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<DATE>2014-04-15</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
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<HEAD>A True and Humble REPRESENTATION of <HI>Iohn Downes</HI> E&s;q touching the Death of the Late KING, &s;o far as he may be concerned therein.</HEAD>
<P>_FInding my &s;elf involved by &s;everal Votes and Orders of this pre&s;ent <HI>Parliament,</HI> and al&s;o in the execution of the &s;ame, with tho&s;e who plotted and de&s;igned the late <HI>Kings</HI> Death, and with others who were His Judges; I think my &s;elf bound in duty and thankfulne&s;s unto God, and by all obligations to my &s;elf, Family, Po&s;terity, and Relations, to &s;et forth a true Narrative of all things concerning my &s;elf, and all my actings in that &s;ad bu&s;ine&s;s; and I &s;hall not make Lies a refuge, becau&s;e I have hope in the God of truth.</P>
<P>During that long time of fourteen years I &s;erved in the la&s;t <HI>Parliament,</HI> I was never of any Juncto or Cabal, indeed I did ever profe&s;&s;edly decline it; I never knew of any bu&s;ine&s;s, (except perhaps by hear-&s;ay) relating to tho&s;e &s;ad di&s;tractions between the <HI>King</HI> and <HI>Parliament,</HI> until they came to be opened in the Hou&s;e; I never knew of the intention of bringing the <HI>King</HI> to <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter,</HI> till he was brought, much le&s;s did I know that the end of His bringing was to take away his life; I never knew of that intention, (except what my own fears might &s;ugge&s;t unto me) until the Bill was brought into the Hou&s;e to Erect an <HI>High Court of Ju&s;tice</HI> (as it was called) for His Tryal; and therefore I was much perplexed and a&s;toni&s;hed when it was read; when the Bill was committed, I was not of the Committee, (though it was numerous) nor was I ever at that Committee, (though it &s;ate very publickly in the <HI>Speakers</HI> Lodgings:) when the Committee had order to bring in Names for Judges, my Name was not put in till after the Amendments were reported, and upon a &s;econd Commitment; and then upon an unhappy occa&s;ion, pa&s;&s;ing through the <HI>Speakers</HI> Chambers, (when the Committee was not &s;itting) I &s;aw two or three Members (who&s;e Names I well remember) were in con&s;ultation at the Table, and as I pa&s;&s;ed by them, one of them &s;aid, this Gentlemans Name is not in&s;erted, and called to me and &s;aid, Sir, you mu&s;t make one in this great bu&s;ine&s;s; I flatly gave my denyal, and &s;aid, I could not &s;erve them in it; it was replyed, that with my good favour I mu&s;t take my &s;hare: after the Bill was pa&s;&s;ed, and the Judges &s;ummoned to meet in the Painted Cham|ber, by expre&s;s Order of the Hou&s;e all were injoyned to attend: And thus through weakne&s;s and fear I was in&s;nared.</P>
<P>I &s;hall forbear to mention many pa&s;&s;ages betwixt my &s;elf and other Members, at &s;everal times when I met with them, (becau&s;e I fear to be over tedious) though they would much make for my clearing; and therefore I do now humbly come to relate my own demeanour the la&s;t day the <HI>King</HI> appeared at the Court.</P>
<P>When the Court was &s;ate, and the <HI>King</HI> brought, the Pre&s;ident told him, that he had been charged with Trea&s;on, Perjury, Murther, and other high Crimes committed again&s;t the People of this Nation, and that he had refu&s;ed to give an an&s;wer to the Charge, demurring to the Juri&s;diction of the Court; That he had been told the Court was &s;atisfied of their own Juri&s;diction, and that He was not to be the Judge of it; and that He had had &s;everal dayes given him for con&s;ideration; and that this was the la&s;t day the Court would demand of Him, whether He would an&s;wer to the Charge or not; if not, the Court would take the whole Charge, <HI>Pro Confe&s;&s;o,</HI> and would proceed to Judgment; (or words to this effect.) The <HI>King</HI> (with &s;uch undaunted compo&s;edne&s;s and wi&s;dom, as I never beheld in man) made an&s;wer to this effect; That He could not acknowledge the Juri&s;diction of the Court, He acknowledged they had power enough indeed, but where is your authority? yet &s;aid He, becau&s;e I &s;ee you are ready to give a Sentence, and that &s;uch a Sentence may &s;ooner be repented of, than revoked; and that the peace of the Nation may &s;o much depend upon it. I think &s;it to let you know, that I de&s;ire to &s;peak with my <HI>Parliament,</HI> for I have &s;omething to offer unto them which will be &s;atisfactory <HI>[to you all]</HI> and will be for the pre&s;ent Settlement of the Nation. The Pre&s;ident regarded not the&s;e gracious expre&s;&s;ions, but told Him, he could take no notice of any thing He &s;aid, &s;ave only to demand once again, whether He would an&s;wer to His Charge or not.</P>
