The sixth Session of the second Parliament, at Oxford.
The Plague raging in London and Westminster, the
Parliament met Octob. 9, at Oxford, where the University-Schools were prepar'd for the Reception of both Houses:
Notwithstanding which, the King commanded both Houses
to attend him in the great-Hall at Christ-Church, and open'd
the Session with the following Speech.
The King's Speech to both Houses.
'My Lords and Gentlemen,
'I Am confident you will believe, that if it had not been
absolutely necessary to consult with you, I wou'd not
have called you together at this time, when the Contagion hath so spread itself over so many parts of the Kingdom. I take it for a good Omen to see so good an appearance this Day; and I doubt not but every Day will
add to your Number; and I give you all my thanks for
your Compliance so far with my desires.
'The truth is, as I enter'd upon this War by your
Advice and Encouragement, so I desire that you may as
frequently as is possible receive information of the Conduct and Effects of it; and that I may have the Continuance
of your chearful Supply for the carrying it on. I will not
deny to you, that it hath prov'd more chargeable than I
could imagine it would have been: The addition they
still made to their Fleets beyond their first Purpose, made
it unavoidably necessary for me to make proportionable
Preparations, which God hath hitherto blessed with Success in all Encounters. And as the Enemies have used
their utmost endeavours, by Calumnies and false Suggestions, to make themselves Friends, and to persuade
others to assist them against Us; so I have not been wanting to encourage those Princes who have been wrong'd by
the Dutch, to recover their own by Force: And in order
thereunto, I have assisted the Bishop of Munster with a
very great Sum of ready Money, and am to continue a
Supply to him, who is now in the Bowels of their Country,
with a powerful Army. These Issues, I may tell you,
have been made with very good Conduct and Husbandry;
nor indeed do I know, that any thing hath been spent,
that could have been well and safely saved. I say this
Expence will not suffer you to wonder that the great Supply which you gave me for this War, in so bountiful a
Proportion, is upon the matter already spent. So that I
must not only desire Assistance from you to carry on this
War, but such an Assistance as may enable me to defend
myself and you against a more powerful Neighbour, if he
shall prefer the Friendship of the Dutch before mine. I
told you when I enter'd upon this War, that I had not
such a brutal Appetite, as to make War for War's sake.
I am still of the same mind: I am ready to receive any
Propositions that France hath thought fit to offer to that
End; but hitherto nothing hath been offer'd worthy my
acceptance; nor are the Dutch less insolent; tho' I know
no advantage they have had but the continuance of the
Contagion. God Almighty, I hope, will shortly deprive
them of such encouragement: The Chancellor will inform
you of all the particulars.'
The Substance of the Chancellor's Speech.
Accordingly the Lord Clarendon, running over the
whole Process of State-Affairs from the King's Restoration
to the present Juncture, observed, 'That notwithstanding
the Indignities his Majesty had received from Holland, during the late Usurpation, where he had been little less proscrib'd than in England, he was still pleas'd to embark himself from thence, when he was press'd by two neighbour
Kings, from whom he had receiv'd more Civilities, to have
made use of their Ports. That, being return'd, he found one
thing that exceedingly surpris'd him, a thing incredible to
Posterity, that a triumphant Nation, which, by its numerous Sea-Fights had reign'd over the Ocean, and made itself
formidable to all Christendom, should at that time not have
in all their Magazines, in all their Stores, Arms enough to
put into the hands of five thousand Men, nor Provisions
enough to set out ten new Ships to Sea: All which his Majesty, tho' he then liv'd upon credit, did not desire shou'd
be known to his best Neighbours, howsoever assur'd of their
Affections; therefore he did not so much as make it known
to his Parliament: But he made it his first Care, without
the least Noise, and with all imaginable shifts, to provide
for the full Supply of these important Magazines and Stores,
which had been ever since replenish'd as they ought. His
Majesty had not only done this, but also had provided several Fleets against the Pyrates in the Mediterranean Sea,
which had happily and honourably brought them to Submission. Then he related the Dutch's deserting of him in
those worthy Designs, and repeated the several Injuries and
Insolencies committed by them; the necessity of vindicating
the Rights and Honour of the Nation; the King's referring
of this Cause to the Parliament, the Parliament's humble
Desires of Redress; the States Preparations for War, in
the whole Series and Success of the War, in which he represented the great Agony the King sustain'd upon the account of his Brother's Safety. Then speaking of the Mediation of the French, he says, 'The Dutch reproach them
for interposing for Peace, instead of assisting them in the
War, boldly insisting upon the advantage the Contagion
gives them, alledging, that the King will be no longer
able to maintain a Fleet against them; as if God had sent
this heavy Visitation upon the Kingdom on their behalf,
and to expose it to their Malice and Insolency. They load
us with such Reproaches, as the civility of no other Language
will admit the Relation. The truth is, they have a Dialect
of Rudeness so peculiar to their Language, and their People,
that it is high time for all Princes to oblige them to some
Reformation, if they intend to hold Correspondence and
Commerce with them.'
