Jeannes: It is Ordered, That the said Jeannes shall have a Copy of this Petition, and offer what he hath to say to this (fn. 1) House thereupon; and then this House will hear Counsel on both Sides, if their Lordships shall see Cause.

Answer from the H. C.

Sir Edward Leech and Mr. Page return with this Answer to the Message sent Yesterday to the House of Commons:

That as concerning the removing the Committee of both Kingdoms to the Queen's Lodgings at Whitehall, they do agree to it: To the other Two Particulars, they will send an Answer by Messengers of their own.

Letter from Prince Rupert, &c.

Two Letters were read, directed to the Earl of Essex, from Captain Legg and Prince Rupert, in Answer to the Letter concerning the Persons that were hanged in Shropshire. (Here enter them.)

Ordered, That these Letters be communicated to the House of Commons.

Mansell and Harris.

The Judgement made by this House, in the Cause between Sir Rob't Mansell and Mr. Harris, was read, and approved of. (Here enter it.)

Letter from the Dutchess of Richmond, for Leave to come to Middlesex.

A Letter of the Dutchess of Richmond was read, written to the Earl of Denbigh; "to desire Leave from the Parliament to come to Mr. Rawleigh's House in Midd. and take Phyfic for her Health; and that Dr. Mayherne may come to her."

It is Ordered, To be communicated to the House of Commons.

Message to the H. C. concerning the following Subjects.

A Message was sent to the House of Commons, by Sir Edward Leech and Mr. Page:

To deliver to them the Ordinance for settling Ministers in the North, the Ordinance concerning Martial Law for Kent, the Order concerning the naming of a Lieutenant of The Tower, and to desire their Concurrence in the Alterations; and also to deliver [ (fn. 2) to them] the Letters of Captain Leg and Prince Rupert.

Report from the Committee for the Admiralty, concerning a Person to command the Fleet.

The Earl of Warwick's Report:

"At the Committee of Lords and Commons for the Admiralty and Cinque Ports.

"Resolved, upon the Question,

"That it be reported to both Houses, as the Opinion of this Committee, That it is most for the Advantage of the Public Service, that the Fleet now prepared for this Summer's Expedition be put under the Command of One Man, and not divided into many Hands; but the Ordinance lately passed, to put the Members of both Houses out of all Employment, Military and Civil, concluded the Committee, that they may not (as hath been usually, and never more necessary than now) nominate some Person of Honour, Quality, and Estate, to take upon him such a Charge: They cannot for the present think of any Person qualified for so high a Trust, which carries with it the Safety of all Three Kingdoms; they therefore humbly return it back unto the Houses, as a Business of so great Difficulty, and of so high a Concernment, that it is fit only to be settled by their Wisdoms."

Letter from Capt. Legg, with Prince Rupert's; and desiring an Answer to the Dutchess of Richmond's.

"For the Right Honourable the Earl of Essex, London.

"My Lord,

"This Bearer's Stay so long was occasioned by the Absence of Prince Rupert, whose Answer to your Lordship's Letter arrived not here until now. I sent a Trumpeter to your Lordship Three Weeks since, about a Request from the Dutchess of Richmond. I desire you will take Order for my Trumpeter's Return with an Answer of his Message. So I shall rest,

"Your Lordship's humble Servant,

Oxford, 19th of April, 1645.

"Will. Legge."

Letter from Prince Rupert, concerning his hanging Thirteen Prisoners, on Account of the Committee at Shrewsbury having hanged the same Number of his Soldiers that were taken.

"For the Earl of Essex, General. These.

