his Honour and Interest alike concern'd us'd his utmost Efforts by Arms to re-enthrone him And notwithstanding England had hitherto with great Resolution and Alacrity born the weight of this heavy War to preserve all those Advantages that is whatever is dear to an English Freeman and a Protestant which were procur'd by their late Deliverance yet some of the wisest and clearest-sighted among those who were hearty Friends of the Government grew diffident of the Event They question'd our Ability to support our selves under so Burdensom and Expensive a War while the Enemys of our Settlement were insolently sure of over-turning it 'T is true indeed we had at the head of the Government One from whom we might expect all Things that with Reason could be hoped for from the Courage and Conduct of a Wise Prince and an Accomplish'd General One who to Protect a Nation which with so much Glory he had before delivered freely and frequently expos'd his Life as if it had been the Life of a Common Man to all the Dangers of the Sea and all the Hazards of Battle by Land and who the year before by his Reduction of the important Fortress of Namur in the sight of almost all the Power of France had struck a Damp upon our Enemys abroad and rebuk'd the Confidence of the Malecontents at home But notwithstanding the Nation might with the fullest Assurance rely upon His Majesty for every Thing that could be ask'd or expected from the greatest Prince and most watchful Father of his Country yet the People could not be without their Fears lest he should one day Fall by the hands of Saul and the Kingdom be crush'd by the disproportion'd Power of our Enemys They doubted whether the Nation tho' ever so willing would be able to grant to His Majesty the necessary Supplys for carrying on so necessary a War But besides what we had to apprehend from so formidable a Foe abroad we had a great deal to fear from our treacherous Enemys at home For tho' the Body of the Nation was infinitely pleas'd with the late Revolution and thankfully acknowledg'd the unvaluable Benefits that attended it yet a considerable number were impatient of their Deliverance and rav'd at the restitution of our Libertys and Religion Our Warlike David found his most dangerous Enemys were at home if not of his own Houshold The whole Body of the Papists were his Enemys and the Reasons of their Enmity are too obvious to mention Besides these a great number of moderate Protestants and such as were the Creatures and Dependants of the late Government and had embark'd in or wish'd well to the glorious design of enslaving and ruining their Native Country Men of Arbitrary and Tyrannical Principles fixt and setled in their hatred to the Constitution of our Government and the Libertys of the English Nation these and many others that did not find their Account and particular Interest in the present Settlement became its Enemys and by open or clandestine ways endeavour'd to streighten or subvert it These Men were very Zealous to deliver us from our Laws and Libertys and to restore us to the Privileges of our Egyptian Burdens The ungrateful Murmurers spoke of Stoning the Moses that rescu'd them and unable to bear their happy Deliverance with Threats and Violence demanded their heavy Tasks and their old Oppressors These Men according to their different Posts and Tempers in different ways assisted the Foreign Enemy All Arts and Methods tho' ever so base and unworthy which Wit quicken'd with malice could invent were employ'd to weaken the Reputation of the Government Sometimes they flew openly upon it with bitter Invectives sometimes they secretly stab'd it with malicious Suggestions and sly Insinuations They traduc'd all that were in Publick Employ and expos'd them to Contempt they worried their Names with base and groundless Calumnys attributing many of our Misfortunes not to be foreseen and therefore not to be prevented to the Treachery or Negligence of our most faithful and vigilant Ministers And 't is no wonder these fierce Creatures fasten'd so greedily on the Characters of our greatest Ministers when His Majesty himself who had merited as much as any Prince ever did of his People could not escape their disloyal Reflections They were very fond of propagating any ill Tydings or false Reports that might any way lessen the Credit of our Administration increase the Fears of the People and cool their Affection to the Government what unnatural and salvage Joy did they express when they heard of any Losses that befell the Nation which they cruelly aggravated and with no less Zeal they diminished and slighted the Advantages we at any time obtain'd They could by no means dissemble the secret Pleasures they felt when they had any fresh hopes of seeing their Country speedily undone England as before mention'd being engag'd in a War with France for the Preservation of the late happy Settlement great Supplys were absolutely necessary to enable His Majesty to sustain the Force of a Kingdom which by their own Wise Administration and the Supineness of England in the late inglorious Reigns was grown so Potent that now it requir'd a longer Sword to Resist than heretofore to Conquer it And for this reason without the least Flattery His Majesty has acquir'd more Honour by Controuling the Power of France than any of his great Predecessors did by subduing it The Parliaments therefore