Exchecquer and Judges of the Law according to their several Dignities Trumpets Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber Knights of the Bath the Knights Marshal the Treasurer of the Chamber the Master of the Jewel House the Knights of the Privy Councel the Comptrollor and the Treasurer of the Kings-Household two Trumpets and Serjeants Trumpets two Pursivants at Arms Barons Eldest Sons Earls Youngest Sons Viscounts Eldest Sons Marquesses Youngest Sons Earls Eldest Sons two Pursivants at Armes Viscounts and Dukes Eldest Sons Marquesses Eldest Sons two Heralds Earls Earl Marshal and Lord Chamberlain of the Houshold Dukes Eldest Sons Serjeants at Armes on both sides the Nobility Clarencieux and Norroy Lord Treasurer Lord Chancellor Lord High-Steward the Duke of Ormond and two persons representing the Dukeâ— of Normandy and Aquitain Gentleman Usher Garter Lord Mayor His Royal Highness the Duke of York alone the Lord High Constable of England which was the Earl of Northumberland the Lord Great Chamberlain of England which was then the Earl Lindsey and the Sword carryed by the Duke of Richmond Equeries and Footmen followed next and about the King himself Gentlemen and Pensioners without them Master of the Horse which was the Duke of Albemarle leading a Spare Horse the Vice-Chamberlain to the King the Captain of the Pensioners the Captain of the Guard the Guard the Kings Life Guard Commanded by the Lord Gerrard the Generals Life Guard by Sir Phillip Howard a Troop of Voluntiers Troop and a Company of Foot by Sir John Robinson The way from the Tower to Aldgate was guarded by the Hamblets from thence to Temple-Bar by the Train-Bands on the one side and by the Livery on the other with the Banners of each Company the Windows were all along laid with Carpets and the best Tapistry Bands of Musick in several places and the Conduits running with Wine In St. Pauls Church-Yard stood the Blewcoat-Boyes of Christ-Church Hospital one whereof in the Name of the rest declared their joy for his Majesties wonderful Preservation and Restauration Humbly beseeching his Gracious Favour and Indulgence according to the example of His Royal Ancestors and his Father of Blessed Memory With which Speech he was well pleased and testified his being so by his rewarding the Boy that spoke it In the Strand and through Westminster the wayes were likewise gravelled and railed and guarded on both sides with the Trained-Bands of that City and the Kings two Regiments of Foot under the Command of Albemarl and Collonel Russel and the Houses adorned with Carpets and Tapestry like those in London When he came through Temple-Bar the Head Bayliffe and High-Constable in Scarlet met and received him with loud Musick and alighting off their Horses and kneeling down the Head Bayliff on behalf of the Dean and Chapter City and Liberty signified their Joyful Reception of His Royal Person into that Liberty Declaring how much their happiness exceeded any other part of the Nations in that their Soveraign Lord and King was come among them and humbly desiring His Majesty to continue his Grace and Favour to them whereby they might still be enabled to do His Majesty service Infinite and Innumerable were the Shouts and Acclamations from all parts as he past along to the no less Joy than amazement of the Spectators And the Pomp of this Solemnity was so great that it is vain to attempt the describing it it being not only unutterable but almost Inconceivable and many outlandish Persons who beheld it admired how it was possible for the English after such horrible confusions to appear in so rich and stately a manner It is incredible to think what costly Robes were worn that day it being scarcely discernable what their Cloaks were made of for the Gold and Silver Laces and Imbroidery that was laid on them besides the inestimable treasures of Diamonds Pearles and other Jewels and the Rich Liveries of their Pages and Footmen some suits whereof were so very rich that they amounted to near 1500 l. In this order he arrived at White-Hall where having retired himself to supper and so to Rest he came the next day which being St. Georges day was to consummate the Coronation from his privy Staires to the Old Pallace where in a Room behind the House of Lords called the Prince's Lodgings he stayed till the Lords and the rest of his Train had Robed and Ranked themselves in Westminster-Hall and so soon as they were ready descended the Stairs that went down into the Hall and placed himself in a Throne in the upper end thereof Then came the Dean and Prebends of Westminster in their Rich Copes each of them having a part of the Regalia and delivered them to the Lord High Constable who delivered them to the Lord Great Chamberlain and being by him set on a Table the King immediately distributed them St. Edwards Staff to the Earl of Sandwich the Spurrs to Pembrâ—ke the Sword called Curtana to Oxford the pointed Sword carryed on the Right Hand of it to Shrewsbury that carryed on the left to Derby and the Sword of State to Manchester the Scepter with the Dove to Albemarle the Orb with the Cross to Buckingham St. Edwards Crown to Ormond and the Pattina and Challice to the Bishops of London and Exeter And having thus bestowed the Regalia he set forward on foot much after the same order which was observed the day before upon blew Cloath spread on the ground from the Hall to his Chair in the Abby supported by the Bishops of Bath and Durham and having his Trayn carried up by the Lords Mandevill Cavendish Ossery and Piercy assisted by the Lord Viscount Mansfield Master of the Robes All the Peers with their Coronets in their hands went up along with him till he was placed in the Chair of State Then the Bishop of London on behalf of the Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury told the People he did there present them King Charles the Second the Rightful Inheritor of the Crown of this Realm and demanded of all those that came thither that day to do their Homage Service and Bounden Duty whether they were willing to do the same Whereupon all the Peers in their Parliament Robes and People gave a shout testifying their willingness Then the King rising from his Chair turned himself to the four sides of the Throne and speaking to the People who again with loud Acclamations signified their consent all in one voice After which the Choire sung an Anthem in the interim whereof he went supported by the Bishops of Bath and Durham attended by the Dean of Westminster to the steps before the Communion Table where upon Carpets and Cushions he offered a Pall and a piece of Gold and then removing to the right hand kneelled down during a short Collect then the Sermon began being Preacht by the Bishop of Worcester which ended the Bishop of London on behalf of the Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury ask't Him If He would be pleased to take the Oath that was wont to be taken
be the better able to entertain War when they had made provisions for it And he being sensible of their drift therein thought it not convenient for him to be altogether idle and therefore resolved so to order his Affairs as to be in as good a readiness as they whensoever the War should commence To which end he required the City to lend him One Hundred Thousand Pound referring them to the Lord Treasurer for Terms of Repayment which Request was receiv'd with such a dutiful compliance by the Common-Council that it was presently granted thereby acquitting themselves at once both in point of Loyalty and Prudence by serving the KINGS present Necessity and providing for their own future Safety This Money he imploy'd in fitting out two considerable Fleets and intending to employ Sir John Lawson who then blockt up Argier and some of the Ships under his Command therein he commanded his Return for England Captain Allen being ordered to succeed him there who brought these Pirates into such distress that shortly after they were forc'd to accept of Peace upon terms advantageous enough for England The Dutch Embassadour propounding such conditions as were not to be accepted he sent back Sir George Downing thither with full Instructions how to behave himself towards them who had upon his Arrival several Conferences with the States about Satisfaction for Damages received but could not prevail with them to return a positive Answer to any thing he propounded nor come to any terms of Agreement which they were the more willing to delay in regard they expected the speedy Arrival of a vast Treasure in several great Fleets of