DIE Sabbati, 29 Decembris.
PRAYERS, by Dr. Hodges.
REX.
Domini præsentes fuerunt:
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D. of Yorke.
D. of Cumberland. |
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Ds. Cancellarius. |
D. of Richmond.
Marq. of Worcester.
L. Steward.
L. Chamberlain.
L. Great Chamberlain.
Comes Northumb.
Comes Shrewsbury.
Comes Derby.
Comes Monmouth.
Comes North'ton.
Comes Lyncolne.
Comes Berks.
Comes Bedford.
Comes Peterborough.
Comes Newport.
Comes Dorsett.
Comes Scarsdale.
Comes Bristoll.
Comes Sarum.
Comes Portland.
Comes Carnarvon.
Comes Bridgwater.
Comes Dover.
Comes Devon.
Viscount of Stafford.
Comes Suffolke.
Viscount Mountagu.
Comes Nottingham.
Viscount Faconbridge.
Comes Sandwich. |
Ds. Newport.
Ds. Chandois.
Ds. Craven.
Ds. Astley.
Ds. Vaughan.
Ds. Culpeper.
Ds. Grey.
Ds. Byron.
Ds. Robertes.
Ds. Clifford.
Ds. Hatton.
Ds. Lovelace.
Ds. Loughborough.
Ds. Maynard.
Ds. Euers.
Ds. Hunsdon.
Ds. Crumwell.
Ds. Tenham.
Ds. Brudnell.
Ds. Wharton.
Ds. Lucas.
Ds. Coventrye.
Ds. Carrington.
Ds. Ward.
Ds. D'acre.
Ds. Herbert of Cherbery.
Ds. Berkeley of Stratton.
Ds. Howard of Charlt.
Ds. Howard of Esc.
Ds. Abergaveny.
Ds. Lexington.
Ds. Gerard.
Ds. Gerard of Brandon.
Ds. Paulett. |
Answer from H. C.
The Messengers sent Yesterday to the House of Commons return with this Answer:
That they agree to the Proviso in the Bill for Review of the Poll Bill, as it was sent down; and that
they had delivered the Bill for the Wines.
Message from thence, about the Bill for further Amendment of the Poll Bill.
A Message was brought from the House of Commons,
by Sir John Holland Knight, &c.
To inform their Lordships, that they agree to all the
Alterations offered Yesterday at the Conference, concerning the Reviewing of the Poll Bill.
Bill to prevent the Exportation of Wool, &c.
The Bill for inhibiting the Transportation of Wool
and Wool Fells, was reported from the Committee, with
Alterations and Amendments; which were read Twice,
and Agreed to.
Hodie 3a
vice lecta est Billa, "An Act to inhibit the
transporting of Wool (fn. *) and Wool Fells."
The Question being put, "Whether this Bill,
with the Alterations and Additions now read,
[ (fn. *) shall pass]?"
It was Resolved in the Affirmative.
Message to H. C. with it.
A Message was sent to the House of Commons, by
Doctor Chyld and Mr. Escott:
To deliver to them the Bill against exporting of Wool
and Wool Fells, and desire their Concurrence in the Alterations.
Message from thence, about the Bill for Augmentation of Vicarages.
A Message was brought from the House of Commons,
by Mr. Bunkley, &c.
To put their Lordships in Mind of passing the Bill
brought from the House of Commons, (fn. *) for the Augmentation of Vicarages.
Peers Privilege, Militia.
ORDERED, That the Order of this House, for exempting the Peers from finding Horse and Arms, be
printed and published.
Answer from H. C.
The Messengers return with this Answer from the
House of Commons:
That they agree to the Alterations in the Bill against
exporting of Wool and Wool Fells, &c.
King present.
This Day being appointed by His Majesty for dissolving this present Parliament, His Majesty, sitting in
His Throne, gave Command to the Gentleman Usher
of the Black Rod, to go to the House of Commons;
and let them know His Majesty's Pleasure, that they
presently come and attend Him with their Speaker;
who, after a little while, came up; and, after a Speech
made to His Majesty by their Speaker;
(Here enter it.)
Speaker of H. C. Speech, on delivering the Money Bills.
(fn. *) "Most Gracious and Dread Sovereign,
"The Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, now assembled in Parliament, being the Representative Body of
Your Commons of England, are as Conduit Pipes, or
Quills, to convey the Streams of Your People's dutiful Affections and humble Desires into Your Royal
Presence; and, that being done, they need no other
Speaker but Yourself; for they know Your Skill,
and they have had Experience of Your Will. And
yet, Royal Sir, though they have no Cause to complain, they cannot but take Notice of Your Partiality;
for, when any Thing in Point of Right, or but Conveniency, hath fallen out to be, as we use to say, a
measuring Cast, a disputable Case between Yourself
and Your People, without any Regard or Respect had
unto Your own Right, or the Advantage that might
accrue to Yourself by asserting the same, if the Good
of Your People hath come in Competition with it,
You have always cast it against Yourself, and given it
in on Your People's Side.
"Royal Sir, Thus to undo Yourself, to do Your
People Good, is not to do as You would be done
unto. And what can we do less, than, by Way of a
grateful Retribution, chearfully to pay Your Majesty
the just Tribute of our dutiful Obedience unto all
Your Royal Commands; and upon all Occasions
readily to sacrifice se et sua, all that we have or enjoy, Lives and Fortunes, in the Service of such an
incomparable Sovereign?