Having rous'd them with respect to foreign Enemies, he
proceeded to take notice of their domestic Foes, 'Those
unquiet, restless Spirits in their own Bowels, in whose Fidelity their Enemies abroad had more Dependance than upon
their own Fleets. I must appeal, added he, to every one
of your Observations, whether the Countenances of these
Men have not appeared to you more erected, and more insolent in all places, since the beginning of this War, than
they were before. In what readiness they were, if any
Misfortune had befallen the King's Fleet, which they promised themselves, to have brought the Calamity into your
Fields, and into your Houses, is notoriously known. The
horrid Murderers of our late Royal Master have been received into the most secret Counsels in Holland; and other
infamous prostituted Persons of our Nation are admitted to
share in the Conduct of their Affairs, and maintain their
Correspondence here upon liberal Allowances and Pensions.
Too many of his Majesty's Subjects, who were sent by this
Crown to assist and defend this ungrateful State against their
Enemies, have been miserably wrought upon, for the keeping a vile, mean Subsistence, rather than their Livelihood,
to renounce their Allegiance and become Enemies to their
native Country; some of whom have wantonly put themselves on board the Enemy's Fleet, without Command or
Office, purely out of appetite and delight to rebel against
their King, and to worry their Country. Their Friends at
home, impatient of further delays for the Success they had
promised themselves, and for the Succours which others had
promis'd to them, made no doubt of doing the Business
themselves, if they could but appoint a lucky day to begin
the work. And you had heard of them in all places upon
the third of last Month, their so much celebrated third of
September, if the great Vigilance and indefatigable Industry of the good General, had not two days before apprehended the seditious Leaders, and given Advertisements
for the Security of others in most Parts of the Kingdom;
by the Consessions of many of whom, their wicked Design
is enough manifested, and ready for Justice: Yet some of
the principal Persons are not yet taken, and some others
got themselves rescued after they were apprehended.— If
you carefully provide for the suppressing your Enemies at
home, which will put you to little other Expence than of
Courage, Constancy and Circumspection, you will find your
Enemies abroad less exalted, and in a short time more inclined to live in Amity with you, than to make War upon
you; especially when they see you do In Bello Pacis gerere
Negotium, and that you take the carrying on the War to
heart, as the best and only Expedient to produce a happy
and honest Peace.
The Unanimity of both Houses. ; 1,250,000 Pounds voted.
Upon this, and the King's Speech, the House of Commons with great Unanimity came to these two present Resolutions: 'First, That the humble and hearty Thanks
of this House be return'd to his Majesty for his Care and
Conduct in the Preservation of his People, and the Honour of this Nation: And that this House will assist his
Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes against the Dutch,
or any other that shall assist them in Opposition to his
Majesty. Secondly, That the humble Thanks of this House
be return'd to his Majesty for the Care he hath had of the
Person of his Royal Highness, the Duke of York.' To
both which Votes the Lords gave their chearful Concurrence; and so both Houses went in a full Body to attend
his Majesty upon this Occasion. The Commons, to make
good their Promise, voted a new Supply of twelve hundred
and fifty thousand Pounds, to be rais'd by a proportionable
Addition to the Monthly Assessment to begin at Christmas
next; all which they soon turn'd into a Bill. After which
they brought in another Bill for a Month's further Assessment of a hundred and twenty thousand Pounds, to commence from the Expiration of the former Assessment, to be
granted to his Majesty, with a desire to his Majesty to dispose of it to his Royal Highness the Duke of York.