<P>Then the <HI>King</HI> (not in pa&s;&s;ion) but with the greate&s;t earne&s;tne&s;s of affection, de&s;ired the Court, that they would once more con&s;ider of it; for &s;aid He, you may live to repent of &s;uch a Sentence; and therefore de&s;ired they would withdraw but for half an hour; or &s;aid He, if that be too much trouble for you, I will withdraw, (and pa&s;&s;ionately moved his body.)</P>
<P>The Pre&s;ident was not affected with all this, but commanded the Clerk to read the Sentence; God knows I lie not, my heart was ready to bur&s;t within me; and as it fell out, &s;itting on the &s;eat next to <HI>Crumwel,</HI> he perceived &s;ome di&s;compo&s;ure in me, and turned to me and &s;aid, What ailes thee, art thou mad, can&s;t thou not &s;it &s;till and bequiet? I an&s;wered, quiet? no &s;ir, I cannot be quiet; and then I pre&s;ently &s;tood up, and with an audible voyce &s;aid, My Lord Pre&s;ident, I am not &s;atisfied to give my con&s;ent to this Sentence, but have rea&s;ons to offer to you again&s;t it; and therefore I de&s;ire the Court may adjourn to hear me. Then the Pre&s;ident &s;tood up and &s;aid, nay, if any Member of the Court be un&s;atisfied, then the Court mu&s;t adjourn, and accordingly did adjourn into the inner Court of Wards.</P>
<P>When the Court was &s;ate there, (all but Members, and &s;ome Officers being turned out) I was called by <HI>Crumwel</HI> to give an Account why I had put this trouble and di&s;turbance upon the Court? I an&s;wered, (and &s;o near as po&s;&s;ibly I can, after &s;o great an clap&s;e of time, I will &s;et down my very Syllabical expre&s;&s;ions:) My Lord Pre|&s;ident, I &s;hould have been very glad, that his Maje&s;ty would have conde&s;cended to the&s;e expre&s;&s;ions long before this time; I &s;ay, I &s;hould have been glad of it, both for His own &s;ake and for ours; But &s;ir, to me they are not too late, but welcome now, for &s;ir, God knows I de&s;ire not the <HI>Kings</HI> death, but His life; all that I thir&s;t after, is the Settlement of the Nation in peace; His Maje&s;ty now doth offer it, and in order to it de&s;ires to &s;peak with His <HI>Parliament;</HI> &s;hould you give Sentence of Death upon Him, before you have acquainted the <HI>Parliament</HI> with His offers, in my humble opinion, your ca&s;e will be much altered, and you will do the greate&s;t Action upon the greate&s;t di&s;advantage imaginable, and I know not how ever you will be able to an&s;wer it.</P>
<P><HI>Crumwel</HI> in &s;ome &s;cornful wrath &s;tood up and an&s;wered me, (&s;o near as I can remember in the&s;e words) My Lord Pre&s;ident, you &s;ee what weighty Rea&s;ons this Gentle|man hath produced, that &s;hould move him to put this trouble upon you; &s;urely this Gentleman doth not know, he hath to deal with the harde&s;t hearted man upon the earth; however &s;ir, it is not the &s;ingle opinion of one peevi&s;h tenacious man, that mu&s;t &s;way the Court, nor deter them from their duty in &s;o great a bu&s;ine&s;s; and I wi&s;h his Con&s;cience doth not tell him (what ever he pretends of di&s;&s;atisfaction) that he only would &s;ave his old Ma&s;ter; Therefore &s;ir, I pray you lo&s;e no more time, but return to the Court and do your duty.</P>
<P>Not one &s;oul would &s;econd me nor &s;peak one word, yet I knew divers by name; Sir <HI>John Bourcher,</HI> Mr. <HI>Dixwel,</HI> Mr. <HI>Love,</HI> Mr. <HI>Waite,</HI> and &s;ome others were much un&s;atisfied, yet dur&s;t not &s;peak; But on the contrary divers Members took their turns with me in private di&s;cour&s;e; <HI>Crumwel</HI> him&s;elf whi&s;pered me in the ear, and &s;aid, by this and Mr. <HI>Fries</HI> bu&s;ine&s;s he was &s;atisfied. I aimed at nothing but making a mutiny in the Army, and cutting of throats; Another told me the Gene|rations to come would have cau&s;e to cur&s;e my actings; and another (which &s;unk deepe&s;t of all) told me, that if I were in my wits I would never have done this, &s;ee|ing I was before (as indeed I was) acquainted, that the <HI>King</HI> to &s;ave his life, would make the&s;e offers, but it would be as much as my life were worth to make any di|&s;turbance; And be&s;ides &s;aid he, it is not in the power of man, no of this <HI>Parliament</HI> to &s;ave his life, for the whole Army are re&s;olved, that if there be but any check or demur in giving judgment, they will immediately fall upon him and hew him to peices, and the Hou&s;e it &s;elf will not be out of danger.</P>
