make a new one they returned and Adjourned till Saturday Morning But not agreeing then they desired a further time which was granted till Tuesday following The King telling the Messengers that as he would not have his Prerogative intrencht upon so he would not do any thing against the Priviledges of the House But then instead of Presenting a new Speaker they Presented a Representation Claiming it as a Right to have that Speaker they chose accepted if he were not excused for some Corporal Disease which hath always heretofore been alleadged either by themselves or some others in their behalf in full Parliament as they said But his Majesty not admitting this neither they Adjourned till Wednesday and drew up another Address to have the former better considered and to this his Majesty replied he would send them an answer the next day And accordingly On Thursday he sent for them up to the House of Lords and Prorogued them for one day and on Saturday morning sent for them again and by the Lord Chancellor Commanded them to proceed to the Choice of a Speaker and Present him on Munday Morning which they accordingly did and then they chose Mr. Sergeant Gregory of whom his Majesty approved on the Monday following It was Ominous thus to stumble at the Threshold and therefore there is no great wonder if after this much of his Majesties and the Lord Chancellors good Counsell relating to calmness in the Management of their Affairs was forgotten Tuesday Wednesday and a great part of Thursday the 20th day of March being spent in the preliminaries and in receiving and reading the shoal of Petitions concerning undue Elections and Returns on the Evening of the last day the Commons sent a Message to the Lords to put them in mind of the Impeachments of High Treason against Thomas Earl of Danby in the names of the Commons of England and to desire he might be Committed to safe Custody And referred it to the Committee of Secrecy to draw up further Articles against him By which it appeared that they were resolved to begin where the former Parliament ended so that men easily conjectured what would follow And some there were that suggested as if his place was his greatest Crime and that the ruin of a Minister of State in order to fright the rest of the Ministers was more sought than the Punishment of any Traytor whether Popish or Protestant In the week following it appearing that the Earl of Danby had a pardon by his Majesties mentioning of it in the House of Lords And a Committee being appointed to search it out returned on Monday the 24th of March that it had not been Regularly sued out but was Sealed in the King's presence by his express Command Upon which the Commons sent up a Message to the Lords to demand Justice against him and ordered an Address to his Majesty to represent the dangerous Consequences of granting Pardons to any persons that lie under an Impeachment of the Commons of England And the same day the Lords sent word to the Commons that they had ordered him to be taken into Custody On Tuesday the 25th of March 1679. the Lords sent a Message to the Commons that the Earl of Danby was not to be sound upon which the Commons ordered a Bill to be brought in to Summon him by a certain day or in default thereof to Attaint him Mr. Edward Sacvile a Member of the House of Commons being accused by Mr. Oats to have called the truth of the Plot and Murder of Sir Edmonberry Godfrey in question was ordered to be committed to the Tower Expelled the House and an Address made to his Majesty for the removing him from all Publick Imployments and Trusts This was a sure way to have the Plot believed On Wednesday there having before been a Complaint brought against one Hills and Edwin for Printing a Pamphlet intituled A Letter from a Jesuite at Paris to his Correpondent in London Shewing the most effectual way to ruin the Government and the Protestant Religion was to promote the Dissenters Interest and to chuse factious men into the House of Commons And it appearing that Dr. John Nalson was the Author of it there being no Law to punish this offence the said Doctor was ordered to be sent for in Custody of the Serjeant at Arms to inform the House touching the said Pamphlet The same day a Bill was sent down from the Lords Intituled an Act for the better discovery and speedy Conviction of Popish Recusants Which had been sent down in the former Session of Parliament time enough to have been passed but was neglected which was read the day following On Thursday the 27th of March the Lords sent down a Bill for the Banishing and Disabling the Earl of Danby which his Majesty had profered to do and desired the Concurrence of the House of Commons which the Commons read and rejected that day But notwithstanding the Commons went on with the Bill of Attainder against him and ordered a Clause to be added for the discovery of all trusts relating to him and that he should be made incapable of receiving pardon but by Act of Parliament wherein he shall be particularly Named The same day the Lords sent down a Bill to disinable any person from Sitting in any of the Houses of Convocation till he hath taken the Oaths and made and subscribed the Declaration therein contained On Friday a Bill was read for better securing the liberty of the Subjects Sir Christopher Calthrop Knight who was returned one of the Knights of the Shire for Norfolk being then sick of the Small-pox desired that the Case in difference betwixt him and Sir John Hobard Baronet which was to be heard on Friday next might be delayed which was denyed Note That Calthrop was of the Court-party and Hobard of the Country-party But to look a little back On Monday the 25th of March the House of Lords sent to examin the five Lords in the Tower concerning a French Book about the Plot the Author of which had it seems endeavoured to invalidate Mr. Oats his testimony but they would not own they knew the Author The same day the Vote mentioned in the former Part of the reality of the Popish Plot which had been renewed by the Commons and sent up to the Lords for their concurrence was Voted by the Lords and ordered to be inserted in the first leaf of the Office to be publickly used on the day * 11 of April appointed by his Majesty for solemn Fasting and Humiliation at the request of both Houses On Saturday the 29th the Lords agreed to have a Bill brought in to expell out of the Inns of Court Doctors Commons the College of Physicians and Heralds office all such persons as shall not give testimony of their being Protestants by going to Church and by taking the Sacrament and such Oaths Tests and Declarations as are appointed by any Law for the distinguishing Protestants from Papists and
that shame and confusion they deserve who through their sides strike at the Lords Anointed and endeavour to ruine both the Church and State by changing the Government from a Monarchy to a Common-wealth as experience taught us once before when the Crown soon followed the Miter and the Temporal Lords the Bishops On Wednesday four of the five Lords in the Tower were brought to the House of Lords and heard the Articles readagainst them and had Copies of them and were assigned their Counsel for matter of Law but not for matter of Fact and had time to answer till the 15th Instant But the Lord Bellasys not being able to appear by reason he was lame of the Gout was excused and had a Copy of the Articles sent him On Monday the 14th of April at a conference the Lords consented to pass the Bill against the Earl of Danby without any amendment Wednesday the 16th of April A Bill for securing the King and Kingdom against the growh and Danger of Popery was read the second time and commttied to a Committee The same day a Message was brought from the Lords that the E. of D. had rendered himself and was sent to the Tower And by another Message word was sent that the four Lords had Appeared had sent in their Answers to the Articles upon which they had been proceeded against which Answers they sent down to the Commons being the Originalls and the Lords desired the return of them with all convenient speed that they might consider of them And then the Commons Voted his Majesty a supply for the Disbanding the rest of the Forces not disbanded by the former Act. To be levied by a Land Tax in six Months By which all Forces raised or brought over from Foreign parts since the 29th of September 1677. were to be disbanded The Commission Officers being to be paid only to the first of this April The next day a debate arising Thursday the 17 of April whether the Mony for Disbanding the Army should be paid into the Exchequer it was carried in the Affirmative by 60 Voices A Committee of Secrecy was appointed to prepare and draw up evidence against the E. of Danby and also further Articles as they should see cause On Friday the 25th of April a Bill for prevention of raising Mony upon the Subjects but by Act of Parliament was read the first time and ordered to be read a second time A Bill for exporting Cloth to Turkie was read a first time and ordered to be read again The same day the E. of D. and John Lord Bellasys appeared at the Bar of the House of Lords and put in their several Answers which were sent down to the Commons with desire they might be returned with all convenient speed On Saturday it was resolved in the House of Commons 26 of April that they would the Friday following take into consideration how to make the law for prohibiting the importation of French Commodities more effectual William Viscount Stafford Henry Lord Arundel of Wardour and William Earl of Powis Appeared this day at the Bar of the House of Lords and retracted their former Plea's and put in their Answers which were by a Message sent down to the Commons which were read and referred to the Committee of Secrecy belonging to the said House This day the House of Commons resolved Nemine Contradicente That this House will sit to morrow to consider of the best means to secure and preserve the Kings person and also the Protestant Religion against the Attempts of the Papists both in the Reign of his Majesty and his Successors And accordingly they did sit and began the day very inauspiciously with reading an Address to his Majesty for the Execution of Pickering who as they said had been imployed by some of the Conspirators to execute their Execrable design of Murdering his Majesty and upon his Tryal was found guilty thereof as also of divers Priests and Jesuits who stood then Condemned by his Majesties Judges at the Old-Bayley and in several of the Circuits Upon which Offenders they humbly desired immediate Execution might be done to the terror of all such wicked persons who by their daily Traiterous practises do justify the prudence of their Ancestors in making such Laws and manifest the necessity of putting them in Execution And though there is nothing to be said for the men yet I wish they had not made this severe motion on a Lord's day it being none of those works of Charity and Mercy 29. Car. Cap. 7. no nor necessity neither which are commendable on that day and this might as well have been done on any other day Then they proceeded to the work appointed and Voted in the first place That a Bill be brought in upon the debate of the House to Banish all Papists or reputed Papists from London and Westminster and twenty Miles of the same for Six Months and to confine all those that live above twenty Miles from London within five Miles of their own Habitations under penalties and referred it to a Committee to draw up the same And then Secondly Resolved Nemine Contradicente That the Duke of York being a Papist and the hopes of his coming such to the Crown have given the greatest countenance and encouragement to the present Conspirators and designs of the Papists against the King and the Protestant Religion Resolved That the concurrence of the Lords be desired to this Vote Ordered that the Committee of Secrecy draw up a Narative of all such matters as concern the D. of Y. relating to the present Plot contained in such Papers as they have in their hands and present the same to the House on Wednesday next And then they adjourned the debate till Monday following The next day being Monday the 28th of March the House attended his Majesty with the said Address for the Executing Pickering c. To which his Majesty reply'd Gentlemen I Have always been tender in matters of blood which my Subjects have no reason to take exception at but this is a matter of great weight I shall therefore consider of it and return you an answer So little was this mercifull Prince exasperated by all the practises against him On Wednesday the 30th of April his Majesty sent for the Commons up to the Lords House and made this Speech to the two Houses My Lords and Gentlemen THe Season of the Year advancing so fast I thought it necessary to put you in mind of three particulars 1. Prosecuting the Plot 2. Disbanding the Army 3. Providing a Fleet for our common security And to shew you that whilst you are doing your parts my thoughts have not been misimployed but that it is my constant care to do every thing that may preserve your Religion and secure it for the future in all events I have commanded my Lord Chancellor to mention several particulars which I hope will be an evidence that in all things that concern the Publick security I