The Commons Thanks to the University.
These, and several other Bills being finish'd, on the last
day of the Session, the Commons resolved, That the Thanks
of the House be given to the Chancellor, Masters, and
Scholars of the famous University of Oxford, for their eminent Loyalty to his Majesty, and his Father of ever-blessed
Memory, during the late Rebellion; especially for their
unparallel'd Zeal and Courage in refusing to submit to be
visited by the usurped Powers, and to subscribe the Solemn
League and Covenant, and for those excellent Reasons they
publish'd to the World to justify their Refusal, and to assert
his Majesty's righteous Cause.' These Thanks were, in a
very solemn Manner, presented to the University in full
Convocation by four of the House of Commons, (fn. *) Mr. Laurence Hyde, and Sir Heneage Finch, Members for the
University, and (fn. †) Sir John Berkenhead, and (fn. ‡) Colonel Giles
Strangewich; and all four were either now, or a little before, honour'd by the University with the Titles of Doctors
of the Civil Law.
The Speaker's Speech to the King at the Prorogation.
The same day that this Vote was made, October the
31st, the King came to the House of Peers in order to
pass the several Bills, and to make a Prorogation: At
which Time, the Commons being sent for, their Speaker,
Sir Edward Turner, in presenting the Bills, deliver'd himself thus: 'May it please your most Excellent Majesty,
The Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of the Commons
House of Parliament, in Obedience to your Majesty's Writ
of Adjournment, came chearfully to this City of Oxford to
receive your royal Commands. And when your Majesty
was pleas'd to acquaint them with your great Expences
this Summer, and the continuing Insolencies of the Dutch,
they were so inflamed with an Affection and Zeal for your
Majesty's Service, that they could not suffer the least Juncto
of Time to pass before they had made a Return suitable to
their Engagements, That they would assist your Majesty
with their Lives and Fortunes against the Dutch, or any
other that should assist them in opposition to your Majesty.
The English Man useth to speak as he writes, and the English Parliament to speak as they think: No Security upon
the Earth can be greater than the Engagement of your two
Houses of Parliament; Sed quid Verba audiam, dum Facta videam! As a Demonstration of their Fidelity, I am commanded to present unto your Majesty this Bill, whereby they
have given your Majesty twelve hundred and fifty thousand
Pounds, to be levy'd in two Years, beginning from Christmas next, by quarterly Payments added to the former royal
Aid: And that your Majesty's Occasions may be supply'd
with ready Money, before the additional Aid can be rais'd,
we have by the Bill prepared an undoubted Security for
all such Persons as shall bring their Moneys into the public
Bank of the Exchequer. As the Rivers do naturally empty
/?/ into the Sea, so we hope the Veins of Gold and
Silver in this Nation will plentifully run into this Ocean,
for the Maintenance of your Majesty's just Sovereignty on
the Seas.
'Great Sir, When first we besought your Majesty to correct the Insolencies, and to repair your Subjects against the
Raires of the Dutch, we did reasonably suppose, That
the Justice of your Majesty's Demands would at least have
had a fair and ingenuous Reception: but the Dutch resolv'd with Machiavel, to keep by Force what they had got
by Fraud, and to return their Answer by the thundering
Noise of their Cannon: The great God of Hosts, to whom
Vengeance belongeth, hath eminently appeared in your
Majesty's Quarrel, and sharply rebuk'd the Insolence of that
proud People. It is true, our Sins do cry aloud, as well as
theirs; but God is pleased in Mercy to correct us himself,
while by our hands he punishes them, and makes them fly
before us: I hope his Mercy will invite us to a national
Repentance, and 'if he be with us, who can be against us?'