Merchants Ships But this being not unknown to him and he being a Prince that well enough understood how strong the Nerve of War Money was resolved to way-lay those vast Masses of Wealth as they past homeward through his own Channel especially being informed by secret Intelligence that they were resolved in contempt of his Power to send their Guiney Preparations by Sea and that Opdam should convey them through the Channel To which end and purpose that he might be before-hand with them in their preparations he endeavoured with all imaginable speed and diligence to make his Navy ready not sparing to oversee and order things with indefatigable paines and industry in his own Royal Person which was abundantly answered by the success For such was the Alacrity of his Subjects when they saw him continually Travelling from place to place to forward the work and see all things effectually and speedily performed encouraging them by his Presence that the City at the very first mention of it by the Earl of Manchester Chamberlain of His Household supplyed him with a second Loan of One Hundred Thousand Pounds By which means while the Dutch flattered themselves with suppositions of his want of Men and Money and his being broken with the Calamities of the Raging Pestilence which hapned about this time and was the severest that ever was known in England they were only forced to look on and with Envy behold his Vigorous preparations and see the Sea covered with such a Magnificent Navy as the Ocean had scarcely ever supported in any former Age. However having duely considered the dangers of the Northern passage they seemingly laid aside all thoughts of going about by Scotland and continued firm to their former Resolution of forcing their passage though the Channel In order whereunto having Re-victualled Opdams Fleet they commanded him to hasten to Sea with the first Wind and conduct the Guiney-Succors through the Channel having ordered some other Ships from the Vlie and Texel to Joyn with him and sent a Galliot before to give notice to their Director General in Guinea of their Proceedings therein Which Resolution taken and carryed on with so much Vigour most men Imagin'd to have been extorted from them by the exigency of their present condition for they had scattered many base contempts upon the King and Subjects of England Nor was the Issue of that Bravado other than what their Fears presented For about the middle of October Prince Rupert appeared at the Spitt-Head with sixteen Saile of Ships who was not long after joyned by the Duke then Lord High Admiral of England and the Earl of Sandwich so that it was a matter of the greatest difficulty and hazard for them to unlock the narrow Seas And great dispute there was amongst them whether Opdam who lay with his Fleet in the Gore should adventure out or no but the Wind continuing cross put an end to that dispute and furnisht them with a plausible excuse for their not appearing at Sea upon so great disadvantages as they would in all probability have met withall However Prince Rupert kept the Sea with the English Fleet to attend their Motion and was rewarded by all or most of their Bourdeaux Fleet falling into his hands which with other Prizes taken that Year by the English amounted to about One Hundred Thirty Five There having been as yet no Publick Declaration of War on either side the King still continued to Treat for Peace with His Arms in His Hand and ordered Sir George Downing to press in the heat of all that preparation and action for satisfaction of Damages And finding that they were not like to be brought to such terms as he expected and knowing that it would mightily advance his Credit and strike Terror into his Enemies to be alway before hand with them he caused an Embargo to be laid upon their Ships with so much Secrecy that His Embassadour there had notice of it at least eight dayes before the States that so he might give secret Intelligence to the English and hasten their departure by which means when their Embargo came it found only two small inconsiderable Vessels and an Oyster Boat to seize And the King acquainting the Parliament which met in November how unkindly he had been Treated by the Dutch and what preparations he had thereupon made for War and telling them he had out of his own Credit set forth a Navy which he was sure would not decline meeting with all the Power of the Dutch for the Finishing where of he had borrowed so liberally out of his own stores and of the City of London that to discharge the one and replenish the other would require little less then Eight Hundred Thousand Pounds They to demonstrate their Love and Affection to their Soveraign and how hearty they were in their Resolutions to support His Honour and their Countries Rights against Forreign Encroachments gave him more then thrice that Summ in an Act Entituled An Act for granting a Royal Aide of Twenty four Thousand Threescore and Seventeen Thousand and Five Hundred Pounds And finding that the Dutch did but trifle with him in hopes of gaining time he resolved to forbear them no longer and therefore in the February following denounc'd War against them by a Publick Declaration prohibiting all Manufactures coming from thence and granting Letters of
Reprizal to divers of his injured Subjects And to increase his Fleet a Peace being now made both with Gayland and the Algerines he commanded his Ships in those parts to return home and with most indefatigable diligence Journeying himself from Port to Port to hasten his preparations and encourage the Seamen by his presence he got his Fleet ready to take the Sea by the 25th of March which did not a little terrifie the Hollander who had been the Week before put into a very great disorder and consternation upon the appearance only of a small part of the English Navy under the Earl of Sandwich That his preparations for War might meet with their desired success the blessing of God who is the Lord of Navies as well as of Hosts was implored by a general Fast enjoyned by Proclamation and observed with Reverence suitable to the Solemnity of the occasion which was answered with the happy Omens of future Victory from the fair success of smaller enterprises three of their Men of War being shortly after taken His Royal Highness the Duke of York who as Lord High Admiral of England commanded that Fleet growing impatient of the Hollanders stay resolved to give them a visit upon their own Coast and One Hundred and Fourteen Saile of Ships made for the Texel within five Leagues of which place he came to an Anchor where he took a full view of their Fleet some of the smallest of his Ships running within two Leagues of the Shore and some few dayes after he shewed himself before the Mouth of their Harbour which gave them so great an Allarum that they presently erected Beacons all along the Coasts to give notice if he should make any attempt to Land He stayd somewhat longer then he intended in hope to provoke them to come out and engage but not suceeding therein he commanded seven of his Ships to saile in quest of a Fleet of Merchant-men who were then coming home from Bourdeaux and had certainly fallen into their hands had not a great fogg which arose about that time prevented it however ten of them were taken and as many more at several times afterward However the Dutch finding their Embassadors in Swedeland and Denmark able to effect little meeting with Ceremonious entertainments but no Assistance resolved to shew their own strength and their Navy appeared upon the Ocean in all its Glory and Splendor divided into seven Squadrons being in all about One Hundred and Three Men of War Eleven Fire-Ships and seven Yatches About which time the English suffered some loss for their Hamburgh Fleet desiring a Convoy of the Duke when he lay before the Texel he sent them some Ships for their Conduct and Security with a Caution that if they were not ready to Saile within ten dayes they should not after that time adventure to Sea but the ten dayes being over before they could get ready and the Ketch ordered by him to give them notice of his removal from the Texel missing them they adventured to Sea contrary to his Instructions and Orders and so fell into the Enemies hands But that loss was abundantly compensated by the Victory which soon after ensued wherein the Dutch lost eighteen of their best Ships which were taken by the English besides ten more which were sunk and burnt Which ill success caused many disorders and complaints among the Common People in Holland for the appeasing