<P>To tho&s;e who&s;e height would permit me to &s;peak and make replies, I told them, to me it was evident, the <HI>Parliament</HI> expected &s;ome &s;uch offers from the <HI>King,</HI> why el&s;e did they make that order, (that upon any emergency which could not be thought of, that the Court &s;hould immediately acquaint the Hou&s;e therewith: and there was &s;uch an order entred and to be &s;een in the Books, if he (who in appearance) ordered all matters, hath not torn that order out, as I have heard he hath done all the re&s;t of the proceedings; and inferred, what greater emergencies could be, than that the <HI>King</HI> demurred to the Juri&s;diction of the Court, and yet de&s;ired to &s;peak with the <HI>Parliament,</HI> and offered to do that which would be &s;atisfaction to all, e&s;pecially &s;eeing (as was pretended) that his denying to do &s;uch things, was the ground which forc'd &s;uch a proceeding with him. And &s;o without any more debate they returned to the Court, and I left them, and went into the Speakers Chamber, and there with tears ea&s;ed my heart. The effect and &s;ub&s;tance of this narration is true, and &s;o neer as I can remember the very words and circum&s;tances, and it was &s;o noto|rious and publick, that I hope God will &s;tirr up &s;ome worthy per&s;ons (though I have been carele&s;s not doing the &s;ame in de&s;ign) to atte&s;t the truth of the chief parts hereof; but for any thing el&s;e relating to that bu&s;ine&s;s, I utterly deny and prote&s;t again&s;t it, nor did I ever give them one meeting more, but wholly from that time de&s;erted them, though I was often Summoned to meet them in the <HI>Painted-Chamber;</HI> and I hope per&s;ons of &s;o great wi&s;dome and goodne&s;s, will &s;uffer compa&s;&s;ions to ri&s;e within them, and will look back unto tho&s;e times wherein it was criminal for a man but to whi&s;per a word of re&s;pect to His Maje&s;ty; and my very &s;ub&s;i&s;tance was by an Office upon which I had laid out almo&s;t my whole E&s;tate: And as this relation &s;hews I am but a weak imprudent man, yet I did what I could, I did my be&s;t, I could do no more: I was &s;ingle, I was alone, only I ought not to have been there at all; I acknowledge my &s;elf to have highly offended and need pardon, and do humbly and profe&s;&s;edly lay hold on His &s;acred Maje&s;ties gratious pardon; and humbly implore the high and honourable <HI>Parliaments</HI> Pardon al&s;o. I did not only forbear, but ab|horred to buy one penniworth of the <HI>Kings</HI> Goods, or one foot of His Lands, though it's known I had as much or more opportunity than any other man, and per|haps more temptations <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o have allured me than mo&s;t other men had; I have neither taken advantage nor grown rich, nor have had remuneration or allowances for a|ny <HI>Parliamentory</HI> &s;ervices or imployments, as many others had, though it is well known what burthens have been laid upon me: the truth of this will be found, when Books and Trea&s;uries &s;hall be &s;earched into; I may truly &s;ay, I have wore out my &s;elf, lo&s;t my Office, robbed my relations, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ow am ruined; and my E&s;tate when &s;earched into, will not be found as perhaps may be &s;uppo&s;ed; I have a poor Wife big with child, and eight children be&s;ides, and mo&s;t of them very &s;mall, who already are forc'd to live upon charity, all my E&s;tate being &s;iezed on; I was the only Member in the Hou&s;e that was prevailed with, to deliver Mr. <HI>Loves</HI> Wifes Petition for &s;a|ving of his life, and &s;o managedit, that the Hou&s;e devided upon the que&s;tion, and lo&s;t it but by three voyces; &amp; I did not a little contribute to the &s;aving of the lives of Mr. <HI>Jackson,</HI> and Mr. <HI>Jenkins,</HI> Mini&s;ters, who were in Mr. <HI>Loves</HI> condition; I have not been cruel to any, I hope God will incline the hearts of His &s;acred Maje&s;ty, and the High Court of <HI>Parliament,</HI> to be merciful to me and mine.</P>
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