We can but take notice of the sordid Defection of some
English Fugitives, who have traitorously join'd with the
Dutch, both in their Counsels and Actions, against your
Majesty, and this their native Country: We therefore have
prepared a Bill, whereby they are enjoin'd to return by a
Day, and answer to the Law, or else they shall be attainted of High-Treason. It hath been an old Observation, That scandalous Livings make scandalous Ministers;
and this most frequently falls out in Cities and CorporateTowns, where are little or no predial Tythes, and therefore for mere Want they are forc'd to chant such Tunes
as may please the rich Men in their Parishes: For prevention of this for the future, there is a Bill prepared for
the Uniting of small Churches and Chapels in Cities and
Towns-Corporate, by the Consent of the Patron, reserving
other Parochial Rights distinct as they were before. This
being a Time wherein your Majesty needs great Supply,
we held it our Duty to ease the People in some unnecessary
Expences; and therefore we have prepared a Bill for the
more effectual Proceeding upon Distresses and Avowries
for Rent; another to avoid Circuity of Actions; a Third
to lessen the Charge of necessary Suits in Law; and a
Fourth to take away an ancient and burdensome Fee in
the Courts of Judicature, call'd Damage Cleer, or Damna
Clericorum.
'Tacitus has a Saving, Such as are false in their Love,
are true in their Hatred; and this we find verify'd in our
Nonconformists: While they were in the Boson of the
Church of England, they were like inward Vapours, and
inward Bleedings, always oppressing and strangling the
Body of the Church; and now they are rejected and excluded from the Ministerial Function, they have more
Malice, and no less Opportunity to propagate their Principles than they had before. Some of them are Objects of
Pity; they submitted their Reason to their Leaders of a
higher Class, who failed them in their Hopes, and left
them to the Rigour of the Law. Those poor Creatures
have seen their Errors, and felt the Smart, and would live
peaceably; but their Jesuitical Leaders keep up their Spirits, and herd with them in Cities and Corporate-Towns,
where, by the Pretence of Persecution and Self-denial, they
move the Pity of good-natur'd People, who with their
Charity keep up the Party, lessen the Maintenance of Conforming Ministers, and spread their Contagion amongst the
Youth of the Nation. For the Prevention of this growing Mischief, we have prepared a Shiboleth, a Test, to
distinguish amongst them who will be peaceable, and give
hopes of a future Conformity, and who, of Malice and
evil Disposition, remain obdurate: The one, we shall
keep amongst us with all Love and Charity; the other we
shall exclude from Cities and Corporation-Towns, like
those that have an infectious Disease upon them.
'It is not unusual for the Commons, at the Close of a
Session of Parliament, by their Speaker to present a Petition to their Sovereign; and, with your Majesty's Leave,
I am now commanded that Service: We do, with all
humble Thankfulness, acknowledge to God our great Happiness, That we are govern'd by a Prince, whose Prudence in Council, whose Valour in Action, and whose
Fatherly Care in Protection of his People is eminent in
all the World; and it is not the least Mercy, both to
your Majesty and your People, That God has bless'd you
with a Brother so like yourself. The Name of his Royal
Highness is already enroll'd amongst the Heroes of other
Nations; but his native Country had not so great Experience of him, till your Majesty was pleas'd, in this Summer's Expedition, to trust him with the Conduct of the
most royal Fleet that ever sail'd upon the British Seas;
wherein he shew'd that Prowess and that Prudence, and,
by the Blessing of Almighty God, was crown'd with that
Success against the Dutch, that we cannot pass it by in
Silence; and yet we are at a loss how to express our
Thanks both to your Majesty and him. I am commanded
therefore to beseech your Majesty, That you will vouchsafe to let us make a Present to you of a Month's Tax, to
come in the Rear after the twenty four Months of your
Majesty's royal Aid; and that your Majesty will be pleased
to bestow it upon his Royal Highness. And now, Great
Sir, I have no more, but to beseech Almighty God, who
hath so miraculously preserv'd your royal Person, and your
two Houses of Parliament, from all Sickness and Contagion
during this Session, that he will be pleased to send Health
throughout all the Nation; that he will crown all your
Designs against your Enemies with Victory and Success,
and give your Majesty a long and happy Reign over us.'