whereof and the revenging themselves upon their Officers that were accus'd of Cowardise or ill management in that Engagement they questioned several of them for their Lives and caused three of their Captains to be Executed at the Helder two to have their Swords broken over their heads and the Vice-Admiral Cortinaer to stand upon a Scaffold with a Halter about his neck But the Joy of this Victory was somewhat allayed by the Sickness which now began to grow very hot in London and its Subburbs insomuch that the Queen Mother to avoid its Fury returned to France being attended to the Kentish Coast by the King who having taken his leave of her went on board the Royal Charles where he Knighted several Captaines that behaved themselves Valiantly against the Dutch and afterward visited most of the Flagg Ships giving all necessary directions for the repairing and refitting out the Fleet and so returned by Water to Greenwich from thence to Hampton Court and afterward to Salisbury But the Plague increasing in London so that it was dangerous returning thither he repaired to Oxford which proved so happy a Receptacle for him that notwithstanding the vast concourse of People which resorted to his Court the approaching Parliament and the Term which was likewise kept there the place Continued in health and was not in the least visited with that Distemper that then raged in London and some other parts of the Kingdom At this place was made that Law which is commonly known by the name of the Five-Mile Act forbidding all such Dissenting Ministers as would not take the Oath and make the Declaration and Abhorrency therein provided to live within five Miles of any Corporation thereby the better to prevent the spreading of their Infection and encreaâ—ing the number of their Proselites The Oath and Declaration being as follows viz. J. A. B. Do Declare That it is not Lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take up Arms against the King And that I do abhor that Traiterous position of taking Arms by his Authority against His Person by His Commission Or those that are Commissioned by Him in persuance of such Commission And I do swear that I will not at any time endeavour any alteration of Goaernment either in Church or State But tho during the time of that Visitation he remov'd His Court to Oxford yet for the security of that City and that he might not be thought wholly to withdraw his beams from her disconsolate Walls He left there the Duke of Albemarle who in all the heat of the Distemper continued at White-Hall with a Courage equal to his Dignity And knowing that as the Affliction came from the hand of Heaven so none but the Almighty was able to mittigate or remove it He commanded by Proclamation a general Fast to be observ'd throughout the whole Kingdom for the confessing and bewailing those sins that had brought that heavy Judgment upon the City and by Prayers and Supplications implore the Divine Goodness for the removal thereof commanding his Bishops to direct and Publish such forms of Prayer as were most suitable not only for the Service of that Particular day but likewise of all the succeeding Wednesdays so long as the Contagion should last having commanded that day in every week to be observed as a Fast for the removal of that desolating distemper according to the Apostle's Rule praying alwayes and with all manner of Prayer The English Fleet having now repaired their Dammages and several of the Dutch Prizes being fitted for Service put to Sea again and stood over for the
joyn with him therein went on by themselves and poll'd for Four Heads with a Salvo Jure to their former Election The next day the Mayor having caused his Books to be cast up and finding the Majority of Voices to be for Box he declared North and him to be Sheriffs But Box refusing to serve and paying in his Fine according to Custom the Mayor call'd another Common-Hall on the 19th of September and proposed Peter Rich Esq to be chosen in his stead who having the Majority of Voices and being declared Sheriff the Mayor dissolved the Court and returned home But the Two Sheâ—iffs notwithstanding the Mayor's dissolution continued this Assembly as they had done the former and demanding of their own Party the rest being departed with the Mayor whether they would abide by their former Choice for Papillion and Duboise proceeded likewise to a Poll and having cast up their Books declared them to be Sheriffs Elect. Whereupon the Mayor acquainting the King with their Proceedings he commanded them to attend him in Council where they were severely checkt and not dismist without giving sufficient Bail to answer to an Information which should be exhibited against them for their unwarrantable proceedings But notwithstanding this ill success they were not so discouraged as to desist from the like practices for the future For on Michaelmas-day when the Citizens met for the Election of a Mayor they mustered up their utmost strength and appeared with as much Violence against Sir William Pritchard the next in course as they had done against North and Box setting up Gold and Cornish against them altho Cornish had been Sheriff but the very year before However Pritchard carried it by the Majority of Voices In this year died the Illustrious Prince Rupert in the 63d year of his Age The Constableship of Windsor-Castle which had been enjoyed by him for many years being after his Death conferred by the King on the Earl of Arundel And on the 18th of December died Henâ—eage Earl of Nottingham and Lord High Chancellor of England who had enjoyed that place ever since it was taken from Shaftsbury in the year 73. and was succeeded by Sir Francis North Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas This year was very remarkable also for the Arrival of Two Extraordinary and Famous Embassages from Two Princes never known to have sent any into England before one from the Emperor of Fez and Morocco who in his Letter exprest much Kindness and a great Veneration to the King His Name was Hamet Benhamet Benhaddu Otter a man of a Majestick Presence and great Wisdom His business was about setling a Peace in relation to Tangier and his Person and Conversation was so pleasant and taking that he was received and caressed with more Honour and Respect both by the King and his Nobles than any Embassador I ever knew at Court And so he was by both Universities which he visited seeming to have an equal Esteem and Valuation for our Nation Nor was there ever any Embassador before him so much admired by the common people great multitudes always attending before his House which was near Katherine-street in the Strand to gaze upon and wonder at the strange Garb worn by him and his Attendants one whereof was an English Renegado formerly a Barber somewhere about Temple bar but being afterward a Soldier in Tangier he ran away from that Garison to the Moors and was by them highly advanced for his perfidious directing them in their Wars against that Town The other Embassage was from the King of Bantham in the East-Indies whose business was about the East-India Trade who would have been as much admired as the former if he had come another time but all mens Eyes were so generally fixt upon the Morocco that they were less minded than otherwise they would have been They brought the King several rich presents of Diamonds and other things of great value But not long after their return we received ill news when we least expected it For the Dutch having under pretence of assisting the Rebel Prince who was commonly called The Young King of Bantham against his Father the Old King seized upon that Town turn'd out the English whom they found there and seized on their Factory to the great damage of the English Nation On the 24th of April hapned one of the most famous and extraordinary Exploits that was ever known in London For one Broome Clerk of Skinners-Hall and Coroner of Landon having a Latitat out of the Kings-Bench in an Action upon the Case at the Suit of Papillion and Duboise agaiâ—st the Lord Mayor Sheriff North and several Loyal Aldermen Upon acquainting them therewith they all submitted to his Arrest and went with him as Prisoners to Skinners-Hall where they remained till about midnight Eight Companies of the Trained Bands being raised by order of the Lieutenancy upon that altogether new and unusual attempt to prevent Tumults But one Fletcher a Serjeant of the Poultrey-Compter having an Action of Debt upon a Bond of 400. l. agaiust Broome who had the Week before promised to give Bail to it but neglecting