proper to give You under My Hand that I expect this compliance from You and desire it may be assoon as conveniently You can You may easily believe with what trouble I write this to You there being nothing I am more sensible of than the constant kindness You have ever had for Me I hope you are as just to Me to be assured that no absence nor any thing else can ever change me from being truly and kindly Yours and their advantage Telling them moreover that since his Neighbours were making Naval Preparations he thought it necessary still to maintain a Fleet at Sea and that it highly concerned them to provide a constant establishment for the Navy And concluding his Speech with his earnest desires to have that Parliament prove a Healing one assuring them that it was his constant resolution to defend with his Life the Protestant Religion and the Laws of the Kingdom and that he expected in so doing to be by them defended from the Calumny as well as danger of those worst of Men who endeavoured to render both Him and his Government odious to his People Advising them likewise by his Chancellor the Earl of Nottingham not to suffer their Zeal to out-run their Discretion lest by being too far transported with the fears of Popery they over-did their business and by neglecting the opportunities of making sober and lasting Provisions against it render themselves the unhappy occasion of making their own Counsels abortive The Commons as soon as they were returned to their House made choice of Mr. Seymour for their Speaker whom they lookt upon as the fittest Person for that employment in regard he had officiated therein in the former Parliament but the King refusing to admit him they chose Serjeant Gregory And to convince the World that they were Leavened with the same Principles and resolved to thwart the King's Designs for setling the Nations as much as the former had done begun where they ended ordering a Committee to inquire into the manner how Danby had sued out his Pardon which was granted him by the King to secure the Earl for whom he had a particular affection having always found him faithful to his Interest from all fear of Punishment for any pretended Crimes supposing as well he might that they would not dispute his Power of Pardoning since it was by the Law invested on him as one of the chiefest Jewels of his Crown But finding upon search that the Pardon was not entred after its passing at the Secretaries Office in any other Office 'till it came to the Lord Chancellor and so dispatcht in a private manner They Resolve upon an Address to the King to represent to his Majesty the illegality and the dangerous consequence of granting Pardons to any Persons who lay under an Impeachment of the Commons and desired the Lords that he might be sequestred from their House and put into safe Custody who accordingly ordered the Usher of the Black Rod to take him which he had done had he not absented himself Whereupon a Bill was ordered to be brought in to Command his surrendring himself by a certain day or in default thereof to stand attainted And the Lords having in the mean while pass'd a Bill for Banishing and disabling of him and sent it down to the Commons for their concurrence it was rejected as a Censure too favourable and a Vote pass'd for an Address to the King that he would not permit him to reside in any of his Pallaces of White-Hall Somerset-House or St. James's and another Address to be made for a Proclamation to apprehend him and forbid all the King's Subjects to harbour or conceal him In the mean while the Bill of Attainder was highly canvassed at several conferences between the two Houses 'till at length the Earl saved them the labour of passing a Bill for his Attainder by surrendring himself to the Usher of the Black-Rod The Lords in the Tower were at their first Imprisonment found Guilty upon special â—â—dictments by the Grand Jury of Middlesex before special Commissioners sitting at Westminster But that way of proceeding being for some Reasons waved they were severally impeacht by the Commons and their Impeachment carried up to the Peers by Five Members of the House of Commons to which they gave in their Answers in person all but Bellafis who being ill of the Gout sent his in writing The King to content the Faction if possible on the 2d of April declared his pleasure to dissolve his Privy Council with which they had shewed themselves displeased and constitute a new one which for the time to come should consist of Thirty persons Fifteen whereof were to be certain viz. the Archbishop of Canterbury the Bishop of London the Lord Chancellor one of the Chief Justices the Admiral the Master of the Ordinance the Treasurer the Chancellor of the Exchequer the Privy Seal the Master of the Horse the Lord Steward the Lord Chamberlain of the Houshold the Groom of the Stool and the Two Secretaries And the rest to be Elective at his pleasure Ten out of the Nobility and Five Commoners besides such Princes of the Blood as should be at Court A Lord President and a Secretary of Scotland And according to that new Model as many of them as were in Court met the next morning in the Council-Chamber and were sworn Privy Councellors The King going the same day to the Parliament acquainted the Two Houses with what he had done and assured them he was resolved in all weighty and important Affairs next to his great Council in Parliament to be advised by that Privy Council And it being his custom as it had been his Fathers before him to take off some hot Spirits whose Parts and Abilities he judged might be improved to his own and the Publicks advantage by promoting them to some Place or Office of Trust or otherwise winning them to his Friendship unless they were such whose Natures corrupted by their designs had rendred obstinate and implacable as the Earl of Shaftsbury afterward appeared to be he for the most part chose the other Fifteen which were to compleat his Council out of their number and made Shaftsbury Lord President of it The Parliament resolving to hasten the Trial of the Lords Danby and Bellaasis appeared in person at the Bar of the Lords House where the former put in his Plea and the other his Answer And the next day Stafford Arundel and Powis appeared there likewise and having retracted their former Pleas which appeared insufficient to the Commons they put in their further Answers And the King commanding the Commons to attend him in the House of Lords renewed the Assurances he had formerly given them of his being ready to assent to any Laws they should provide for the security of the Protestant Religion so that the Descent of the Crown in the Right Line were not thereby defeated And that he was willing a provision should be made to distinguish a Popish from a
p. 187. r. ordering p. 188. r. directly p. 191. d. they p. 194. r. contrive p. 198. r. discourse l. 10. r. effect p. 200. r. them p. 225. r. whom p. 247. r. Six p. 225. r. resplendent p. 263. r. beatissimo p. 264. r. Generis p. 299. r. places of sev p. 341. r. thereof were p. 343. r. liv'd and died p. 366. r. All this very c. p. 415. r. shou'd p. 425. d. they p. 443. r. very great p. 484. r. pretensive in 't p. 492. r. King-craft THE Publishers Advertisement TO THE READER THere is no question but many at the first sight of the Title page will Wonder that so Sacred a Name shou'd be there and that the Life of so Great a Prince should be pretended to be written in so little time History they will say is a Work of Time it self as well as that part of it call'd Biography which Treats of the Lives of Eminent and Great Men and of Illustrious Heroes informing us in the Nature of Things and of Duties and Teaching us the great Arts of Life and Death which are no such easie and trivial matters as to be thrown over the left Shoulder And what shall we say to the Confidence of this Author who now in less than two Months space has huddled up the Life of the greatest Monarch of the British Line which perhaps is more difficult to be wriâ—â—â— than that of any of his Predecessorâ— and would claim a Century or at lest as many Years as it was acted in to be absolutely and thoroughly digested by the most reaching Genius and most consummated Wit Wherefore to satisfie thee Reader and thy Objection I will tell and assure thee That the Author is partly I do say more acquainted with the great difficulty as well as use of History in general and that for his own Part This which thou hast here he hath been long about these many years and that it is no Mushroom business springing up from a foggy Brain in one Night and as likely to perish by another It is a thoughtful Piece no illegitimate Brat no Sham-extract Verbatim out of other Books which thou hast perhaps read and paid for already For I should be very loath if I