"But, Royal Sir, it becomes not me to fill Your
Majesty's Ears with Air. Loquere ut te videam, is the
only Rhetoric the People ought to use to such a
King of Kindness, and a Prince so full of good Works;
and therefore, as I am commanded, I must humbly
assure Your Majesty, that the many healing Expedients propounded by Yourself, in Your several most
Gracious Declarations, have been the Subject-matter
upon which Your Commons have wrought all this
Parliament: And in the First Place, they took into
Consideration the great and growing Charges which
then lay upon Your People, for the Pay of Your
Army and Navy; and they conceived it necessary to
begin with that Part thereof next at Hand, wherein
Your People would receive the most Ease, and the
greatest Security and Satisfaction; which was, the disbanding Your Majesty's Forces by Land, and the paying
off Five and Twenty of Your Ships then in the Harbour, and of no Use: And this led them to the Consideration of such Ways and Means as were to be
used to raise Monies for that Purpose. And that for
Poll-money being propounded and passed, some were
of Opinion, that that alone would have overdone the
Work; others, having had Experience of a former Bill
of the same Nature, and upon the like Occasion,
fearing it might not answer Expectation, and being
unwilling to be deceived the Second Time, especially
in such a Business as this, wherein a Mistake was like
to prove so penal, moved for a further Supply, which,
after some Debate, was agreed upon, of a Two Months
Assessment, at Seventy Thousand Pounds a Month;
and both have not yet fully done the Work for which
they were designed. But, with the Help of Two
other Bills here in my Hand, the one intituled, "An
Act for the levying of the Arrears of the Twelve
Months Assessment commencing the Four and Twentieth of June One Thousand Six Hundred Fifty and
Nine, and the Six Months Assessment commencing the
Five and Twentieth of December One Thousand Six
Hundred and Fifty (fn. *) Nine," and the other intituled,
An Act for the further supplying and explaining certain
Defects in an Act for the speedy Provision of Money,
for disbanding and paying off the Forces of this Kingdom both by Land and Sea," they hope, this Accompt will be fully cleared off at last.
"Sir, Your Commons have likewise taken into their
Considerations the Charge of Your Summer Fleet,
which, besides that Part thereof Your Majesty is
pleased to take upon Yourself for Your ordinary
Guard of the Seas, will amount unto a very great
Sum. And as it is a great Debt, so it is a growing
Debt; in a few Months it doubles. There is a saying, Qui cito dat, bis dat. I am sure, 'tis most true
in this Case, Qui cito solvit, bis solvit. To pay this
Debt readily, is the Way to pay it but Once; and to
take Time to pay it, is the sure Way to pay it
Twice. And therefore Your Commons, laying aside
the sad Thoughts of their long Sufferings, and those
miserable Devastations and Pressures they have lain
under for many Years last past, and looking upon
the Necessity of Affairs, which call importunately,
and must be answered effectually, have passed another
Bill, here in my Hand, intituled, "An Act for Six
Months Assessment, at Seventy Thousand Pounds per
Mensem, to begin the First of January, and to be
paid in, the one Moiety thereof before the First of
February, and the other Moiety, being the remaining
Part, by the First of April next ensuing; which is to
be applied wholly to the paying off the Arrears of
Your Majesty's Navy and Army.
"I have Three other Bills in my Hand, which have
Relation to Your Majesty's Revenue, and are Branches
thereof; the one, intituled, "An Act for the better
ordering the selling of Wines by Retail, and for preventing Abuses in the mingling, corrupting, and vitiating of Wines, and for settling and limiting the
Prices of the same:" And this Bill is tendered unto
Your Majesty, for preventing all future Disputes
touching the Legality thereof; for we know it is
Your Majesty's Desire, that nothing might be done,
by any of Your Officers or Ministers that act under
you, sine Figura Justitiæ, et Warranto Legis. Another
is intituled, "An Act for erecting and establishing a
Post-office; and this, being likewise legally settled,
will be of very great Use to all Your Majesty's People, and especially Your Merchants, for holding Intelligence with their Correspondents, Factors, and
Agents, in Foreign Parts. Literæ sunt Indices Animi;
and without the safe and speedy Dispatch and Conveyance of their Letters, they will never be able to
time their Business, nor carry on their Trades to an
equal Advantage with the Merchants of other Countries. The other Bill provides for the increasing
Your Majesty's ordinary and constant Revenue, by
the Grant of an Impost, to be taken upon Ale,
Beer, and other Beverages therein particularly mentioned and expressed, to hold to Your Majesty for Life,
which God long continue. And as it is the Desire of
Your Commons that Your Majesty might never be
necessitated to resort to any extraordinary or unparliamentary Ways and Means for the raising of Money
upon Your People; so they likewise acknowledge it
to be their Duties, to support and uphold, to the utmost of their Powers, the Honour and Grandeur of
Your Majesty's Royal State and Dignity.
"And for a further Evidence of Your Commons
dutiful Assections to Your Majesty's most dear and
Royal Person, they have passed another Bill, for the
raising of Seventy Thousand Pounds for Your Majesty's
further Supply; all which Bills I am commanded
humbly to present Your Majesty withal, and to pray
Your Gracious Acceptance thereof, and Your Royal
Assent thereunto.
"There are other Bills, likewise of Public Concernment, which have passed both Houses, and do now attend upon Your Majesty, waiting for Your Royal Assent. The one is intituled, "An Act for the Attainder of several Persons, guilty of the horrid Murder
of His late Sacred Majesty, Your Royal Father, of
Ever-blessed Memory." There is another Bill, intituled, "An Act for Confirmation of Leases and Grants
from Colleges and Hospitals:" This will tend much
to the quieting of many Mens Estates, that in the
late unhappy Times were enforced to renew and
change their Estates much for the worse, were it not
for the Favour Your Majesty intends them in this
Bill.