it and seeing him act so imperiously against the Chief Magistrate of the City took him into custody and carried him forthwith to the Compter The Mayor and his Fellow-prisoners seeing Broome carried away by a Serjeant demanded if there were any in the house who had Orders to detain them which being answered in the Negative they all peaceably departed to their several homes In the next Month was tried at Guild-Hall before the Lord Chief Justice Saunders Pemberton having been removed to the Common-Pleas upon North's receiving the Seal the great Riot committed the year before at the Election of Sheriffs Fourteen being found Guilty thereof and Fined And the better part of the City both for Number and Quality Resolved at a Common-Council held on the 22d of that Month That notwithstanding the Action in which the Mayor was Arrested at the Suit of Papillion and Duboise was said to be prosecuted at the Instance of the Citizens of London yet they to deliver themselves and the said Citizens from that false imputation did declare they were no way privy or consenting to that Action and therefore did disown and disapprove the same But the City having in the Judgment of Lawyers forfeited their Charter by several illegal proceedings the King thought the best way to prevent such kind of Tumults which might be of ill consequence to the Nation in general for the future would be the taking that Forfeiture that so by having the Charter delivered up into his hands they might by a more absolute dependance upon his Goodness be obliged to a stricter performance of their Allegiance and take the greater care to preserve the publick peace and quiet Whereupon he ordered a Writ of Quo Warranto to go out against their Charter which was grounded chiefly on their illegal exacting of Tolls in their Markets and their having framed and printed a scandalous
have lived long enough Others Now they ought rather to live longer Traitors themselves drink the King's Health heartily They admire him more that he wou'd not than that ever he should be in a possibility to revenge himself and that he shou'd remember Injuries only to forgive them Let him ascend and there was a due Majesty restor'd to the Throne Authority to the Laws Reverence to inferior Magistrates and the sacred Order of Bishops to Religion like a Treasure found from a Ship-wrack after many Years rouling in a tempestuous Sea Thus terminating all publick differences and confusions by Peace he adorn'd Peace it self with good Arts which receiv'd both their Countrey with him and their Protection under him by his opening the Temple of Janus and that of the Muses at the same time For himself had as great a Knowledg in Letters as any Prince in Christendom and he most acurately understood Navigation Astronomy and most parts of the Mathematicks An huge delight he took in conversing freely with the most knowing Men in those pleasant and useful Studies And he endeavour'd to promote them as much as possible in others by publick Endowments and Liberal Rewards Besides this severer sort of Notices he had a great insight into all those softer Arts which become a private Gentleman And in his Reign we may say That Wit did first reign here and appear'd upon the Stage as on a Throne It was scarcely more encourag'd and environ'd with greater Pomp and Splendor at Rome under the peaceable Reign of Augustus after that long Civil War wherein the Sword would permit nothing else to be sharp besides it self Tho he had as much Good-Nature as wou'd perhaps have serv'd an Hundred other Men a Word peculiar to our English Tongue and a Thing peculiar to this Prince as the Great Chancellor remark'd yet he was observed to take an extream delight in that Part of Poesy which is not very famous for Good Nature I mean Satyr Doubtless this sort of Writing is the best and most beneficial of all others which the Poets follow for it not only tells Mankind of but it chastises them for their Faults And I wonder that the Ancients when they bestowed so many several kinds of Poetry to the Favour and Influence of so many Muses they could not find in their hearts to allow one Goddess to Satyr But whatever unkindness it finds in Heaven I am sure in our Age it has found Protection upon earth witness the great good Offices the French King hath done it in the Person of Boileau For that Prince is not like Alexander of a Spanish stamp and Complexion so wholly transported with the Giddiness of Romantick Stories as that he cannot dream of conquering the World without having Homer for his Bed-fellow but what he reads is good sense and honest Nature without any vain and extravagant additions And this he does in imitation of his Late Majesty who was the oldest and by consequence the most exemplary Prince in the Christian World tho under far worse Circumstances For the latter was much better capacitated through his extensive Knowledg in Nature and the Intricacies of Matter and Motion as well as in all Polite Learning and I think I shou'd do no man an Injury if I say he understood Butler the best in England How Good and Gracious a Master he was You MY LORDS can best declare Ye knew him the most searching Judg of Men that held in his hands both rewards and punishments In the last indeed he was very sparing and the offending Courtier was usually excus'd before hand very seldom to be excus'd The Punishment he thought was sufficient in the very Vexation of the Delinquent Warily and by Degrees his Rewards were distributed that there might still be a further Prospect in view by way of Encouragement For nothing conduces more to following Honours than the former well administred And never at one leap was any supreme place conferred unless for some Transcendent and as I may call it supernatural piâ—ce of Loyalty Our Noblesse he both preserved and augmented lest the condition of such should be worse as deserved to have a Noble Posterity than of such as had Noble Ancestors Not a Soldier was there that had received Wounds in his Service but he counted and rewarded them in an ample manner And thorough all succeeding Ages He will be a Benefactor as well as an example to Soldiers at Chelsea where as long as we shall have a Country to Defend or an Enemy to Combate His Name will be evermore remembred for what is bestow'd upon Posterity ought to be Immortal You likewise MY LORDS can give the best Attestation to his Offices of Privacy and his great Virtues of Humility and Condescention which yet had a kind of Majestick Royalty with them Ye remember him when he was in Exile and as a private man how he resembled a King and how whilest a restored Monarch and in his most illustrious days he seem'd to be a private Citizen That in his greatest Prosperity he had not the least Haughtiness nor Elation of Mind but being secure of his own greatness was not afraid of degrading himself into the likeness of a Subject Ye know how much time he bestow'd on the cares of Empire how much on the Duties of Devotion Philosophy and Vertue how short his Sleeps and the unbendings of his mind were A smart walk a mouthful of fresh Air and a little ingenious raillery Such a Prince must needs be no less lov'd than admir'd The Affection and Reverence of his Subjects wou'd stand him instead of terror His own Virtue wou'd serve him for a Guard and his Sword rather for Ornament than Defence But what Charms can withstand the Ingratitude and Malice of accursed and diabolick Rebels Against his Sacred Life we had a Salamanca-Plot wherein the Sufferers seem'd to be more choqu'd at the Injustice of the Evidence than at the severity of the Sentence They seem'd to bear all magnanimously and with the bravery of Innocence And with good reason might they do so since they had for a Co-partner in Dishonour which to her was worse than Death the most Pious and Virtuous Princess that England ever deserv'd to see We had likewise a most hellish Fanatick Conspiracy the Discovery of which discover'd ALL. Then Heaven began to look kindly down upon us and withdraw its Plagues especially that great Egyptian Darkness wherewith we had been blinded And the Froggs and Vermine which were got into the Royal Bed-Chambers found it high time to recede Then the Delatores began to fear as much as they were fear'd before And the Laws were now more dreaded than perjur'd Schismaticks Then Sham-Magistrates put off their consulary Honours and public Spoils And the King of England became first LORD OF LONDON Which City while he restrain'd its Liberties he rendred more free But here MY LORDS we come to a full point and here ye must take your leave of him For when he had
