OF KING CHARLES II. COMMONLY CALLED THE LONG OR PENSIONARY PARLIAMENT. The King's Speech.] May 8. 1661. This day the New Parliament met. The King, being arrayed in his regal robes with his crown on his head, ascended his seat of state; the Peers being in their robes, and the Commons being below the bar, his majesty made a short Speech, declaring the cause and the reasons for his summoning the present parliament as followeth :

My lords and gentlemen of the house of commons-I will not spend the time in telling you why I called you hither; I am sure I am glad to see you here. I do value myself much upon keeping my word, upon making good whatsoever I promise to my subjects: and I well remember when I was last in this place, I promised that I would call a parliament as soon as could be reasonably expectedor desired; and truly, considering the season of the year, and all that has been done since we parted, you could not reasonably expect to meet sooner than now we do. If it might have been a week sooner, you will confess there was some reason to defer it to this day, for this day we may without superstition love one day, prefer one day before another, for the memory of some blessings that befel us that day; and then you will not wonder that the memory of the great affection the whole king

through the midst of his enemies. He would not so wonderfully have new modelled that FIRST SESSION OF THE SECOND PARLIAMENT 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 tried him (which had little Icss providence in it than the other) with these 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 defend from the most secret imaginations 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 they 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 chuse such as they wish should oppose the king, but therefore chuse because they have, and because they are to 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 themscves, against all the gusts, and storms, and temptations 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 parliament is dissolved accordingly.'

to grant, or for him to receive. Among other designs to oblige him, there was one formed to settle such a Revenue upon him for life, as should place him beyond the necessity of asking more, except in the case of a war, or some such emergency. And as to particulars, another Writer informs us, That Mr. Alex. Popham, a man of intrigue and great capacity, offered the king, with the assistance of a party he had in the parliament, to procure an Act for settling on him and his successors, above two millions a year by way of Subsidy; which, with the Revenue of the Excise and other duties, must have made him a very rich prince. The king was well pleased with the proposal, especially since the want of money had occasioned his father's unfortunate projects; but advising about it with chancellor Hyde, that minister told him, That the best Revenue he could have, would be the gaining the hearts of his subjects; that if he would

"Thus ended the famous Convention, about eight months after the first meeting, and seven after the Restoration, when it received the royal stamp of Parliament: an assembly that began with the greatest expectation, and ended with the greatest satisfaction of all peo-trust to them, he would find such Supplies as ple. Never was so glorious a harmony between the king and parliament of England for many years before. And here we may observe, with an ingenuous modern writer, that it looks as if Heaven took a more than ordinary care of the English, that they did not throw up all their liberties at once, upon the Restoration of the King; for, though some were for bringing him back upon terms, yet after he was once come, he so intirely possessed the hearts of his people, that they thought nothing too much for them VOL. IV.

should never fail him in time of need." Therefore it may be added, with another Writer, It is to his memory, that we owe our being a free people; for he, with his two great friends, the duke of Ormond and the earl of Southampton, checked the forwardness of some who were desirous to load the crown with prerogative and revenue. He put a stop to all this, which being afterwards odiously represented, brought on that great and lasting, but honourable disgrace." Echard, p. 783.

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clude without telling you some news; that I think will be very acceptable to you; and therefore I should think myself unkind and illnatured, if I should not impart it to you. I have been often put in mind by my friends, That it was now high time to marry; and I have thought so myself ever since I came into England: but there appeared difficulties enough in the choice, though many overtures have been made to me: and if I should never marry till I could make such a choice, against which there could be no foresight of any inconvenience that may ensue, you would live to see me an old bachelor, which I think you do not desire to do. I can now tell you, not only that I am resolved to marry, but to whom I resolve to marry, if God please: and towards my resolution, I have used that deliberation, and taken that advice, as I ought to do in an affair of that importance; and, trust me, with a full considera