resolving to carry on the War with Vigour were oblig'd to lay great Taxes on the People tho' not greater than the necessity of Affairs requir'd and the War continuing so long they could not be insensible of the Burden Of this the Malecontents took the Advantage and represented in all Companys that the Government must of necessity sink under its own Weight and that our heavy Taxes by reducing us to extream Poverty would inevitably prove our Destruction They never ceas'd declaiming on this popular Subject and galling the People in this tender Part hoping to make them weary of a Government which was represented so Burdensome and at last perswade them rather to let in the Deluge than to be at the Expence of maintaining their Banks Besides these Adherents to the late King's Interest there were others who tho' great Asserters of the late Revolution and averse enough to a second yet from I know not what private disgusts personal Quarrels and Disappointments grew sowr and uneasy and to express their Resentments in all Conversation endeavour'd to bring our Administration into Contempt they were for breaking the Confederacy and against raising such large Sums of Mony for carrying on the War they were for distressing and streight'ning the Government but not for overturning it They were willing it should continue but they were for Clogging its Wheels that it might move heavily in short they were against all things that the known Enemys of the Government were against and for all things which they were for unless the overthrowing of the present Settlement
Factorys on the Coast of Guinea there being no Regular Government among those Barbarous People on whose Protection they might safely rely the Parliament thought it necessary to Establish the African Company for the better carrying our Commerce to those Parts Yet the Free Traders or Interlopers were likewise permitted to Trade to the same Coasts provided they paid to the Establish'd Company Ten per Cent. of the Value of Goods exported towards the maintenance of the Forts and Settlements Next they enter'd on the Business of the East India Trade which had been depending many years and was look'd on as so nice and difficult that it had been referr'd to the King and his Council and back again by them to the Parliament This Affair being brought into the House of Commons and the Old Company having offer'd to advance seven hundred thousand pounds at four per Cent. for the Service of the Government in case the Trade to India might be setled on them Exclusive of all others the House seem'd inclin'd to embrace their Proposal when a Number of eminent Merchants propos'd to the House to raise Two Millions at eight per Cent. on Condition the Trade to India might be setled on the Subscribers exclusive of all others They propos'd that these Subscribers should not be oblig'd to Trade in a Joynt Stock but if any Members of them should afterwards desire to be incorporated a Charter should be granted to them for that purpose The House judg'd this Overture not only to be more advantageous to the Government but likewise more likely to settle this controverted Trade on a better Foundation than it was on before a Bill therefore was brought into the House for setling the Trade to the East Indies on those who should subscribe the Two Millions according to the Limitations beforemention'd But so great a regard was had to the Members of the Old Company that till they had refus'd and rejected the Offer made them of setling this Trade upon them if they would accept it on the same Terms and Limitations on which the others were contented to take it and which the Parliament judg'd most advantageous for the Kingdom the Bill did pass in favour of the New Adventures The Bill being pass'd and the Books laid open to take Subscriptions the whole Two Millions were subscrib'd in less time than four Days the People shew'd so much Zeal to assist the Government and promote the Trade of the Nation that 't is very probable a Million more had been subscrib'd had not the Books been shut up before the distant Corporations and private Men in remote Countys could remit their Commissions for the great Sums they intended to Subscribe The dispatch of so great a Work in so short a Time after the Nation had born so chargeable a War for so many years surpriz'd and amaz'd all the World And as it greatly mortify'd all those who were joyfully assur'd that His Majesty would be disappointed of this Supply so it gave our Neighbouring Nations an astonishing Image both of the Opulence of the People and the Strength of the Government This Transaction view'd in all its Circumstances is in deed so very strange and wonderful that 't will be a hard matter for Posterity to believe it How will they be able to perswade themselves that a Nation whose Wealth might with great Reason be suppos'd to be exhausted after they had contended so many years with such a mighty Enemy should be capable of furnishing such a vast Supply in Four Days Yet this Wise Parliament had so much Skill in touching the Springs of the Peoples Affection that notwithstanding all the Losses they had suffer'd and all the Expence they had been at they were prevail'd with to advance this great Supply with such incredible Expedition And by this means the Parliament only by doubling the Duty on Proceedings at Law and that on Salt rais'd a Supply