you that grace which will teach and enable us to want as well as to wear a Crown which is not worth the taking up or enjoying upon sordid dishonourable or irreligious terms Do you always keep firm to the true Principles of Piety Virtue and Honour and you shall never want a Kingdom It will be your honour to afford all respect love and protection to your Mother who hath many ways deserved well of me especially in being a means to bless me with so many hopeful Children and being content with incomparable magnanimity to suffer with me and them May you be an Anchor of hope to these weather-beaten Kingdoms your Wisdom Justice Piety and Valour a repairer of what the folly and wickedness of some men have so far ruined as to leave nothing intire to the Crown Nobility Clergy or Commons of Laws Liberties Estates Order Honour Conscience or Lives Let those that love me find me when I am gone in your presence and vertues What good I intended do you perform when God shall put it into your power I pray God bless you and establish your Kingdom in Righteousness your Soul in true Religion and your Honour in the Love of God and your People Farewel till we meet if not on Earth yet in Heaven The good King having thus resigned himself and all his Affairs into the hand of God patiently submitted to his Cross and in a way of renunciation as it were and self-disposition of his Government transferred and bequeathed the Scepter together with his Advice and Direction for his wielding of it He applied himself wholly to the making preparation for his departing from an earthly to a heavenly Kingdom being assisted in his Piety and Devotion by Dr. Juxon Bishop of London And being upon the fatal 30th of January brought upon a Scaffold erected before his own Palace of Whitehall where he was barbarously murdered by his own Rebellious Subjects he delivered himself in the following Speech Being not likely to be much heard I could be silent did not silence intimate a submission to the guilt as well as to the punishment charged upon me But in my duty to my God and Country to clear my self an Honest Man a good King and a good Christian I protest before God to whom I must instantly give an account that as may appear from the date of their Commissions and mine I begun not the War against the Parliament nor intended I any incroachment upon their Priviledges they began with me and the Militia which they confest was mine but thought it fit to have it from me yet I charge not the guilt of these unhappy troubles upon the two Houses for I believe ill instruments betwixt us was the cause of all this Bloodshed however this Sentence is just upon me for an unjust Sentence permitted by me What Christian I am this good Man pointing to Dr. Juxon and others that have been inwardly familiar with me and know me as well as my self may bear witness I die in Communion with the Professors of the Reformed Religion that hath been Establisht in the Church of England in Queen Eliz. and my Fathers time of Blessed Memory and in Charity with all the World forgiving the worst of mine Enemies and praying God that this be not laid to their Charge As a good King I advise my Subjects not to ground your selves in Conquests without a good cause that you would give God the King and the People their dues You may give God his due by the advice of a national Synod freely chosen and freely debating among themselves How you may give the King his due the Law will instruct you and the People have their due when they have that Government and those Laws whereby their Lives and Goods are most their own I have delivered my Conscience I pray God you take those courses that may be for the Kingdoms and your own good Having finisht this Speech and poured forth his Divine Soul to God in Prayer it was sent by death to him that gave it where the great Assembly in Heaven joyfully welcomed that Martyred King and made room for Charles of Great Brittain The Life and Reign of Charles the first being thus determined by this untimely and fatal stroak his Eldest Son who likewise bore his Name immediately Succeeded him by the Title of Charles the Second Who was the Lawful and undoubted Heir not only of all his Dominions but also of his admirable and Heavenly Vertues being endowed with all those Qualifications which are requisite to or could possibly be desired in a Prince and under the influence of whose happy Reign these Nations might have enjoyed as much happiness and felicity as their Hearts would wish had not their own folly and madness for a time prevented it For no sooner had the Fatal Ax severed England and her Liberties by cutting off the Head of her King but the Parliament as the Juncto still presumed to call themselves the better to crush Monarchy and maintain what they had now so far prosecuted issued forth a Proclamation that none under penalty of being deemed guilty of High Treason should presume to Proclaim declare publish or any way promote the Prince of Wales Son to the late King or any other Person whatsoever to be King or Chief Magistrate of England or of any part of the Dominions or any part thereof by Colour of Inheritance Succession or Election or any other claim or pretence whatsoever without the free consent of the People in Parliament and which Proclamation altho not publisht till the 2 of February yet was in part Proclaimed on the very day of the Kings Murder And for the more ensuring and the better carrying on their Government with the more plausibility they publish an Act of State for the alteration of Writs wherein instead of King the Name Stile and Test and Custodes Libertatis Angliae Anthoritate Parliamenti should be used and no other All Writs being ordered to run so and those concerned in the Law required to take notice thereof yet they provided that all Patents granted by the late King should still stand in full force and vertue And having cast off the chief of those three Estates by which the Nation had been so long Governed they think likewise of abolishing the second that so they might usurp the whole power into their own hands in order whereunto having first Voted that they would make no farther Addresses to them nor receive any from them they made an Ordinance for abolishing the House of Lords as dangerous and useless And then having abolished the Ancient Governments of this Kingdom they proceeded to the consideration of Establishing another but found it a work of so much intricacy that they could come to no resolution but only agreed in a Negative Voice that there should for the future be no Government in England either by King or House of Lords and thereupon ordered the old Great Seal to be broken and a new one to
short but pithy Speech to the People telling them that he did esteem the Affections of his good People more than the Crowns of many Kingdoms and should be ready by God's Assistance to bestow his Life for their defence wishing to live no longer than he saw Religion and that Kingdom to flourish in all Happiness with many other expressions of like Love and Affection toward them The Ceremonies of the Coronation being ended and a plentiful Entertainment prepared he sate down at one Table and the Lords at another many Caresses and Testimonies of Joy reciprocally passing between them And Dinner being ended they all returned to St. Johnstons in the same Order and Pomp as they came from thence to Schoneâ— Bonfires Ringing of Bells and the loud Acclamations of the People were sufficient demonstrations of the Publick Joy which the Scots were filled withall and the great expectations they had of Happiness and Felicity under the Influence of his mild and easie Government Having now obtained the actual possession of one of his Kingdoms and being reconciled to that Parliament he was not in the least daunted by the late Miscarriages but as if he had been encouraged by his former Unhappiness and raised in mind like Anteus by his Fall he proceeded to the raising of such an Army as might then have been rather wisht for by the Affectionate than expected by the Reasonable And indeed such was the Confluence of Faithful Subjects that continually resorted to him and were resolved to carry on and if possible maintain an endangered and an endangering Cause against the most successful and hitherto prevailing Interest that he was in a little time Master of a greater Army in the Field than either his own hope or his Enemies guilty fear could suspect Wherefore he bravely appears himself in the management of his own Affairs as Generalissimo of that Army