"There is another Bill, to prohibit the Exportation
of Wool, Wool Fells, Fullers Earth, or any other
Scouring Earths: Woollen Manufactures, besides the
Duties they pay Your Majesty for Your Customs here
at Home, have great Impositions laid upon them in
Foreign Parts where they are vented; in The Low
Countries, Sixteen or Seventeen per Cent. and in Portugall Twenty per Cent. at the least. But those, who
for their own private base filthy Lucre sake, having no
Regard or Respect unto the Public Good, that steal
over the Materials of which those Manufactures are
made, pay not One Penny here or there; and by that
Means Strangers do make those Manufactures of our
Wool upon such easy Terms, that they can afford
and do undersell Your Merchants; which is the Occasion of a Double Loss, First to Your Majesty in Your
Customs, and in the next Place to Your People, who
are thereby disheartened and discouraged, and in a
short Time, if not prevented, will be utterly beaten
out of that ancient native Staple Trade, upon which
many Thousands of Families do wholly depend for
all their Livelihood and Subsistence.
"There is another Bill, intituled, "An Act for prohibiting the planting, setting, or sowing of Tobacco,
in England and Ireland." This Climate is so cold, that
it never comes to any Maturity or Perfection; for we
find by Experience, though it be never so well healed, made up with the greatest Art and Skill that (fn. *) possibly can be, yet it is impossible, after it is made up
into the Roll, to keep it, and preserve it from putrifying, above Three or Four Months at the most; and
therefore Physicians, even those that love it best
and use it most, conclude generally, that it is unwholesome for Mens Bodies. Besides, many other
great Damages and Inconveniencies will follow upon
it, if it should be permitted: The Abatement of
Your Majesty's Custom; the Destruction of Your
Plantations Abroad; the discouraging of Navigation;
and so consequently the Decay of Shipping, which
are the Walls and Bulwarks of Your Majesty's Kingdom.
"There is another Bill, intituled, "An Act for the
taking away the Court of Wards and Liveries, together with Tenures in Capite, Knights Service Tenures,
and Purveyances." This Bill, ex re nata, may properly be called a Bill of Exchange; for, as Care is
therein taken for the Ease of Your People, so the
Supply of that Part of Your Majesty's Revenue which
formerly came into Your Treasury, by Your Tenures,
and for Your Purveyances, is thereby likewise fully
provided for, by the Grant of another Imposition, to
be taken upon Ale, Beer, and other Liquors, to hold
to Your Majesty, Your Heirs and Successors for ever:
And that they should not look upon the Considerations mentioned in this Bill as a full Compensation
and Recompence for Your Majesty's parting with Two
such Royal Prerogatives and ancient Flowers of Your
Crown, if more were not implied than is expressed.
For, Royal Sir, Your Tenures in Capite are not only
turned into a Tenure in Soccage (though that alone
will for ever give Your Majesty a just Right and
Title to the Labour of our Ploughs, and the Sweat
of our Brows), but they are likewise turned into a
Tenure in Corde. What Your Majesty had before in
Your Court of Wards, You will be sure to find it
hereafter in the Exchequer of Your People's Hearts.
The King of Spaine's Mines will sooner deceive Him,
than this Revenue will fail You: For His Mines have
Bottoms; but the deeper Your Majesty sinks Yourself into the Hearts and Affections of Your People,
the greater You find Your Wealth to be, and the
more invincible Your Strength.
"Royal Sir, We have nothing more to offer, or to
ask: But must conclude all our Work this Parliament
with an humble and thankful Acknowledgement of
God's infinite Goodness and Mercy, in restoring Your
Majesty to Your Royal and Imperial Crown, Throne,
and Dignity; and for making You the Restorer of,
that which is dearer unto us than our Lives, our Religion; in which, through God's Blessing and gracious Assistance, we are resolved to live and die; as
likewise for restoring us to our Magna Charta Liberties, having taken the Charge and Care of them
into Your own Heart, which is our greatest Security,
and more than a Thousand Confirmations.
"Royal Sir, You have denied us nothing we have
asked this Parliament. Indeed You have outdone
Your Parliament, by doing much more for us than
we could agree amongst ourselves to ask; and therefore must needs be a happy Parliament: This is a
healing Parliament; a reconciling, Peace-making Parliament; a blessed Parliament; a Parliament, propter
Excellentiam, that may truly becalled Parliamentissimum Parliamentum. No Man can say, that hath made
the most curious Search into Books or Records, that
there ever was such a Parliament as this: And it's our
unspeakable Joy and Comfort, that no Man can say,
so long as Your Majesty lives, but we may have such
another; for You have set Your Royal Heart upon
it, to do Your People Good.
"And as we have nothing more to say, so we have
nothing more to do, but, that which will be a doing
as long as we have a Being, the pouring out ourselves unto Almighty God, for Your Majesty's long,
long, long, and most happy, blessed, glorious, and
prosperous Reign over us."
They by him presented to His Majesty these Bills
following; (videlicet,)
"1. An Act for the levying of the Arrears of the
Twelve Months Assessment commencing the 24th of
June 1659, and the Six Months commencing the 25th
of December 1659."
"2. An Act for the further supplying and explaining
certain Defects in an Act for the speedy Provision of
Money, for disbanding and paying off the Forces of
this Kingdom, both by Land and Sea."
"3. An Act for granting unto the King's Majesty Four
Hundred Twenty Thousand Pounds, by Assessment of
Seventy Thousand Pounds by the Month, for Six
Months, for disbanding of the Army, and paying off
the Navy."
"4. An Act for erecting and establishing a Post-office."