York Onely and that Committee was appointed on the next Munday Morning at Ten of the Clock And accordingly it was that day Debated and some Clauses added to it On Tuesday the Ninth of November his Majesty sent the Commons another Message by Mr. Secretary Jenkins which was as followeth CHARLES R. HIS Majesty desires this House as well for the Satisfaction of his People as of Himself to Expedite such Matters as are depending before them relating to Popery and the Plot and would have them rest assured That all Remedies they can tender to his Majesty conducing to those Ends shall be very acceptable to him Provided they be such as may Consist with preserving the Succession of the Crown in its Due and Legal Course of Descent On Wednesday the 10th of November A Bill for Regulating the Elections of Members to Serve in Parliament for the House of Commons was read the first time and ordered to be read the second time And the same day the Bill for prohibiting the Importation of Irish Cattel was read the third time and passed and sent up to the Lords Now let the Reader observe there was not one Publick Bill passed through the House of Commons in all this time but this and yet no Bill was more opposed than this but here the priyate Concerns of the North and West Country Gentlemen were Engaged and therefore they carried it on Might and Main against all opposition but as for any Bills against Popery they took no care or thought for that against the Duke of York may perhaps be made to appear to be of another Nature then was pretended and rather against any thing then Popery The same day the Lords sent down to the Commons a Bill which they had passed for Freeing the City of London and his Majesty's Court and the Parts adjacent from Popish Inhabitants and providing against other Dangers which may arise from Papists To which they desired their Concurrence Note That this Bill had been sent down from the Lords before and the Commons had lost the opportunity of passing it as you will see they will in this Session also tho there were Tragical representations made of the Danger the City and Nation were in from the Vast Numbers of them which were Seated in and about the City of London The truth is it was not convenient to loose any thing that might serve to fright the People and much better to have Papists in London for that purpose than to have them sent elsewhere and loose the means of Fermenting the Rabble But if men were not as willing to be or at least seem to be cheated as others are to delude them they would soon perceive whose interest it is to keep them in Fears and Jealousies and after discharge their Bug-bears or turn their rage another way The same day they Voted an Address to his Majesty in answer to his last Message And that they would proceed in the prosecution of the Lords in the Tower beginning with William Viscount Stafford On Thursday the 11th of November 1680. A Bill to prevent the offences of Bribery and Debauchery in Elections of Members to Serve in the Commons House of Parliament was Read the first time and ordered to be read again the Monday following with the Bill for Regulating Elections of Members to Serve in the said House formerly mentioned This day the Bill against the Duke of York was read the third time and passed The Title whereof was resolved to be An Act for Securing of the Protestant Religion by Disabling James Duke of York to Inherit the Imperial Crown of England and Ireland and the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging And it was ordered that the Lord Russel should carry it up to the Lords for their Concurrence The Bill sent down by the Lords for Freeing the City of London from Popish Recusants was read the first time on Friday 12. Nov. and Ordered a second reading in a full House This day the Commons sent a Message to the Lords to Acquaint them with their Intentions to begin with the Viscount Stafford and to desire them to appoint a Convenient time for the Tryal and that the Lords in the Tower might be Confined and kept from holding Correspondence with one another as persons impeached and committed for High Treason by Law ought to be The Lords answered As to the latter part of this Message They had taken Care already in it and as to the former They appointed Tuesday the Thirtieth day of the same Moneth And they further resolved to Address to his Majesty for a Sum of Money for defraying the Charges of Summoning of Witnesses and other Expences Incident to the Prosecution and Tryals of the Lords in the Tower and appointed Mr. Charles Clare to Receive and Expend the same for which purpose his Majesty gave Order that 100 l. should be Issued out of the Exchequer On Saturday the 13th of November Sir Robert Yeomans being upon his own Petition called to the Bar he Acknowledged his offence and was ordered to receive the Censure of the House upon his Knees to which he submitted and was discharged paying his Fees The Lords returned the Bill against Importing of Irish Cattel agreed to Commons the same day The City of London having Petitioned the House against Sir George Jeffereys their Recorder and it being referred to a Committee they passed this Vote Resolved That this Committee is of Opinion That by the Evidence given to this Committee it does appear that Sir George Jeffereys Recorder of the City of London by traducing and obstructing Petitioning for the Sitting of This Parliament hath betrayed the Rights of the Subject To which the House agreed and Ordered That an Humble Address be made to his Majesty to remove him out of all Publick Offices and appointed a Committee to draw up the same As if it had been likely his Majesty would have so far complyed with them as to have punished the Recorder for obeying his Laws and Proclamation against a Tumultuous and Seditious Sort of men But however his Majesty might Act they had another aim in this for they Voted That the Members of their House that Served for the City of London should communicate this Vote and Resolution of their House to the Court of Aldermen for the City of London This was a sure way to bespeak a Party in the City to Joyn with the House against the Abhorrers They further Ordered That this Committee should enquire into all such persons as have been Advising or Promoting of the late Proclamation stiled A Proclamation against Tumultuous Petitioning Thus having passed thus far without any check from any person they thought they might proceed as far further as they pleased And it is very probable that they were spurred on to this by their Friends and Enemies the one designing to make them Terrible and the other being willing to make them Hated However I am sure they they became more hated than feared by this and
many other such proceedings As the Parliament that is the Commons Courted the City so the City was as kind to them and Calling a Common Councel Voted an Address to his Majesty to declare their Loyalty and to Petition him that the Parliament might Sit until Protestantisme was Secured I believe they might mean innocently tho I am well Secured that this would have perpetuated them to the End of the World if some amongst them might have been Judges of the time when this great work was perfected But this did not Edify with his Majesty who penetrated to the bottom of these little Projects and was not over-pleased with this Correspondency betwixt this and the Commons remembring what ill effects this Conjunction had in the Reign of his Father So he Advised the Common-Councel to meddle with those things that lay before them and assuring them That he would Labour to maintain the Protestant Religion as it was Established by Law which was more than they desired he dismissed them On Munday the 15th day of November A Bill against the Importation of Cattel from Scotland was Read the first time and Ordered a Second Reading the Saturday following at Ten of the Clock This day was delivered the following Message to the Commons CHARLES R. HIS Majesty did in his Speech at the Opening of this Session of Parliament desire your Advice and Assistance in relation to Tangier the Condition and Importance of the Place obliges his Majesty to put this House in mind again That He relies upon them for the Support of it without which it cannot be much longer preserved His Majesty doth therefore Earnestly Recommend Tangier again to the due and speedy Consideration and Care of this House A Debate thereupon arising in the House they Voted That they would proceed in the Consideration of this Message the next Wednesday Morning at Ten of the Clock A Bill sent down from the Lords Intituled An Act for the better Regulating the Tryals of the Peers of England was Read the Second time and Committed upon the Debate of the House This day the Bill for Disabling the Duke of York was Read the first time in the House of Peers and the question being put Whether it should be read again the House divided Noes 63. Yeas 30. So it was Thrown out the Bishops all appearing against the Bill Except three for which some of the Commons Reflected upon them with great Liberty as if no body could be for the Duke but he must be for Popery The House of Commons taking notice of this were so discomposed that they Adjourned themselves on Tuesday Morning and did nothing that day And the day following meeting in a very bad and discontented humour and taking into Consideration the Message about Tangier They Resolved upon an Address to his Majesty upon the Debate of the House Humbly representing to him the dangerous State and Condition of the Kingdom And then it appearing that George Earl of Hallifax had been very Active in the House of Lords against the Bill for Dis-inheriting the Duke they Resolved also upon another Address to his Majesty to remove the Earl from his Majesties Presence and Councils for Ever And this was all they did the Second day after The House being in a perfect Fret and the Country-Party Heating themselves by their Speeches to that height they were scarce able to Consider what was fit to be said or asked And now that the Peers of England have passed their Judgment concerning this Bill I will add some short Reflections upon the Bill which I shall shall submit to my Reader as it is fit I should First Then I do acknowledg it is a great affliction to any Protestant Country to fall into the Hands of a Popish Prince and worse for England then for most other because of the great and implacable Malice the Jesuits and the whole Church of Rome have ever born to the Religion Established amongst us which is more easily defended against them then any other Reformed Church as being founded upon greater Antiquity and more conformable to the Primitive Church of the Three or Four first Centuries then either the Church of Rome or any of the Reformed Churches in these Western Parts of the World and therefore they of the Church of Rome Have left no stone unturned to Subvert her imploying all their own Wit and Power against her ever since the Reign of Queen Elizabeth began and sticking neither at Perjury Treason Murther nor any other Villany that they thought might conduce to that End and when God had by his Gracious Providence defeated all these their Damnable Projects They Transformed themselves into the shapes of our own Protestant Dissenters and so promoted a Rebellion which ended in the seeming Ruine of this Religion and Government to their mighty Content and Satisfaction but tho his Majesty at his Return re-settled this Church yet they did not give over but by a Toleration by spreading Pamphlets written in the Stile of the Dissenters and so very acceptable to them by discouraging all that opposed our Intestine Divisions and a multitude of such other frauds they have in Twenty Years time so shaken her foundations again that his Majesty can hardly now preserve and uphold her against the Popish Party on the one hand and the Dissenters on the other So that if this poor persecuted Church should fall into the hands of a Prince of their Communion She is to Expect whatever the most Enraged Malice armed with his Authority can inflict upon her and She hath all the reason in the world to expect the Dissenters will joyn with them to afflict and ruine her Not out of any Kindness to Popery but out of an implacable hatred they two have Conceived against her So that I must and will Conclude the Church of England hath the greatest reason in the world to dread that day that shall put her into such hands But yet still with this limitation notwithstanding that by Avoiding one Mischief she should not plunge her Self into a greater that is by flying a Persecution from men to fall into a Rebellion against her God and Saviour by whose Providence Kings and Princes of what Religion soever they be rule and by whom they have in all Ages been so Ordered Disposed and Governed as He in his Divine and Holy Wisdom Saw most Expedient for the Prosperity or Chastisement of his Church to the greater encrease of her Glory and Happiness in the world to come Two things I will lay down as Undoubted Rules or Maximes 1. That the Kingdom of England is an Hereditary Kingdom or Monarchy which for many Ages hath gone to the Next Heirs be they Males or Females of the Blood Royal without any Election or Consent of the People otherwise then by acknowledging their Lawful Right derived from God by their Blood to them The Second is That this Hereditary Monarchy was set up at first and hath been since upheld and maintained by the Providence of