of two Millions which to have done by any other Ways was at that time a matter of the highest Difficulty The Parliament likewise this Session apply'd themselves with great Diligence to discover such Offenders who by fraudulent and surreptitious Ways had carry'd on a secret Commerce with France and to the great Damage of this Kingdom had brought in for divers Years past great quantitys of Alamodes and Lutestrings Many of these Criminals they detected and punish'd And to prevent the continuance of this clandestine and most prejudicial Trade and to encourage our own Manufacture they brought in a Bill which after past into an Act Intitled An Act for the better encouragement of the Royal Lustring Company and the more effectual preventing the fraudulent Importation of Lustrings and Alamodes And for as much as many ill Men continued to export English Wool c. to foreign Parts to the unspeakable detriment of the Nation notwithstanding the severe Laws that were in Force against such Offenders the Parliament the more effectually to obviate that stubborn Mischief for the future made many prudent Provisions in an Act Intituled An Act for the Explanation and better Execution of former Acts made against Transportation of Wool Fullers-Earth and Scouring-Clay This Session likewise upon complaints made that the Woollen Manufacture was carry'd on in Ireland to the great Prejudice of that Staple Trade in England the Parliament took care to stop the Progress of that growing Evil. They enter'd upon a Bill for that purpose but it terminated at last in an Address to the King That his Majesty would be pleas'd to use the most effectual means to discourage his Subjects of Ireland from prosecuting the Woolen and encourage them to apply themselves to the Linnen Manufacture in that Kingdom whereby they might carry on a gainful Trade to themselves without interfering with an Interest of which his Subjects in England were so very tender These were the principal Transactions of these worthy Patriots in their three Sessions and those who seriously reflect on the mighty Difficultys which with unexampled Resolution they encounter'd and at last Master'd on the Wise and Effectual Remedys which they apply'd to the sharpest and most obstinate Distempers under which any Nation ever languish'd on their Constancy and unwearied Diligence either in obviating new Dangers or removing fresh Mischiefs that embroil'd their Affairs with what Vigour they ply'd the Helm and how steddily they Steer'd on very treacherous and boistrous Waters how oft they Row'd against Wind and Tide and tho' often carry'd back by the Violence of the Current or diverted by rapid Turns or Eddys of State yet still return'd with invincible Courage stem'd the Tide and forc'd their Way till at last in spite of all Opposition they gain'd their intended Port those I say who impartially and seriously make these Reflections can't but entertain a great Veneration of their Ability and Zeal for the Publick Good If there be any Man that does not yet admire as he ought to do the greatness of this Parliament let him but consider what an amazing Undertaking it was to recoin all the Silver Mony of the Nation when it was ready to sink under the weight of a long expensive War which attempt was so hazardous that the Enemy was made to believe it would certainly be fatal to us and under that Confidence was perswaded to continue the War as they made Peace when that Presumption was disappointed Let him consider what a Task it was to recover the lost Credit of the Nation both Publick and Private in those low Circumstances to which we were then reduc'd Let him consider how great a Work it was to raise or rather to make Mony for the Publick Service which requir'd extraordinary Supplys when there was very little Mony in Being Let him consider this well and he will take righter Measures of the Wisdom of this great Assembly These were the Work 's of refin'd Understanding of the most extensive Capacity and inflexible Perseverance And these were the Works of this Parliament A Parliament that had the Honour to be Hated and Revil'd as much as any ever was by the Enemys of our Government which is a convincing Proof that they took the best Measures in the World for the Preservation of it For had they betray'd it these Gentlemen would have thanked them for it had they out of Supineness or Ignorance run it a ground our Enemys perhaps might have derided their Weakness and Unskilfulness but they could never have express'd so much Choler and Resentment The Slanders therefore and Invectives of these Men who heartily wish'd the Ruin of our Establishment is an honourable and lasting Encomium on the Proceedings of this Assembly And as the Adherents of the late King openly declair'd their Anger and Enmity against the last Parliament so 't is not to be doubted but that all the Friends of the Government that is every true Englishman has on the other Hand an great Affection and Reverence for their Memory FINIS