"My Lord,

"I received your Lordship's Letter of the 4th of this Month, on the 11th; and cannot but wonder that it should seem strange to the Two Houses, that I should cause those Prisoners which were taken in Arms against His Majesty to be used in the same Manner, and by the same Measure, as His Majesty's good Subjects taken Prisoners in the Act of their Duty are used by those that take them: Those Soldiers of mine, that were barbarously murthered in cold Blood, after Quarter given them, at Shrewsbury, were those who, during the Time they were in Ireland, served His Majesty stoutly, constantly, and faithfully, against the Rebels of that Kingdom, and, after the Cessation there, were, by His Majesty's Command, transported to serve Him in this, where they honestly performed the Duty of Soldiers; and therefore I were unworthy of the Command I hold under His Majesty, if, upon so high a Provocation, and so unheard-of an Act of Injustice, as the putting those poor honest Men to Death, I had not let the Authors of that Massacre know, their own must pay the Price of such Acts of Inhumanity, and be used as they use their Brethren; and therefore I caused the like Number (to whom Quarter was no otherwise given than to the former) to be put to Death, in the same Manner as had been done at Shrewsbury. How the Rebellion in Ireland began, and with what Circumstances of Blood and Cruelty it hath been carried on (the Odiousness whereof, and of all other Rebellions, is apparent, and all good Men must abhor) is not applicable to this Argument (I wish the Temper of this Kingdom had been, or yet were such, as might be applied to the Composure of that). Your Lordship hath in that Army many Soldiers who served His Majesty in that Kingdom of Ireland; yet to those Soldiers, when taken Prisoners, Quarter is given and observed on this Side; the like must be expected from you: And if it should be otherwise, and that Quarter should be denied to all those who have been proclaimed Traitors and Rebels, and who by Act of Parliament are such, this War will be much more merciless and bloody than it hath been, or than any good Man or true Englishman can desire to see it; I am sure such Rigour shall be prevented by all the Interest and Power I have: Neither can that Threat or Menace in your Lordship's Letter, of the Resolution to use such Prisoners as shall be taken of His Majesty's Army for the future, make any Impression in me, than of Grief and Sadness of Heart, to see so much Injustice and Inhumanity, a Proceeding contrary to the Laws of Nature and Nations, contrary to the Rules and Customs of War in any Part of the Christian World, so deliberately and solemnly resolved, declared, and published. If there should be an Ordinance made, that there should be no Quarter given to any Soldiers under my Command, and an Expectation that those under yours should receive Quarter; would your Lordship expect I submit to such an Ordinance? This is the Case. I have taken Prisoners, of those who have taken Arms against His Majesty, of all Nations, English, Scottch, Irish, French, Dutch, Walloones, of all Religions and Opinions that are avowed by Christians; and have always allowed them Quarter, and equal Exchange (how unequal soever the Quarrel and Contention is, and what Judgement soever the Law hath determined upon such Persons), and shall do so still; hoping that Almighty God will open the Eyes of those who have been strangely deceived into Arms against, and to the Scandal and Destruction of, the Protestant Religion (in which, all Men know, I have been born, and for which they have Reason enough to believe I will die), and the Parliament of England assembled by His Majesty's Command, and of which His Majesty is the Head; and will recover and reduce those, who, out of Ambition or Malice, have made those Paths in which the other have trod, to their Piety towards their Maker, and their Allegiance towards their Sovereign: But if the contrary Course shall be held, and any Prisoners under my Command shall be taken, executed, and murthered in cold Blood, under what senseless and unjust Pretences whatsoever; for every Officer and Soldier so causelessly and barbarously murthered, I will cause so many of the Prisoners remaining in my Power to be put to Death in the same Manner; and I doubt not but the Blood of those miserable Men who shall so suffer by my Order, as well as of those who shall be butchered by that Ordinance your Lordship mentions, shall be required at their Hands, who, by their cruel Examples, impose a Necessity upon other Men to observe the Rules they lay down. And I cannot but express a great Sense to your Lordship, that, since His Majesty's gracious Offers and Importunity for Peace will not be hearkened unto, by these prodigious Resolutions expressed in your Lordship's Letter, the War is like to be so managed, that the English Nation is in Danger of destroying one another, or (which is a Kind of Extirpation) of degenerating into such an Animosity and Cruelty, that all Elements of Charity, Compassion, and Brotherly Affection, shall be extinguished. I hope they whose Opinions and Resolutions your Lordship hath imparted to me will take these Animadversions into their serious Consideration, from

"Your Lordship's Servant,

April the 15th, 1645.

"Rupert."

Order for Ordnance for Sir T. Fairfax's Train of Artillery.

"It is this Day Ordered, by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled, That Two Brass Demy Culverins, and Eight Brass Sacres, formerly made Use of in the Navy, and now lying upon The Tower Wharf, shall be taken thence, and employed towards the Train of Artillery in the Army under the Command of Sir Thomas Fairefax."

Order concerning Sir Robert Mansell and Harris.