of Parliaments I know the Legislative is very great and it ought to be so But yet I am of opinion That Parliaments cannot dis-inherit the Heir of the Crown and that if such an ACT should pass it would be invalid in it self And therefore I hope it will not seem strange that I should offer my Judgment against this Bill while it is in Debate in which I think I do that which is my Duty as a Member of this House Henry the Fourth of France was a Protestant his People most Papists who used some endeavours to prevent his coming to the Crown but when they found they were not likely to perfect their design without occasioning a Civil War they desisted concluding that a Civil War would probably bring on them more misery than a King of a different Religion and therefore Submitted Sir I hope we shall not permit our Passions to Guide us instead of Reason c. Thus far that Great Person To these Reasons if we please to add this other That it is so far from preventing our Calamities that it will Ascertain them at his Majesties Death with the Addition of a Civil War and in all likelyhood bring that upon us before that time for so soon as ever the Bill pass the Duke will have a Right to make a War upon England even in his Majesty's Life-time and what may be the event of that God onely Knows However to prevent Surprize there must be A Standing Army or an Association Kept up as long as the Duke Lives and what the Consequences of them are may be foreseen without difficulty the first Ruining the Liberties of the People and the Second Endangering the Prerogatives of the Crown and both of them in the divided Condition England now is in point of Religion tending to raise such Fears and Jealousies as will be almost as Uneasie and as Unsafe as a Popish Successor and all this brought upon us immediately whereas the other is future and Contingent On Thursday the 23 d. of December The Commons Ordered That the Thanks of the House should be given to Dr. Burnett for his Sermon Preached the day before and likewise for his Book relating to the History of the Reformation of the Church of England and that he be desired to Print his said Sermon And on Thursday the 5th of January following they Voted that he should be desired to proceed with and Compleat that good Work by him begun in Writing the History of the Reformation of the Church of England They Ordered That Leave should be given to bring in a Bill or Bills to Correct and Punish Atheisme Blasphemy Swearing and Debauchery and for the better Observation of the Lords Day These and several other Crimes have grown and prevailed upon this Nation for want of a Church Discipline and by reason of the Divisions amongst us in Points of Religion and till these things be taken care of all Laws against them will signifie Nothing Yet it might deliver the Government from the guilt of them and therefore it is heartily to be wished that Care may be taken to perfect this good Design and when further Care is taken of the Lords Day some care would be taken of the other Feasts and Fasts by Law Established in the Church of England This day also the Lords returned the Additional Act for Burying in Woollen passed without Amendment And by another Message Certified to the Commons That at their Rising they would Adjourn to the Next Munday Seven-night after And by another Message they sent down Mr. Seymour's Answer to the Articles of Impeachment against him The same day the Commons also passed a Vote of an Extraordinary Nature which was as followeth Resolved That it is the Opinion of this House That Mr. Joseph Brown ought to be restored to all the Offices and Places which were taken from him by occasion of a Judgment given against him in the Court of Kings-Bench in Trinity Term 29 Caroli Secundi upon an Information for publishing an Vnlicensed Book called The Long Parliament Dissolved These Sorts of Writers were Now to be encouraged what might be but what Benefit Brown had by this Vote I never heard But the Next day being the 24th of December they took occasion to Chastise one Richard Thompson Clerk very Severely for he having been Complained of by some of the Dissenters who were Now the White Boys and the Sober Loyal Protestants and it having been remitted to a Committee to enquire into his Misdemeanors the House upon the return of the Committee passed these Votes Reselved N. C. That Richard Thompson Clerk has publickly defamed His Sacred Majesty Preached Sedition Vilified the Reformation Promoted Popery by Asserting Popish Principles Decrying the Popish Plot and turning the same upon the Protestants and endeavoured to Subvert the Liberty and Property of the Subject and the Rights and Priviledges of the Parliament and that he is a Scandal and Reproach to his Function Resolved That he be Impeached and a Committee appointed to prepare the said Impeachment and that the Report and the Resolution of the House thereupon be forthwith Printed This Thompson was accused for several Expressions both in Preaching and Discourse But they mostly fixed upon a Sermon Preached the 30th of January 1679. See the Printed Papers wherein he said it seems the Presbyterians were such persons as the Devil Blusht at Accused Hamden for chocsing to Rebel rather than pay the Ship-Money which he said was the King's Right by Law Accused Mr. Calvin to have been the first that Preached the King-Killing Doctrine And from thence inferred That a Presbyterian qua talis is as great a Traytor as any Priest or Jesuit But one Witness saith he said Worse And that he had also frequently cast Evil Aspersions against Several Divines at Bristol of Great Note viz. Mr. Chetwind Mr. Standfast Mr. Crossman and Mr. Palmer and others saying That such as went to their Lectures were the Brats of the Devil 2. That he had spoken in Sermons and elsewhere several hard Things against the Petitions for the Sitting of the Parliament as That it was the Seed of Rebellion and like to 41. c. 3. That he had said There was great Noise of a Popish Plot but there was Nothing in it but a Presbyterian Plot c. 4. He was Accused to have approved of the Doctrine of the Church of Rome in the Points of Justification Auricular Confession Penance Extream Vnction and Crisme in Baptisme and the Single Life of the Clergy saying That if he were as well Satisfied of other things as he was of these he would not have been so long Separated from the Catholick Church 5. He had spoken as they said some ill things of Queen Elizabeth and Henry the 8th as Church-Robbers and against his Majesty too which tho I care not to repeat yet they are nothing in comparison to what the Dissenters have published in Print against his Majesty What Answer the Man would have made
and Ordered others to be drawn against Sir Francis North Chief Justice of the Court of Common-Pleas Sir Thomas Jones one of the Justices of the Kings-Bench and Sir Richard Weston one of the Barons of the Exchequer So they were resolved to find themselves work tho they had refused to do the King's Business till that was granted which was impossible to be had this Session of Parliament Thursday the 6th of January A Bill for the more Easie Collecting the Duty of Hearth-Money was read a second time and committed upon the Debate of the House A Bill for Repealing the Act for the Well-Governing of Corporations was read the second time and committed Sir Philip Skippon was Excused from being taken into Custody for his Default in not attending the House in the Call there of the Tuesday before Colonel Birch reporting from the Committee appointed to receive Informations relating to the Popish Plott in Ireland That the Committee having proceeded upon the Matters to them referred had taken several Examinations and received the Answer of Sir John Davis and had also perused several Informations transmitted from the House of Lords relating to the said Plott All which he read in his place and afterwards delivered the same in at the Clerks Table where the same were again read The House then took into Consideration the Message sent from the Lords the Tuesday before wherein they desired the Concurrence of the House and Resolved That the House did agree with the Lords with the addition of these Words That the Duke of York being a Papist and the Expectation of his coming to the Crown hath given the Greatest Countenance and Encouragement thereto as well as to the Horrid Popish Plot in this Kingdome of England And they resolved to deliver the said Vote to the Lords at a Conference and Appointed a Committee to draw up Reasons to be offered at the said Conference Ordered That the several Informations of John Macnamara Maurice Fitz-Gerrald and James Mash that day read to the House relating to the Irish Plot be forthwith Printed Resolved That Rich. Poure Earl of Tyrone in the Kingdom of Ireland be Impeached of High Treason And that the Lord Dursley do go up to the Bar of the Lords and Impeach him c. and pray that he may be Committed to Safe Custody And further Ordered That the Committee appointed to prepare the Evidence against the Popish Lords in the Tower do prepare the said Impeachment Ordered That the further Consideration of the said Report in relation to Arthur Earl of Anglesey and Sir John Davis be Adjourned to Saturday Morning next at Ten of the Clock in a full House When it was Adjourned to Munday following which was their last day and gave them occasion for other Thoughts On Friday the 7th day of January The ingrossed Articles of Impeachment against Sir William Scroggs were Read and sent up to the Lords by the Lord Cavendish A Bill to prevent Vexatious Actions was read the first time and Ordered a second reading A Bill to prevent the Symony of one person from prejudicing another was read the first time and Ordered a second reading The Bill of Discovery of Settlements of Estates for Superstitious Uses was read the second time and committed upon the debate of the House Then the House according to their Order entred into Consideration of his Majesty's Message sent to the House the Tuesday before and Voted as followeth Resolved That it is the Opinion of this House That there is no Security or Safety for the Protestant Religion the King's Life or the Well Constituted and Established Government of this Kingdom without passing a Bill for disabling James Duke of York to Inherit the Imperial Crown of England and Ireland and the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging and to rely upon any other means or remedies without such a Bill is not onely Insufficient but dangerous Resolved That his Majesty in his last Message having assured this House of his readiness to Concur in all other means for the preservation of the Protestant Religion this House doth declare That until a Bill be likewise passed for Excluding the Duke of York this House cannot give any Supply to his Majesty without Danger to his Majesties Person Extream Hazard of the Protestant Religion and Vnfaithfulness to Those by whom this House is trusted It seems the loss of Tangier and of all our Alliances abroad did not at all Hazard the Protestant Religion or Endanger his Majesties Person Resolved That all Persons who Advised his Majesty