and apply'd That by reason of the ill State of our Coin the Change abroad was infinitely to our prejudice That the Supplys that were rais'd to maintain our Army would never attain their End being so much diminish'd and devour'd by the unequal Change and exorbitant Premiums before they reach'd the Camp That this was the unhappy Cause that our Guineas were mounted to Thirty Shillings that therefore to our great loss all Europe sent that Commodity to this profitable Market and would continue to do so till we should be impoverish'd and undone by our Plenty of Gold That we must Exchange for their Gold our Goods or our Silver till at last we should have only Guineas to Trade withall which no Body could think our Neighbours would be so kind to receive back at the Value they were at here That therefore this Disease would every day take deeper Root infect the very Vitals of the Nation and if not remedy'd would soon become deplorable That our Enemys would sooner be induc'd to agree to honorable Terms of Peace in case they saw us able to surmount this difficulty by the retrieving the ill State of our Coin on which their hopes of our speedy Ruin so much depended That it would justly create a mighty Esteem abroad of the Greatness and Wisdom of the Parliament of England which was able to Conquer such an obstinate and almost insuperable Evil in such a Juncture of Affairs That our Enemys must be mightily intimidated by so great an Action and that it would be Natural for them to conclude that nothing would be impossible for a People who were able to disengage themselves from such an intricate Mischief and get above Difficultys that were look'd on as invincible This Matter being fully debated after all their Deliberations the Parliament resolv'd to call in and recoin our Mony looking on it as an Essential and Capital Point that requir'd as certainly it did their immediate Application and utmost Care They resolv'd to do it at any Rate and to use all imaginable Endeavours to make it as easy to the People as it was possible for such a Remedy to be They chose rather to run the hazard of some great Inconveniencys by attempting the Cure than by their longer neglect of it to expose the Kingdom to apparent Ruin This Step being made the next was to consider whether the several Denominations of our New Mony should have the same Weight and Fineness as the Old or whether the Establish'd Standard should be rais'd and this Question produc'd many Debates Those who were for raising the Standard argu'd thus That the Standard of our Coin'd Silver ought to bear Proportion to Silver in Bullion That the Price of an Ounce of Silver Bullion was advanc'd to Six Shillings and Three Pence and therefore the Standard ought to be rais'd to an Equality That the raising our Standard would prevent the Exportation of our Coin which had been much practis'd to the great Prejudice of this Kingdom that it would prevent its being melted down and Men would be much encourag'd to bring in their Plate and Bullion to the Mint Those who were for preserving the Old Standard in our Coin urg'd that the Worth of Mony was Relative and to be rated by the measure of such Goods Labour and Advice Skill or other Assistances as could be purchas'd from another by our parting with it That the Value of Mony among People that liv'd under different Municipal Laws was intrinsick and consisted in its Weight and Fineness That common Consent had given it this Value for the common Conveniency of supplying one anothers Wants That the Weight and Fineness was the only Worth that other Nations regarded in our Coin or we in theirs All Mony being between Subjects of different Governments of no greater Value excepting the Workmanship than so many pieces of uncoin'd Bullion That therefore should our Standard be alter'd we should still be upon the same Foot with our Neighbours for if we were to pay them for their Goods or exchange our Mony with theirs whatever Denomination we gave our Mony they would in their Change ever reduce it to an Equality with theirs and proportion the Quantity and Goodness of their Commoditys to the Weight and Fineness of the Mony they were to receive for them That therefore in respect of our Foreign Commerce there was no reason to alter our Standard And at home they said that if the Standard was rais'd great Confusions would attend it the Landlord would be defrauded of a great part of his Rents and the Creditor of his Debts That the Seaman and the Soldier would be wrong'd in their Pay c. and many the like Injurys and Inconveniencys would happen That it was no Answer to say they might buy as much Goods and Conveniencys of Life with this Coin rais'd above its Standard as they could before because by degrees the Seller would infallibly raise the Price of his Goods in proportion to the new rais'd Standard and that of this there was an instance before them all Commoditys being greatly rais'd in their Price while Guineas were paid for Thirty Shillings That whereas it was alledg'd that the Price of Bullion was risen to Six Shillings and Three Pence and therefore the Standard of our Silver Coin ought to be rais'd likewise It was reply'd that it was a thing impossible that the Price of Silver could ever rise and fall in respect of it self That it was an unchangeable Truth than which no Mathematical Demonstration could be clearer that one Ounce of Silver would be ever worth another Ounce of the same Fineness and no more allowing some inconsiderable disparity upon the account of the Coin if one Ounce be in Mony and the other Ounce in Bullion That 't was true indeed that the People commonly gave Six Shillings and Three Pence for an Ounce of Bullion but they gave only Clipt Pieces that had no more than the Name or Sound of Shillings and