dom shewed to me this day twelve-month, made me desirous to meet you again this day, when I dare swear you are full of the same spirit, and that it will be lasting in you. I think there are not many of you who are not particularly known to ine; there are very few of whom I have not heard so much good, that I am sure, as I can be of any thing that is to come, that you will all concur with me, and that I shall concur with you in all things which may advance the peace, plenty, and prosperity of the nation: I shall be exceedingly deceived else. My lords and gentlemen; you will find what method I think best for your proceeding, by two Bills I have caused to be prepared for you, which are for confirmation of all that was enacted at our last meeting; and above all, I must repeat what I said when I was last here; That next to the miraculous • blessing of God Almighty, and indeed, as an immediate effect of that blessing, I do imputetion of the good of my subjects in general, as 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 in our joint and common security.' I am sure I am still of the same opinion, and more, if it be possible, of that opinion, than I was, by the experience I have of the benefit of it, and from the unreasonableness of what some men say against it, though I assure you not in my hearing. In God's name, provide full remedies for any future mischiefs; be as severe as you will against new offenders, especially if they be so upon old principles, and pull up those principles by the roots. But I shall never think him a wise man who would endeavour to undermine or shake that foundation of our public peace, by infringing that Act in the least degree; or that he can be my friend, or wish me well, who would persuade me ever to consent to the breach of a promise I so solemnly made when I was abroad, and performed with that solemnity; because, and after I promised it, I cannot suspect any attempts of that kind by any men of merit and virtue. *—I will not con

*Lord Clarendon, in the Continuation of his Life, p. 96. says, "That this warmth of his majesty upon this subject was not then more than needful: for the armies being now disbanded, there were great combinations entered into, not to confirm the Act of Oblivion; which they knew without confirmation would signify nothing. Men were well enough contented that the king should grant indemnity to all men that had rebelled against him; that he should grant their lives and fortunes to them, who had forfeited them to him: but they thought it very unreasonable and unjust, that the king should release those debts which were immediately due to them, and forgive those trespasses which had been committed to their particular damage. They could not endure to meet the same men in the king's high way, now it was the king's highway again,

of myself: it is with the daughter of Portugal. When I had, as well as I could, weighed all that occurred to me, the first resolution I took, was to state the whole overtures which had been made to me, and, in truth, all that had been said against to my privy-council; without hearing whose advice, I never did, nor ever will, resolve any thing of public importance. And I tell you with great satisfaction and comfort to myself, that after many hours debate in a full council, for I think there was not above one absent; and truly, I believe, upon all that can be said upon that subject, for or against it, my lords, without one dissenting voice, yet there were very few sate silent, advised me with all imaginable chearfulness to this Marriage; which I looked upon as very wonderful, and even as some instance of the approbation of God himself; and so took up my own resolution, and concluded all with the ambassador of Portugal, who is departing with the whole Treaty signed, which you will find

who had heretofore affronted them in those ways, because they were not the king's, and only because they knew they could obtain no justice against them. They could not with any patience see those men, who not only during the war had oppressed them, plundered their houses, and had their own adorned with the furniture they had robbed them of, ride upon the same horses which they had then taken from them upon no other pretence, but because they were better than their own; but, after the war was ended, had committed many insolent trespasses upon them wantonly, and to shew their power of Justice of Peace or Committee men, and had from the lowest beggars raised great estates, out of which they were well able to satisfy, at least in some degree, the damages the other had sustained. And those and other passions of this kind, which must have invalidated the whole Act of Indemnity, could not have been extinguished without the king's influence, and indeed his immediate interposition and industry."