in his last Message to this House to insist upon an Opinion against the Bill for Excluding the Duke of York Have given pernicious Counsel to his Majesty and Are Promoters of Popery and Enemies to the King and Kingdome Resolved That George Earl of Halifax Henry Marquess of Worcester Henry Earl of Clarendon in the Opinion of this House are persons who Advised his Majesty in his last Message to this House to insist upon an Opinion against the Bill for Excluding the Duke of York and have therein given pernicious Counsel to his Majesty and are Promoters of Popery and Enemies to the King and Kingdom Resolved That an Humble Address be presented to his Majesty to remove Lawrence Hide Esq from his Majesties Councils and Presence and from his Office in the Treasury for ever Resolved That an Humble Address be presented to his Majesty to remove Henry Marquess of Worcester from his Presence and Councils and all the Offices and Imployments of Honour and Profit for ever Resolved That it is the Opinion of this House That Lewis Earl of Feversham is a Promoter of Popery and of the French Interest and a Dangerous Enemy to the King and Kingdom Resolved That an Humble Address be made to his Majesty to remove him from all Military Offices and Commands and from all other Publick Offices and Imployments and from his Majesties Councils and Presence for ever But here was no Addresses Voted against George Earl of Halyfax nor Henry Earl of Clarendon A Motion being made also for an Address to his Majesty to remove Edward Seymour Esq from his Majesties Council and Presence it was Adjourned to the Munday following Having taken all this care to Chastise the Great Men who as they believed had opposed them in this great business in the Next place they undertook to Chastise his Majesty Himself and if their design had taken effect as it is to be hoped it Never will his Majesty and all his Successors should have Known what it is to Anger a House of Commons However they meant well for they Resolved That whoever should hereafter Lend or cause to be lent by way of Advance any Money upon the Branches of the King's Revenue arising by Customs Excise or Hearth-Money that is all the principal Branches shall be Adjudged to hinder the Sitting of Parliaments and shall be responsible for the same in Parliament Resolved That whoever shall accept or buy any Tally of Anticipation upon
by Civil Wars and Rebellions as in His Majesties Fathers time to make way for the French to Seize these Kingdoms and totally to Ruine their Infantry and Naval Force These are Mr. Oats his Words and whoever had seen the persons Must'red up about the choosing this Parliament would have thought that Forty One had been returned again and that the Jesuits under the shape of Nonconformist Ministers had been turning the Plot that way now God had defeated the close one But though all this Care was taken the Dissenters did not carry the Elections every where nor almost any where without great Resistance For on the other side the Gentry appeared themselves and brought in their Tenants and Dependences and many of the Yeomanry and Free-holders were Zealous for the Church and Government and in Corporations the Magistrates and Free-men had not forgot the old tricks of the Dissenters and were resolved not to be ruin'd twice by the same Arts so that the two Parties were almost equal there and in the Counties the Gentry were certainly the stronger side if Perjury had not been employed against them and in some places they prevailed against that too but not so as to make an equal Party in the House The Persons that stood on this side were Men of Undoubted Loyalty to the King hearty lovers of the Religion Established and great Enemies to Puritanism Faction and Rebellion and for these good qualities were stiled by the contrary Party-men of Arbitrary Principles and favourers of Popery some of these had been Members of the Last Parliament and been of that they call the Court Party who had been guilty of Setling the Monarchy and Suppressing the Rebellion and the Nurseries of it the Conventicles and others were taken in to fill up the vacancies of or very nearly of the same Principles The Elections being thus made the Parliament met the day appointed which was Thursday the sixth of March 1678. and my business is to wait upon them and see how matters went in the Lower House especially and as an Introduction I will take notice of His Majesty's Speech in the first place part of which was as followeth My Lords and Gentlemen I Meet you here with the most earnest desire that man can have to Unite the Minds of all my Subjects both to me and to one another and I resolve it shall be your faults if the Success be not suitable to my desires I have done many great things already in order to that end as the Exclusion of the Popish Lords from their Seats in Parliament the Execution of several men both upon the Score of the Plat and of the Murder of Sir Edmonberry Godfrey and it is apparent that I have not been idle in prosecuting the discovery of both as much further as hath been possible in so short a time I have disbanded as much of the Army as I could get Mony to do and I am ready to disband the rest so soon as you shall reimburse the Mony they have cost me and will inable me to pay off the remainder And above all I have Commanded my Brother to absent himself from me because I would not leave the Malicious Men room to say I had not removed all causes which could be pretended to influence me towards Popish Counsels Besides that end of Union which I am at and which I wish could be extended to Protestants abroad as well as at home I propose by this last great step I have made to discern whether Protestant Religion and the Peace of the Kingdom be as truly aimed at by others as they are really intended by me for if they be you will imploy your time upon the great concerns of the Nation and not be drawn to promote private animosities under pretences of the publique your Proceedings will be calm and peaceable in order to those good ends I have recommended to you and you will curb the motions of any unruly Spirits which would endeavour to disturb them I hope there will be none such amongst you because there can be no man that must not see how fatal differences amongst our selves are like to be at this time both at home or abroad I shall not cease my endeavours dayly to find out what more I can both of the Plot and Murder of Sir Edmondberry Godfrey and shall desire the Assistance of both my Houses in that work I have not been wanting in giving orders for putting all the present Laws in Execution against Papists and I am ready to joyn in the making such further Laws as may be necessary for securing of the Kingdom against Popery And after a short discourse of supply's he goes on I will conclude as I begun with my earnest desires to have this a Healing Parliament and I do give you this Assurance that I will with my life defend both the Protestant Religion and the Laws of this Kingdom and I do expect from you to be defended from the Calumny as well as Danger of those worst of men who endeavour to render me and my Government odious to my people By which last passage I believe his Majesty reflected upon the Dissenters and Common wealth Party who as they were more believed so they had been more busie in traducing him and that with a more Mischievous Malice and effect than the worst Jesuits during this short time betwixt the Dissolution of the last and the Election of this present Parliament and therefore his Majesty had reason to tell the Parliament he expected to be defended by them from the Calumny of the Dissenters as well as from the danger of the Papists both which are the worst of men as who did endeavour to render him and his Government Odious to his people The Lord Chancellor's Speech was for the most part but an enlargement upon his Majestie 's as it uses to be and therefore I shall take notice of some passages only in it He advised them not to overdo their business and by being too far transported with the fears of Popery neglect the opportunities they then had of making sober and lasting provisions against it He told them it was a Custom of the Jesuits first to Murder the fame of Princes and then their persons first slandering them to their people as if they favoured Papists and then to assassinate them for being too Zealous Protestants He represented what a joy it would be to them to see us whom they could not destroy by the conspiracy Ruining our selves after the discovery by incurable jealousies and disturbing the Government And that further care might be taken of Regulating the Press from whence there daily stole forth Popish Catechisms Psalters and Books of Controversie and Seditious and Schismatical Libells too We shall now see how these Counsells were pursued by the Parliament The first thing the House of Commons did was to choose Edward Seymour Esquire their former Speaker their Speaker again But the next day the King disliking the choice and Commanding them to
Address should be made to his Majesty by such Members of their House as were of his Majesties Privy Counsel to desire his Majesty to Command the Lord Chancellor to put him out of the Commission of the Peace Because it seems his Imprisonment was not punishment enough for so great an offence as this Exact Coll. of the most considerable debates c. p. 337. And the Writing several other books to revive the memory of 1641. as one of the Members expressed it in the following Parliament when it seems they meant to have another fling at him for though his Majesty can pardon and forgive there are that cannot But I believe they have got no great matter by this Nor was the Doctor turn'd out of the Commission for all their Address his Majesty knowing this would not suit his Interest On Saturday the Lords sent down a Bill entituled May 3. An Act for freeing the City of London and parts adjacent from Popish Inhabitants and providing against other dangers which may arise from Papists And in the Afternoon May 5. an Account that the Earl of Danby would insist upon his Pardon and that he desired his Council might be heard to the Validity of it On Monday His Majesty sent this message to the Commons by the Lord Russell His Majesty hath commanded me to let the House know that his Majesty is willing to comply with the request made to him by the House concerning Pickering and that the Law shall pass upon him accordingly and as to the Condemned Priests the House of Peers have sent for them in order as his Majesty conceives to some Examinations and further to acquaint you that he repeateth his instances to you to think of putting the Fleet in such a posture as may quiet mens fears and at least secure us from any sudden attempt which his Majesty doubts not but you will do And though the streights and difficulties he lyeth under are very great he doth not intend during this Sessions to press for any other Supply being willing rather to suffer the Burdens that are upon him some time longer than to interrupt you whilst you are imployed about the discovery of the Plot the Tryal of the Lords and the Bill for securing our Religion The same day the Commons went up to the Bar of the Lords house to demand Judgment against the Earl of Danby upon the Illegality of his pardon May the 6. On Tuesday John Wilson and Roger Bockwith Esquires two Justices of the Peace of the County of York were sent for in Custody for saying that this Parliament was no Parliament and they would justify it Of which more hereafter May 22. A Message was sent to the Lords by the Commons that the House was ready to make good the Impeachments against the five Popish Lords in the Tower and the Committee of Secrecy belonging to the Commons was appointed to manage the evidence against them at their Tryals Wednesday The 7. of May the Lords sent down a Message that they had appointed Saturday to hear the Earl of Danby's Plea for the Validity of his Pardon that they had Addressed to the King for the naming a Lord High Steward at his Tryal and that of the Popish Lords which was appointed by their Lordships to be that day seven-night On Thursday The 8. of May. the Commons agreed an Address to his Majesty against John Duke of Lauderdale upon general pretences of fears and jealousies desiring he might be removed from his Majesties Counsels in England and Scotland putting his Majesty in mind of the Address of the last Parliament to that purpose and resolved they would attend his Majesty in a body The Commons desired a Conference with the Lords to state before hand the manner of proceedings in the Tryal of the Earl of Danby and of the five