Reliquiæ Baxterianæ, or, Mr. Richard Baxters narrative of the most memorable passages of his…

Some thought that the King should not at all be displeased and provoked, and that they were not bound to do any other Justice, or attempt any other Reformation but what they could procure the King to be willing to. And these said, When you have displeased and provoked him to the utmost, he will be your King still! and when you have sate to the longest, you must be dissolved at last: you have no power over his Person, though you have power over Delinquent Subjects: And if he protect them by Arms, you must either be ruined your selves by his displeasure, or be engaged in a War: Displeasing him is but exasperating him; and would you be ruled by a King that hateth you? Princes have great Minds, which cannot easily suffer Contradiction and Rebukes: The more you offend him, the less you can trust him; and when mutual Confidence is gone, a War is beginning: And if it come to a War, either you will conquer or be conquered, or come to Agreement. If you are conquered, you and the Commonwealth are ruined, and he will be absolute, and subdue Parliaments, and Govern as he pleaseth. If you come to an Agreement, it will be either such as you force him to, or as he is willing of: If the latter, it may be easilier and cheaper done before a War than after: If the former, it will much weaken it: And if you Conquer him, what the better are you? He will still be King: You can but force him to an Agreement: and how quickly will he have power and advantage to violate that which he is forced to; and to be avenged on you all for the displeasure you have done him: He is ignorant of the Advantages of a King that cannot foresee this]. These were the Reasons of many that were for pleasing the King.

But on the other side there were Men of divers tempers: Some did not look far before them, but did what they thought was best at present: whether any designed the subduing of the King, and the change of Government, at that time, I cannot tell: For I then heard of no notable Sectary in the House but young Sir Henry Vane, (whose Testimony was the Death of the Earl of Strafford, when other Evidence was wanting, and of whom I shall say more anon). But the leading and prevailing part of the House were for the Execution of Strafford, and for punishing some Delinquents, though it did displease the King: And their Reasons (as their Companions tell us) were such as these: They said, If that be your Principle that the King is not to be displeased, or provoked, then this Parliament should never have been called, which you know he was forced to against his Will: and then the Ship-money should have gone on, and the Subjects Propriety, and Parliaments, have been overthrown: And then the Church Innovations should not have been controlled, nor any stop to the Subverters of our Government and Liberties attempted: then no Members should speak freely against any of these in the House; for you know that all these are very displeasing: And then what do we here? Could not the King have pleased himself without us? Or do we come to be his Instruments, to give away the Peoples Liberties, and set up that which was begun? Either it is our Duty to reform, and to recover our Liberties, and relieve our Country, and punish Delinquents, or it is not? If it be not, let us go home again: If it be, let us do it and trust God: For if the fears of foreseen Oppositions shall make us betray our Country and Posterity, we are perfidious to them, and Enemies to our selves, and may well be said to be worse than Infidels, much