knew such a thing to so be unconscionable to impose upon thee But now perhaps from my Answer to the former Objection thou wilt be ready to raise another and look upon my Author as no kind Wisher to his Prince to go and write his Life before his Demiss which resembles a kind of an Expectation of his Death rather than the putting up any hearty Prayers for the Continuance of his Life as every good Subject ought to do In return to this I am still of the Affirmitive side and will again assure thee That he is a very Loyal and Worthy Gentlemen and that thou wilt believe me as soon as thou hast read his Book And besides to consider the thing in it self 't is so far from being an Act that looks any ways Disloyal to write a Princes Life before his Decease that on the other hand it is extreamly Loyal and Meritorious As we see now in France where an Annual Pension is setled upon the Great Satyrist to write the Life of his Master the French King Indeed this I will add in my Authors behalf that I have heard him say he never desir'd to live to finish his Book but Addressed Heaven to the contrary hoping it might prove a Picture and Draught of the Kings Life only to the middle But since Heaven has thought fit to take our Gracious Prince to it self I prevailed with him to revise the whole Work and make an addition to such years as was wanting Which being compleated I here present to the Publick View For you may ghess Reader that when we Book sellers have got any thing of this Nature it is as severe a piece of Mortification and Self-denial to keep it private as it is for our Gallants to keep their Chambers the same Day they have got a new Suit Adieu A Table of the most Remarkable matters couch't in this Royal Story Anno à Virginis partu 1630 KIng Charles the Second born at St. James's A Prodigious Star then appearing at Mid-day page 5 Baptiz'd by Dr. Laud Bishop of London 7 Committed in his Infancy to the Countess of Dorsets care then to the Government of the Earl of New-Castle and the Tutorage of Dr. Duppa Ibid. 1638 First called Prince of Wales by Order not creation 7. Accompanies his Royal Father in Progresses Ibid. Takes his Seat in Parliament Ibid. Carries a reprieving Message from the King to the Parliament about the Earl of Strafford 8 1640 Goes with his Father into the North. 10 At York is made Captain of a choice Guard of Loyal Nobles and Gentlemen 11 1642 Gives the first proof of his Bravery at Edghill-fight 12 Committed at Oxford to the care of the Marquess of Hartford Chancellor of that University 13 1644. Endeavours to Heal the Differences 'twixt his Father and the Factious Diet. 15 A Match propos'd between him and the Infanta of Portugal Ibid. 1646. Sails to the Scilly Islands 19 His Answer to the Parliaments swimming Invitation Ibid. Their barbarous Ordinance that follow'd thereupon 20 The manner how he employed his time in those Islands 21 His first Visit to France ibid. Desires leave to go into the French Army but declines it upon his Fathers Prohibition 22 Made Generalissimo by his Father 23 The Scots tender of him ibid. His Answer to a Letter of theirs 25 1648. He appears with some Forces in Jersy-Isle ibid. Grants Martial Commissions to several Persons of Honour 26 Sets forth a Declaration 27 The Kentish men rise in his behalf 30 But are worsted by Fairfax 32 He Seizes some Merchants Ships and attempts the Relief of Deal-Castle ibid. Colchester taken by Famine and Fairfax 35 He retires into Holland ibid. His Letter to the King his Father 36 The Treaty at the Isle of Wight ibid. Cromwel and the Armies proceedings with the Parliament to bring the King to a Tryal 37 An Ordinance past by the Commons for his Tryal but oppos'd by the Lords 39 The Juncto resolves to Try him without the Lords consent 40 The Princes behaviour and pious Acting thereupon 41 The King accursedly Sentenc'd to be Beheaded 42 His Sacred Memoirs and Papers of Advice to his Son 43 King Charles the first most sacrilegiously Assassinated 57 Prince Charles succeeds him 59 The Juncto declare it High-Treason to Proclaim him 60 Vote down the House of Lords ibid. Appoint Judges and Justices 62 The People open their Eyes detest them 63 King Charles the II. Proclam'd in England 64 Receives at the Hague the news of the Royal Martyrdom 65 His Comportment thereupon 66 Sends Embassadors to several Princes 67 1649. Proclaim'd in Scotland by Penitent Rebels 68 Passes through Flanders where he is highly Caress'd and Regal'd into France 72 The Scots invite him over 74
Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle which was performed with abundance of splendor at Colchester the place which they had bravely defended for him and where they were at its Reduction basely shot to death all the Gentry of those Parts together with the Townesmen in Armes and Mourning attending their Hearses As he had done a little before for the Earl of Montross in Scotland Count Coningsmark who was sent hither from the Young King and Queen of Sweden being upon his departure another more splendid Embassy was sent from thence at whose Reception near the Tower a Fray or Conflict happened between the French and Spanish Ambassadors upon a Quarrel for Precedency whose Coach should follow next after that wherein the Swedish Ambassador rode Both Parties came prepared for the Encounter but the French were basely worsted and seven or eight of them slain which was like to have proved the ground of a new War between those Crowns the French King sending a Messenger to Madrid to demand satisfaction But at the entreaty of the new married Queen and the Spanish King consenting that the French Ambassador should for the time to come have the Precedency upon such occasions the difference was composed Now also several Prisoners in the Tower Regicides and others were by reason of the unwearied Practices of their Parties abroad sent to several remote Castles and Islands for securing the Peace The adjournment being expired the Parliament met again on the 20th of November when the Lords Spiritual the Bishops by vertue of the Act of Repeal made in the former Session took their places again in Parliament which the King was very much pleased to behold and in his Speech to both Houses did Congratulate with them for their enjoyment of their former priviledges as a Felicity he had much desired to see accomplisht in that goodly restored and re-establisht Fabrick of the Government and the Regicides that came in upon Proclamation and were upon that account respited after Sentence to the Pleasure of the Parliament being brought to the Bar of the House of Lords and demanded what they had to say Why Judgment should not pass upon them according to Sentence pleaded the Proclamation Harry Martyn adding that he never obeyed any Proclamation before and therefore hoped he should not be then hanged for taking the Kings word whereupon they were remanded back again to the Tower till further Order Ireland having been hitherto governed by three Lords Justices The Duke of Ormond having been a faithful Servant and constant Attender upon the King in all his Troubles was now nominated Deputy of that Kingdom and Episcopacy after it had been so long banished out of Scotland and so many Miseries and Confusions had befallen that Kingdom through the Fury and Zeal of the Kirke was reduced with all gladness and sufficient testimonies of a welcome reception the four Bishops that had been a little before Consecrated at Lambeth restored whereof Dr. James Sharpe Arch-Bishop of St. Andrews and Metropolitan of Scotland was one who Consecrated others in that Kingdom the whole Order being defunct by the long Usurpation of the Presbyterian Discipline A Fleet was at this time sent to fetch home the Queen from Portugal and carry Forces to Garrison Tangier which being part of the Queens Dowry was delivered by them to Sir Richard Stayner who with Five Hundred Men had taken possession of it in his Masters behalf and was to maintain it till the Earl of Peterborough who was nominated for Governour should arrive and the King supposing her to be by this time at Sea on her way for England acquainted the Parliament therewith and desired that as a Complement to her they would cause the Streets and High-wayes of London to be fitted and cleansed against Her Reception This Royal Bride seems to have been fitted and predisposed by Heaven for his Princely Embraces for besides being designed for him by her Father in the beginning of the late Troubles her Family had suffered a long Eclipse by the interposition of the Spanish Monarchy for the space of near one hundred Years and had now newly recovered its Splendor by her Fathers assuming the Crown which was almost as miraculous a Revolution and as strange a turn of Providence as that of our Captivity by his recovery of