Popish Lords and took exceptions to their motion for a Lord High Steward On Friday his Majesty sent for the Commons and passed the Bill for Disbanding the Army and such other Bills as were ready which was wisely done for by this surprize other debates were prevented which might have prov'd of dangerous consequence After this they appointed a Committee to inspect the Journalls and search Presidents touching the carrying up of Bills and what previous intimation ought to be given to them of his Majesties intention to pass Bills and from and by whom such notice hath usually been given and whether the House may debate after the message delivered by the Black Rod for attendance of the House upon his Majesty It would have been very unhappy if by reason of these Debates the Forces then on foot should have continued undisbanded By all which as much as is possible to conjecture it would have been very unhappy if by reason of these Debates the Forces then on foot should have continued undisbanded to the great damage of the King and Kingdom notwithstanding the common clamour against them if his Majesty had not thus prevented it The same day the Commons passed this Vote that no Commoner whatsoever should presume to maintain the Validity of the pardon pleaded by the E. of Danby without the leave of their house first had and that the persons so doing should be accounted betrayers of the Liberties of the Commons of England and Ordered this Vote to be posted up at Westminster-hall Gate Serjeants-Innes and Innes of Court His Lordships Friends called this a depriving him of all counsel to defend himself but what was appointed by his Enemies and Accusers in a matter of Law insisting upon the Rules of proceedings in all other Courts and the ordinary methods of Common and Natural equity and right it seeming hard to ruine a man if not some diffidence of the case to deny him those Priviledges the meanest and worst of Rogues have which is to choose such Councel as the Court before whom they are to be tryed will allow the Kings Councel excepted And when the humour was stirr'd they voted that the Answer delivered by the Lords that day at the Last Conference about the manner of trying the Peers whereby their Lordships had not consented to a Committee of the Houses because they did not think it Conformable to the Rules and Orders of their Court of which they said they had reason to be tender in matters relating to their Judicature tended to the Interruption of the good correspondency between the two Houses May 10. The first thing the Commons did on Saturday morning was the Reading of an Address to the King for the raising of the Militia of London Westminster the Tower Hamlets and Counties of Middlesex and Surrey for the security of his Majesties Person at the Tryal of the Popish Lords by reason of the Great Resort of the Jesuits Popish Priests and other Popish Recusants at that time in contempt of his Majesties Laws and Royal Proclamation to which they desired the Concurrence of the Lords to which they unanimously agreed The E. of
Wherefore we your Majesties Loyal Subjects could not but be sensibly affected with trouble to find such a Person notwithstanding the repeated Addresses of the last Parliament continued in your Counsels at this time when the affaires of your Kingdom require none to be put into such imployments but such as are men of known abilities Interest and esteem in the Nation without all suspition of either mistaking or betraying the true interest of the Kingdom and consequently of advising your Majesty ill We do therefore most humbly beseech your most sacred Majesty for the taking away the great Jealousies Dissatisfactions and Fears amongst your good Subjects that your Majesty will gratiously be pleased to remove the Duke of Lauderdale from your Majesties Counsels in your Majesties Kingdoms of England and Scotland and from all offices imployments and places of trust and from your Majesties Presence for ever This Address they presented to his Majesty the day following to which his Majesty replyed he would consider of it and return an Answer But in the mean time it was doubtless sent after the Speech into Scotland where it found all things rather necessitated to a Rebellion than disposed the Murther of so illustrious a Person as the Primate of that Kingdom and one of his Majesties Privy Counsel there was a Villany not to be smothered And the Proclamation published the day after the fact for the discovery and apprehending of the Assassines representing the Act as it deserved with great detestation had further allarm'd the whole Party who had as they thought no other way to escape the deserved revenge but by justifying the Murther with a Rebellion And finding by this Address that the House of Commons in England were in this critical moment pressing upon their dreadful Enemy the Duke of Lauderdale they took it for granted God had espoused their cause and if they could make a head in Scotland they should be seconded out of England hoping perhaps to be as well rewarded for this as they were for beginning the former Rebellion and so being pushed forward by their destiny and desperation on they went On Tuesday the 27th of May 1679 The Parliament was prorogued and the Thursday following which was the 29th of the same month the Scotch Covenanters who knew nothing of it began their Rebellion at Ragland in Scotland to which place about fourscore men well mounted and armed came and proclaimed the Covenant and burnt several Acts of Parliament and affixed this following Declaration on the Market Cross As the Lord had been pleased still to keep and preserve his Interest in the Land by the Testimony of some faithful Witnesses from the beginning so in our days some have not been wanting who through the greatest of Hazards had added their Testimonies to these who have gone before them by suffering death Banishment Torturings Finings Forfeitures imprisonments c. Flowing from cruel and perfidious Adversaries to the Church and Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Land Therefore we owning the Interest of Christ according to the word of the Lord and the National and Solemn League and Covenant desire to add our Testamony to the Testimonies of the Worthies that has gone before though unworthy yet hoping as true Members of the Church of Christ in Scotland and that against all things that has been done prejudicial to his interest from the beginning of the work of Reformation in Scotland especially from the year 1648 to the year 1660 against these following Acts. 1. The Act of Supremacy 2. The Declaration whereby the Covenants are condemned 3. The Act for Eversion of the established Government of the Church and for establishing Prelacy and for the Outing of Christs Ministers who could not conform thereto by an Act Rescissory of all Acts of Parliament and Assemblies for the Establishment of the Covernment of the Church of Scotland according to the Word 4. As likewise the Act of Council at Glasgow putting that Act recissory in execution where at one time were violently cast out above three hundred Ministers without any Legal procedures 5. As likewise the Act appointing a Holy Anniversary Day to be kept upon the 29th of May for giving thanks for the upsetting of an usurping Power destroying the Interest of the Church in the Land which is to set up the Creature to be worshipped in the room of our Great Redeemer and to consent to the assuming of the power that is proper to the Lord alone for the appointing Ordinances in his Church as particularly the Government thereof and the keeping of Holy-days and all other sinful and unlawful Acts Emitted and Executed by them And for Confirmation of this our Testimony we do hereby this day being the 29th day of May 1679 Publickly burn them at the Cross of Ragland most Justly as they perfidiously and Blasphemously had burnt our Holy Covenants through several Cities of the Covenanted Kingdoms We judge none will take exception at our not subscribing this our Testimony being so solemnly gone about for we are ready always to do it if judged necessary with all the faithful suffering Brethren in the Land They intended to have affixed this Declaration at Glasgow too but were prevented by the Kings Forces there On the Sunday following they Rendevoused upon London Hill being then 14 or 1500 men well armed and in good order the foot commanded by one Weir and the Horse by Robert Hamilton one Patron Balfour and Hackston these two last being of the number of them that murthered the Arch-bishop and consequently most concerned to carry the Rebellion as far as they could being thus disposed and Ordered one Captain Graham of Claver House marched against them with a troop of Horse and a Company of Dragoons upon whose approach the Rebels sent out two Parties to Skirmish with him which he beat into their main body and then they advanced with their whole force upon him So that after a considerable slaughter of them and the loss of his Cornet two Brigadiers and about eight Horse and twenty Dragoons his own horse being killed under him and he mounting another being so much over-powered in number he made his retreat towards Glasgow being in his way forced to fight his way through the Townsmen of Streuin who were got together to oppose it leaving ten or twelve of them dead upon the place On Munday the Second day of June the Rebells in the morning attacked the City of Glasgow at two several times but all the Streets were so well Barracadoed by the Lord Ross and the Souldiers there put into so good a posture that they were beat off with considerable loss besides many Prisoners that were taken and thereupon the Horse and Dragoons in the Town sallied out and pursued them upon their drawing off In the Interim the Council of Scotland having first given an account of this Rebellion to his Majesty published a Proclamation for the suppression of it and that failing Levied what forces they could to oppose them
the Letters Papers and Evidences which have been delivered to the Privy Council relating to the said Plot. This Afternoon they Waited upon his Majesty with their Address for the Preservation of his Person and Government c. On Munday the First day of November Mr. Secretary Jenkins told the House the Papers they had Addressed for had been sent to the Committee of the House of Lords for Examination of the Plot the 24th of October The Bill for wearing of Woollen was also read and committed Then the Speaker Reported the King's Answer to their Address for Preservation of his Majesties Person and the Protestant Religion which was as followeth I Thank you very heartily for your Zeal for the Protestant Religion and I assure you there shall be nothing wanting on my part at Home or Abroad to preserve it Sir Francis Winnington Chairman of the Committee for Inspecting the Journals of the Two last Parliaments concerning the Proceedings relating to the Popish Plot reported a general abstract of the same which was Ordered to be perfected and that they should inspect those of the House of Lords for the same time Then one Hardwich a Linnen-Draper being accused of some Misdemeanors against one Seignior Francisco a Witness in the Popish Plot was Ordered to be sent for in Custody of the Serjeant Attending their House to answer the same This was to punish a man before they knew whether he were guilty or no upon a bare Suggestion On Tuesday the 2 d. of November A Bill for prohibiting the Importation of Irish Cattel was read and committed And then one Harnage was ordered to be brought to the Bar for abusing Francisco Ferria And then they Voted an Address to his Majesty for a pardon for Dangerfield and that he would take him and Mr. Dugdale Mr. Prance and this Seignior F. Ferria into his Royal Care and Protection But these were small matters to what follow Resolved Nemine Contradicente That the Duke of York's being a Papist and the Hopes of his coming such to the Crown hath given the greatest Countenance and Encouragement to the present Designs and Conspiracies against the King and Protestant Religion Resolved That in defence of the King's Person and Government and of the Protestant Religion this House doth declare That they will stand by his Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes and that if his Majesty shall come by any violent death which God forbid they will Revenge it to the Vttermost upon the Papists who ever did it Resolved That a Bill be brought in to disable the Duke of York to Inherit the Imperial Crown of this Realm On Tuesday the 3 d. day of November the Lords sent down an Act they had passed for the better Regulating the Trials of