and offensive to their stomachs and appetite, or to their very fancy. Allay and correct those humours, which corrupt their stomachs and their appetites: if the good old known tried laws be for the present too heavy for their necks, which have been so many years without any yoke at all, make a temporary provision of an easier and a lighter yoke, till, by living in a wholesome air, by the benefit of a soberer conversation, by keeping a better diet, by the experience of a good and just government, they recover strength enough to bear, and discretion enough to discern, the benefit and the ease of those laws they disliked. If the present Oaths have any terms or expressions in them that a tender. conscience honestly makes scruple of submitting to, in God's name let other oaths be formed in their places, as comprehensive of all those obligations which the policy of government must exact: but still let there be a yoke : let there be an Oath, let there be some law, that may be the rule to that indulgence, that, under pretence of Liberty of Conscience, men may not be absolved from all the obligations of law and conscience.-I have besought your good-nature and indulgence towards some of your weak patients, if by it they can be brought to follow and submit to your prescriptions for their health; nor is it reasonable to imagine that the distemper of 20 years can be rectified and subdued in 12 months. There must be a natural time, and natural applications, allowed for it. But there are a sort of patients that I must recommend to your utmost vigilance, utmost severity, and to no part of your lenity or indulgence; such who are so far from valuing your prescriptions that they look not upon you as their physicians, but their patients; such who, instead of repenting any thing that they have done amiss, repeat every day the same crimes for the Indemuity whereof the Act of Oblivion was provided. These are the seditious Preachers, who cannot be contented to be dispensed with for their full obedience to some laws established, without reproaching and inveighing against those laws, how established soever; who tell their auditories, that the Apostle meant, when he bid them stand to their liberties, that they should stand to their arms; and who, by repeating the very expressions, and teaching the very doctrine, they set on-foot in the year 1640, sufficiently declare that they have no mind that 20 years should put an end to the miseries we have undergone.-What good christian can think without horrour of these Ministers of the Gospel, who by their function should be the messengers of peace, and are in their practice the only trumpets of war, and incendiaries towards rebellion! How much more Christian was that Athenian nun

other instances of his greatness, and power, and superiority, and dominion over us, nisi' (as he said) aut levatione periculi, aut acces'sione dignitatis;' by giving us peace, honour, and security, which we could not have without him; by desiring nothing for himself, but what is as good for us as for himself; and therefore, I hope, we shall make no scruple of obeying him in this particular.-My Lords and Gen. tlemen; Though the last parliament did great and wonderful things, indeed as much as in that time they could, yet they have left very great things for you to do: you are to finish the structure, of which they but laid the foundation; indeed they left some things undone, which it may be they thought they had finished: you will find the Revenue they intended to raise for the king very much short of what they promised: you will find the Public Debts for the Discharge of the Army and the Navy, which they thought they had provided for sufficiently, to be still in arrear and unpaid: and here I am, by the king's special command, to commend the poor Seamen to you, who, by the rules which were prescribed for their payment, are in much worse condition than (with out question) was foreseen they would be; for, by appointing them to be paid but from 1658 (which was a safe rule to the Army), very many are still in Arrear for 2, 3, or 4 years service; and so his majesty's promise to them from Breda remains unperformed. Some other losses, which resulted from other rules given for their payment, have been supplied to them by the king's own bounty. They are a people very worthy of your particular care and cherishing; upon whose courage and fidelity very much of the happiness and honour and security of the nation depends; and therefore his majesty doubts not you will see justice done towards them with favour.-My Lords and Gentlemen; You are now the great physicians of the kingdom; and God knows, you have many wayward, and froward, and distempered patients, who are in truth very sick, and patients, who think themselves sicker than they are; and some who think themselves in health, and are most sick of all. You must, therefore, use all the diligence, and patience, and compassion, which good physicians have for their patients; all the chearfulness, and complacency, and indulgence, their several habits, and constitutions, and distempers of body and mind, may require. Be not too melancholic with your patients, nor suffer them to be too melancholic, by believing that every little distemper will presently turn to a violent fever, and that fever will presently turn to the plague; that every little trespass, every little swerving from the known rule, must insensibly grow to a neglect of the law, and that neglect introduce an absolute confusion; that every little difference in opinion, or practice in Conscience or Reli-in Plutarch, and how shall she rise up in gion, must presently destroy Conscience and Religion. Be not too severe and rough towards your patients, in prescribing remedies, how well compounded soever, too nauseous

judgment against these men, who, when Alcibiades was condemned by the public justice of the state, and a decree made, that the religious, the priests, and the nuns, should

