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<DATE>2010-01-06</DATE>
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<NAME>Pip Willcox</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch Z100012.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P><HI>A</HI> SPEECH MADE BY SERGEANT WILD In the Honourable Hou&s;e of COMMONS, IN THE CAUSE OF <HI>Mercurius Britanicus.</HI></P>
<P>As it was al&s;o (the next day) delivered from his own Mouth in a Boate, as he pa&s;t between the Temple Staires, and <HI>We&s;tmin|&s;ter</HI> Bridge, heretofore call'd KINGS Bridge.</P>
<P><FIGURE>
<FIGDESC>royal crowns of England, Scotland, France and Ireland</FIGDESC>
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<P>M.DC.XXXXV.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="speech">
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<HEAD>M^r SERGEANT WILD His Speech in the Honourable Hou&s;e of <HI>Commons,</HI> the 32. of <HI>May,</HI> in the Cau&s;e of <HI>Mercurius Britanicus.</HI></HEAD>
<P>_WE related unto you in our la&s;t worke, the two, (or both) the Hou&s;es were totally or wholly bu&s;ied all day, (or from Morning till Night) concerning what rewards <HI>Mercurius Britan|nicus</HI> was worthy to have, for his &s;erviceable, laudable, and indefatigable paines-taking, in his weekly writings for the Parliament, where many of the Hou&s;e of Commons, were of opinion, that the Gentleman had de&s;erv'd well, but there was no re&s;olved or &s;etled re&s;olu|tion among&s;t them, what to determine of him; where contra|ry to the wi&s;dome, witte, &s;ence, rea&s;on, and inclination of the Hou&s;e, the Grave and Ancient Knight (Sir <HI>Benjamin Ruddy|ard</HI>) only oppo&s;ing, and bitterly inveighing again&s;t him, (as we have truly related in our former occurrences of the 31. of <HI>Aprill</HI> la&s;t) where that important bu&s;ine&s;&s;e was left to the di&s;|cretion and cen&s;ure of the Hou&s;e. So that this day the matter being againe renewed and debated on, M^r Sergeant <HI>Wilde,</HI> was appointed to plead in the ea&s;e of <HI>Britanicus,</HI> who like a &s;econd <HI>Cicero,</HI> or a double demie <HI>Demo&s;thenes,</HI> declar'd him&s;elfe both a Learned Advocate, and an Eloquent Orator as followeth.</P>
<P>RIght Honourable, and mo&s;t con&s;tant Con&s;cript Patriots, if the worth and merits of the Gentleman in who&s;e cau&s;e I &s;peake at this time, be well weighed and con&s;idered, the &s;peech of an Advocate would be &s;uperfluous, and time being
<PB N="2" REF="4"><!-- PDF PAGE 32 -->&s;o pretious as it is, this Honourable A&s;&s;embly might imploy it in more nece&s;&s;ary and urgent occa&s;ions. But when a per&s;on &s;o high de&s;erving, is malignantly traduc'd, and the Magnificent Beneficence of your unparallel'd gratitude to noble endeavou|rers, and &s;tudious paines-takers, &s;o tran&s;cendently calumniated, it is then high time to &s;peak, if his own de&s;erts were tongue|tied, dumb, mute, &s;ilent or &s;peechle&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>I have read in he voluminous collections of M^r <HI>Samuell Purchas,</HI> (intituled <HI>Purchas his Pilgrimage</HI>) of the Kingdom of <HI>Bornea</HI> in the <HI>Ea&s;t India:</HI> The King of that va&s;t Region (al|though he be a Prince of mighty unlimitable Potency, for Ter|ritories, Men, Armes, Ammunition, Artillery and Mony) yet the &s;afe&s;t and chiefe&s;t tru&s;ty guard for his per&s;on, is a Regiment of Dogges, tho&s;e Dogges are his only Life-guard, in who&s;e &s;erviceable fidelity, his Maje&s;ticall &s;equrity doth totally con|&s;i&s;t. This Canicular allu&s;ion, is not