the Peers of England to which they desired the Concurrence of the Commons and it was read the same day and committed Mr. Harnage being then brought to the Bar was continued in Custody of the Serjeant during the Pleasure of the House Not one tittle being inserted concerning the Nature of his Misdemeanor The Committee for Examination of the Journals were also appointed to inspect the Impeachments against the Lords in the Tower and the proceedings thereupon And they were also to prepare Evidence against the said Lords And in the mean time they Voted Resolved Nemine Contradicente That a Bill be brought in for the better Vniting of all his Majesties Protestant Subjects This was now a New Name for a Toleration as I will make it appear Ordered That Sir Tho. Whitegrave and Mr. Birch of Stafford Apothecary and Lieutenant Ellis be sent for in Custody of the Serjeant to answer to the Charge given against them by Mr. Dugdale Ordered That Herbert Herring be sent for in Custody c. for a Notorious Breach of Priviledge by him committed against Mr. Colt a Member of their House No account how or when being given But Jeremiah Bubb was onely Summoned to appear at the Bar to answer for a Breach of Priviledge committed against Mr. Colt The Bill for Prohibiting the Importation of Irish Cattel was read the second time and committed And Leave was given to bring in a Bill for the Exportation of Leather On Thursday the 4th of November the said Bill was read the first time and Ordered a second reading And then Mr. Secretary Jenkins Reported his Majesty's Answer concerning the Informers against the Popish Plot which was That Care had and should be taken of them Ordered That a Committee be appointed to inspect the Act intituled Trade Encouraged made in the 15th Year of his Majesties Reign and to bring in a Bill for prohibiting of Scotch Cattel at certain Seasons And then after some Debates and Votes concerning Elections of which I shall take no Notice The Bill for disabling the D. of York to Inherit was read the first time and committed Ordered That a Committee be appointed to Inspect the Laws that are in being touching the Maintenance of the Poor and to bring in a Bill or Bills for Regulating and preventing the encrease of the Poor in this Kingdom On Saturday the 6th of November it was Ordered That a Committee be appointed to Inspect the Law concerning the Anniversary Reading of the Narrative of the Gunpowder-Plot in Churches on every Fifth day of November and to Report the same to the House Resolved N. C. That it is the Opinion of this House That the Acts of Parliament made in the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James against Popish Recusants Ought not to be Extended against Protestant Dissenters It would have been well if we had been told why they ought not to be Extended to all that break them one as well as another And then how it should be possible to distinguish these two Sorts of offenders one from the other the offence being Exactly the same tho the cause be a little different And then thirdly if a Bill had been brought in for that purpose for the Votes of the House of Commons are no binding Expositions of Law nor I hope never will be Lastly this Vote was needless if the Bill of Vnion went on and to no purpose if it did not as I suppose they understand Now. Ordered That a Committee be appointed to prepare and bring in a Bill for Repeal of all or any part of the Act of Parliament made in the 35th Year of the Reign of Queen Eliz. Cap. 1. Printed in the Statute Book of Pulton This was a severe Act against the Dissenters and they were Now to be Countenanced and Encouraged to the utmost for what end and purpose is not difficult to be guessed by their Insolence against the King and Government A Bill for Exportation of Cloth and other Woollen Manufactures into Turkey was read the first time and committed The Bill to disable the Duke of York was read the Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House with a Resolution declared that it should Extend to the Person of the Duke of
is founded are weak and unconcluding and that no Malice could have Contrived a more effectual way to hasten those Calamities upon us it pretends to prevent and to ascertain what is full as likely never to happen without it So I conclude the Lords did well and wisely in rejecting the Bill and the Bishops in joyning with them so to do And now I will proceed with the rest of the Votes having made this short Digression to Express my thoughts on this great affair which I submit to the Judgment of wiser men and shall willingly retract or amend any thing if I have erred for I seek nothing by all this but the Peace and Prosperity of my Country There being little done of importance on Thursday the 18th day of November the next day the Commons fell upon the business of the Abhorrers of the Petitions and began with the Grand-Juries for the Counties of Somerset and Devon which had both detested and abhorred the said Tumultuous Petition So they Ordered That Sir Giles Philips and William Coleman being the Fore-men of the said Grand-Juries should be sent for in Custody of the Serjeant at Arms attending their House to answer at the Bar of their House for Breach of Priviledge by them committed against their House Before in Sir George Jeffereys Case it was for betraying the Rights of the Subject and Now 't is become a Priviledge of Parliament for the People to Petition by Hundreds and Thousands for the Sitting of a Parliament At this rate of Proceeding there will be Priviledges of Parliament enough at last At the same time they ordered Captain William Castle and Mr. John Hutchinson and Mr. Henry Walrond the two last being of the said Grand-Juries to be Sent for in Custody too So this was a pretty handsom begining But the next day they found that Mr. William Stawell was Fore-man for the Grand-Jury for Devon and not Mr. Coleman so they ordered his Name to be put out of the Warrant and Mr. Stawell's to be put in This shews with what heat and haste they managed this affair But why should the Fore-men of the Grand-Juries be sent for rather than all or any of the rest the Foreman having no more Authority than the Last man nor being any way inabled by his place to Help or Hinder any thing but being Concluded by the Major part be his own Opinion what it will but they could not tell who promoted this affair and therefore Right or Wrong Singled them out to be made Examples not thinking it convenient to send for the whole Number who yet were punished in these and not only they that suffered but every Gentleman in the Nation suffer'd in them their Liberties being at the Mercy of every Corporation who when they please may send Taylors Grocers c. to enjoy these exorbitant priviledges and Send for the best Knights and Gentlemen in England for not having payd respects great enough to them The Bill of Importation of Cattel from Scotland was read the second time and Committed Then they proceeded in the business of the Abhorrers and Voted That one Thomas Herbert Esq should be sent for in Custody for prosecuting John Arnold Esq at the Council Table for promoting the said Petition and procuring Subscriptions To him they added Sir Thomas Holt Serjeant at Law and Mr. Thomas Staples as Betrayers of the Liberties of the Subject The same day one Eld was discharged out of Custody who had been taken for not Making a good Search for Arms at the Lord Aston's House at Taxall in Staffordshire Notice being taken that he was a Sober Protestant what that means I must leave to my Reader for I never heard that any sort of Protestants made Drunkenness or Debauchery or any other sort of Insobriety a part of Protestantisme and I should have liked it better if it had been a Confiding Man and an Enemy to the Popish Faction It were worth the while to enquire how he stood affected to the Puritan Faction On Munday the 22 of November Two Bills for Regulating Elections were read the second time and Committed to a Committee to unite or divide them as they should see cause The day following Sir Thomas Holt petitioning the House was called in and Censured upon his Knees and Discharged The same day a further Address was Voted to Petition his Majesty to remit a Fine of 500 l. that had been set upon Mr. Benjamin Harris for Printing Seditious Libels Such men were not to be discouraged in an Age when so few were to be found who would undertake that dangerous Imployment for the good of the Nation The same day a Bill was brought in for Repeal of an ACT made in the 35 of Eliz. Cap. 1. Against Seditious and Disloyal Sectaries and Conventicles this Bill passed both Houses but was taken away before it was Signed by the King So that Statute Escaped then to the terror of those Protestants There having been a design to Indict the Duke of York for a Popish Recusant in Trinity Term this Year and the same being prevented by the Court of Kings-Benches discharging the Grand-Jury before they had found the same the House made this Vote That the discharging of a Grand-Jury by any Judge before the end of the Term Assizes or Sessions whilest Matters are under their Consideration and Not presented is Arbitrary Illegal and Destructive to publick Justice a manifest Violation of his Oath what Oath and is a Means to Subvert the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom Resolved That a Committee be appointed to Examine the Proceedings of the Judges in Westminster-Hall c. On Wednesday November 24. After Orders for the sending for George Bell an Attorney at Law Arthur Yeomans William Jordan John Laws and Henry Aulnett for Breach of Priviledge of Parliament without assigning wherein Order was given to bring in a Bill 1. To Supply the Laws against Bankrupey 2. And another to take away the Court held before the Lord President and Council in the Marches of Wales Then the Bill for Repeal of the 35 Eliz Cap. 1. was read the Second time and Ordered to be ingrossed Ordered That an humble Address be made to his Majesty from this House by such Members thereof as are of His Majesties Most Honourable Privy Council to desire his Majesty to give Orders That all Protestant Dissenters who are prosecuted upon any Penal Laws made against Popish Recusants in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth and King James may be Admitted to a Composition in the Exchequer without paying any Fees Which was granted by his Majesty Ordered That Leave be given to bring in a Bill declaring that those Laws shall not be Extended to P. Dissenters and that it be referred to the Committee appointed to bring in the Bill for the better Vniting of his Majesties Protestant Subjects The Attorney-General being ordered formerly to attend and This day Called in and Examined touching the Manner of Issuing forth of the P. stiled A Proclamation against Tumultuous