which consisted of two and twenty thousand fighting Men. Nor was his care less employed about his Garrisons than it was about those Forces he had in the Field knowing that it was prudence to provide for a Retreat though he expected a Conquest and not neglect the providing a Refuge in the worst of Dangers whilst according to Reason he need to think of nothing but Safety in the best of Victories Wherefore to hasten the work for every minute of delay was then fatal and cherish the dejected Vulgar who were now somewhat discouraged by lying under the burden of a double Army with the honour and pleasure of his gracious presence He took a progress to view the most considerable of them and see them well fortified and furnisht with all necessary Provisions encouraging the Engineers by his Bounty and directing and guiding them by his Skill But those vast Preparations were too formidable to his Enemies for them to suffer 'em to go on without an Attempt at least to hinder and defeat them Wherefore before the Levies were well compleated Cromwel makes hard toward him thinking each minute tedious that past without some Action But the King prudently declined joyning Battel with him until he might if possible draw him who had a greedy desire of Fighting into some disadvantage which he was in a probability of doing soon after For Cromwel having commanded two Regiments to pass over into a narrrow Island hoping thereby to intercept his passage he sent against them five or six Regiments under the Command of Major General Brown who had certainly cut them all in pieces had not Cromwel hastened thither with a supply in the very last minute of opportunity whereby he rescued his own Forces and beat back Brown although not without a considerable loss on both sides And being flusht with those successful beginnings pursued his Advantage and transporting his Army over Fife marcht immediately unto St. Johnstons which he took almost upon the first Summons Whereupon the King who was not able to beat them back thought it high time to look about him And since Cromwel that successful Rebel had now gained all on the other side Fife took the Earl of Eglington Prisoner possest himself of St. Johnstons and grew every day more powerful he resolved with all imaginable speed to advance into England expecting that the Justice and Equity of his Cause together with the long Tyranny exercised over them by the Juncto would incite his English Subjects to return to their Allegiance and joyn with him against theirs as well as his Enemies And knowing by experience that the Scots always exprest their Valour better in other Countries than at home in their own whereupon Cromwel re-crosses Frith and sends Lambert with a select Party of Horse and Dragoons to fall upon the King's Reer himself following presently after with the Body of his Army The King entred England by the way of Carlisle the Royal Army marching through the Country with that Civility and exact Obedience to Military Discipline that as some affirm the Country was not damaged six-pence by them But whether it were that their former Villanies had left such a deep impression in the hearts of the People or that they were now dull'd and besotted with Slavery and with Issachar's Ass were content to couch under their Burdens or that they were over-awed by an Armed Power which is the most probable few or none came in to his Assistance save only the Lord Howard's Son of Escrick with one Troop of Horse notwithstanding his earnest Invitation The Juncto at Westminster hearing of the King's March were exceedingly terrified therewith and presently raised all the Countries against him and declared it High Treason for any to assist him either with Men or Money But the Earl of Darby who was always Loyal both to him and his Father not fearing their Bug-Bear Threatning brought him a supply of Two hundred and fifty Foot and Sixty Horse out of the Isle of Man He met with no opposition till he came at Warrington in Lancashire where some considerable Forces of the Parliament were ready to cut down that Bridge and dispute his Passage But the Scots falling on them before they were aware prevented the breaking down of the Bridge and by their Valour forced their way over the Planks and put the Adversary to such a confused Retreat that had it been pursued as himself would have had it but was opposed by Lesly it might have proved the Conquest of all England and that unhappy and miserable War might thereby have been ended much sooner than it was From thence he marched toward Worcester in such excellent Order and with so little Damage to the Country that it lookt more like a Progress with his Nobles than a March with an Army which was a great demonstration of the powerful Influence of his goodness and care which could so easily frame Rudeness it self to so smooth and even a temper and form an unruly Camp into a well managed and orderly Court In his way to Worcester he summoned Shrewsbury by a Letter directed to Collonel Mackworth
thing â—one by them And although he expected 〈◊〉 should have an Army ready to good the agreement yet he intendeâ— they should prevail more by their Reasons than their Forces The managing of this Treaty between the two Kingdoms being a business that so much concerned him 〈◊〉 particular as well as Europe in generaâ— he condescended to negotiate thereâ—â— in his own person notwithstanding 〈◊〉 had Residents in most Christian Kingdoms And in order thereunto betooâ— himself first to one Court and then 〈◊〉 another the Duke of York accoâ—â—â— panying him incognito being sensibâ—â— of the danger which might accrue 〈◊〉 to his cause and Person upon the scrâ—ples of a solid interview it being genâ—rally observed the interviews of Priâ—ces are unhappy And by the way 〈◊〉 he passed through France he gave a 〈◊〉 sit to his Mother intending before 〈◊〉 had undertook the negotiation of 〈◊〉 publick reconciliation between 〈◊〉 two Kingdoms to practice a privaâ—â— one between himself and her who haâ— declar'd herself very much displeâ—â—â—â— with him upon the account of his prâ—ceedings in the business of the Duke 〈◊〉 Glocester which having accomplisheâ— and finding that that Court did 〈◊〉 give him the honour due to his Person nor an entertainment suitable to his expectations He return'd with his Brother to Diep in Normandy going thither by Post with such hast and privacy that some mens hopes and others fears imagin'd they were gone over into England an attempt at that time too dangerous for so wise and politick a Prince to adventure on From Diep he remov'd toward the Frontiers of Spain by the way of Roan where he was nobly treated by Mr. Scot an English Merchant and entertain'd with a Sermon suitable to his present condition and from thence he went by post to Bajonne accompany'd by the Marquess of Ormond and so towards the two Ministers of State that were negotiating the Peace between the two Crowns at St. Jon de Luz The news of this approach did no sooner reach Don Lewis's Lodgings but he prepares to meet him with as much splendour as if our Soveraign had been his Majesty of Spain or himself an English Subject for when he met him he immediately alighting from his Horse and kneeling though in a very dirty and inconvenient place embrac'd and kiss'd his Majesties Knees and walk'd before him bare-headed to the place he had order'd to be made ready for him which was the best Lodging the Town afforded where the next day he received a formal visit from that sly close and reserv'd Politician Cardinal Mazarine whom he entertain'd with such a discreet wariness as if he design'd to let him know and those that saw him understood well enough thereby that he understood the walking Cabala almost as well as he did himself Never were any of his great affairs so well carried on as that was which he manag'd himself for by the advantage of his own incomparable Prudence and sage Experience together with his powerful Majesty and Presence he so far prevail'd in his negotiations there that notwithstanding Lockharts close applications in behalf of his Masters he not only prevented any article that was offer'd and prest in favour of his rebellious adversaries of England but also procur'd himself to be included by Spain as the most honourable Ally in the intended Peace and obtain'd a promise from both those Favourites that they would in pursuance of their Masters friendship with him descended as soon as possible to treat of such particulars that might be proposed as the most sutable to the promoting of his Restauration and consult what Counsels