impertinent to my fol|lowing, or &s;ub&s;equent interlocution. For though a man hath not the &s;hape or appetite of a Dogge, yet no man hath cau&s;e to be a&s;ham'd to imitate a Dogge in fidelity to his Ma&s;ter. Call to your remembrance (I humbly be&s;eech you) that the Re|verend Preachers, and Learned writers of eloquent per&s;wa|&s;ive Pamphlets, and weekly newes have not plaid the parts of dumb Dogges, but with their vigilant and violent barking, &s;narling and byteing, they have (with an <HI>Vli&s;&s;ean</HI> emulation and imitation, been more powerfull, then the &s;tronge&s;t <HI>Ajaxi|an</HI> Army or Sword in the gaining of the &s;eavenfold &s;hield, and divine tempor'd Armour of the mo&s;t valiant <HI>Achilles</HI> with his multitude of <HI>Mirmidons.</HI></P>
<P>It is apparent that had it not been for the perpetuall &s;upportation, that this Parliament hath had, by the happy meanes of tho&s;e famous Lecturers, and Learned Writers, the Kings party had long &s;ince prevailed, and the Prote&s;tant Religion had flouri&s;hed and been maintained among&s;t us, in &s;pight of our teethes. But they, (and none but they are the chiefe Propps, Pillars, Mini&s;ters, and In&s;truments, that have both built, fram'd, erected, and upheld, the unparallel'd Geo|metricall fabrick of all the Mighty unexampled atchieve|ments,
<PB N="3" REF="4"><!-- PDF PAGE 32 -->which (to our la&s;ting renowne) we have accompli|&s;hed, and may happily proceed in: for the&s;e men, have not only fully engrafted the People, with a con&s;tant beliefe of us, that our con&s;ultations are unerrible, our judgements infallible, our decrees unalterable, our opinions immutable, our power im|pregnable, our force invincible, and all our Actions unque&s;tio|nable; by which meanes, they have continually furni&s;hed us, with meanes and maintenance defen&s;ive and offen&s;ive, of Men, Mony, Shipping, of all the Kings Hou&s;es, Strengths, fortre&s;&s;es, and Revenues, and finally of any thing, and all things whereby we &s;ub&s;i&s;t.</P>
<P>Among&s;t the many and numerous Multiplicity of tho&s;e fa|mous Authors, the indu&s;trious and acute <HI>Mercurius Britani|cus,</HI> hath bin, and is the <HI>Atlas</HI> of our foundation, and the Top-galiant of our felicity. Who hath &s;o vehemently revil'd the King, who hath more contumeliou&s;ly rail'd again&s;t the Queen, who hath more Learnedly &s;candaliz'd the Peeres, who hath more Religiou&s;ly abu&s;ed the Prote&s;tant Religion, who hath more piou&s;ly &s;candall'd the Common-prayer-booke, who hath &s;o Reverendly vilified the Clergy, who hath more violently &s;lander'd the Kings Servants, who hath more Wittily bejeer'd the Cavaliers, and who hath more prettily run the hazard of a <HI>Gregorian</HI> danger then he? And all the&s;e &s;ervices he hath done for us, for which my opinion is, that we cannot doe too much for him.</P>
<P>I mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e the re&s;t have done well, but as there are de|grees (as our Logicians &s;ay) of <HI>Good, Better,</HI> and <HI>Be&s;t,</HI> &s;o that though M^r <HI>Booker,</HI> M. <HI>Nye,</HI> and M. <HI>Lilly,</HI> have done mo&s;t Ex|cellent-ly, <HI>A&s;tronomical-lye, A&s;trological-lye, Mathematical-lye,</HI> and <HI>Chronological lye,</HI> in their infu&s;ing into the Peoples credulity, the predictions and pretendings, of Au&s;pitious and Parliamentall Proditorious Events; wherein if the Starres and Planets have either not kept touch (or promi&s;e with them) or that betwixt the Con&s;tellations, Revolutions, and Influen|ces of the Cele&s;tiall Orbes, Spheares, and Hemi&s;pheare<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">, and the Terre&s;triall Globe there is &s;uch di&s;tance, that intelligence may faile, me&s;&s;engers may meet with &s;ome Malevolent di&s;|a&s;ters,
