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<DATE>2011-02-05</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>A DECLARATION AND VINDICATION OF Iohn Pym E&s;quire:</P>
<P>Concerning The divers a&s;per&s;ions which have been ca&s;t upon him by &s;undry ba&s;e and &s;candalous Pamphlets, and by divers Malignants, and people ill-affected to the good of the Common-wealth.</P>
<P>Shewing His continuall fidelitie and integritie to|wards His Maje&s;tie, and the High Court of Parliament, for the good of this King|dome, and other His Maje&s;ties DOMINIONS.</P>
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<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed for <HI>John Atkin&s;on. March</HI> 4. <HI>Anno Dom.</HI> 1643.</P>
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<HEAD>A Declaration and Vindication of <HI>John Pym</HI> E&s;quire.</HEAD>
<P>_IT is not unknowne to all the world, e&s;pe|cially to the Inhabitants in and about the Citie of London, with what de&s;perate and fame-wounding a&s;per&s;ions my repu|tation, and the integritie of my intenti|ons to God, my King, and my Countrey, hath been invaded by the malice and furie of Malignants, and ill-affected per&s;ons to the good of the Common-wealth. Some charging mee to have beene the Promoter and Patronizer of all the innovations, which have been obtruded upon the Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall government of the Church of England. Others, of more &s;pitefull and exor|bitant &s;pirits, alleaging that I only have been the man, who hath begot and fo&s;tered all the &s;o lamented di&s;tractions, which are now rife in this Kingdome. And though &s;uch calumnies are ever more harmfull to the authors, than to tho&s;e whom they &s;trive to wound with them, when they arrive only to the cen&s;ure of judicious per&s;ons, who can di|&s;tingui&s;h formes, and &s;ee the difference betwixt truth and
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fal&s;hood; yet becau&s;e the &s;candals inflicted upon my inno|cence, have been obvious to people of all conditions, many of which may entertaine a beliefe of tho&s;e reproachfull re|ports, though in mine owne &s;oule I am far above tho&s;e ignominies, and &s;o was once re&s;olved to have waived them, as unworthy my notice; yet at la&s;t, for the a&s;&s;ertion of my integritie, I concluded to declare my &s;elfe in this matter, that all the world, but &s;uch as will not be convinc'd, either by rea&s;on or truth, may heare te&s;timony of mine inno|cence. To pa&s;&s;e by therefore the Earle of Straffords bu&s;i|ne&s;&s;e, in which &s;ome have been &s;o impudent, as to charge me of too much partialitie and malice, I &s;hall declare my &s;elfe fully concerning the re&s;t of their a&s;per&s;ions: namely, that I have promoted and fomented the differences and &s;chi&s;mes now abounding in the Engli&s;h Church.</P>
<P>How unlikely this is, and improbable, &s;hall to everie in|different man be quickly rendred per&s;picuous: for that I am, and ever was, and &s;o will dye a faithfull &s;on of the Pro|te&s;tant Religion, without having the lea&s;t relation in my be|liefe to tho&s;e gro&s;&s;e errours of Anabapti&s;me, Browni&s;me, and the like, everie man that hath any acquaintance with my conver&s;ation can beare mee righteous witne&s;&s;e. The&s;e being but a&s;per&s;ions ca&s;t upon me by &s;ome of the di&s;conten|ted Clergie, and their Fautors and Abettors, becau&s;e they might perhaps conceive, that I had been a maine in&s;trument in extenuating the haughtie power and ambitious pride of the Bi&s;hops and Prelates; which if I had been (as I only delivered my opinion, as a member of the Hou&s;e of Com|mons) that attempt or action of mine had been ju&s;tifiable both to God and a good con&s;cience, and had no way con|cluded me guiltie of revolt from the Orthodox Doctrine of the Church of England, becau&s;e I &s;ought a reformation of &s;ome gro&s;&s;e abu&s;es crept into its government, by the cun|ning and perver&s;ne&s;&s;e of the Bi&s;hops and their Sub&s;titutes. For was it not high time to &s;eek to regulate their power, who in &s;tead of looking to the cure of mens &s;oules (which