his Dominions On the 14th of May She arrived safe at Portsmouth in the Charles which had brought the King over to England after a tedious and dangerous Voyage the joy whereof served to alleviate the grief and wipe away the Tears occasioned by the death of his Aunt the Queen of Bohemia who died a little before having lived to survive all the Misfortunes of her Family which almost from the very time of Her Marriage in the Year One Thousand Six Hundred and Twelve had fallen very thick upon it Her death was followed with a most violent and Tempestuous Wind whereby divers Persons were killed and much damage done as well in Forraign parts as in these Kingdoms as if Heaven had designed thereby to intimate to the World that those Troubles and Calamities suffered by that Princess and the Royal Family and by which most parts of Europe had been tempested were now all blown over and was like her to rest in a perpetual Repose Several Bills which were ready for His Royal Assent detained him at White-Hall somewhat longer then he was willing had their weight and tendency been of less importance but in regard their being past into Acts would set the Nation right where it was before the Troubles began by providing remedies against those mischiefs which had then unhinged the Kingdoms happiness such as the Forbidding armed or tumultuary Petitions and ordering that not above Twelve shall resort together at any time to deliver Petitions to the King whereby they provided so far as Humane Wisdom could foresee against the like dangers by insensible degrees brought upon the Nation in the late Confusions But having once signed those Acts and thereby furnisht his Subjects with so many good and wholsome Laws as no Age of our fore-Fathers could ever boast of he posted away to Portsmouth having sent the Bishop of London thither before Him who was to consummate the Sacred Rights of Marriage which was performed in private and the Queen Conducted soon after by Him to Hampton-Court and from thence to London in great Pomp and Splendour The Parliament of Ireland having about that time for the better defraying his necessary Charge given him a subsidy of One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Pounds to be raised in two Years The Affrican Potentates alarumed by the Arrival of the English and terrified by the Fame of those Warlike and Martial Atchievements began to fear that if they suffered them quietly to possess Tangier they should thereby give them incouragement to incroach farther upon them which consideration drew thither Gayland a War-like Prince but then a Rebel against the Emperour of Fez and Morocco having usurpt part of his Dominions who continued there
themselves for the security of the Protestant Religion which Address he answered by a message to the Commons wherein he let them know That he had received their Address with all the disposition they could wish to comply with their reasonable desires but upon perusal of it he was sorry to see their thoughts so fixt on the Bill of Exclusion as to determine all other Remedies for the suppressing of it to be ineffectual telling them That he was confirmed in his Opinion against the Bill by the Judgment of the Lords in their rejecting it advising them to consider of all other means for preservation of the Protestant Religion to which they should have no Reason to doubt his concurrence and urging them again to make some speedy provision for the preservation of Tangier Upon the consideration of which Speech they were so far from complying with his reasonable desires that they Resolved as the Opinion of the House That there was no security for the Protestant Religion the King's Life or the well Constituted and Established Government of this Kingdom without the Bill of Exclusion and that to rely upon any other Remedy were insufficient and dangerous That till such a Bill was past they could give the King no supply without danger to his Person hazard to the Protestant Religion and unfaithfulness to those by whom they were trusted And that all persons who advised him in that Message to insist upon an Opinion against the Exclusion-Bill had given him pernicious Counsel and were promoters of Popery and Enemies both to him and the Kingdom naming Hallifax Worcester Clarendon Feversham and Laurence Hide Esq against whom they Voted an Address to the King to remove them from all Offices of honour and profit and from his Councils and presence forever Voting moreover That whosoever shall Lend or cause to be Lent by way of Advance any Money upon the branches of the King's Revenue arising by Custom Excise or Hearth-Money should be adjudged to hinder the sitting of Parliaments and should be responsible for the same But their presumption running so high the King resolved by a Prorogation to give them time to cool themselves which he did on the Monday following being the 10th of July when he past Two Bills one about Irish Cattel and the other for burying in Woollen the latter whereof proved very advantageous to the Nation by the advance of Wool which is accounted the most staple Commodity of this Kingdom The Commons by some means or other were informed of the King's design of proroguing them and therefore so soon as they were set that morning the very first thing they did was to thunder out their Threatning Votes That whosoever advised the King to prorogue that Parliament to any other purpose than in order to the passing the Bill of Exclusion should be lookt upon as a Betrayer of the King the Protestant Religion and the Kingdom of England a promoter of the French Interest and a Pensioner to France And in a Common-Council assembled bout Two or Three days after in London a Petition was ordered to be drawn up and presented to the King wherein they set forth That the Parliaâ—â—â—t having convicted One of the Poâ—ish Lords and being about to convict the other Four and having impeacht the Chief Justice and being about to impeach other Judges and all in order to the preservation of his Life c. they were much surprised to see it prorogued in the height of their business and that their only hope was its being done with a design to bring such Affairs about again as were necessary to the setling the Nation Praying that they might therefore sit at the day appointed and so continue till they had effected the great Affairs before them But before the 20th of January arrived to which they had been prorogued the King declared them dissolved by Proclamation and intimated his pleasure to call another to sit on the 24th of March at Oxford After which a Petition was delivered him by Essex and some others of the popular Lords for the altering his Resolution for the Parliaments sitting at Oxford upon pretence That neither himself nor they could be in safety there but would be daily exposed to the Swords of the Papists and their Adherents whereby their Liberty of Speech would be destroyed and the Validity of their Acts and Proceedings left disputable Urging likewise the straitness of the place which they affirmed was altogether unfit for the entertaining such a concourse of persons as now followed every Parliament And that the Witnesses which were to give Evidence upon the Commons Impeachment were unable to bear the charges of that Journey and unwilling to trust themselves under the protection of a Parliament which was it self under the power of Guards and Soldiers praying it might therefore sit at Westminster The Parliament which met at Oxford was for the most part made up oâ— Old Members which were chosen again for the same places for which they had served before And contrary to the ancient custom of their Treating thâ— Country the Country now in many places Treated them or at least every man bore his own charges Abouâ— Eight days before their sitting the King having appointed certain Companies of Foot and several Troops of Horse to keep Guard in the Mews during his absence removed to Oxford where he was received and presented by the Mayor and Body of that City at the East-Gate and from thence attended with great Acclamations and all other demonstrations of Joy and was the next day waited on and complemented by the body of the University who presented him with a large Oxford-Bible and the Queen with the Cuts belonging to the History and Antiquity of the Vniversity both richly bound Most of the Members as well Commons as Lords went thither attended with a numerous Train of Friends At the opening of the Sessions the King told them That the unwarrantable proceedings of the last House of Commons was the only Reason why he had dissolved them And that â—s he would never use Arbitrary Government himself so he was Resolved never to suffer it in others That whosoever should calmly consider the proceedings in the last Parliament might perhaps wonder at his patience so long rather than that he grew weary at last That it was as much his interest and care as theirs to preserve the Liberty of the Subject since the Crown could not be safe when that was in danger And that neither Liberty nor Property could long subsist when the just Prerogatives of the Crown were invaded or the Honour of the Government brought low and into disreputation Assuring them That he had called them so soon to shew that the Irregularities of Parliaments should never make him out of love with them And that he thought the just care they ought to have of Religion should not be so managed and improved into unnecessary Fears as to be made a pretence for changing the Foundation of the Government and therefore hoped
