The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 06 (of 11) — Thomas Hobbes — John Shaqi
The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 06 (of 11)
Thomas Hobbes · en
_A._ All that can be said against them in that point, will be excused
with the pretext of war, and come under one name of rebellion; saving
that when they summoned any town, it was always in the name of King and
Parliament, the King being in the contrary army, and many times beating
them from the siege. I do not see how the right of war can justify such
impudence as that. But they pretended that the King was always virtually
in the two Houses of Parliament; making a distinction between his person
natural and politic; which made the impudence the greater, besides the
folly of it. For this was but an university quibble, such as boys make
use of in maintaining in the schools such tenets as they cannot
otherwise defend.
In the end of this year they solicited also the Scots to enter England
with an army, to suppress the power of the Earl of Newcastle in the
North; which was a plain confession, that the Parliament’s forces were,
at this time, inferior to the King’s. And most men thought, that if the
Earl of Newcastle had then marched southward, and joined his forces with
the King’s, most of the members of Parliament would have fled out of
England.
In the beginning of 1643 the Parliament, seeing the Earl of Newcastle’s
power in the North grown so formidable, sent to the Scots to hire them
to an invasion of England, and (to compliment them in the meantime) made
a covenant amongst themselves, such as the Scots had before taken
against episcopacy, and demolished crosses and church-windows, such as
had in them any images of saints, throughout all England. Also in the
middle of the year, they made a solemn league with the nation, which was
called the Solemn League and Covenant.
_B._ Are not the Scots as properly to be called foreigners as the Irish?
Seeing then they persecuted the Earl of Strafford even to death, for
advising the King to make use of Irish forces against the Parliament,
with what face could they call in a Scotch army against the King?
_A._ The King’s party might easily here have discerned their design, to
make themselves absolute masters of the kingdom and to dethrone the
King. Another great impudence, or rather a bestial incivility, it was of
theirs, that they voted the Queen a traitor, for helping the King with
some ammunition and English forces from Holland.
_B._ Was it possible that all this could be done, and men not see that
papers and declarations must be useless; and that nothing could satisfy
them but the deposing of the King, and setting up of themselves in his
place?