Pence but were by no means the Things themselves That is they were not the Standard Shillings of due Weight and Fineness and so were no more Shillings in the just sense of the word than an Ell is an Ell when the third part of it is cut off or two halfs of a broken Yard are each of them a whole one That the Case was so plain that when they demanded of those that affirm'd an Ounce of Bullion was worth six shillings and three pence whether they meant six Mill'd Shillings and three pence they knew not what to reply for this alteration of the Value of Bullion was merely in relation to the diminish'd Mony And to make it yet more evident they urg'd that it was then matter of Fact that with Five Shillings and two pence of new Mill'd Mony they could buy as much Bullion as they pleas'd while those who bought it with Clipt Pieces paid six shillings and three pence That whereas it was urg'd that the raising the Standard would
Evil arose during recoining the Mony that is a general loss of Credit which indeed shook the State but this likewise was Cur'd by a most seasonable and wise Remedy which the Parliament apply'd in their second Session So that at last this great undertaking of the highest Difficulty yet of absolute Necessity was happily acomplish'd In this Affair the Parliament shew'd such Wisdom such Care of the Publick such unbroken Courage and Resolution in undertaking and carrying on a Business of this Importance and encomber'd with so many and such great Obstructions that no Patriots ever merited more of their Country none having ever rescu'd it form greater and more apparent Danger By restoring our Coin they restor'd Health and Strength to a Nation under the worst Symptoms in the World They restor'd the Honour of the English confirm'd the Shaking Government and laid the Foundation of that Honourable Peace which after ensued and which we now enjoy And those worthy Gentlemen who made the greatest Figure in this Parliament and had the chief Direction of this particular Affair must be allow'd to have shown a great Capacity and a Mastery Judgment as well as a just regard to the Good of the People and therefore no Votes in their Favour no Praises and Thanks from their Country can be thought too much for those who have so well deserv'd them No part of the Roman History gives a Man a greater Image of that noble People than that which relates the Presence of Mind the unshaken Constancy and the wise Conduct which the Senate show'd after the loss of the Battel of Cannae to be uncapable of desponding even in Extremity of Affairs to wind themselves out of such intricate and pinching Straits and at last to weather Difficulties which seem'd insuperable this can't but create a great Opinion of their Wisdom and Resolution Some of his Majesties implacable Enemys finding themselves disappointed the last Year in Flanders and being impatient to wait the event of another Campaign betook themselves to the most wicked and most dishonourable means of accomplishing their Designs Upon the twenty fourth of February the King came to the House of Lords sent for the Commons and having pass'd what Acts lay ready for the Royal Assent in a gracious Speech he acquainted both Houses that he had receiv'd several concurring Informations of a Design to Assassinate him and that at the same time the Enemy was very forward in his Preparations for an Invasion of this Kingdom That he had given Orders about the Fleet and sent for such a Number of Troops as might secure the Kingdom from any Attempt that some of the Conspirators against his Person were in Custody and that care was taken for apprehending the rest 'T is not necessary to give a long Relation of this Conspiracy a short account is thus Several of the late Kings Adherents not without the Consent Encouragement and Direction of the late King and his Ministers had form'd a hellish Conspiracy against the Life of his Majesty The Conduct and Execution of this horrid Villany was comitted to Sir George Barclay who had formerly been a General Officer and was then in France an Officer in the late King's Guards This Gentleman Ruffian undertakes the barbarous Business and for the accomplishing of it departs from St. Germains about the tenth day of December for England where he arriv'd about the beginning of Ianuary Before him with him or after him about twenty more of the late King's Guards who were Embark'd in the same Bloody Design and who had all Instructions to obey the Orders of Sir George came into England where in a short time they Engag'd about as many more in the Conspiracy Several Consultations were held and several ways were propos'd where and how to Assassinate the King's Person and at last it was agreed that they should Execute their Design on a Saturday as his Majesty return'd from Richmond whither he us'd to go on that day to take the diversion of Hunting The Place agreed on was the Lane between Turnham-Green and Brentford thro' which the King was to pass after his Landing at Que-ferry and to avoid Suspicion they were to go out of Town in small Numbers to the Inns in Turnham-Green there to stay till they had notice that his Majesties Guards appear'd and then they were to Mount and in a Body to march to the Lane where some were to Attack the King's Person and the rest in the mean time were to Engage the Guards The day for Executing this horrid Deed was at hand when