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
City and Suburbs for the Relief of many Thousand miserable Wretches who would otherwise have perished and to encourage others to so needful a charity by his own example ordered several great Sums of Money to be issued out of his Treasury for that Purpose On the 23d of January being the first day of Hillary Term the Lawyers went over the Ice to Westminster and back again as familiarly as on the Land some on Foot and others in Coaches and there was for above a fortnight together a Fair or Mart kept between the Temple and that part of Southwark which is opposite to it This Year Vienna the Imperial City of Germany was closely besieged and greatly distressed by the Turks who brought it to the very last extremity but were then beaten off and forced to raise their siege by the Blessing of God upon the Valour of the King of Poland and the Duke of Lorrain in which Action the Lord Landsdown Eldest Son to the Earl of Bath behaved himself with so much Valour that he was afterward as a Reward of his Courage created a Count of the Sacred Empire And Tangier having cost the King abundance of Treasure to defend it against the Moors and make the Mole there he now resolved in regard the charges were so very great and the Expectation of Advantage very uncertain to relinquish it and therefore ordered the Lord Dartmouth to repair thither wih about 20 sail of Ships and demolish the Town Castle and Mole choak up the Haven to render it useless to any who might otherwise have thought the Town worth rebuilding and bring off the Inhabitants which was done accordingly About the middle of February 1684. was the Earl of Danby after a long and tedious Imprisonment admitted to Bail by the Eminent and Loyal Sir George Jeffrys who succeeded Sir Edward Sanders in the Lord Chief Justiceship of England all the Judges of the Kings-Bench having first given their several opinions about it and delivered their Reasons why he ought to be bailed and the other four Lords one of them viz. Peters being dead sometime before having just before his Death in a Letter to the King denied upon his Salvation his being any way Guilty of what he stood accused of being within the like Reasons were admitted to the like advantage and so was the Earl of Tyrone who had been almost as long a Prisoner in the Gate-house as they had been in the Tower The King having about the Year 81 appointed under him certain Deputies or Commissioners of Ecclesiastical Offices viz. The Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Bishop of London the Lord Radnor Hallifax Hide and Mr. Seymor to whom he delegated his Power to dispose of all such Ecclesiastical Preferments as were within his immediate Patronage was pleased this Year to revoke their Commission and take those preferments again into his own immediate disposal as likewise a commission formerly granted to several Persons to execute the Office of Lord High Admiral of Eugland which was now again fully enjoyed and exercised by his Royal Highness Acts of Hostility being this Spring-fiercely pursued between the French and Spaniards by Sea and Land he commanded by Proclamation that being at Amity with both those Nations the Peace should be kept inviolably by them whilst they were in any Roads Creeks and Ports of his Dominions and that his Commanders and Officers should oppose themselves against those who should presume to assault any of the Ships of his Allies in any of his Roads or Places under his Protection Oates the Salamanca Doctor and Plot-Master-General not content with having falsly charged his Royal Highness the Kings only Brother and Heir with divers base and improbable Stories as tho he had plotted with the Papists against the King his Brother suffered his Spleen to boil to such an exorbitant degree that he saucily and impudently abused him with base and scurrilous Language calling him Traytor declaring That he hoped to see him hang'd with divers horrid devilish and abominable Expressions The Dukes patience not being easily provoked bore long with him but finding that forbearance did but render him more bold and increase his malignity at last he brought his Action of Scandalnm Magnatum against him upon which he was arrested at the Amsterdam Coffee-house on the back-side of the Royal Exchange and carried to Woodstreet Compter and from thence removed by Habeas Corpus to the Kings Bench and having let Judgment go in the next Term by default a Writ of Enquiry was issued out and executed before the Lord Chief Justice in the Kings-Bench Court when the Jury upon hearing the Evidence to shew their detestation of such an unheard of impudence gave 100000 Damages The Hambrough Company out of Gratitude for some great Favour received from the King did this Spring erect a most elaborate and curious Statue of him in Gray Marble in the very middle or Center of the Royal Exchange cut by Mr. Grinlin Gibbons the most Famous Statuary that England ever produc'd and equal if not superior to the best at this Time in Europe in the Garb and Habit of a Roman Caesar It was placed upon a curious Pedestal made of the same Marble upon which was the following Inscription Carolo II Caesari Britanico Patriae Patri Regnum optimo Clementissimo Augustissimo Generis Humani Deliciis Vtriusque fortunae Victori Pacis Europae Arbitro Maris Domino Vindici Societas Meâ—catorum Adventur Angliae Quae per CCCC jam prope Annos Regia Benignitate floret Fidei Intemerata Gratitudinis Aeternaâ— Hoc Testimonium Venerabunda posuit Anno sal Humanae MDCLXXXIV The Council sitting on the 28th of May at Hampton Court as it used frequently to do when he was at Windsor as the most convenient place for his coming to it he told them that he thought it fit and did intend his Brother should be present at the Meetings of the Council who accordingly took his Seat that Day and ever after during his Brothers Life And in October following the King made a Review or Muster of his Land-Forces upon Putney Heath where there was a most gallant Military Appearance the Horse consisting of the Three Troops of Guards the Granadeers the Earl of Oxford's Regiment of Horse and the Lord Churchels Regiment of Dragoons and the Foot of two Battalians formed and the Regiment of Guards with their Granadeers one from the Coldstream Regiment of Guards and Granadeers one from the Earl of Dumbartons Regiment and another from the Admiral Regiment with their Granadeers the whole Number of Horse and Foot between 4000 and 5000 being all exactly trained and well cloath'd most of the Horse march'd in the morning in Gallant Order through the Streets of London and so over the Bridg to Putney This Michaelmas Terms several Factious Persons were convicted of speaking scandalous and seditious Words against the Government for which one Best commonly call'd the Protestant Hop-Merchant was fined 1000 l. and ordered to stand in the Pillory
