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
A Short HISTORY OF THE Last Parliament THE Honourable Conclusion of the late War with France to the great Mortification of his Majesty's Enemys the Satisfaction of his Friends and the Admiration of all Men must thankfully be acknowled'd as chiefly owing to His Majesty's great Wisdom invincible Courage and inflexible Resolution By his Courage he rekindled the decaying Fire of this Warlike People taught them by his Conduct and provok'd them by his Example to equal the Atchievements of their Valiant Forefathers and thereby restor'd to England the ancient Reputation of her Arms. But by his Wisdom he procur'd us an Honour we never could before pretend to he made England a Match for France as well in the Cabinet as in the Camp and gain'd by a Wise Treaty more than by Arms had been won in the Field For any Potentate to unite many States and Princes disagreeing in Interests Inclinations or Religion in a strict Confederacy against a Common Enemy and to preserve that Alliance unbroken for many years together notwithstanding the great Losses those Allies sustain'd and in despight of all the Attempts of Foreign and Domestic Enemys to dissolve their Union must be acknowledg'd by all the World as the effect of a refin'd and masterly Judgment Yet this Honour which perhaps has no Example is by the Confession of all due to His Majesty who was the only Center in which so many various Lines could meet the only Head which such differing Interests could confide in as capable to direct them in a Juncture of Time when the Libertys of all Europe lay at Stake We are likewise greatly indebted to the Bravery and Fidelity of His Majesty's Fleet and Army for our present Peace and the Blessings that attend it It must be own'd to their great Honour that our Officers and Common Men as well by Land as by Sea notwithstanding any Disappointments they at any time met with did on all occasions show a Courage and Resolution equal to that of their Warlike Ancestors a Courage that became the Subjects of such a Prince and such a General a Courage worthy of the Noble Cause in which they were engag'd the Preservation of their Religion Laws and Libertys And therefore no Praises can be too high nor can any Rewards consistent with the Publick Good for which they fought be look'd on as too great for Men who have merited so much of their Country And yet it must be confess'd that so great a Prince and so great a General at the Head of such Brave and Loyal Men could never have been able to have brought a War with such a Potent Adversary to a happy Issue had not the Parliament of England concurr'd with him and stood by him with so much Constancy and unanimous Affection 'T is therefore to these worthy Patriots that we owe in a great measure our present Security and the Establishment of our Laws and Religion The People of England ought to have a due Reverence and Affection for their Representatives in Parliament and to maintain their Honour even when in distemper'd Times it might happen they should act some things against the Publick Good not only because they are a Part of our Constitution but likewise that particular Part which the People have entrusted to look after and manage their Interests for should the People desert their Representatives they would be Felo de se and one day run a hazard of losing that part of their Constitution And if it be the Duty and Interest of the People not to despise or run down indifferent or bad Parliaments for the reasons mention'd what Applauses what Expressions of Affection and Gratitude are due to Good Ones And indeed if any of our Parliaments ever rightly understood and zealously pursu'd the true Interest of their Country those that have been Call'd and Sate since the happy Revolution must be allow'd with the greatest Justice to have merited that Character If to have stedfastly adher'd to the Interest of Europe against a Common Enemy If to have chearfully supply'd His Majesty with the Sinews of War to enable him to carry it on with Vigour and by such Ways and Means as were least Burdensom and uneasy to the People If to have discern'd and prevented the greatest Dangers that could threaten a Nation To have conquer'd Difficulties of State of the highest Nature and to have persever'd so many years thro' an obstinate Zeal for the good of their Country to Support His Majesty till his Arms had procur'd an Honourable Peace and thereby Establish'd our Government our Religion and our Property If This be to have deserv'd well of the English Nation the Parliaments have been speaking of have at least equal'd the Glory of their greatest Ancestors Their Love to their Country and Capacity for Publick Business have appear'd in a very eminent manner 'T is easy and pleasant to Sail in good Weather before the Wind But to Steer true and steddy in a Storm to beat it against the Wind ' midst Rocks and Shelves on either hand and to make the Port at last in Safety this must be allow'd to be a Master's work These Parliaments therefore and particularly those among them who had the chief Direction of Affairs having like Wise and Careful Patriots done so much in their hard Station toward bringing Matters to this successful Issue must deserve all the grateful Returns that can be from their Country Their Honour is the more particular inasmuch as Men of great Capacity for Business of State are so very rare For it may be truly said that a Thousand Men are Born in this Kingdom fit for Arms to one that has solidity of Judgment quickness of Apprehension compass of Thought and clearness of Sight proper for the management of Publick Affairs What has been said of the several Parliaments assembled since his Majesty's Accession to the Throne is more eminently true of the last which pursu'd the Designs of the former with the greatest Skill as well as the warmest Zeal This August Assembly had the hardest Tasks imaginable upon their hands and to give an impartial and succinct Relation of their principal Proceedings of the Wise Measures they took to remove the Evils we felt and to prevent greater which we fear'd and to find sufficient Supplys for the carrying on the War till at last they had the satisfaction to see it issue in an Honourable Peace is the design of the following Papers WHen this Parliament first came together they found themselves engag'd in variety of Business of great Nicety and most important Consequence To maintain our new Settlement after the late happy Revolution we had a War upon our hands with a mighty Prince who by his Naval Strength as well as by the Number and Discipline of his Land Forces by the Wisdom of his Counsels and his constant Successes was grown the Terror of all Europe This Potent Monarch protected the Person and espous'd the Quarrel of the late Abdicated King and looking on
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
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