Petitions and Giving an Account to the House That Sir Fra. North Chief Justice of the Court of Common-Pleas was Advising and Assisting in the drawing up and passing of the said Proclamation and a Debate thereupon arising in the House they Resolved N.C. That it was sufficient Ground for the House to proceed upon an Impeachment against him for High Crimes and Misdemeanors and order taken for an Impeachment accordingly Thus the Dissenters are encouraged to go on and break the Laws and the Judges punished for Executing them On Thursday the 25 of November Nothing Extraordinary was done but the Exhibiting Articles against Edward Seymour Esquire formerly Speaker of the House to Each of which he being required to make a distinct answer there arising a Debate upon the first Article the whole was adjourned to the next day Samuel Verdon Under-Sheriff of Norfolk was ordered to be sent for into Custody upon a Complaint of several Crimes and Misdemeanors by him committed For a Notorious Breach of Priviledge of Parliament by him committed against their House No such thing being mentioned in the Complaint Friday Novemb. 26. The Bill of Repeal of the 35 of Eliz. was read the third time and passed And the House resolved to Impeach Mr. Seymour upon 4 Articles and appointed a Committee to draw up those Articles accordingly and Referred it to them to consider of Precedents concerning the Committing of Members to Custody when Impeached in Parliament On Munday the 29 day of November the House attended his Majesty with their Address concerning Tangier which being very long I will not trouble the Reader with it at Large The whole is a Tragical representation of the Advantages that Popery had gotten over the Religion and Government Assisted as they tell us by the Treachery of perfidious Protestants which must be the Dissenters by whose assistance they obtained the Toleration broke several Sessions of the Long Loyal Parliament if Coleman's Letter to Monsieur Le Chese may be Credited and it may truly be averred that the Papists have not obtained any Advantage without the Dissenters nor the Dissenters without them They say further That the ACT of Parliament enjoyning a Test to be taken by all persons admitted into any Publick Office and intended for a Security against Papists coming into Imployment had So little effect that either by dispensations obtained from Rome they Submitted to those Tests and held their Offices themselves or those put into those Places wore so favourable to the same Interest that Popery it self has rather gained than lost ground since that ACT. Now Supposing it true that some of them did obtain such dispensations what was this to his Majesty and if any of them that gat their Offices were apt to afford them unlawful favours they might have called them to account for it with much more general Satisfaction than they did the Abhorrers but let any man that Knowes any thing of the World Judge whether the Malice or falsehood of the Conclusion be greatest They tell the King a dreadful Story of the defeating of the Presentment intended against his Majesties Brother the Duke of York under whose Countenance all the rest of the Papists shelter themselves as they say But surely his Majesty was not to be informed what they thought of this who could not but be well informed of the Fact long since and so they descend to the business of the Weekly Pacquet of Advice from Rome which Exposes Popery as it deserves say they as Ridiculous to the People and they tell his Majesty That a New and Arbitrary Rule of Court was made in his Majesties Court of Kings-Bench That the same for the future should not be Printed by any person whatsoever But then they take no Notice how that Author has made many Odious False and Scandalous Reflections upon the Religion and Government by Law Established which was the cause why it was Supprest and not any talent he had of writing against Popery Finally They tell the King that they have freed themselves from the guilt of that blood and desolation which is like to ensue which is an Expression in that place that looks like a kind of Threat or Menace for there was then No prospect of blood or desolation that could arise from any cause or persons but what must be Countenanced by the Dissenters The Conclusion is But our Onely hope next under God is in Your Sacred Majesty that by your Great Wisdome and Goodness we may be effectually Secured from Popery and all the Evils that attend it and that none but persons of Known Fidelity to Your Majesty and Sincere Affection to The Protestant Religion What Religion may be put into any Imployment Civil or Military That whilst we shall give a Supply to Tangier we may be assured we do not Augment the Strength of our Popish Adversaries nor encrease our own Dangers which Desires of your Faithful Commons if Your Majesty shall Graciously vouchsafe to grant we shall not onely be ready to assist Your Majesty in defence of Tangier but do whatsoever else shall be in our power to enable Your Majesty to Protect the Protestant Religion and Interest at home and abroad and to resist and repel the Attempts of Your Majesties and the Kingdoms Enemies But His Majesty notwithstanding continued without any Supply and by the Blessing of God preserved the Town Now it is very observable that in the former Parliament there being a Report That Tangier should be Sold to relieve the Necessities of the Crown they then Voted April 9. 1679. That the House was of Opinion That those who should Advise His Majesty to part with Tangier to any Foraign Prince or State or be Instrumental therein ought to be accounted Enemies to the King and Kingdom And yet now that it was in apparent hazard to be lost to the Moors the Sworn Enemies of all Christians they would grant nothing to preserve it and many of the Commons in their Speeches were of Opinion that it was the best way to desert the Town So that if any did Advise his Majesty to Sell the Place they were Enemies to the King and Kingdom but if it were lost or deserted So the King had nothing for it the Matter was not much so that the King might bear the blame tho the Commons were in the fault On TVESDAT the 30th of November the Tryal of William Viscount Stafford was began which lasted till the 7th of December of which I shall take no Notice it being printed by it Self During all which time there was nothing material done by the House of Commons except that business Wednesday the 8th and Thursday the Ninth of December were spent in Reporting of Elections and discharging persons out of the Custody of the Serjeant and Ordering others to be taken in to Supply their places But very remarkable was their Severity against Mr. Sheridon and Mr. Day who were Ordered to be taken into Custody their Papers to be Searched and that
No person should be Admitted to come to them but such as should have occasion to bring them Necessaries On Friday the 10th of December Captain Castle was found and Voted guilty of offending against the Rights of the Subject by Obstructing Petitioning to His Majesty for the Sitting of that Parliament The same day the Commons Ordered an Impeachment to be prepared against Sir Francis North Chief Justice of the Court of Common-Pleas for High Crimes and Misdemeanors viz. for Advising the Proclamation against Tumultuous Petitions Then they Voted That the Imprisonment of one Peter Norris at Dover by the Order of Sir Leoline Jenkins was Illegal and Arbitrary and an Obstruction to the Evidence for the Discovery of the Horrid Popish Plott This was the business for which Sheridon and Day were imprisoned On Munday the 13th A Bill for Exportation of Cloth and other Woollen Manufactures into Turkey being read the second time and a Debate arising thereupon it was Ordered that it should lie upon the Clerks Table They Ordered also That the Committee appointed to look into and prepare Evidence against the Lords in the Tower do Examine the Evidence against all persons concerned in the Popish Plot. And they were to report the Names of such persons together with their Opinions therein to the House upon the Debate And also that Leave should be given to bring in a Bill for Banishing of all Papists and suspected Papists from the Cities of London and Westminster and XX miles of the same with Clauses therein for disarming of all Papists and for Pains and Penalties against all such Papists or suspected Papists as should Ride Go or be Armed And that Lists of them should be brought in by the Members When ever any Law pass against suspected Papists great care ought to be taken to limit that Loose term or great Mischiefs will insue On Tuesday the 14th of December Complaint was made That one Herbert Herring who had been ordered to be taken into Custody for a Breach of Priviledge did abscond himself to avoid the Execution of the said Order whereupon it was Resolved That if he did not render himself by Saturday that House would proceed against him by Bill in Parliament for endeavouring by his absconding to Avoid the Justice of the House This was a way never to want Work if every Fugitive Attorney or Porter that had broke the Priviledge of the House was to be brought in by Bill Sir Robert Peyton a Member of their House was the Next that fell under their displeasure being said to Have had Secret Negotiation with the Duke of Y. by the Means of the Earl of Peterborough Mrs. Cellier and Mr. Gadbury at such time as they were turning the Popish Plot upon the Protestants i. e. the Presbyterians it seems they are THE Protestants For which he was Ordered after his defence to be Expelled the House and to be brought to the Bar to receive the Censure of the House upon his Knees from the Speaker Which was done with so little respect to the Quality of the person that after the Dissolution of the Parliament he sent the Speaker a Challenge for which he was Committed having been before committed to the Serjeant for not being at hand when it should have been first done by the Speaker So he was twice Committed and Expell'd too but by what Law the House of Commons proceeded I know not It is the Interest both of the Members and of Us whom they represent to take care that this be not left to them for here was a Member Expelled not for being a party to that Conspiracy of the Papists but for having Secret Negotiations with the Duke of York at that time and if this be allowed that they may Expel for what cause they please be there Law or be there none then have the greater part of the House an Absolute and Arbitrary power over the lesser part and if either Side do by accident get the Advantage of the other by a Single Vote they may Expel them as they please which must Necessarily end in Confusion and Slavery On Wednesday the 15th of December the House resolved into a Committee of the whole House to Consider of Ways and Means to Secure this Kingdom against Popery and Arbitrary Power and Resolved upon two Votes viz. Resolved Nemine Contradicente That this House doth agree with the Committee That one Means for the Suppressing Popery is That a Bill be brought in to banish immediately all the Considerable Papists of England out of the Kings Dominions Resolved N. C. That this House doth agree with the Committee That a Bill be brought in for an Association of all his Majesties Protestant Subjects for the Safety of his Majesties Person * Note here is no mention of his Majesties Government in this Association the Defence of the Protestant Religion and the Preservation of his Majesties Protestant Subjects against all Invasions and Oppositions whatsoever and for preventing the Duke of York or any Papist from Succeeding to the Crown And ordered a Committee to be appointed to prepare and bring in a Bill pursuant to the first of the said Resolves The latter was taken up to Supply the Bill of Exclusion which bad been thrown out by the Lords and was never prosecuted any further for when they came to draw the Bill it was found impracticable without involving us presently in a Civil War For an Association signifies nothing without a Head to govern and direct it if the King be made the Head then we are where we were and it is to no purpose If another person be made So then there is two distinct Governments in the same Kingdom which can never stand together a Month without imbroyling themselves and the People This the Holy League of France proved Experimentally true and the same Event will always follow Besides there was no reason to Expect that either his Majesty or the House of Lords would yield to this way of Exclusion which was worse than the former Tho if that had passed it would have signified nothing without an Association or a Standing Army as the Author of the Seasonable Address to both Houses of Parliament hath well proved This day also His Majesty made a Speech to both the Houses which I will insert when I come to the Answer of the Commons to it On Thursday the 16th of December A Petition of Divers Inhabitants in the County of Surry Complaining of the proceedings in an Ecclesiastical Court against them being read it was referred to a Committee to bring in a Bill or Bills for Regulating the proceedings of such Courts A Petition of Joshua Brook and other Merchants against the African Company was also read and referred to a Committee Mr. Booth reporting from the Committee to whom the Bill for the better Regulating the Tryals of the Peers of England was committed An Amendment to be made and a Clause to be Added and thereupon a Motion being made to bring in a Clause