ibid. 1670 Designs to unite England and Scotland 345 Prince of Tuscany in England ibid The Dutchess of Orleans at Dover 346 Sir Thomas Allen before Argeir 347 Sir Edward Spragg destroys three Men of War 348 1671 Bloud steals the Crown 349 The King takes a Sea-Progress 351 A stop upon the Exchequer 352 Sir George Downing committed to the Tower 353 A Declaration of Indulgence 354 Sir Robert Holms falls on the Dutch Smyrna Fleet ibid 1672 The King declares War against the Dutch 355 He views the English and French Fleet joyning ibid His Royal Highness's name terrible to the Dutch 356 The States remove to Amsterdam 357 The King Invites their Subjects into England ibid The Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Arlington Embassadors 358 Nimeguen taken ibid 1673 the Dutch beaten 359 The King grants Peace to the Dutch 360 1677 Grows Jealous of the French Kings greatness 362 The Lady Mary marri'd to the Prince of Orange ibid The Kings Speech to the Parliament 363 France threatned with a War 365 The King endeavours a general Peace 366 But provides for the worst 367 His Speech to the Parliament ibid 1678 The Siege of Mons raised 359 A peace concluded at Nimeguen ibid A hugeous strange Plot of Black Bills and Spanish pilgrims discover'd by Titus Oates 371 The Lords Bellasis Powis Peters and Arundel sent to the Tower 3â—2 Godfrey found murthered 373 The King prevents the Parliament 375 His refusal to part with the Militia 376 Some try'd for the Plot ibid Some of the Parliament accuse each other 377 Sir Joseph Williamson released by the King 378 The Long Parliament dissolv'd ibid The Kings Letter to the Duke 379 The Duke goes into Flanders 380 The Kings Speech to the new Parliament ibid 1679 They begin with the Earl of Danby 384 Who surrenders him self ibid The Lords in the Tower Impeacht in Parliament 385 The King dissolves his Privy-Council and constitutes a new one ibid. Shaftsbury President 387 The Lords Answer to their Impeachments ibid. 1680 The Kings proposal to the Parliament 388 Their Address to the King 389 The Bill of Exclusion brought in ibid The two Houses differ about Danby's pardon and the Tryal of the Lords 390 The King Porogues them 392 The Bishop of St. Andrews most barbarous Muther forerunner of a Scotch Rebellion ibid. Whence the name of Whigs 393 The Parliament dissolv'd and a new one call'd 394 Sir G. Wakeman and others acquitted ibid. The King taken Sick at Windsor 395 Monmouth in disgrace 397 A Declaration about him 398 He is banished 402 Dangerfields discovery ibid The Duke of York goes into Scotl. 403 Sawcy Petitions for the Parliaments fitting 404 Forbidden by Proclamation ibid. Kings Speech to the Parliament 405 The Duke returns out of Scotland 406 Sir Lionel Jenkins made Secretary 407 Addresses of Abhorrence ibid. The Lord Shandios Embassador to Constantinople 408 A prodigious storm of Hail ibid The Parliament sits 409 Fall foul upon Sir Robt. Can and others ibid. Revive the Attempt of the Exclusion Bill which is bravely thrown out by the Lords 411 The Tryal of the Lord Stafford 412 The Blazing-star 413 The King presseth the Parliament for supplys ibid. The Address ibid. His Answer 414 Their Proceedings thereupon 415 They are Prorogu'd 416 Their lewdly extravagant Votes ibid. Petitions about the Oxford Parliament 417 The Country treats their Members 418 1681 The King goes to Oxford 419 His Speech to the Parliament there ibid. Wi. Williams Speaker 421 Fitz-Harris his story 422 25 26 27 28. The Oxford-Parliament dissolv'd 423 A Declaration touching it 424 Doct. Pluncket 427 The Lord Howard committed to the Tower 428 The Oxford-Plot 429 The Protestant Joyner ibid. His Royal Highness High Commissioner in the Parliament of Scotland 430 An Act past there about the Succession ibid. The King Favours the French Protestants 431 Shaftsbury sav'd by an Ignoramus 432 Esquire Thinn murther'd 433 1682 The Royal Passenger's miraculous deliverance 435 Sir John More Lord Mayor of London 436 A Riot in the City about Sheriffs 437 Prince Rupert dies 442 The Earl of Nottingham dies ibid Two remarkable and unusual Embassadors ibid. 1683 Bantham lost 444 An unpresidentable action ibid A Quo Warranto brought against the City Charter 447 A Petition in reference to it 447 The Kings gracious Condescention ibid Shaftsbury's Plot discover'd 449 The King to have been kill'd at the Rye 451 Sav'd by an accidental Fire ibid. Keeling the first discoverer 452 The Plotters taken ibid. Lord Gray Escapes 453 The Lord Russel and Coll. Sidney Beheaded and others executed at Tyburn ibid. Holloway and Armstrong executed 454 A Declaration of Thanksgiving ibid. The difference between the two Plots 455 The Lady Ann Married to Prince George ibid. Judgment enter'd against the Charter 456 Prichard Mayor by Commission ibid. The Factious Aldermen displac'd 457 Monmouth submits himself 458 The great Frost 459 The Kings Charity 460 Vienna besieged ibid Lord Landsdown ' Valour at its 〈…〉 46â— Tâ—ngâ—er demolish'â— ibid. Earl of Danby relievâ—d ibid. The rest of the Lords out of the Toweâ— 462 684. Commissioners for Ecclesiastical affairs ibid. A Scandalum Magnatum against Oates 463 His Royal Highnesses Patience 464 A Statue-peice of the King in the Royal Exchange ibâ—d A Muster on Putney Heath 466 Several tryed 467 The Sodom Doctor Indicted 468 Danvers his Libel 469 〈…〉 Scroop How receiv'd to favour 470 The King 〈…〉 Fit 471 The manner of his lingring Death 472 The Solemnity of his â—uneral 475 His Person 481 His Justice 483 His peaceable Inclination 486 His care of the Crown Prerogatives 488 His Prudence and Conduct 491 His great Piety and Devotion â—94 His Travels 499 His Learning â—01 His Recreations 504 His Conjugal Affectionâ— 506 Epigraphe 509 A Prayer for the King 511 An Essay of HISTORY ROYAL In the LIFE and REIGN OF HIS Late Sacred MAJESTY CHARLES the Second The Introduction HIstory in all Ages hath not undeservedly been accounted the great Light and Mistress of Humane Life as it both pleasurably instructs and most efficaciously persuades all Ranks and Degrees of men to their several respective and proper Offices For in laying the Foundation of a Good Mind Examples have a peculiar force to move men to Virtue and a much Greater than any bare Precepts whatsoever since they have this excellence in them that they prove what they recommend possible to be done and a Precept without an Example adjoyn'd to it looks like a good Law never put into Execution When men read of an Excellent Virtue they still carry away some Tincture from it whether they will or no as if they had been in Conversation with it's Possessor And when they read of any deformity and vice they have a natural aversion for it and will take care to avoid in themselves what looks so ugly in others Nor does History tend only to form men's manners in order to an happy Life but it also exalts and enlarges their minds while they
them that no man had long'd with more impatience to have those Bills past than he had done to pass them in regard he look't upon them as the Foundation of the Nations Peace and Security and that he did very willingly pardon all that were pardoned in the Act of Indempnity but assuring them withal that for the time to come the same discretion and conscience which had disposed him to the clemency that he had therein exprest and was most agreeable to his nature would oblige him to all Rigour and Severity how contrary soever it were to his Disposition towards those who should not now acquiesce but continue to manifest their Sedition and dislike of the Government not knowing any more probable way to assure himself of his peoples affections than by rendring himself just as well as kind to all The confluence of his felicities were about this time somewhat abated and the Joy of his Restauration somewhat allay'd by the immature and much lamented Death of his younger Brother Henry Duke of Gloucester a Prince of such extraordinary hopes that my silence will be his best Commendation since his vertues far transcend the highest expressions of my Pen. He dyed of the small-Pox and was privately buryed in Henry the 7th's Chappel The Princess of Orange soon after dispelling the grief which had been conceiv'd upon the account of his death by her Arrival from Holland to Joy and Felicitate her Brothers in the Recovery of their Rights About this time the King knowing that the Common wealth never thrives so well as when the Church and State are equally Interested in the Princes care applied himself to settle the Miter as wel as the Crown and provide for the wel ordering of Ecclesiastical affairs as well as he had done for the Civil by reestablishing Episcopcay and restoring the Bishops to their ancient Rights and Priviledges So that the Ecclesiastical Regiment by Bishops recover'd its self by the Kings piety and prudence near as soon and in almost as Triumphant a manner as Monarchy it self appointing Dr. Juxon that ancient and excellent Prelate that had been in his Fathers Reign Bishop of London and had assisted him at the time of his death on the Scaffold to the Arch-Bishopprick of Canterbury whose Translation was perform'd with great Solemnity And not long after several new Bishops chosen from among the eminent and valiant asserters of the Church and Lawâ— of England were consecrated in the Abby at Westminster and all the Vacant Diocesses fill'd up with men of the greatest Learning and Piety And now divine vengeance having with a sure though a slow foot trac'd the Murderers of the Royal Martyr through several Mazes at last overtake them For the Parliament having in detestation of their Crime and to wipe away the stain of that most accursed Pollution giv'n them up as Sacrifices to the Law and the Honour of their Country the King order'd their Tryal by a Commission of Oyer and Terminer to begin on the Ninth of October that so his Justice might appear equally as Respondent in the punishment