| 1 |
The Duke of Monmouth having
been deprived of his Posts in the Army, and by his Majesty's command
having left the Kingdom, and the
Duke of York having returned from
his exile, and having Scotland assigned him for the place of his residence, his Royal Highness, before his departure for that Kingdom, carried an important point
with the King, which showed that
his interest with his Majesty was
all-sufficient; namely, the putting
off the Session. All the remaining
strength of his enemies lay in the
House of Commons, and he was
resolved they should derive no benefit from it, at least till time had
somewhat qualified their fury, and
proper endeavours had been used
to loosen their hold upon the people. But, according to Sir William
Temple, however artificially this
matter was laid by those of the
Cabal, they fell into the very same
mistake which had occurred at the
Dissolution of the last Parliament,
in the manner of communicating it
to the Council: All was laid upon
the King, as before, who said,
"That upon many considerations,
which he could not then communicate, he found it necessary to make
a longer Prorogation of the Parliament than he had intended: That
he had considered all the consequences so far as to be absolutely
resolved, and not to hear any thing
against it: That he would have it
prorogued till that time twelvemonth, and that he gave it in
charge to the Lord Chancellor to
proceed accordingly." All the majority of the Council were astonished at so abrupt a declaration.
Several rose up to reason upon it,
but were obliged to desist, the King
continuing positive to admit of no
opposition, and, in effect, signifying thereby, "That he did not
require advice, but obedience."
Care was however taken to prepare the Public for this alteration
of measures by due degrees. The
first Prorogation was only from the
17th to the 30th of October, which
was followed soon after with public
notice in the Gazette, "That his
Royal Highness having represented
to his Majesty, that he conceived
it would be more convenient in
many respects to be in his Majesty's
own dominions than those of any
other Prince, and made it his humble request to go to Scotland, his
Majesty had granted it." This notice was dated October 7th. The
12th their Royal Highnesses arrived
at Whitehall "in their way" (as the
Gazette phrases it) "to Scotland."
The 15th the Parliament was yet
farther prorogued, and the same
day Lord Shaftsbury (for openly opposing, as Ferguson asserts, the
Duke's residence in Scotland,) was
dismissed from his place at the
Council Board. Ralph.
The Parliament having been prorogued from October 30th to January
26th, on that day as many Members
of each House attending as were required by their respective rules, his
Majesty gave them a meeting, and
from the Throne signified, "That
when he declared in Council his
intention of putting off the Parliament to a time so remote, it was
not without mature consideration:
That he could not be persuaded
from any thing that had happened
since, in reference to affairs within
the Kingdom, to alter or repent of
that resolution: That notwith standing, considering the present danger
that threatened some of our Neighbours and Allies (the Dutch) he
thought fit to appoint a day for
their meeting again in April: That
the distractions and jealousies at
home were of such a nature, and
so heightened and improved by the
malice and industry of ill men, that
he was unalterably of opinion, that
a longer interval of Parliament
would be absolutely necessary for
the composing and quieting men's
minds, and that therefore at the
said meeting in April there should
be a farther Prorogation, unless the
condition of our Allies abroad did
then require our immediate assistance." |