"5. An Act for the better ordering the selling of
Wines by Retail; and for preventing Abuses in the
mingling, corrupting, and vitiating of Wines; and
for settling and limiting the Prices of the same."
"6. An Act for raising of Seventy Thousand Pounds,
for a further Supply of His Majesty."
Bills passed.
These Bills, being received from the Speaker by the
Clerk of the Parliaments, were brought to his Table;
and had the Royal Assent given them, with other Bills,
as followeth. The several Titles were read by the Clerk
of the Crown:
"1. An Act for the Attainder of several Persons guilty
of the horrid Murder of His late Sacred Majesty
King Charles the First."
"2. An Act for prohibiting the planting, setting, or
sowing, of Tobacco, in England and Ireland."
"3. An Act for Confirmation of Marriages."
"4. An Act for Confirmation of Leases and Grants
from Colleges and Hospitals."
"5. An Act for prohibiting the Exportation of Wool,
Wool Fells, Fullers Earth, or any Kind of Scouring
Earth."
To these Five Bills the Royal Assent was pronounced, by the Clerk of the Parliament, in these
Words,
"Le Roy le veult."
"6. An Act for the levying of the Arrears of the
Twelve Months Assessment commencing the 24th of
June 1659, and the Six Months Assessment commencing the 25th of December 1659."
"7. An Act for the further supplying and explaining certain Defects in an Act for the speedy Provision
of Money, for disbanding and paying off the Forces
of this Kingdom, both by Land and Sea."
"8. An Act for granting unto the King's Majesty
Four Hundred Twenty Thousand Pounds, by Assessment of Seventy Thousand Pounds by the Month, for
Six Months, for disbanding the Remainder of the
Army, and paying off the Navy."
"9. An Act for erecting and establishing a Post office."
"10. An Act for the better ordering the selling of
Wines by Retail; and for preventing Abuses in the
mingling, corrupting, and vitiating of Wines; and for
settling and limiting the Prices of the same."
"11. An Act for raising of Seventy Thousand Pounds,
for a further Supply of His Majesty."
To these Six Bills the Clerk of the Parliaments
pronounced the Royal Assent, in these Words,
"Le Roy, remerciant Ses bons Subjects, accepte
leur Benevolence, et ainsi le veult."
Then these Private Bills were passed:
"12. An Act for Restitution of Thomas Earl of
Arrundell, Surrey, and Norfolke, to the Dignity and
Title of Duke of Norfolke."
"13. An Act for the restoring of Henry Lord Arrundell of Warder to the Possession of his Estate."
"14. An Act to restore to Wentworth Earl of Roscomon, of the Kingdom of Ireland, all the Honours,
Castles, Lordships, Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments, in Ireland, whereof James Earl of Roscomon
his Great Grandfather, or James Earl of Roscomon
his Father, were in Possession on the 23th of October,
1641."
"15. An Act for restoring Sir George Hamilton unto
his Lands and Estate in Ireland."
"16. An Act for Maintenance of the Vicar for the
Time being of the Vicarage of Royston, in the Counties of Hertford and Cambridge, and of his Successors
Vicars of the said Vicarage."
"17. An Act for enabling Sir William Wray to sell
Lands, for Payment of his Debts, and raising of Portions for his Younger Children."
"18. An Act for naturalizing of Gerard Vantenhussens,
Daniell Demetrius, and others."
"19. An Act for enabling of John Newton the
Younger, and William Oakeley, to make Sale of
Lands, for Payment of Debts, and raising of Portions,
&c."
"20. An Act, empowering the Master of The Rolls
for the Time being to make Leases for Years, in order to new build the Old Houses belonging to The
Rolls."
"21. An Act for the levying of certain Monies, for
the Protestants of Piedmont."
"22. An Act for the Naturalization of John Boreel,
Esquire, Eldest Son of Sir William Boreel Knight and
Baronet."
"23. An Act for the Naturalization of Abraham
Wachter, born beyond the Sea."
"24. An Act for restoring of Sir Thomas Grymes Baronet to his Estate."
"25. An Act for enabling George Faunt, of Foston, in
the County of Leicester, Esquire, to sell and convey
Part of his Lands, for Payment of several Debts and
Legacies, charged upon his Estate by Sir William
Faunt Knight, deceased; and for the raising of Portions for his younger Children, and for the making
his Wife a Jointure."
"26. An Act for naturalizing of Francis Hyde, &c."
"27. An Act to enable Joseph Mickletwayte, an Insant, and his Trustees, to sell Land, for Payment of
his Father's Debts."
"28. An Act for raising Portions, and making Provision for Maintenance, for the younger Children of Sir
Edward Gostwicke."
"29. An Act for confirming the Sale of the Manor
of Hitcham, sold to Charles Doe by Sir John Clarke
Knight and Baronet; and for settling and disposing
other Lands of the said Sir John Clarke and Dame
Philadelphia his Wife."
"30. An Act for the settling of some of the Manors
and Lands of the Earl of Cleaveland in Trustees, to be
sold, for the satisfying of the Debts of the said Earl,
and of Thomas Lord Wentworth his Son."
"31. An Act for the disappropriating of the Rectory
Appropriate of Preston, and uniting and consolidating
of the said Rectory, and of the Vicarage of the Church
of Preston, and for assuring of the Advowson and Right
of Patronage of the same unto the Master, Fellows,
and Scholars, of Emanuell Colledge, in Cambridge, and
their Successors."
"32. An Act for making the Precinct of Covent Garden Parochial."
To these Bills the Royal Assent was pronounced by
the Clerk of the Parliament, in these Words,
"Soit fait come il est desiré."