revile and curse him, stoutly refused to per- by them, had not prevented it; I say, it is form that office, saying, That she was pro-probable this fury would have not been extin'fessed religious, to pray and to bless, not to guished, before this famous city, or a great part 'curse and ban! And if the person and the of it, had been turned into ashes.If you place can improve and aggravate the offence, as no doubt it doth before God and man, *The Chancellor alludes to the Insurrection methinks the preaching rebellion and treason of the Fifth Monarchy Men, under Venner, of out of the pulpit should be as much worse which Insurrection archdeacon Echard gives than the advancing it in the market, as the us the following account?" While the affairs poisoning a man at the Communion would be of the nation seemed to be in peace and tranworse than killing him at a tavern: and it quility, in the beginning of the new year may be, in the catalogue of those sins which 1660-1, there happened a strange and unparalthe zeal of some men declares to be against leled action in London, which strengthened the the Holy Ghost, there may not be any one belief of those secret Plots and Conspiracies more reasonably thought to be such, than a mentioned by the lord chancellor. This was Minister of Christ's turning rebel against his occasioned by a small body of Fifth-Monarchy prince, which is a most notorious apostacy Men, who hating all monarchy, and the apfrom his order; and his preaching rebellion to pearance of it, had formerly made an attempt the people as the doctrine of Christ, adding against Cromwell's government, but escaped blasphemy and pertinacy to his apostacy, beyond expectation. The head of them was hath all the marks by which good men are one Thomas Venner, sometime a wine-cooper, taught to know and avoid that sin against the who by the king's indulgence held a convenHoly Ghost. If you do not provide for the ticle in Coleman-street, where be, and others, thorough quenching these firebrands; king, used to preach to them out of the Prophecies lords, and commons, shall be their meanest of Daniel and the Revelations, and from thence subjects, and the whole kingdom kindled into drew strange inferences, persuading their conone general flame.-My Lords and Gentle-gregations to take up arins for King Jesus, men; When the king spake last in this place before this day, He said, When he should 'call the next parliament, he should receive their thanks for what he had done since he ⚫ had dissolved the last; for he said, he should 'not more propose any one rule to himself, in his actions or his councils, than this, What is ' a parliament like to think of this action, or of ⚫ that council? and that it should be want of 'understanding in him, if it would not bear 'that test' He told you but now, That he ' values himself much upon keeping his word, ' upon performing all that he promises to his 'people. And he hath the worst luck in the world, if he hath not complied with this promise, and if his understanding hath failed him in it. It was in a very little time after the Dissolution of that parliament, his majesty giving himself a few days to accompany his royal mother to the sea side, the only time he hath slept out of this town near these 12 months, that the most desperate, and prodigious Rebellion brake out in this city, that hath been heard of in any age; which continued two or three nights together, with the murder of several honest citizens. Let no man undervalue the treason because of the contemptibleness of the number engaged in it. No man knows the number; but, by the multitude of intercepted letters from and to all the counties of England, in which the time was set down wherein the work of the Lord was to be done, by the desperate carriage of the traitors themselves, and their bragging of their friends, we may conclude the combination reached very far. And in truth we may reasonably believe, that if the undaunted courage and the indefatigable industry of the lord mayor, who deserves to be mentioned before king, lords, and commons, and to be esteemed

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against the powers of the earth, the king, the duke of York, general Monk, &c. assuring them, That no weapons formed against them should prosper, nor a hair of their heads be touched; for one should chace a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.' Upon which they got a Declaration printed, entitled, A Door of Hope opened; in which they said, and declared, That they would never 'sheath their swords till Babylon, as they called monarchy, became a hissing and a curse, and there be left neither Remnant, Son, nor Nephew: that when they had led captivity captive in England, they would go into France, Spain, Germany, &c. and rather die than take the wicked Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance: that they would not make any leagues with monarchists, but would rise up against the carnal, to possess 'the Gate, or the world, to bind their kings in chains, and their nobles in fetters of iron.' And so to accomplish this heroic design, they observed so much policy as to put it in exe cution when the king was attending his mother and sister to embark at Portsmouth, for their return into France. Accordingly on Sunday the 6th of Jan. being fully animated by the sermon, which hinted to them, that they had been praying and preaching, but not acting for God,' they sallied out well armed from their Meeting-House, and marched to St. Paul's Church-Yard in the dark of the evening. Here they mustered their party, amounting to above 50, and placed their centinels for the time, one of whom killed a poor innocent man, who upon demand had answered, He was for God and king Charles! This gave an alarm to the city, and the lord-mayor, sir Rd. Brown, and the trained-bands being upon the guard, some files of men were sent against them, whom these