ought to be taken what Men Money and other supplys their respective Masters should afford and how each should be employed for the greatest usefulness to his Service After which he was dismist with as much Respect and Honour as he was received Whilst this Treaty was managing by the two Favourites the Duke of York was in consideration of his great worth and the Service he had done for Spain offered the honour of being made Constable of Castile and Lord high Admiral of Spain which he handsomly refused that Prince having a peculiar way of denying requests as pleasantly to some as he grants them to others And indeed it was at that time prudence in him to wave any courtesie that might be proffered by Spain or any other Popish Court least it might somewhat have retarded his Brothers affairs in England by rendring him suspected of too near compliance with the Catholick Interest and have rendred the attempts of those who were there endeavouring to clear both his and the Kings Integrity and Constancy to the reformed Religion the better to prepare the way for their Re-establishment vain and fruitless especially since their â—mplacable Enemies made it their chief design and business to abuse the Credulous with false surmizings and unjust suspicions of their faithfulness to the Protestant Religion and Interest to which they had adhered with so much resolution and constancy that neither smiles nor frowns the prospect of the greatest enjoyments nor the fear of the heaviest sufferings the highest Favours from Rome nor the basest Affronts from England could tempt them to the least thought of disloyalty to it The King having finisht his negotiations at the Treaty of St. Jan de Luz to his great satisfaction returned with his Brother the Duke of York through France to Brussels only staying some short time at Carentia and Paris with the Queen his Mother And to make his advantage of these stirs and continual alterations in the Government of England sine the death of Cromwel which naturally tended towards the promoting his Restauration whereby the Nation could only be setled notwithstanding they were all design'd to prevent and hinder it he sent over diverse Commissions to diverse worthy and loyal Persons to raise Forces on his behalf and otherwise to act as they saw convenient for the promoting that grand design by virtue of which Commissions a general Plot was laid for the raising of Forces in all the Countyes in England to declare for him But some part of that business being intrusted to the management of the Lady Howard Daughter to the Earl of Barkshire who though loyal enough yet being in regard of her Sex incapable of secrecy it was soon discovered and so London which was the main place secured and the most considerable Persons that were to have done any thing therein were disabled by imprisonment or otherwise several Troops of Horse likewise commanded into Kent and Surrey and the raisiâ—g the Militia hastned in every County so that no considerable party was able to appear any where except in Cheshire where most of the Nobility and Gentry of that County and Lancashire were up under the command of Sir George Booth with whom and General Monk from Scotland was to have joyned if they had not been so suddainly supprest And in North Wales were most of the Inhabitants assembled together under the command of Sir
it on certain factious persons unknown to them which they desire Mr. Withins Steward of that Court to represent in their Names to the King which he accordingly did and received the Honour of Knighthood as a Reward of his Loyalty After which several such like addresses were directed from many of the Counties and that from Norfolk had a farther acknowledgment of their humble thanks to the King for calling home the Duke And the Lord Shandois having been elected by the Turky Company to go Embassador to Constantinople and desiring the Kings approbation the King 〈◊〉 him that having been concerned in promoting petitions which were â—â—rogatory to his Prerogative and tended to sedition he could not think him fit for his Favour whereupon he humbly acknowledged his fault to the King in Council protesting â—â—at he had been misled and drawn into it by being perswaded it was for his Mâ—jesties Service but being now better informed he abhorred and disowned all such Practices and humbly begging his Pardon he as freely obtained it Upon the 18th of May so great a Storm of Hail fell in London and the adjacent parts that the like had not been seen in many Years before the Stones being of an extraordinary bigness and very hard till they had lain a while many of them being as large as Pullets Eggs. One which I saw measured was somewhat more than Nine Inches about several Rooks in the Temple Garden being beaten down and killed with them and the Glass of many Sky-lights battered and broken to pieces And now the Parliament which had been several times this Summer prorogued met on the 21st of October according to â—he King's Declaration to them at their meeting in April to whom he declared in a Speech to both Houses That he had during that long prorogation made Alliances with Holland and Spain and desired money of them for the relieving Tangier the defence whereof had very much exhausted his Treasure and advising them not to meddle with the Succession of the Crown but proceed to the discovery of the Plot and the Trial of the Lords The Commons having chosen Mr. Williams a Barrester of Grays Inn and Recorder of Chester for their Speaker to convince the World that the King had not without Reason deferred their sitting so long and that neither he nor the Nation would have been losers if they had not sate then fell to purging their house expelling Sir Robert Can a Burgess for Bristol for having said there was no other Plot but a Presbyterian one and Sir Francis Withins for having declared himself an Abhorrer of the late tumultuous Petitions for the Parliaments sitting The former was committed by them to the Tower and both ordered to receive their Censure on their knees from the Speaker Several other Members were likewise declared guilty of the same Offence with Sir Francis Withins And not content with punishing their own Members they take notice of others who were without their Walls amongst whom Sir George Jeffries Recorder of London one of the King's Serjeants at Law and Chief Justice of Chester became the Object of their displeasure and was Voted a Betrayer of the Subjects Rights and an Address was made to the King to remove him from all publick Affairs and Impeachments Voted and drawn up against Sir Francis North Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas Sir William Scrogs Chief Justice of the Kings-Bench Sir Thomas Jones one of the puisny Judges of that Court and Sir Richard Weston one of the Barons of the Exchequer for several pretended misdemeanors that of Sir Francis North being the advising and drawing up of the Proclamation against Petitions But not contenting themselves to deal with Subjects they proceeded next to a matter of a far greater concern For on the 11th of November notwithstanding the King's desire at their opening That they would not meddle with the Succession a Bill past in the House of Commons intituled An Act for securing the Protestant Religion by disabling James Duke of York from inheriting the Imperial Crown of England and Ireland and the Territories thereunto belonging which notwithstanding all the opposition made against it by the unbiassed and Judicious Loyalists who tho their Reasons were strongest yet their number were fewest was carried up to the Peers by the Lord Russel attended by almost all the Commons who gave a Hum at the delivery of it The Lords having ordered it upon their departure to be read put it to the Vote whether it should be read a second time which being carried in the Affirmative by Two Voices only after the second reading it was debated till Eleven a Clock at night the King being present all the while and then thrown out of the House by a Majority of about Thirty Voices in which number were all the Bishops then present to shew how careful the Prelacy is to promote Monarchy Soon after the Parliament proceeded to the Trial of William Lord Viscount Stafford which began in Westminster-Hall on Tuesday the 30th of November and the Impeachment and Evidence upon the same were managed by a Committee of the Commons and the Witnesses against him were Oates Turberville and Dugdale The Lord Chancellor Finch was created Lord High Steward for the solemnity of his Trial which lasted a whole week