feft their steadiness in the cause for which they had fuffered, and their refolutions of adhering to their old principles, in fupport of the Church of England, and the ancient monarchical government of this kingdom, than in choosing to place the protection of their interest in both under the care of one, who had so early distinguished himself, even from the first approaches of the civil war, in afferting and maintaining the diftreffed rights of the Church and Crown.

This Hiftory was firft begun by the express command of King Charles the First, who, having a defire that an account of the calamities, God was pleased to inflict on the unhappy part of his reign, should be reported to pofterity by fome worthy, honeft, and knowing man, thought he could not appoint any one more adorned with fuch qualifications, than this Author.

It is a difficult province to write the history of the civil wars of a great and powerful nation, where the King was engaged with one part of his fubjects against the other, and both fides were fufficiently inflamed: and the neceffity of speaking the truth of several great men, that were engaged in the quarrel on either side, who may still have very confiderable relations, defcended from them, now alive, makes the task invidious, as well as difficult.

We are not ignorant that there are accounts, contained in this following Hiftory, of fome eminent perfons in thofe times, that do not

agree

agree with the relations we have met with of the fame perfons, published in other authors. But, befides that they who put forth this History dare not take upon them to make any alterations in a work of this kind, folemnly left with them to be published, whenever it should be published, as it was delivered to them; they cannot but think the world will generally be of opinion, that others may as likely have been mistaken in the grounds and informations they have gone upon, as our Author; who will be esteemed to have had opportunities, equal at leaft with any others, of knowing the truth; and, by the candour and impartiality of what he relates, may be believed not to have made any wilful mistakes.

However, all things of this nature must be fubmitted, as this is, with great deference to the judgment of the equal reader; who will meet, in his progrefs through this work, with many paffages, that, he will judge, may disoblige the pofterity of even well meaning men in those days; much more then of fuch as were crafty, cunning, and wicked enough to design the mifchiefs that enfued: but he fhall meet with none of malice, nor any but fuch as the Author, upon his best information, took to be impartially true. He could not be ignorant of the rules of a good hiftorian, (which, Cicero fays, are fuch foundations, that they are known to every body), That he fhould not dare to Speak any falfehood; and

fhould dare to Speak any truth. And we doubt not, but through the whole progrefs of this History he will be found to have given no occasion of suspecting his writings guilty of partial favour, or unjuft enmity; and we hope, that the representing the truth, without any mixture of private passion or animofity, will be fo far from giving offence to any ingenuous man of this time, that it will be received rather as an inftruction to the prefent age, than a reproach upon the laft.

Moreover, the tenderness that might feem due, out of charity, good manners, and good nature, to our countrymen, our neighbours, or our relations, hath been indulged a long space of time; and might poffibly be abused, if it should not give way, at last, to the usefulness of making this work public, in an age, when fo many memoirs, narratives, and pieces of history come out, as it were on purpose to justify the taking up arms against that King, and to blacken, revile, and ridicule the facred Majefty of an anointed head in diftrefs; and when fo much of the sense of religion to God, and of allegiance and duty to the Crown, is fo defaced, that it is already, within little more than fifty years since the murder committed on that pious Prince, by fome men made a mystery to judge, on whose side was the right, and on which the Rebellion is to be charged.

We hope therefore it will be judged neceffary as well as ufeful, that an impartial account of

the

the moft material paffages of those unhappy times fhould at laft come out; and that we shall have the general approbation, for having contributed thus far to awaken men to that honesty, justice, loyalty, and piety, which formerly Englishmen have been valuable for, and without which it is impoffible any government, discipline, or authority can be long maintained.

There is no doubt, but this good King had fome infirmities and imperfections; and might thereby be misled into fome mistakes in government, which the nation, in Parliament represented, might have reformed by moderate and peaceful counfels. But the reformation loft its name, and its nature too, when so many acts paffed by him in Parliament, that did reftrain the prerogative of the Crown from doing the mischiefs it had been taxed with, had not the effect they ought to have met with, of restraining the people too from farther demands; and when the inordinate ambition, anger, and revenge of fome of the great leaders could not be limited within any bounds, till they had involved the nation in blood, deftroyed many thousands of their own countrymen and fellow citizens, and brought at laft their own Sovereign to lose his head on a fcaffold, under a pretended form of an High Court of Juftice, unprecedented from the beginning of the world; and, to finish their work, had overthrown all the laws of their own country, in the defence of which, they would have b 3 had

had it thought, they had been obliged to draw their fwords.

Without question, every body that shall duly confider the whole account of thefe tranfactions, will be able to impute mistakes, miscarriages, and faults enough to both fides: and we shall leave them to their own fedate and compofed reflections. But we cannot omit making this one obfervation, that where any king by ill judgment, or ill fortune, of his own, or those entrusted by him in the chief administration of his government, happens to fall into an intereft contrary to that of his people, and will pursue that mistake, that prince must have terrible conflicts in the course of his reign, which way foever the controversy ends. On the other hand, that people, who, though invaded and oppreffed in their just rights and liberties, fhall not reft fatisfied with reasonable reparations and fecurities, but, having got power into their hands, will make unjustifiable use of it, to the utter fubverfion of that government they are bound in duty and allegiance to fupport, do but at laft make rods. for their own backs, and very often bring upon themselves, from other hands, a more fevere bondage than that they had shook off.

To demonftrate this general observation, let it be confidered in particular, what was the advantage this poor nation gained from all the victories obtained over King Charles in the field, and, afterwards, in the imprisoning, and profe