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is their genuine office) they inflicted puni&s;hments on mens bodies, bani&s;hing them to remote and de&s;olate places; after &s;tigmatizing their faces, only for the te&s;timony of a good con&s;cience. When not contented with tho&s;e in&s;ufferable in&s;olencies, they &s;ought to bring in unheard of Canons into the Church, Arminian, or Papi&s;ticall Ceremonies, whether you plea&s;e to terme them, there is not much difference; im|po&s;ing burdens upon mens con&s;ciences, which they were not able to beare, and introducing the old aboli&s;hed &s;uper|&s;tition of bowing to the Altar: and if it &s;avoured either of Browni&s;me, or Anabapti&s;me, to endevour to &s;uppre&s;&s;e the growth of tho&s;e Romi&s;h errours, I appeale to any equall minded Prote&s;tant, either for my Judge and witne&s;&s;e. Nay, had the attemprs of the Bi&s;hops de&s;i&s;ted here, tollerable they had been, and their power not &s;o much que&s;tioned as &s;ince it hath been. For which they &s;aw, the Honourable, the High Court of Parliament, begun to look into their enormities and abu&s;es, beholding how they wre&s;ted Religion like a waxen no&s;e, to the furtherance of their ambitious purpo&s;es: then Troy was taken in, then they began to de&s;paire of hol|ding any longer their u&s;urped authoritie; and therefore as much as in them lay, both by publike declamations and pri|vate councels, they laboured to foment the civill differences betweene his Maje&s;tie and his Parliament, abetting the pro|ceedings of the Malignants with large &s;upplyes of men and money, and &s;tirring up the people to tumults by their &s;editi|ous Sermons. Surely then no man can account me an ill &s;on of the Common-wealth, if I delivered my opinion, and pa&s;sed my vote freely for their aboli&s;hment, which may by the &s;ame equitie be put in practice by this Parliament, as the di&s;solution of Mona&s;teries, and their la&s;ie Inhabitants, Monks and Friars were in <HI>Henry</HI> the Eighths time: for without di&s;pute, they carried as much reputation in the Kingdome then, as Bi&s;hops have done in it &s;ince, and yet a Parliament then had power to put them downe; why then &s;hould not a Parliament have power to do the like to the&s;e,
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everie way guiltie of as many offences again&s;t the State as the former? For mine own part I atte&s;t, God Almightie the knower of all hearts, that neither envie, or any private grudge to all, or any of the Bi&s;hops, hath made me adver&s;e to their function; but meerly my zeale to Religion and Gods cau&s;e, which I perceived to be trampled under foot, by the too extended authoritie of the Prelates, who accor|ding to the puritie of their in&s;titution, &s;hould have beene men of upright hearts and humble minds, &s;hearing their flocks, and not flaying them, when it is evident they were the quite contrarie.</P>
<P>And whereas &s;ome will alleage, it is no good argument to di&s;&s;olve the function of Bi&s;hops, becau&s;e &s;ome Bi&s;hops are vicious: to that I an&s;wer, Since the vice of tho&s;e Bi|&s;hops was derivative from the authoritie of their function, it is verie fitting the function which is the cau&s;e thereof be cor|rected, and its authoritie deve&s;ted of its borrowed feathers: otherwi&s;e it is impo&s;&s;ible, but the &s;ame power which made the&s;e pre&s;ent Bi&s;hops (&s;hould the Epi&s;copall and Prelaticall Dignitie continue in its ancient height and vigour) &s;o proud and arrogant, would infu&s;e the &s;ame vices into their Suc|ce&s;&s;ours.</P>