<PB N="4" REF="5"><!-- PDF PAGE 33 -->Letters may be intercepted, and many impediments may chance to alter and change the conclu&s;ions, that &s;uch A|&s;tronomers do ground upon, as it did with M. <HI>Booker,</HI> when his pretences fail'd in the taking of <HI>Oxford,</HI> with two Armies the 29. of <HI>May</HI> la&s;t 1644. although all our Labour was not then lo&s;t, for with the dropping downe of no more then 700 of our men, we &s;aw <HI>Oxford,</HI> and Conquer'd a Mill foure miles from thence, and we al&s;o took two Carts, laden with Bed&s;teads, joyn'd-&s;tooles, Wa&s;hing-bolles, and Bucking-tubbs. Concern|ing Captain <HI>George Wither,</HI> it cannot be deny'd, but he hath approv'd him&s;elfe to be the Creame of Wi&s;dom, the Lees of Wit, the Pith, Marrow, and Marrow-bone of Invention, for our &s;akes, cau&s;e, and defence, he hath mounted the two top'd <HI>Perna&s;&s;us,</HI> pump'd at <HI>Hellicon,</HI> and drain'd the <HI>The&s;pian</HI> foun|tain, he hath Ran&s;ack'd the <HI>Mu&s;es,</HI> rifl'd the <HI>Furies,</HI> Plunder'd the <HI>Divell,</HI> and Raked Hell, and all this he hath done for our &s;ervices (as his Learned volumne called <HI>Campo-Mu&s;ae</HI> will te&s;tify. As for the <HI>Scowte,</HI> the <HI>Scotti&s;h Dove,</HI> the <HI>Po&s;t, Mercurius Civicus,</HI> the <HI>Diurnalls, Occurrences,</HI> Weekly Newes Bookes, and other Aydes, Helps, and A&s;&s;i&s;tants, It mu&s;t be gratefully acknowledged, that their Labours have bin prevalent, again&s;t the Malevolent, though not Equivalent to the mo&s;t meritorious <HI>Mercurius Britanicus.</HI></P>
<P>What though <HI>Taylor</HI> the <HI>Thame&s;i&s;&s;ian Aquatican, Humidian, Hydromantian</HI> &amp; <HI>Hidropican</HI> Poet, hath &s;matteringly &s;putter'd at his fame, &amp; mo&s;t <HI>Amaritudanically</HI> di&s;&s;ected &amp; Embowell'd his Reputation; Though many of our Malignants, have moun|ted their Penns again&s;t him, as we have done our Cannons (or the Kings) again&s;t we know (and know not) whom: yet ne|verthele&s;&s;e, <HI>Hopes Anchor</HI> hath Moar'd him, <HI>Fortitudes Pillar</HI> hath &s;upported him, <HI>Per&s;everance</HI> hath &s;pur'd him forward, Opportunity hath been his Handmaide, and old <HI>Time</HI> (him|&s;elfe) hath not di&s;dain'd to wait on him, as a Page, or (as the Proverb &s;aies) <HI>a T' Anthony Pigge.</HI> So that for our Service, Honour, and dignity, he hath been more violent and vigilant, then all the re&s;t of the Pack; Therefore to put an end, to fini&s;h, to make a conclu&s;ion, to come to a full poynt, to &s;hut up all
<PB N="5" REF="5"><!-- PDF PAGE 33 -->with a Period, and briefly (to avoyd Tautology) in a word, to &s;peak faithfully and fully, as I &s;aid before, of the King of <HI>Bo|nea's</HI> Guard of Dogges, &s;o all tho&s;e foremention'd Worthies, have been, and are a diligent, watchfull, and &s;trong guard, for the defence and &s;upport of all that we have attempted or ac|compli&s;hed again&s;t the King, the Queen, the Nobility, Gen|try, Commons, and all that doe either adhere, affect, ayde, a&s;&s;i&s;t, &s;erve, honour or obey, any of the Malignants cau&s;e, Per&s;on or Party, among&s;t which <HI>Mercurius Britanicus</HI> hath been the mo&s;t unmatchable, bold, brave, barking, brauling, biting <HI>Bandogge,</HI> and de&s;erves to be held as Captain of all our Guards of Writers, Speakers, Preachers, either for Palpit, Pen, Pre&s;&s;e, Print, or, (as a man may &s;ay) and &s;o forth.</P>