of their Parricide as his Clemency had done in the pardon of all other Crimes They were all of them convicted according to Law the full benefit whereof was allow'd them being tryed by a Jury of their Peers against whom they had the liberty of excepting and Condemn'd to be Drawn Hang'd and Quarter'd and Harrison Carew Scot Clement Scrope Jones Peters Hacker Axtell and Cook were Executed accordingly The last of whom acknowledg'd that the Person of the Prince they had Murder'd was beyond any Parallel being most Virtuous most Innocent most Religious and that his Judges were for the most part mean and desparate Persons whose Hands were lifted up by Ambition Sacriledge Covetousness and success against the Life of that incomparable Prince whose lamented and barbarous death God would not suffer to go unrevenged Their quarters were dispos'd of to the several Gates and most of their Heads set on Poles upon the Bridge but the rest of the Prisoners that had surrendred themselves on Proclamation were respited from Execution till the farther pleasure of the Parliament was known and after Sentence past upon them remanded to the Tower from whence they came And having now in some measure reveng'd his Fathers Death his next respects were due to his Mother who being about that time come over from France he could not better welcome her to his Kingdoms than by rendring his Entertainments of her Innocent and free from that horrible guilt which had Divorc'd her from her Husband and for so long a Tract of time estrang'd her from his People since he could neither with Justice nor civility have receiv'd her here without satisfaction and expectation of those Crimes which had so rudely driven her to seek her safety abroad He brought her back to his Pallace at Whitehall on the Second of November after she had been nineteen Years absent from them together with his Sister the Princess Henretta who had not been suffered to breath in English Air above two years after her Birth This meeting after so tedious and desperate an absence was very joyous and the Entertainment highly Magnificent The Marquess of Argile upon the Kings Restauration had the confidence notwithstanding all the base Treasons he had covertly acted in that Kingdom since the Kings departure thence to come up from Scotland in hopes by his fair and specious pretences to obtain his pardon and that the King according to his Gracious Inclination would have past by those many undutiful and Irreverend usages he had receiv'd from him and the rest of his Associates whilst he was there amongst them But such was the general hatred and detestation of that People and especially the Nobility against him that he was committed to the Tower and from thence by Sea convey'd to Edenborough where his process was making ready The Earl of Middleton the Kings great Commissioner for that Kingdom following him thither about the end of December in order to his Tryal where he was convicted and Executed for those many Treasons he had perpetrated against both Kings Death having tasted of the Bloud-Royal by cutting off the Duke of Glocester as though there were a circulation of the very same in every individual and it naturally ran in the same distemper through a whole Family the Infection by a kind of Sympathy in the same disease of the Small-Pox seized the vitals of the Princess of Orange and in spite of all art and remedy hurried her to the grave leaving her Brother and the whole Court fill'd with grief and sadness and her Son the young Prince not above ten years and a month old she was privately buried by her Brother in Henry the 7thâ— Chappel And now the happy Parliament which rendred it self deservedly Famous by rebuilding the glorious structure of the English Ancient and Renowned Government and assured the Foundation thereof in the establishing the Throne of their rightful Soveraign came to its
whole Nation But to abate the joy of the English London which had flourished throughout so many Ages and been accounted one of the goodliest Cities in the World was about this time destroyed and burnt down to the ground by a most dreadful fire which began on Sunday September the â—econd about two in the morning 1666. a Year that in regard of its agreement with the number of the Beast mentioned in the Revelations had filled all Men with great expectations of some memorable accident that would fall out therein many eminent Writers having with more confidence than truth Predicted the fall of Antichrist and the utter ruin and desolation of Rome which they affirmed to be the Apocalyptical Babylon It began at a Bakers House in Pudding-Lane near new Fishstreet a place very close and for the most part consisting of old Timber Houses which burned like so many pitch'd Barrels whereby it spread it self with such an impetuous and irresistable fury that notwithstanding all endeavours to extinguish it it extended it self to all the several quarters of the City and by Wednesday night consumed that goodly Pile The King and the Duke during all that time riding from place to place and by their personal care and labour encouraging all Men to attempt the putting a stop to its fury and rage which was at last happily performed at the Temple-Church Pye-Corner Holborn-Bridg Aldersgate Cripplegate at the Church in Fenchurch-street at Cloathworkers-Hall in Mincing-Lane in the middle of Mark-Lane the lower end of Coleman-street the upper end of Bishopsgate-street and at the Tower-Dock But on Thursday in the evening it unfortunately broke out again at the Temple by the accidental falling of some sparks upon a Pile of Timber Buildings and might have done much more harm had not the Duke who watch'd there in Person all that night and so encouraged the People with his presence that by blowing up the Houses about it it was extinguish'd before day It consumed accâ—â—â—ing to the best computation of Surveyers employed by the King for that purpose 373 Acres of Buildings within the Walls and more than 63 Acres without the Walls 87 Parish-Churches six Consecrated Chappels the Royal Exchange the Guild-Hall and many other stately Buildings belonging to the several Companies and according to the best account about 13000 and 200 Houses the total sum of which loss was valued at nine Millions and nine hundred thousand pound Sterling In so deplorable and amazing an accident it is not difficult to imagine how many Persons were constrained in hast and confusion to remove their Goods into the Fields and take up their Lodgings in the open Air which gave the King whose heart was ever open to compassionate the distress and miseries of his Subjects an opportunity of exercising his commiseration by commanding the Justices of the Peace to send Provisions into the Markets and opening his Sea-stores for the supplying of the poor and necessitous The Fire happening at a time when England was engaged in a War with France and Holland was thought by many to be a treacherous Act contriv'd and perpetrated by the French which some were the more induc'd to believe in regard one Hubert a melancholly Frenchman confest he did the fact by putting a Fire-ball into the House of the Baker where it began And Oates the Discoverer of the Salamanca Plot lays the guilt of that action upon a knot of Jesuites and Irish-men who having laid the project long before could not put it in execution 'till that time notwithstanding which for we are not to believe all that the Doctor has been pleas'd to swear it is uncertain to this day whether some casual accident or the malice of those who envied the happiness and grandeur of that City were the immediate occasions of it But however it were it was permitted by Heaven for a Punishment of its Pride Luxury and Rebellion London being thus consumed and laid in Ashes the grieved Inhabitants look'd upon its Rebuilding as so weighty and ponderous an undertaking that they despaired of ever living to see it begun much less finished and therefore took Houses in the out-parts at vast Rents and Fines and for a long term of Years Nor might their fears have been altogether groundless had it happened in a time less happy and fortunate but living in a Reign of Wonders they found contrary to all mens expectations that it suddenly started up rather than was gradually built in far more splendour and beauty than ever it was before And that fire wherein all their happiness seemed to have been for ever buried proved a real advantage by reason of that provident care which was thereupon taken by the King to prevent such fatal accidents for the future by commanding all the buildings which were for the most part before of Timber to be now made of Brick or Stone and so contrived that if a Fire happened in any of them it might be hem'd in within the Walls of that particular House