for himself I know not for the Parliament never brought him to an hearing But upon inquiry I find notwithstanding all this Clamour the Man hath a great and good Report for his Piety Learning and Prudence but his Zeal for the Religion Established drew this Storm upon him from the Exasperated Dissenters who never stick thus to blast the Fame of Good Men when it serves their ill designs But to return from this Digression The Bill for Exempting his Majesties Protestant Subjects dissenting from the Church of England from the Penalties of Certain Laws was read a second time and Committed upon a Debate of the House to the Committee to whom the Bill for Vniting of his Majesties Protestant Subjects was Committed upon a Debate of the House Then the Bill for Banishing the Papists out of the King's Dominions was read a second time and committed upon the Debate of the House Then the House adjourned till Thursday the 30th of December That day the House met and Ordered That the Committee appointed to prepare Evidence against the 4. Popish Lords in the Tower should look into the Evidence and Report their Opinions to the House in Order to the further Directions and Proceedings of the House against them Resolved That the several Writings Papers and Proceedings relating to such Members of the late Long Parliament as received Allowances out of the Moneys appointed for Secret Services be produced to this House Resolved N. C. That no Member of this House shall accept of any Office or Place of Profit from the Crown without Leave of the House or any Promise of any such Office or Place of Profit during such time as he shall continue a Member of the House and that the offenders herein shall be Expelled It seems they had discovered that some of their Zealous men were Selling themselves to the Court-Party for Preferment and prepared this Vote to keep the Party together Friday the 31th of December The Bill for prohibiting the importation of Forein Guns was read the second time and rejected Leave was also given to bring in a Bill for Regulating the abuses in making Casks Barrels and other Vessels And A Committee appointed to peruse the Laws relating to Weights and Measures and to report their Opinions in the same and to bring in a Bill or Bills for the better Regulating and Ascertaining the same Ordered also That Leave be given to bring in a Bill for a General Naturalization of Alien-Protestants and allowing them liberty to Exercise their Trades in all Corporations A Bill for Relief of the Subjects against Arbitrary Fines was read a second time and committed Then the House Adjourned till Munday the 3d. of January Which day An Act for limiting the times of Importation of Cattel from Scotland being read the third time passed and was sent up to the Lords Then A Bill for Repealing an Act made in the 13th Year of his Now Majesties Reign intituled An ACT for the Well-Governing and Regulating of Corporations was read the first time and Ordered to be read again A Bill for the better discovery of Settlements to Superstitious Vses was read the first time and Ordered a second reading the Friday following at Ten of the Clock in a full House The same day the Lords sent down a Bill to the Commons Intituled An Act for distinguishing Protestant Dissenters from Popish Recusants To which they desired the Concurrence of the House The Lords sent down another Message to put the Commons in mind of the Bill for the Better regulating of the Tryals of the Peers of England And Another Message to acquaint them That their Lordships had received a Petition from Mr. Seymour for a speedy Tryal Upon which the Commons read his Answer to their Impeachment which had lyen by them some time and ordered a Committee to prepare Evidence against him and Manage it at his Tryal On Tuesday the 4th of January His Majesty sent the Commons another Message which is as followeth CHARLES R. HIS Majesty received the Address of this House with all the disposition they could wish to comply with their reasonable desires but upon perusing it he is Sorry to See their Thoughts so wholly fixed upon the Bill of Exclusion as to determine that all other Remedies for the Suppressing of Popery will be ineffectual His Majesty is Confirmed in his Opinion against that Bill by the Judgment of the House of Lords who rejected it He therefore thinks there remains Nothing more for him to say in answer to the Address of this House but to recommend to them the Consideration of all other Means for the Preservation of the Protestant Religion in which they have no reason to doubt of his Concurrence when ever they shall be presented to him in a Parliamentary way and that they would Consider the present State of the Kingdom as well as the Condition of Christendom in Such a Manner as may inable him to Preserve Tangier and Secure his Alliances abroad and the Peace and Settlement at home This Message being read in the House they Resolved to take into Consideration the Friday following in a full House The same day the Lords sent down a Vote which they made that day Die Martis 4 January 1680. Resolved by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled That they do declare that they are fully Satisfied that there now is and for divers years last past there hath been a Horrid and Treasonable Plot and Conspiracy contrived and carried on by those of the Popish Religion in Ireland for Massacring the English and Subverting the Protestant Religion and the ancient Established Government of that Kingdom To which their Lordships desired the Concurrence of the Commons On Wednesday the 5th of January Richard Thompson was Ordered upon his Petition to give sufficient Security for his forth-coming to the Serjeant at Arms attending that House to Answer to the Impeachment against him and so was discharged of his Imprisonment I can see No reason why he should be prosecuted by an Impeachment in Parliament It being beneath the Dignity of the Houses to Concern themselves with such a man as Mr. Thompson must needs be who might much better have been proceeded against in the Spiritual or Civil Courts if the Accusations were all True but that his Blaspheming Calvin and the Loyal Presbyterian Protestants would have signified Nothing there as I believe they would not before the Lords if he had been Tryed Formerly the Commons impeached none but such as were too great to be prosecuted any where else and that but rarely and upon great Necessity This made them Venerable and Dreadful but this Course for Small or No faults to impeach and imprison great Numbers of Mean People which they followed in this Session tended to Nothing but the Wasting their time and Hindering greater Affairs to the damage of the King and Kingdome The same day the Commons agreed an Impeachment against Sir William Scroggs Knight Chief Justice of the Court of Kings-Bench
any part of the King's Revenue or whosoever shall pay such Tally hereafter to be struck shall be adjudged to hinder the Sittings of Parliaments and shall be responsable therefore in Parliament First they Resolve they would give nothing themselves and then they terrify all others as much as in them lyeth from Lending or Advancing any Money to him which was not according to their Writ of Election to Advise his Majesty but by duress to force and compel him to Submit to their better Judgment as became Loyal and Dutiful Subjects So that his Majesty might well say of these Votes That instead of giving him assistance to Support his Allies or enabling him to Preserve Tangier they tended rather to disable him from contributing towards either by his own Revenue or Credit not only exposing him to all Dangers that might happen either at home or abroad but endeavouring to deprive him of the possibility of Supporting the Government it Self and to reduce him to a more helpless condition than the meanest of his Subjects A Sad and a very Just Complaint and Accordingly resented by that vast Number of People that have since Addressed to thank his Majesty for that Declaration On Saturday the 8th of January The Lords sent a Message to the Commons to acquaint them that their Lordships had appointed that day Sevennight for hearing the Cause upon the Impeachment of Mr. Seymour and that their House might reply if they thought fit but they had no leisure to take notice of it Information being given to the House by the Serjeant at Arms that Sir John Lloyd Sir Edward Philips Herbert Herring Miles Baspole _____ Iles and Arthur Yeomans who for divers great Misdemeanors by them committed as was pretended against the Priviledge of their House were Ordered to be taken in Custody of the said Serjeant did Abscond themselves that the said Order could not be put in Execution against them hereupon they Ordered That an Humble Application should be made to his Majesty from their House by Such Members thereof as were of his Majesties most Honourable Privy Council desiring his Majesty to Issue out his Royal Proclamation for the Apprehending the said several persons in case they should not render themselves to the Serjeant by a certain day therein to be limited The same day they Ordered That a Committee should be Appointed to inspect the Journals of their House and of the House of Lords and Precedents to Justify and Maintain That the Lords ought to Commit Persons to Safe Custody when Impeached for High Treason by the Commons in Parliament and to make report thereof to the House Which Vote had relation to Sir William Scroggs And so we are come to the day that finally put an End to all their Proceedings which was Munday the 10th day of January and a great Wonder it was that his Majesty could endure them so long They began the day with a Vote which shews the Meaning and Tendance of all the rest Resolved That whosoever Advised his Majesty to Prorogue this Parliament to any other purpose than in order to the passing of a Bill for the Exclusion of James Duke of York is a betrayer of the King the Protestant Religion and of the Kingdom of England A Promoter of the French Interest and a Pensioner to France They Knew then that they were to be Prorogued but they Knew not by whose Advice and so if his Majesty did it without any Advice then all these Hard words were thrown at him but by whomsoever it were done this Vote could have no good meaning or effect and must end in Smoke or Tumults and Confusion 2. Resolved That the Thanks of this House be given to the City of London for their Manifest Loyalty to the King their Care Charge and Vigilancy for the Preservation of his Majesties Person and of the Protestant Religion Ordered That the Members that Serve for the City of London do accordingly give them the Thanks of the House Resolved That it is the Opinion of this House That the City of London was Burnt in the Year 1666 by the Papists designing thereby to Introduce Arbitrary Power and Popery into the Kingdom Resolved That the Commissioners of the Customes and other Officers of the Custom-House have Wilfully broken the Law prohibiting the Importation of French Wines and other Commodities and that if they shall hereafter Wilfully or Negligently break that Law they shall be questioned therefore in Parliament Resolved That it is the Opinion of this House That James Duke of Monmouth hath been removed from his Offices and Commands by the Influence of the Duke of York Ordered That an humble Application be made to his Majesty from this House by such Members thereof as are of his Majesties Honourable Privy-Council to desire his Majesty to restore the said James Duke of Monmouth to his said Offices and Commands This was excellently timed and they had so obliged his Majesty they might be sure he would not deny them Resolved That it is the Opinion of this House That the Prosecution of Protestant Dissenters upon the Penal Laws is at this time Grievous to the Subject a weakning of the Protestant Interest and incouragement to Popery and dangerous to the Peace of the Kingdom Here their Mouths were stopt by a Message from the King by Edward Carteret Usher of the Black-Rod Acquainting them that the King Commanded them to Attend him immediately in the House of Peers And there his Majesty Prorogued them to the Thursday Sevennight being the 20th of that Instant January 1680. 1. His Majesty gave his Royal Assent to the Act Prohiting the Importation of Cattle from Ireland 2. To the Act for Supplying the late Act for Burying in Woollen 3. And to an Act To rectifie Errors in Sir Charles Houghton 's Settlement There was another Act for Repeal of the Act of the 35 of Elizabeth ready to be passed and it was Lost No body knew how and was never tendred to his Majesty Soon after this Parliament was Dissolved by Proclamation to the great Satisfaction of all but the Dissenters who if they had been able to consider things Aright had as little reason to be pleased with their Proceedings as any of the rest for they did them no other Service then to Exasperate the King and the Government against them and have made them to be more prosecuted and less pitied than they were before The Popish Party received almost as little damage by them as the Dissenters did Advantage for they bending their force Equally against the Succession and Popery all their Designs if they had any beyond clamour against the Papists were broken Their Arbitrary and Illegal Proceedings against the Abhorrers of the Tumultuous Petitions for the Sitting of the Parliament procured more Friends to the Duke of York then perhaps he would otherwise have had and gave the English Gentry an Excellent Prospect what they might Expect from these Warm Gentlemen if ever they fell into their hands The King had