These Bills being thus passed, the King was pleased
to make this following Speech; (videlicet,)
The King's Speech.
"My Lords and Gentlemen,
"I will not entertain you with a long Discourse;
the Sum of all I have to say to you being but to
give you Thanks. And I assure you I find it a very difficult Work to satisfy Myself in My own Expressions of
those Thanks. Perfunctory Thanks, ordinary Thanks
for ordinary Civilities, are easily given. But when the
Heart is as full as Mine is, it is a Labour to thank
you. You have taken great Pains to oblige Me; and
therefore it cannot be easy for Me to express the
Sense I have of it.
"I will enlarge no further upon this Occasion than
to tell you, That when God brought Me hither, I
brought with Me an extraordinary Affection and
Esteem for Parliaments. I need not tell you how
much it is improved by your Carriage towards Me.
You have outdone all the good and obliging Acts of
your Predecessors towards the Crown; and therefore
you cannot but believe My Heart is exceedingly enlarged with the Acknowledgement.
"Many former Parliaments have had particular Denominations from what they have done. They have
been stiled Learned, and Unlearned; and sometimes
have had worse Epithets, I pray, let us all resolve that
this be for ever called, "The Healing and the Blessed Parliament."
"As I thank you, though not enough, for what you
have done; so I have not the least Doubt, by the
Blessing of God, but, when I shall call the next Parliament, which I shall do as soon as reasonably you
can expect or desire, I shall receive your Thanks for
what I have done since I parted with you: For, I
deal truly with you, I shall not more propose any
One Rule to Myself in My Actions and My Councils,
than this, "What is a Parliament like to think of
this Action, or this Council?" And it shall be Want of
Understanding in Me, if it will not bear that Test.
"I shall conclude with this, which I cannot say too
often, nor you too often where you go, That, next
to the Miraculous Blessing of God Almighty, and
indeed as an immediate Effect of that Blessing, I do
impute the good Disposition and Security we are all
in, to the happy Act of Indemnity and Oblivion.
That is the principal Corner-stone which supports this
excellent Building, that creates Kindness in us to
each other; and Confidence is our joint and common
Security. You may be sure, I will not only observe
it religiously, and inviolably Myself, but also exact
the Observation of it from others. And if any Person
should ever have the Boldness to attempt to persuade
Me to the contrary, he will find such an Acceptation
from Me, as he would have, who should persuade Me
to burn Magna Charta, cancel all the old Laws, and
to erect a new Government after My own Invention
and Appetite.
"There are many other Particulars, which I will not
trust My own Memory with; but will require the
Chancellor to say the rest to you."
After His Majesty had done, the Lord Chancellor
came from his Place, and kneeled down close by His
Majesty's Chair; and received His Majesty's Directions
what to say further.
And being returned to his Place, he said as followeth:
Ld. Chancellor's Speech.
"My Lords; and you, the Knights, Citizens, and
Burgesses, of the House of Commons;
"There cannot be a greater Manifestation of an
excellent Temper and Harmony of Affections throughout the Nation, than that the King and His Two
Houses of Parliament meet with the same Affections and Chearfulness, the same Alacrity in their
Countenance, at the Dissolution, as when they met
at the Convention of Parliament. It is an unquestionable Evidence, that they are exceedingly satisfied
in what they have done towards each other; that they
have very well done all the Business they came
about. This is now your Case: You have so well
satisfied your own Consciences, that you are sure you
have satisfied the King's Expectation, and His Hope,
and the Desires and Wishes of the Country.
"It was very justly observed by you, Mr. Speaker,
"That you have never asked any One Thing of the
King, which He hath not with all imaginable Chearfulness granted." And in Truth His Majesty doth
with great Comfort acknowledge, that you have been
so far from denying Him any Thing He hath asked,
that He hath scarce wished any Thing that you have
not granted. And it is no Wonder that, having so
fully complied with your Obligations, and having so
well composed the Minds of the Nation, you are
willing to be relieved from this extraordinary Fatigue
you have submitted so long to, and to return to the
Consideration of your own particular Affairs, which
you have so long sacrificed to the Public. And this
reasonable Wish and Desire hath brought the King to
comply with you; and, which nothing else could do,
to part with you with an equal Chearfulness. And He
makes no Doubt, but all succeeding Parliaments will
pay you their Thanks for all you have done; and
look upon your Actions, and your Example, with all
possible Approbation and Reverence.
"The King and you have given such Earnest to each
other of your mutual Affection, you have been so
exact and punctual in your Proceedings towards each
other, that you have made no Promise, no Profession
to each other, of the making good and performing of
which the World is not Witness. You declared, at
the Adjournment in September last, your Resolution
to settle a noble Revenue on the Crown: You have
done it with all the Circumstances of Affection and
Prudence. The King promised you to establish a
Council for Trade, a Council for the Foreign Plantations, a Commission for composing all Difference
upon Sales: All this He did before your coming together, and with very good Effect; and you shall hear
that the Proceedings in every One of them are more
vigorous and effectual after your Dissolution. His
Majesty then promised you, that He would give up
all His Endeavours to compose the unhappy Differences in Matters of Religion, and to restore the
languishing Church to Peace, Unity, and Order. Constantine Himself hardly spent so much of His own Time
in Private and Public Conferences to that Purpose. His
Majesty in Private conferred with the learned Men,
and heard all that could be said upon several Opinions
and Interests apart; and then in the Presence of
both Parties, Himself moderating in the Debates (and
less Care and Diligence and Authority would not have
done the Work). And God hath so blessed His Labour
and made His Determinations in that Affair so generally agreeable, that He hath received Thanks from
His Houses of Parliament, that is, from the whole
Kingdom. If, after all this, His Majesty doth not
reap the full Harvest He expected from those Condescensions; if some Men, by their Writing, and by their
Preachings, endeavour to continue those Breaches, and
very rashly, and I think unconscientiously, keep up
the Distinctions, and publicly justify and maintain
what hath heretofore been done amiss, and for which
the Act of Indemnity was the best Defence; I shall
say no more, than that I hope their Want of Modesty
and Obedience will cause them to be disclaimed by all
pious and peaceable Men, who cannot but be well
contented to see them reduced by Law to the Obedience they owe to Law. And His Majesty is confident, that this His beloved City, towards which His
Heart is so gracious, and so full of Princely Designs
to improve their Honour, their Wealth, and their
Beauty, will discountenance all those seditious Designs, and, by returning and fixing themselves upon
their good old Foundations, make themselves the great
Example of Piety, of Loyalty, and of hearty Affection, to the whole Kingdom.