and being found Guilty by the Majority of Four and Twenty Voices he received Sentence on the 17th of December and on the 29th of that Month was beheaded on Tower-Hill protesting his Innocency with his last breath as all those had done who died for the Plot before him Some were so bold as to question the King's power to dispence with the Rigor of the Sentence and the unhappy Lord Russel was said to be one of them During these publick Transactions a large and prodigious flame of Light appeared in the West The Star from which the Blaze proceeded was but small and when first discovered seemed to be not much above the Horizon but every night after appeared somewhat higher in the beginning of the night and consequently set later its lustre and magnitude decreasing by degrees Whether this finger of the Almighty so visibly seen in the Heavens portended good or bad Events to the World in general or England in particular is a matter too mysterious for me to unfold and therefore shall I leave it till made more plain by the Effects which will be the best Commentatary thereon The King finding the Commons taken up with other business without taking the least care of providing him Money for the supplying his pressing wants and the relieving Tangier then besieged by the Emperor of Morocco recommended the matter more seriously to them in his Speech on the 15th of December But all the Answer he could obtain from them was an Address complaining of several pretended Grievances and refusing all supplies of Money for the Relief of Tangier or any other use unless he would pass a Bill for the Exclusion of the Duke and to enable all Protestants to associate
considered the Plea and consulted with other Judges about it and were of opinion it was insufficient and was therefore overruled and the Prisoner ordered to plead over Whereupon he pleaded Not guilty and had till the first Thursday in the next Term allowed him for his Tryal In the mean while many Loyal Addresses flowed from all parts of the Nation full of Congratulations and Thanks to the King for his late Declaration And in Trinity-Term Dr. Oliver Plunket was Try'd for High-Treason the Evidence against him being all profest Papists affirmed he was made Primate of Ireland by the Pope at the French Kings Recommendation and that he having thereupon engaged to do that King all the Service he could had actually levied amongst his Popish Clergy great Sums of Money to introduce the French Dominion and extirpate the Protestants out of that Kingdom upon which evidence he was found Guilty and was together with Fitz-harris who received his Tryal the next day executed at Tyburn on the first of the following July protesting his innocency and praying for the King Queen and Duke Presently after the Tryal of Fitz-Harris his Wife and Maid accused the Lord Howard of Escrick of contriving the Treasonable Libel for which he was convicted who was thereupon committed to the Tower And in a Paper delivered at his Execution to Dr. Haukins Minister of the Tower for his Wife he confirmed that accusation denying what he had formerly confest about Danby and the Plot affirming he was drawn into that confession only through hopes of saving his Life thereby But a Bill of Indictment against Howard being delivered on the last day of the Term to the Grand-Jury of Edmunton Hundred sworn to by Fitz-harris's Wife and Maid and by some others that Jury pretending to be unsatisfied with the Evidence would have indorsed it with an Ignoramus had not one of the Clerks of the Crown who attended them withdrawn it from them for which notwithstanding they were told by the Court the Kings Attorney might stop such proceedings as he saw occasion they preferred a Bill of Indictment against the Clerk to the Jury of Oswelston Hundred there attending for that pretended Misdemeanor The Reason why some Persons went so well attended to the Oxford Parliament began now to appear for about this time there was discovery made of a design of seizing the Kings Person whilst he was there and several factious People were thereupon committed to the Tower viz. Rouse Haynes White Colledg and the Earl of Shaftsbury whose Papers were likewise seiz'd At the Sessions which began soon after he and Howard moved to be bailed but the Judges told them it lay not in their power to bail out of the Tower At this Sessions and Indictment of High Treason was preferred to the Grand-Jury of London against one of those lately committed to the Tower whose Name was Colledg But in regard he was a busie factious Fellow and ever loved to meddle most with that he least understood and pass his ignorant censures upon the great Affairs of State He was the more commonly known by the Name of the Protestant Joyner But notwithstanding the Evidence against him was full and clear they returned an Ignoramus upon the Bill whereupon part of the Treasonable Words and Matters for which he was there Indicted being transacted at Oxford whilst the Parliament sate there the Cause was removed to that Assizes where he was before the Lord Chief Justice North tryed upon the same Evidence and condemned and executed In a Parliament held at this time in Scotland the Duke of York presided as the Kings High Commissioner and an Act was past which asserted the Right of Succession to the Imperial Crown of Scotland asserting it to be by inherent right and that the nature of the Monarchy was such that by the fundamental and unalterable Law of the Realm it transmitted and devolved by Lineal Succession according to proximity of Blood and that no difference in Religion no Law nor Act of Parliament could alter or divert the Right of Succession of the Crown to the nearest and lawful Heirs and declaring it High Treason either by Writing Speaking or any other way to endeavour the least Alteration therein The French Protestants being greatly opprest and persecuted by that King flockt into England in great multitudes and were received by the King of England with abundance of Kindness and affection ordering that his Officers and Magistrates should give them the same Countenance and Favour with his own Subjects assuring them he would take them into his Royal Protection and grant 'em his Letters of Dennization and promising to procure in the next Parliament an Act for their Naturalization A special Commission of Oyer and Terminer being granted by him for the Tryal of Shaftsbury and others at the Old Bayly the Bill of High Treason preferred against Shaftsbury notwithstanding the Evidence swore very full to the Treason was returned by the Grand-Jury the Foreman whereof was Sir Samuel Barnardiston Ignoramus as a former Jury had done that of Colledg Whereupon the people whose Idol he was gave a great Shout and assaulted those who were Witnesses against him with that violence that the Sheriffs to prevent mischief were forced to guard them as far as the Savoy homeward Bonfires were that Night made by the Rabble almost in every Street at one whereof Capt. Griffith was knockt down and wounded in the Head for endeavouring to put it out And a rout of people marching down Warwick-lane one whereof had his Sword drawn sometimes cryed No York no Popish Successor and then bawl'd out a Monmouth a Shaftsbury a Buckingham till they were stopt by the Watch at Ludgate But tho the factious Rabble were thus overjoyed at the acquittal of their Idol yet the sober and Loyal part of the Nation had other sentiments about it and declared their Indignation in several Loyal Addresses against the most Execrable and Traiterous designed Association which was discovered in Shaftsburys Closet amongst his other papers which threatned not the King alone but Monarchy it self In February 1682 there hapned a strange and Barbarous Murder which for the boldness of the Attempt and the baseness of the manner wherein it was perpetrated is scarcely to be parellel'd in any History For Thomas Thin of Long-Leat Esq a Gentleman of an Estate of about 10000 l. per annum having privately married Elizabeth Daughter and sole Heir of Jocelin Earl of Northumberland and Relict to Henry Earl of Ogle Son and Heir apparent to the Duke of Newcastle And some of her Friends who were not so well satisfied with the Match as her Grand-mother was by whose means it was said to be made up having perswaded her before ever her New Husband had bedded her to withdraw her self secretly into Holland the Town was thereupon alarumed with the approach of a mighty Suit in Law concerning the Validity of the Match the best Civilians being engaged on the one side or the other And Count