Mr. Pendergrass who had been newly made acquainted with the Design and seem'd to consent to it tho' indeed he only comply'd with it till he could gain the fittest Opportunity to discover it went to my Lord Portland and disclos'd to him this important Secret By whose means his Majesty's Life was preserv'd from the violence of the Conspirators and that fatal Stroke most happily prevented which must have been attended with all the terrible Calamitys that Fear it self is able to represent Both Houses of Parliament were greatly alarm'd at the news of this Barbarous Conspiracy and being satisfi'd that the welfare of the Kingdom entirely depended on the Safety of the King's Person they joyn'd in an Address to his Majesty full of Loyalty and the warmest Affection wherein they Congratulated the happy Deliverance of his Royal Person gave him thanks for imparting to them the horrid Design of Assassinating his Majesty by Papists and other disaffected Persons and of the intended Invasion from France Humbly desir'd his Majesty to take more then ordinary Care of his Person at this time assur'd him that they would stand by assist and defend his Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes against all his Enemys and that in case he should come to any violent Death which they beg'd God to prevent they would revenge the same upon all his Majesty's Enemys and their Adherents told his Majesty they would give all possible dispatch to publick Business and desir'd him to seize and secure all Persons Horses and Arms that he might think fit to apprehend On this Occasion the House of Commons for the Security of his Majesty's Person enter'd into an Association in these Words Whereas there has been a horrid and detestable Conspiracy form'd and carry'd on by the Papists and other Wicked and Traiterous Persons for Assassinating his Majesty's Royal Person in order to encourage an Invasion from France to subvert our Religion Laws and Libertys We whose Names are hereunto Subscrib'd do heartily sincerely and solemnly profess testify and declare that his present Majesty King William is Rightful and Lawful King of these Realms and we do mutually promise and engage to stand by and Assist each other to the utmost of our Power in the Support and Defence of his Majestys most scacred Person and Government against the late King James and all his Adherents and in case his Majesty come to a violent or untimely Death which God
forbid we do hereby farther freely and unanimously oblige our selves to Unite Associate and stand by each other in revenging the same upon his Enemys and their Adherents and in supporting and defending the Succession of the Crown according to an Act made in the first Year of King William and Queen Mary Intituled an Act declaring the Rights and Libertys of the Subject and setling the Succession of the Crown They order'd at the same time a Bill to be brought in that when it should please God to afflict these Realms by the Death of his present Majesty the Parliament then in being should not be dissolv'd thereby till the next Heir of the Crown according to the late Act of Setlement should dissolve it And if there is no Parliament then in being the last preceding Parliament shall immediately convene and sit and it was done accordingly By this wise Act as the Parliament provided against that Confusion and Disorder that might happen by the Cessation of Parliaments and all Commissions on his Majesty's Decease so nothing could have been imagin'd more effectual for the Security of the King 's unvaluable Life against the implacable Malice and Violence of his Enemys seeing by this means all hopes of Escape and Impunity were cut off in case they should succeed in their hellish Attempt They likewise Address'd his Majesty to issue out his Royal Proclamation to Banish all Papists from the Citys of London and Westminster and ten Miles from the same according to the Laws made for that purpose and likewise that he would please to give Instructions to the Judges going the Circuits to put the Laws in Execution against Papists and Non-Jurors By these Proceedings and prudent Provisions for the King's Safety the Parliament equally express'd their unshaken Loyalty to his Majesty and their tender Care and Vigilance for the Happiness of the People it being as clear as Noon-day that had not his Majesty by the gracious Providence of Heaven been deliver'd from this Hellish Design the greatest Calamitys and Desolation must have overwhelm'd the Kingdom that ever befel a miserable People And 't is very observable and must be taken notice of for the Honour of this Parliament that amidst all their Zeal for securing his Majesty's Life on which all our Happiness depended they express'd that Lenity and Memorable Regard to the Libertys of the People that they pass'd no new and extraordinary Law for the Conviction of the Conspirators as Men in such amazing Dangers might have been provoked to do for the Preservation of the Government but they mercifully left them to stand or fall by the known Laws which were then in being And 't is very remarkable that Charnock who was the first Person try'd for this Conspiracy was the first too that had the Benefit of the Law that was beformention'd to be made this very Session to regulate Tryals in Cases of Treason There is but one single Instance that seems to contradict the universal Extent