without indangering the adjoyning Buildings by putting the Inhabitants of each Parish and divers principal Merchants and Gentlemen that live in that City upon providing greater plenty of large and hand Engines Buckets and other such like things necessary for the quenching of Fires And by making Men more expert in the methods of stopping the progress of any Fires that shall happen for the future and finally by putting several ingenious Persons upon contriving and setting up an Office for the Ensuring of Houses from being destroyed by fire for thirty one years at five pence per pound for Brick Houses and ten pence per pound for Timber Houses which is to be discounted by way of purchase and five years only paid down for eight seven for twelve nine and one half for twenty one eleven for thirty one years Insurance so that it is in reality but little more than three pence per pound for Brick Houses and six pence per pound for Timber Houses only requiring ten pounds in Mony to be paid to the Insurers toward the defraying of their Charges in Re-building the House so often as it shall happen to be burnt down within the term ensured And because many Persons take Leases of Houses for different terms of Years they do not tye any Person to Insure for thirty one but so many Years only as themselves please setling several Ground Rents and making other sufficient Provisions for the security of the Subscribers This Office they setled in Thredneedle-street in the back-side of the Royal Exchange and it is certainly one of the greatest designs that any Age hath ever produced and will prove more universally advantagious than was at first believed the severe stroaks falling more light on parâ—icular Persons now than in former Ages in regard they are by vertue of this contrivance supported by a publick stock those whose houses escape made by that means to contribute toward the repairing of those that are burned In order to the re-building London the King
Protestant Successor and limit the Authority of the former if any such should be by providing that all Church-preferments should be conferred on Pious and Learned Protestants That the Parliament which should happen to be in being at his own Death or if none the last that sate should thereupon assemble without any new Summons or Election That during the Reign of any Popish Successor no Privy Councellor or Judg of the Common Law or Chancery should be put in or displaced but by consent of Parliament That none should be Justices of Peace but Protestants and that the Lord Lieutenants and Deputy Lieutenants of Counties and Officers in the Navy should not be put in nor removed but by the Authority of Parliament Telling them he conceived it hard to invent any other Restraint to be put on a Popish Successor Yet if any thing did occur to their Wisdom whereby their Religion and Liberties might be better secured he was ready to consent to it Whereupon the Commons after they had several times adjourned the consideration of this Speech on the 11th of May resolved That they would stand by His Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes And that if he should come by any violent Death which they prayed God to avert they would revenge it to the utmost upon the Papists According to which Vote an Address was drawn up and presented by them to the King with this Variation in the form of words We shall be ready to revenge upon the Papists any violence offered by them to your Sacred Majesty which words were neither exprest nor intimated in their Vote altho absolutely necessary and essential to the Justice of their designed Revenge And without taking the least notice of the Resolution exprest in his Speech Not to suffer any alteration in the Descent to the Throne brought in a Bill to disable his Royal Highness to inherit the Imperial Crown of England which being put to the Vote was carried in the Affirmative by One and Twenty Voices but being prorogued soon after it proceeded no further In the mean while the Two Houses were very earnest in debating the methods whereby they should bring the Lords in the Tower to their Trials And Danby being demanded at the Bar of the Lords House Whether he would rely on and abide by the Plea of his Pardon returned for answer That having been advised by his Council his Pardon was good in Law he would insist upon his Plea and requested his Council might be heard And the Lords acquainting the Commons with his desire instead of granting it they in the Names of the Knights Citizens and Burgesses in Parliament and all the Commons of England demanded Judgment against him upon the Impeachment affirming his Pardon to be illegal and void However the Lords appointed him a day to argue his Plea and ordered the Five Lords to be tried the Week after and an Address to be made to the King for the appointing a Lord Steward for their Trials But the Commons not satisfied with their proceedings desired a Committee of both Houses might consider of the most proper methods of proceeding upon Impeachments according to the usage of Parliament but the Lords refused it as contrary to the known Rules and Orders of their House which ever was and ought to be tender in matters relating to their Judicature Whereupon the Commons resolved That no Commoner should presume to maintain the Validity of the Pardon pleaded by Danby without the leave of that House And that the persons so doing should be accounted Betrayers of the Liberties of the Commons of England Upon which the Lords to take away all occasion of disgust between the Two Houses receded from their former resolution and appointed a Committee to treat with them but a difference arising in that joynt Committee about the Bishops Right to be present at Trials in capital cases the Lords affirming they might stay till the Court proceeded to the Vote of Guilty or Not Guilty and the Commons denying it the Bishops endeavour'd to find out a Medium which might satisfie both and therefore desired leave of the Lords to withdraw themselves from the Trials with liberty of entring their usual protestations But this not satisfying the Commons they resolved not to proceed to the Trial of the Five Lords before Judgment given on Danby's Pardon and to insist upon the Bishops having no Right of Voting in capital Offences which made the King who saw that these heats took up their whole time and prevented their entring upon such Debates as more nearly concerned them and would have conduced more toward the setling of the Nation thought it best to prorogue them in hopes that in their next meeting their Debates might be more happy and unanimous About this time the Faction ran higher in Scotland and boiled into an open Râ—bellion which took its first beginning from the barbarous Murder of Dr. Sharp Archbishop of St. Andrews and Primate of that Kindom on the 3d of May 1679. by a company of inveâ—â—â—ate Covenanters as he was travelling from Edenborough to his own Residence who had born him an immorâ—al hatred because having formerly been one of their Party he had revolted as they termed his honest Reformation But appeared more visible toward the latter end of that Month in the Western parts of Scotland when a party of Rebels well mounted and armed coming to Rugland proclaimed the Covenant burnt the following Acts of Parliament viz. Those which concerned the King's Supremacy the Eâ—â—â—blishment of Episcopacy the appointing the Anniversary of the 29th of May and the Recissory Act by which all the Mock-Laws made in the late Anarchy were repealed And publisht an insolent Declaration full of Treason and stuft with the very Spirit and Quintescence of Rebellion inviting others to joyn with them which the Covenanters commonly there called WHIGS from whence the Name was afterward brought into England and applied to all the Dissenting Party accepted of and flockt so fast to them that their Army increased daily to such a considerable number that they became formidable Whereupon the King hastned away the Duke of Monmouth as his Generalissimo to suppress them which with the Assistance of the Loyal Gentry and Herritors of that Nation he easily performed in one Battel at Bothwell-Bridg For having forced his passage over the Bridg and seized the only piece of Cannon they had they fled toward Hamilton-Park And altho they afterward rallied again and Faced about upon the advantage of a rising ground yet so soon as the Cannon began to play on them they all fled in disorder and confusion Robert Hamilton who was their chief Commander being one of the first There were many of the Rebels kill'd in the place and several hundreds taken Prisoners whereof some few were Executed The King who was willing to try all means to please and satisfie his people fearing the Animosities of that Parliament were too great to admit of a Reconciliation and would prevent their doing any