<P>But this is but a mole-hill to that mountaine of &s;canda|lous reports that have been inflicted on my integritie to his Sacred Maje&s;tie: &s;ome boldly averring me for the author of the pre&s;ent di&s;tractions between His Maje&s;tie and his Par|liament, when I take God, and all that know my procee|dings, to be my Vouchers; that I neither directly, nor indi|rectly, ever had a thought tending to the lea&s;t di&s;obedience, or di&s;loyaltie to His Maje&s;tie, whom I acknowledge my lawfull king and Soveraigne, and would expend my bloud as &s;oone in his &s;ervice, as any Subject he hath. 'Tis true, when I perceived my life aimed at, and heard my &s;elfe pro|&s;cribed a Traytour, meerly for my entirene&s;&s;e of hearrt to the &s;ervice of my Countrey, was enformed that I, with &s;ome other honourable and worthy Members of the Parliament,
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were again&s;t the privileges thereof demanded, even in the Parliament Hou&s;e by His Maje&s;tie, attended by a multitude of men at armes, and Malignants; who I verily beleeve had for &s;ome ill ends of their owne, per&s;waded His Maje&s;tie to that exce&s;&s;e of rigour again&s;t us, when for mine owne part, (my con&s;cience is to mee a thou&s;and witne&s;&s;es in that be|halfe) I never harboured a thought, which tended to any di&s;-&s;ervice to His Maje&s;tie, nor ever had an intention preju|diciall to the State: when I &s;ay, notwith&s;tanding mine owne innocence, I &s;aw my &s;elfe in &s;uch apparent danger, no man will think mee blame-worthy, in that I took a care of mine owne &s;afetie, and fled for refuge to the protection of the Parliament, which making my ca&s;e their owne, not only purged me and the re&s;t, of the guilt of trea&s;on; but al|&s;o &s;ecured our lives from the &s;torme that was ready to bur&s;t out upon them. And if this hath been the occa&s;ion, that hath withdrawne His Maje&s;tie from his Parliament, &s;urely the fault can no way be imputed to mee, or any proceeding of mine, which never went further, neithe<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;ince His Maje&s;tie, nor before then, &s;o far as they were warranted by the known Lawes of the Land and authorized by the indi&s;putable and undeniable power of the Parliament, and &s;o long as I am &s;ecure in mine owne con&s;cience that this is truth, I account my &s;elfe above all their calumnies and fal&s;hoods, which &s;hall returne upon them&s;elves, and not wound my reputation in good and impartiall mens opinions.</P>
<P>But in that devilli&s;h con&s;piracie of <HI>Cataline</HI> again&s;t the State and Senate of Rome, none among the Senators was &s;o obnoxious to the envie of the Con&s;pirators, or liable to their traducements, as that great Orator and Patriot of his Countrey, <HI>Cicero;</HI> becau&s;e by his coun&s;ell and zeale to the Common-wealth, their plot for the ruine thereof was di&s;|covered and prevented; though I will not be &s;o arrogant, to parallel my &s;elfe with that Worthy, yet my ca&s;e (if we may compare le&s;&s;er things with great) hath to his a verie neere re&s;emblance, the cau&s;e that I am &s;o much maligned and re|proached
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by ill-affected per&s;ons being, becau&s;e I have beene forward in advancing the affaires of the Kingdome, and have been taken notice of for that forwardne&s;&s;e: they out of their malice, converting that to a vice, which without boa&s;t be it &s;poken, I e&s;teeme as my principall vertue, my care to the Publike Utilitie. And &s;ince it is for that cau&s;e, that I &s;uffer the&s;e &s;candals, I &s;hall endure them with pati|ence, hoping that God in his great mercie will at la&s;t recon|cile His Maje&s;tie to his High Court of Parliament, and then I doubt not but to give His Royall Selfe, though he be much incen&s;ed again&s;t mee, a &s;ufficient account of my integritie. In the interim, I hope the world will beleeve, that I am not the fir&s;t innocent man that hath been injured; and &s;o will &s;u&s;pend their further cen&s;ures of me.</P>
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