of this Observation and that is the Case of Sir Iohn Fenwick which happen'd in the Second Session of this Parliament yet neither in that Case was any new Law made for the Trial of the Criminal by the Judges in Inferiour Courts But the Parliament thought fit to make use of the Legislative Authority and to proceed aginst him by Bill of Attainder which no Body question'd their Power to do That Government would be defective in its Constitution and uncapable of defending it self that had not a Power lodg'd in it to reach a Criminal in an Extraordinary Case by an extraordinary Manner Neither could the Legislative Power be look'd on as under the same Restraints Limitations and Forms of Proceeding which the Judges who are entrusted only with the executive part of the Law are oblig'd to observe in the ordinary Courts of Justice The Questions therefore in this Case seem'd to be only these two Whether the Parliament had sufficient convincing Grounds to believe the Prisoner Guilty of the Treason he stood accus'd and in the second Place whether this was a Case of that extraordinary Nature and that Importance as required this uncommon way of proceeding by Bill of Attainder As to the first Question All the World as well as the Parliament thought there was sufficient Reason to believe the Prisoner Guilty But whether the Evidence was in all Forms and Limitations such as the Law required for convicting the Prisoner before the Judges in Inferiour Courts was out of the Question the Parliament as was said before being not ty'd up in their Legislative Capacity to the Rules and Restraints by which the Inferiour Courts were oblig'd to Act. And as to the second Question Seeing the Prisoner had so notoriously prevaricated with the Government seeing there was such a vehement Presumption that one of the Evidences was drawn off and absented himself by the management of the Prisoner's Friends to elude the Law in the common course of it and seeing the Crime wherewith he was Charg'd was of no lower Nature than the dethroning of his Majesty and the Subversion of the Government the Parliament believ'd it a Case so Extraordinary and of such Consequence as sufficiently warranted this uncommon tho' not unexampled way of Proceeding These were the chief Transactions of this Parliament in their First Session those of the Second come now to be related The great Deficiencys of the Funds settled by Parliament for the Service of the Year Ninety Six and particularly the unhappy Project of the Land-Bank proving wholly Abortive and not producing one Penny of above two Millions and a half with which it was charg'd were likely to have prov'd fatal to our Affairs the following Summer This Disappointment involv'd the King in so many great Difficulties abroad as well as at Home that no clearer Demonstration could be given of his Majesty's Wise Conduct or of the Fidelity and Affection of his Army than his finishing this Campaign with so little disadvantage His Majestys more discerning Friends could not but tremble to think on the hard Circumstances our Army was in and how dangerous the Issue was like to prove while the Enemys of the Government were all overjoy'd at the hopeful Prospect of our suddain Ruin But to their great Mortification his Majesty whose Spirit was never broken by the greatest Difficulty who never wanted Presence of Mind in the most surprizing and pinching Exigencys by the assistance of Divine Providence weather'd this Storm and having put his Army into Quarters return'd in Safety to meet his Parliament The Parliament came together the twentieth day of October and after they had in a Loyal and most affectionate Address assur'd His Majesty that tho they had born so many years the great Burden of the present War yet they were most stedfastly resolv'd never to desert his Interests or be wanting to their Country till by His Majesty's Arms they should obtain a safe and honourable Peace They enter'd with great Alacrity upon the Business that lay before them
and the Restoration of the late King That is they were for all the means that would certainly bring about the End but not for the End it self However under this plausible pretence of declaring against great Taxes and by other popular Oppositions they thought to recommend themselves to their Country as great Patriots tho' at the same time the greatest Enemys of the Government had in this respect as good a Title to the favour of the People whom they would gladly have deliver'd from their Taxes and thereby have eas'd them of the means of their Preservation The Proceedings of these Men were of all others the most absurd and unaccountable and the opposition they made seem'd to be the effect of some strange Infatuation The best Apology that can be made for 'em is that they were guided by a false Notion of Popularity and suppos'd that the Character of a Patriot was without distinction of Times or Persons to be ever against the Court and in all Cases whatsoever Notwithstanding these Men could not but be sensible that the Preservation of their Religion Laws and Libertys was inseparably interwoven with that of the Government that the Face of Affairs was so far alter'd by the late happy Revolution that the Interest of their Country was plainly the same with that of the Court which appear'd as well by the opposition that was made to it by all those whom these Men themselves