"This Discourse puts me in Mind to say to you,
that though the King wonders much more at the many
great Things you have done, than that you left any
Thing undone; yet He could have wished, and would
have been glad, that your other weighty Affairs had
given you Time to have published your Opinion and
Advice in the Business of the Militia; that the People,
after so many Disputes upon that Argument, might
have discerned that the King and His Two Houses of
Parliament are as much of the same Mind in that as
in all other Things, as no Doubt they are. But, since
that could not be done, you may all assure yourselves,
that the King will proceed therein with all imaginable
Care and Circumspection, for the Ease, and Quiet, and
Security of His People. And as He did before the
last Recess, by the unanimous Advice of His Privy
Council, issue out His Commissions of Lieutenancy,
for the settling the Militia in the several Counties, to
prevent any Disorders which many apprehended might
arise upon the disbanding the Army; so He will now
again recommend it to themselves, in such a Posture
as may disappoint any seditious Designs which (fn. *) are
now on-foot; and there cannot be too much Circumspection and Vigilance, to frustrate those Designs.
"You have heard of many suspected and dangerous
Persons which have (fn. *) been lately clapped up; and it
was high Time to look about. His Majesty hath spent
many Hours Himself in the Examination of this Business; and some of the principal Officers, who, before
they came to His Majesty's Presence, could not be
brought to acknowledge any Thing, after the King
Himself had spoken to them, confessed, that their
Spirits were insensibly prevailed upon and subdued,
and that it was not in their Power to conceal their
Guilt from Him. They have confessed, that there is
a Party of the late disbanded Officers and Soldiers,
and others, full of Discontent and seditious Purposes,
and a Resolution to attempt the Change of the present
Government, and to erect the Republic. They acknowledge, that they did purpose to have made their
Attempt for the Rescue of those Wretches, who were
so justly condemned at Newgate, and so worthily executed, and that Ludlow should then have appeared in
the Head of them; that they made themselves sure, at
the same Time, by Parties and Confederacy, to have
surprized The Tower of London, and the Castle of Windsor; but that they found, or at least apprehended, that
their Design was discovered, which so broke their
Spirits, that they concluded they must acquiesce for the
present, and stay till the Army should be disbanded;
which, they said, was generally debauched, that is,
returned to an honest and fast Obedience to the King;
and that it was evident they were betrayed by those
who were most entirely trusted by them. And they
were in the Right: The King had Notice of all their
Design, what Progress it made, and the Night they
intended to surprize The Tower and Windsor; and
gave Notice to the several Governors; and so, without
any Noise, that Mischief was by God's Goodness prevented. They acknowledge that they have since recovered their Courage and Resolution, and were about
this Time to make their full Attempt. They have
been promised some considerable Rising in the West,
under Ludlow; and in the North, under others. But
this Place was the Scene of greatest Hope. They
made sure of a Body here, I think they say of Two
Thousand Five Hundred Men, with which they resolved in the First Place to secure (you know what that
Security is) the Person of the General, the Duke of
Albemarle, with whom they have so much Reason to
be angry, and at the same Time to possess themselves
of Whitehall. You know the Method used in such
Possessing: Kill, and take Possession. And this insupportable Calamity God hath again diverted from us;
though I must tell you, the poor Men, who seem to
speak honestly and upon the Impulsion of Conscience,
are very far from being confident that there will not
be some desperate Insurrections and Attempts in several Parts of the Kingdom within a short Time, which
all possible Care will be taken to prevent. And in
Truth this very good City so well requites the King's
abundant Grace and Kindness to it, that not only by
the unwearied Pains and Diligence of the worthy
Lord Mayor, but by the general Temper and Constitution of the whole City, the discontented and seditious Party (which can never be totally extirpated out
of such a Metropolis) is like to receive little Encouragement to pursue their desperate Councils.
"The King doth not believe that all those Persons
who at present are apprehended, and in Custody, will
be found guilty of this Treason. It is a vulgar and
known Artifice, to corrupt inferior Persons, by persuading them that better Men are engaged in the same
Enterprize; and the King will make as much Haste
as He can to set those at Liberty against whom the
Evidence or Suspicion is not too reasonable. In the
mean Time they who in Truth (fn. *) are innocent must
confess that the Proceeding towards them hath been
very natural, and full of Clemency; and no Man will
wonder, if His Majesty be very desirous that in this
Conjuncture, and in order to prevent or suppress these
too visible Distempers and Machinations, His Majesty
in all Places be in good Order and Preparation. And
you (fn. †) may assure yourselves, that, in the Forming and
Conduct of it, He will have so great a Care of the
Ease and Quiet of His People, that if any Person
trusted by Him shall, through Want of Skill or Want
of Temper, satisfy his own Passion or Appetite, in
grieving or vexing his Neighbours, His Majesty will
be so sensible of it, that, if it can be cured no other
Way, his Trust shall be quickly determined. And He
is not at all reserved in giving those Animadversions
and Reprehensions when there is Occasion, and His
Ears will be always open to receive those Complaints.