The Cause of Sir Robert Mansell Knight, Plaintiff, against Edmond Harris Gentleman, Defendant, upon Cross Petitions depending before the Lords in Parliament, came this Day to a Hearing at the Bar, by Order of this House, dated the 17th of this Instant April, at which Time as well the Counsel of the Plaintiff as of the Defendant, together with their Witnesses, were at large heard; and did appear to this House, by a Lease then produced, dated the Fifth of February, Anno 13 Caroli Regis, That the said Plaintiff hath an Estate granted him, under an Annual Rent from the Town of Newcastle, of certain Parcels of Lands belonging thereunto, whereon the Glass-houses, and other Houses and Lodgings, were erected by the said Plaintiff, which he used for the making of Glass, and lodging his Servants and Workmen in; whereunto the said Defendant, with his Servants and certain Musketeers, entered by Force, possessed himself of Part of the said Houses, violently entered upon the Works erected by the said Petitioner, and took thence his Pots and Materials, possessed himself also of certain hewed and wrought Stone belonging to the said Plaintiff, and with Part thereof hath built One Furnace, and converted that and the said Materials all to his own Use, to the great Loss and Damage of the said Plaintiff, and to the great Advantage and Benefit of the said Defendant, by his Usage of the said Plaintiff's Houses, Goods, and Materials, as aforesaid."

Upon a full and deliberate Consideration of all which Proofs, and upon the whole Merits of the Cause fully heard this Day at the Bar as aforesaid: It is, upon the Question, Ordered, Decreed, and Adjudged, by the Lords in Parliament assembled, That the said Sir Robert Mansell, Plaintiff, shall have the Possession of all his Pots, Stone, and Houses, that he was formerly possessed of, and now in Question, delivered over to him forthwith, his Agents or Servants, by the said Edmond Harris, Defendant, or his Assigns; and that the said Defendant shall pay unto the said Plaintiff, or his Assigns, by Way of Damages, the full Sum of One Hundred Pounds, of lawful Money of England, upon the serving of this Judgement upon him, or leaving it at his Dwelling-house, or most usual Place of Abode or Dwelling; which if he shall neglect to do, will be taken as a Contempt done to this House, and he thereupon to be proceeded against as shall be suitable to the Honour and Justice of this High Court.

Letter to the Duke of Venice, in Behalf of the East India Company.

"Serenissime Princeps,

"Postquam nobis Præses & Societas Mercatorum Londinensium in Indiis Orientalibus negotiantium questi sunt Petrum Recautium, Equitem, Detentionem Trecentarum Piperis Sarcinarum, pro Compensatione Nummorum & Bonorum, quæ non ita pridem in communi dictæ Societatis Peculio habuit, sub vestræ Serenitatis Jurisdictione procurasse; nos, Justitiæ nostræ asserendæ Causâ, vestram Serenitatem officiose interpellandam & edocendam duximus, quod præfatus Ricautius, Angliæ Subditus, & nuper ex eâdem Mercatorum Societate Unus, nostro contra Perduelles promulgato Decreto fuit declaratus Perduellionis reus, atque Sententiâ de sequestrandis Perduellium Anglorum Bonis latâ damnatus; & inde omnia & singula ejus Bona mobilia & immobilia, Terra Marique existentia, Confiscationi subjecta, atque ad Publicam Regni Utilitatem adhibenda; adeo ut etiam ea quæ in dictæ Societatis Potestate fuerunt secundum Leges & nostro Jussu de eâdem Societate prehensa, & Rei nostræ Publicæ applicata jurè fuerint: Hæc cum ita se habeant, enixè rogamus, ut, sublatâ Piperis illius detenti Causâ, Effectum itidem et malam hanc malæ Ricautii Causæ Litem, & alias si quas movere vellet Lites cessare, dictorumque Bonorum Relaxionem sine Morâ fieri vestra Serenitas jubeat & faciat; atque, si quid est de quo Ricautius legitimè conqueri ausit & possit, eundem, quàm primùm patrio Jure sese stiterit, Justitiamque hic postulaverit, æquè justéque habitum iri persuasum habeat. Hæc, pro veteri utrinque intercedente Amicitiâ, quam usque duraturam speramus cupimusque, a solitâ vestræ Serenitatis & inclytæ Reipublicæ Æquitate, & in Britannicas Gentes Benevolentiâ, instanter petimus & expectamus; iisdemque omne nostrorum grati vicissim Animi Officiorum omnisque Prosperitatis Genus, ex Animo vovemus.

"Datæ ex Palatio Parliamentario Westmonasteriensi, xxii° Aprilis, MDCXLV.

"Vestræ Serenitatis

"Officiosissimi & studiosissimi,

"Proceres & Ordines Communium Parliamenti Angliæ.

"Grey de Wark, Prolocutor Procerum, pro Tempore."