ever look'd upon as the greatest Promoters of Popery and Arbitrary Power as by the Principles of Liberty by which the Government was brought about and on which it must always stand and notwithstanding this was a Government of their own seeking and than which they could never expect any other more favourable to them either in their Civil or Religious Interests notwithstanding all this such a satisfaction it was to thwart a Court such a pleasure to express a private Resentment and by the same act to be thought Popular that these Men to the admiration of all and with the secret Derision of their new Friends endeavour'd what they could to make the Government uneasy Moreover at this time another Difficulty lay heavy upon the Nation Our Current Coin had many years before began to be Clip'd a mischief which of late had been secretly carry'd on and promoted by the Enemys of the Government and the dangerous Consequences of it not being heeded or wilfully neglected and therefore no remedy being apply'd our Mony wgs now become so far diminish'd and debas'd that the Nation suffer'd unspeakably by it both in carrying on the War as well as our Commerce The cure of this Evil could no longer be delay'd without apparent and inevitable Ruin The Adherents to the late King and the disaffected to This observ'd it with unconceivable Joy They were very confident the Government must unavoidably split on this Rock and that this single mischief was enough to sink it And tho the Friends of the Government and their Country I call them so because the Interest of both are now so inseparably united that 't is impossible to be one without being the other were fully convinc'd that this Grievance ought to be redress'd yet how to effect it in such a Conjuncture without bringing the Nation into the utmost Confusion was enough to puzzle Men of the deepest Reach and greatest Capacity Our Enemys abroad after the glorious Success of His Majesty's Arms the last Campaign in Flanders grew very diffidenr of the Issue of the War After this Blow which wounded them in so sensible and tender a part they express'd by their Behaviour and Language how much their hopes of subduing us by Force were abated they could not but foresee that if His Majesty could appear in the Field the next Summer in the same Circumstances as he did the last it would be very hard if not impossible for them to oppose his Arms. To prevent this they had two things to wish and promote one was to Embroil our Affairs by creating Mutinys at home the other to ruin our Credit and thereby disable us from carrying on the War abroad The first they hoped would be effected by the ill State of our Coin for to neglect that Disease or to attempt its Cure they judg'd would alike produce such intestine Disorders as would prove our Destruction And as to our Credit they judg'd that if by any means That of the Bank of England could be destroy'd which was then the great Support of the Nation and was by Experience found to be so the following Summer when it contributed so much to the Support of our Army at a time when the Bank it self labour'd under the greatest Streights it would be impossible for us to maintain our Army abroad and for this reason they engag'd their Friends in England to employ themselves with the utmost Diligence to aggravate the Inconveniencys of not recoining our Mony if that should be neglected or to Embarrass and Entangle as much as they were able the methods of recoining it in case that should be agreed on and thereby make it grievous and insupportable and in case any Miracle should happen that this great Business should be accomplish'd without the Confusion that was expected to follow they were instructed to leave no Stone unturn'd whereby they might hope to destroy the Publick Credit and particularly that Branch of it that remain'd most entire the Bank of England If either of these Designs and much more if both succeeded they were well satisfy'd it would be impossible for the King to appear in Flanders the next Spring in that Formidable manner he did the year before In this posture our Affairs stood and indeed this Business of the Coin was such a complicated and almost inextricable a mischief that notwithstanding this Parliament as will appear in the sequel of this History appear'd a most Wise Assembly and did Wonders for the Preservation of the Government and their Country yet it may be perhaps allow'd that some unfitting and unwary Steps were made when they first enter'd upon so delicate and intricate an Affair and indeed the Novelty as well as the Nicety of it was such that it was their Honour they made no more if indeed they made any It is not certain that if according to some Resolutions the Silver Mony had been all call'd in at once and then paid out as fast as recoin'd according to the respective Appropriation we should not have run into the greatest Confusions for 't is not easy to tell how the smaller Necessities of Life and Commerce among the People could have been maintain'd had the Mony been call'd in all at once or how the New Mony should have freely Circulated had it been all paid out as appropriated for it seems that the monied Usurers and the Goldsmiths must of necessity have receiv'd the far greatest part who were not likely to part with it without great Advantage And if these had been the Consequences 't is plain the Nation could by