"My Lords and Gentlemen,
"You are now returning to your Countries, to receive
the Thanks and Acknowledgements of your Friends
and Neighbours for the great Things you have done,
and to make the Burdens you have laid upon them
easy, by convincing them of the inevitable Necessity
of their submitting to them. You will make them see
that you have proceeded very far towards the Separation, and even Divorce, of that Necessity from them,
to which they have been so long married; that they
are now restored to that blessed Temper of Government, under which their Ancestors enjoyed so many
Hundred Years that full Measure of Felicity, and
the Misery of being deprived of which they have so
sensibly felt; that they are now free from those Midnight Alarms, with which they have been terrified;
and rise out of their Beds at their own healthy Hours,
without being saluted with the Death of a Husband, a
Son, and Friend, miserably killed the Night or the
Day before, and with such Circumstances killed, as
improved the Misery beyond the Loss itself: This
Enfranchisement is worth all they pay for it. Your
Lordships will easily recover that Estimation and Reverence that is due to your high Condition, by the
Exercise and Practice of that Virtue from whence your
Honours first sprang; the Example of your Justice
and Piety will inflame the Hearts of the People towards you; and from your Practice they will make
a Judgement of the King Himself. They know
very well, that you are not only admitted to
His Presence, but to His Conversation, and even
in a Degree to His Friendship; for you are His
Great Council. By your Example they will form
their own Manners, and by yours they will make a
Guess at the King's. Therefore, under that Obligation, you will cause your Piety, your Justice, your
Assability, and your Charity, to shine as bright as is
possible before them. They are too much in Love
with England, too partial to it, who believe it the best
Country in the World; there is better Earth, and a
better Air, and a better, that is, a warmer, Sun in
other Countries: But we are no more than just, when
we say that England is an Inclosure of the best People
in the World, when they are well informed and instructed; a People in Sobriety of Conscience the most
devoted to God Almighty; in the Integrity of
their Affections, the most dutiful to the King; in their
Good-manners and Inclinations, most regardful and
loving to the Nobility; no Nobility in Europe so entirely loved by the People; there may be more Awe, and
Fear, and Terror of them, but no such Love towards
them as in England. I beseech your Lordships, do
not undervalue this Love. They have looked upon
your Lordships, and they will look upon your Lordships again, as the greatest Examples and Patterns
of Duty to the King, as the greatest Security and
Protection from Injury and Injustice, and for their
enjoying whatsoever is due to them by the Law, and
as the most proper Mediators and Interposers to the
King, if, by any Failure of Justice, they should be
exposed to any Oppression and Violence. And this
Exercise of your Justice and Kindness towards them
will make them the more abhor and abominate that
Parity upon which a Commonwealth must be founded,
because it would extirpate, or suppress, or deprive
them of their beloved Nobility, which are such a
Support and Security to their full Happiness.
"And you, Gentlem of the House of Commons,
you (fn. *) are now returning to your Country, laden with
a Trust not inferior, or (fn. *) less weighty, than that you
brought from thence. You came up their Deputies
to the King; and He returns you now His Deputies to
them, His Plenipotentiaries, to inform and assure
them, that He thinks Himself the happiest and the
greatest Prince of the World; not from the Situation
of His Dominions and the Power of His great Navy,
with which He can visit His Neighbours and keep
them from visiting Him, or from the noble Revenue
you have settled upon Him, which He will improve
with all good Husbandry; but from being possessed of
the Affections and Hearts of such Subjects; that He
doth so entirely love them, and depend upon them,
that all His Actions and all His Councils shall tend to
no other End, but to make them happy and prosperous; that He thinks His Honour and His Interest
principally to consist in providing for, and advancing,
the Honour and Interest of the Nation. That you
may have the more Credit in what you say, He will
not take it unkindly if you publish His Defects and
Infirmities. You may tell them, that He is so confident in the Multitude of His very good and faithful
Subjects, that He is very hard to be persuaded that
His few ill and unfaithful Subjects can do Him much
Harm; that He so much depends upon the Affection
of honest Men, and their Zeal for His Security, that
He is not so solicitous and vigilant for His own Safety
as He ought to be, amidst so many Combinations, of
which He is so well informed, that His Servants, who
with Grief and Anguish importune Him not to take
so little Care of His own Safety, can obtain no other
Answer from Him than what Cæsar heretofore gave
to his jealous Friends, Mori se malle, quam timeri, or
timere; He will die any Death, rather than live in Fear
of His own Subjects, or that they should in Fear of Him.
You may tell them, as a great Infirmity, that a troubled and discontented Countenance so afflicts Him, that
He would remove it from them at His own Charge,
as if He Himself were in the Fault; and when He
hath been informed of any less kind or jealous Thing
said amongst you, as your Windows are never so close
shut but that the Sound of your Words goes to the
several Corners of the Town, His Majesty hath been
heard to say no more but, "What have I done? I
wish that Gentleman and I were acquainted, that he
knew Me better." Oh! Gentlemen, you cannot be
yourselves, nor you cannot make your Friends, too
zealous, or too jealous, for such a Prince's Safety, or
too solicitous for such a Prince's Satisfaction and Content; to whom we may very justly say, as the King of
Tyre writ to Solomon, Because God hath loved His
People, He hath made Thee King over them. Even His
very Defects and Infirmities are very necessary towards
the full Measure of our Prosperity.