<P>I will not derogate from the Learned, or detract, dimini&s;h, or extenuate, the worths of other famous men in this kind, e|&s;pecially M^r <HI>Henry Burton,</HI> and M^r <HI>William Prinne,</HI> they have acted their parts <HI>Tragicomically,</HI> and have (for the propogati|on of our matchle&s;&s;e and unexemplified <HI>Herculean</HI> Labours) mo&s;t Lawfully and Worthily, a&s;cended to fames <HI>Pillor, I,</HI> but though the&s;e grave <HI>Solons,</HI> and Reverend Renowned <HI>An|naxagor-A&s;&s;es,</HI> have unanimou&s;ly, joyntly, and &s;everally done us &s;ervices, beyond all <HI>Guerdon,</HI> yet for as much as they are in a di&s;concordance, a di&s;union betwixt them&s;elves, a di&s;paritie of opinions, or (to avoid tediou&s;ne&s;&s;e) a kind of a contention.</P>
<P>For the much more then nine times mo&s;t Reverend M^r <HI>Burton,</HI> he is elevated into the Heroick Humour, and in&s;pir'd with the all commanding &s;pirit of <HI>Pompeius Magnus,</HI> who would have no Equall; and M^r <HI>Prinne,</HI> is of the milder Maje|&s;tick opinion of <HI>Cae&s;ar,</HI> to allow equalls, but no &s;uperiors. The one will be <HI>Dominus Fac-totum,</HI> a Nowne Sub&s;tantive, or a Sub&s;tantiall Independent, to command, &amp; not to be counter|manded; The other is po&s;&s;e&s;t, that the Parochiall Presbytery is more ju&s;tly equall, and may better &s;pinne out the&s;e our gain|full di&s;tractions, and weave out the Warre many a faire yeare (that we be not forc'd to a Peace again&s;t our wills.) Thus the&s;e two, or this Brace of our Maine Pillars, can neither agree, nor fall together by the Eares.</P>
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<P>To Returne from whence I have digres'd <HI>(Mercurius Bri|tanicus)</HI> who&s;e merits I have partly &s;hewed, how he was vilified in this Honourable A&s;&s;embly, I need not to repeate, for his &s;ervices I think him worthy of 2000<ABBR>l</ABBR> <HI>per annum</HI> out of the <HI>Publique Faith's</HI> next Edition, or el&s;e (your grave wi&s;|dom's, may take into your con&s;iderations, that he is an able Gentleman, and as capable to be made Lord keeper of our new Great Seale as my &s;elfe, or el&s;e he can performe and exe|cute the office of the Ma&s;ter of the <HI>Rolls,</HI> as &s;ufficiently as M^r Speaker (without di&s;paragement) and &s;o I leave him and his de&s;erts to your wi&s;doms Honourable di&s;po&s;all, and I al&s;o leave Sir <HI>Benjamin Ruddyard</HI> (who &s;o bodily affronted and calum|niated <HI>Mercurius Britanicus</HI>) to your ju&s;t and unerring cen|&s;ures.</P>
<P>At the end, conclu&s;ion, or Cata&s;trophe of this &s;peech, the whole hou&s;e was in a generall paw&s;e or &s;ilence, each of them Rap'd, or (as it were tran&s;ported with an exta&s;ie) &s;truck with a &s;uddaine Admiration, at the compo&s;ure, delivery, accant, cadence, empha&s;is, utterance, volubility, eloquence, elocuti|on, and ornated phra&s;e or &s;tile, of the Learned Sergeant, that at la&s;t, they all were pleas'd (after &s;ome particular favourable coughs and hums) to applaud him with a re&s;pective venera|ble generall Hum, (in token of Approbation) and withall clapping their hands (with an unanimous acclamation) they gave &s;uch a &s;hout that the noy&s;e was heard, from <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter</HI> to <HI>Wapping,</HI> and Saint <HI>Thomas a waterings,</HI> and when all was ended, the old Knight (Sir <HI>Ben. Rud.</HI>) was confin'd to his Chamber, and <HI>Mercurius Britanicus</HI> his cau&s;e, was referr'd to an afternoon-Committee.</P>
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