"My Lords and Gentlemen,
"God hath enabled us to invert One Argument,
which, I hope, may to a good Degree repair the much
Mischief it hath heretofore done. It hath been urged
very unreasonably, yet successfully urged, in the worst
Times, "That it was not Faith, but Presumption, to
expect that God would restore a Family, with which
He seemed to have a Controversy, and had humbled
so far; that He would ever countenance a Party, that
He had so much discountenanced, and almost destroyed." We may now much more reasonably, and
therefore I hope as effectually, press the Miracles that
God Almighty hath lately wrought for King and
People, as an Evidence that He will not again easily
forsake them. We may tell those who are using all
their Endeavours to embroil the Nation in new Troubles, That it is not probale, that a Nation against
which God seemed these late Years to have pronounced His Judgement in the very Language of the
Prophet, Go, ye swift Messengers, to a Nation scattered
and peeled, to a People terrible from the Beginning hitherto, to a Nation rooted out and trodden down, whose
Land the Rivers have spoiled, the Lord hath mingled
a perverse Spirit in the Midst thereof; that He should
reduce that Perverseness to the greatest Meekness and
Resignation; that He should withdraw His Judgement
from this Nation, and in a Moment restore it to all
the Happiness it can wish, and to no other End but
to expose it to the Mercy and Fury of a few discontented Persons, the worst of the Nation, is not easy
to be believed.
"We may tell those who still contrive the Ruin of
the Church, the best and the best-reformed Church
in the Christian World, reformed by that Authority,
and with those Circumstances, as a Reformation ought
to be made, That God would not so miraculously have
snatched this Church as a Brand out of the Fire,
would not have raised it from the Grave, after He had
suffered it to be buried so many Years, by the boisterous Hands of prophane and sacrilegious Persons,
under its own Rubbish, to expose it again to the same
Rapine, Reproach, and Impiety. That Church which
delights itself in being called Catholic was never so
near Expiration, never had such a Resurrection.
That so small a Pittance of Meal and Oil should be
sufficient to preserve and nourish the poor Widow and her Family so long, is very little more
miraculous, than that such a Number of pious,
learned, and very aged Bishops, should so many
Years be preserved, in such wonderful Straits and
Oppressions, until they should plentifully provide
for their own Succession: That after such a deep Deluge of Sacrilege, Prophaneness, and Impiety, had
covered, and to common Understanding swallowed it
up, that that Church should again appear above the
Waters, God be again served in that Church, and
served as He ought to be; and that there should be
still some Revenue left, to support and encourage those
who serve Him; nay, that many of those who seemed
to thirst after that Revenue till they had possessed it,
should conscientiously restore what they had taken
away, and become good Sons and willing Tenants to
that Church they had so lately spoiled; may make us
all piously believe that God Almighty would not
have been at the Expence and Charge of such a Deliverance, but in the Behalf of a Church very acceptable to Him, and which shall continue to the End of
the World, and against which the Gates of Hell shall
not be able to prevail.
"We may tell those desperate Wretches, who yet
harbour in their Thoughts wicked Designs against the
Sacred Person of the King, in order to the compassing
their own Imaginations, that God Almighty would
not have led Him through so many Wildernesses of
Afflictions of all Kinds, conducted Him through so
many Perils by Sea and Perils by Land, snatched
Him out of the Midst of this Kingdom when it was
not worthy of Him; and when the Hands of His
Enemies were even upon Him; when they thought
themselves so sure of Him that they would bid so
cheap and so vile a Price for Him; He would not in
that Article have so covered Him with a Cloud, that
He traveled even with some Pleasure, and great Observation, through the Midst of His Enemies; He
would not so wonderfully have new modeled that
Army, so inspired their Hearts and the Hearts of the
whole Nation with an honest and impatient Longing
for the Return of their dear Sovereign, and in the
mean Time have so exercised Him (which had little
less of Providence in it than the other) with those unnatural, or at least unusual, Disrespects and Reproaches Abroad, that He might have a harmless and
an innocent Appetite to His own Country, and return
to His own People, with a full Value and the whole
unwasted Bulk of His Affections, without being corrupted or biassed by extraordinary Foreign Obligations.
God Almighty would not have done all this, but
for a Servant whom He will always preserve as the
Apple of His own Eye, and always (fn. *) defend from the
most secret Machinations of His Enemies.
"If these Argumentations, Gentlemen, urged with
that Vivacity as is most natural to your own Gratitude
and Affections, recover as many (and it would be
strange if it should not) as have been corrupted by
the other Logic; the Hearts of the whole Nation,
even to a Man, will insensibly be so devoted to the
King, as the only Conservator and Protector of all
that is dear and precious to them, and will be so zealous to please Him whose greatest Pleasure is to see
them pleased, that when they make Choice of Persons
again to serve in Parliament, they will not choose
such as they wish should oppose the King; but therefore choose, because they have, and because they are
like to serve the King with their whole Hearts; and,
since He desires what is best for His People, to gratify
Him in all His Desires. This blessed Harmony would
raise us to the highest Pinnacle of Honour and Happiness in this World, a Pinnacle without a Point,
upon which King and People may securely rest and
repose themselves, against all the Gusts, and Storms,
and Tempests, which all the Malice of this World
can raise against us; and I am sure you will all contend to be at the Top of this Pinnacle.
"I have no more to add, but the Words of Custom,
That the King declares this present Parliament to be dissolved. And this present Parliament is dissolved."