of the Privy Council then present to do so too and had ordered the Original to be kept in the Council Chest where it still remains This Declaration was likewise inserted as it was entred in the Council Books and was as follows For the avoiding of any Dispute which may happen in time to come concerning the Succession of the Crown I do here Declare in the Presence of Almighty God That I never gave nor made any Contract of Marriage nor was Married to any Woman whatsoever but to my present Wife Queen Katharine White Hall the 3d day of March 167 â— â— CHARLES R. And that noâ—e might still remain doubtful or question the Truth of his former Declaration he concluded that Declaration with the following Protestation And we do again upon this occasion call Almighty God to Witness and declare upon the Faith of a Christian and the Word of a King That there was never any Marriage had or made between us and the said Mrs. Walters alias Barlow the Duke of Monmouths Mother nor between Vs and any Woman whatsever our Royal Consort Queen Katharine that is only excepted Requiring and Commanding all his Subjects of what degree soever that they should not presume to utter or publish any thing contrary to the Tenor of that Declaration at their Peril and upon pain of being proceeded against according to the utmost Severity and Rigor of the Law Whereby all the groundless hopes of that Duke and the idle and ridiculous Expectations of many factious and designing Persons were wholly disappointed And he was moreover commanded by the King to depart the Land which he did on the 23d of September and went over to Vtrecbt but returned again privately and without order about the latter end of the next month About this time there was much discourse of a new Plot and several Narratives publisht about it wherein the Papists as was affirmed had contrived to charge the Presbyterians with a conspiracy against the Government the chief Discoverer whereof was one Dangerfield who had formerly been a vile and profligate Fellow and was then newly got out of Newgate Several Persons were accused by him as Conspirators therein the chief whereof was the Countess oâ— Powis Sir Robert Payton Gadbury and one Cellier a Widwife in whose house Sir William Waller pretended to find some Papers that related to the Conspiracy from whence it was called the Meal-Tub Plot and the Effigies of the Pope in all his Pontificalibus was on the Birth-day of Queen Elizabeth which is the 17th of November Burned with much more Pomp and Splendor than it had been in former years it having been a custom for several late years so to do The Effigies of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey was carried on a Horse with a Bell-man to mind the people of his Murder several Priests in Copes with a large silver Cross six Jesuits divers Bishops some in thin Lawn Sleeves and others with their Copes and Miters on and six Cardinals going in procession before him The King having according to his promise called a new Parliament to meet on the 17th of October Prorogues it to the 26th of the following January and toward the latter end of November the Duke of York went into Scotland where his Presence was very acceptable and all Persons declared the great satisfaction they took in having him amongst them The appointed time of the Parliaments sitting drawing near great endeavours were used for the procuring a multitude of Hands to Peâ—itioâ—s which were to be presented to the King for his permitting the Parliament to Sit on the 26th of January according to the last proâ—ogation which petitioning being unwarrantable and tumultuous he order'd the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen to take care for the preservation of his Honour and the Peace and safety of the City and not suffer such Persons that should â—ign such Petitions or go about to get hands to them to escape unpunished and issued out a Proclamation to forbid all such kind of petitioning and another to declare his Resolution for the farther prorogation to the 11th of November notwithstanding which some resolutely went on with their petitioning and not long after one from London subscribed with many Thousand hands and others from York Essex Surrey and Wiltshire were presented to Him which he received indeed but knowing that such kind of Petitions were rather Commands than Requests resolved not to gratifie the unruly Petitioners and therefore on the 26th of January when those Members who were in Town met according to custom at the Parliament-House he acquainted them That when he declared in Council his Intention of putting off the Parliament to a time so remote as November it was not without mature Consideration and that he saw nothing which had hapned since in reference to the Affairs within the Kingdom which gave him occasion to alter or repent that Resolution and that altho he would in regard to the present danger which threatned some of his Neighbours and Allies appoint a day for their meeting again in April yet the Distractions and Jealousies at Home were of such a nature and had been so heightned and improved by the malice and industry of ill men that he was unalterably of an opinion that a longer interval would be absolutely necessary for compoâ—ing mens minds in order to which he feared the most proper Remedies would prove ineffectual without the assistance of some farther time and therefore resolved that at their meeting in April there should be a farther prorogation unless the condition of his Allies abroad did then require their immediate assistance In the mean while Articles of high Misdemeanor were offered by way of complaint to the King and Council against the Chief Justice Scroggs by Oates and Bedlow to which he returned his Answer and so the business fell And in Hillary Term Sir Thomas Gascoigne a Yorkshire Gentleman of 85 Years of Age was arraigned at the Kings Bench Bar on an Information of High Treason the Witnesses against him being Balron and Mowberry two of his own Servants but their Evidence being somewhat doubtful and improbable he was acquitted The King opened the Year 80 which was remarkable for many revolutions though all in the end concluded peaceable and well with calling the Duke out of Scotland who was upon his arrival complemented by the Mayor Aldermen Recorder and Common-Council of London About which time also Secretary Coventry having resigned his office the King made choice of Sir Lionel Jenkins to succeed him and on the 15th of April the King being absent at Newmarket ordered his Chancellor Finch by vertue of a Commission under the great Seal to prorogue the Parliament to the 17th of May from whence it was afterwards prorogued to the first of July And now several Countrys which had been active in promoting petitions began to be ashamed and recant their Actions the City of Westminster leading the way their Grand-Jury by a publick and formal act disowning the Action and charging
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
Petition wherein the King is charged with obstructing the Justice of the Nation by proroguing the last Parliament Whether these were sufficient grounds of seizing their Liberties were argued Pro Con first by the Solicitor General and the Recorder of the City and then by the Attorney General and Mr. Pollixfen And Judg Jones the Lord Chief Justice being then sick having summ'd up all the proceedings in a very significant and solid Speech gave Judgment upon it and declared it to be the unanimous Opinion of that Court That the Liberties and Franchises of the City of London should be seized into the King's hands But Judgment was not entred up in regard the King had expresly commanded that should not be done till his pleasure was further known The City now finding the King was in earnest and that their Charter was condemned by Law began to think of humbling themselves at his feet and sue for Mercy And therefore at a Common-Council call'd for that purpose a Petition was ordered to be drawn up and presented to him at Windsor where he then was in which they acknowledg their hearty and unfeigned sorrow for the misgovernment of that City which had occasioned the Quo Warranto to be brought against them and Judgment to be past thereupon And thankfully acknowledged his great Favour in not requiring Judgment to be immediately entred thereon in which distressed condition they humbly cast themselves at his Royal Feet imploring his Princely Compassion and Grace begging his pardon for all Offences with most solemn promises and assurances of constant Loyalty and Obedience to him and his Successors and of a Regular Administration of his Government in that City for the future humbly begging his Commands and Directions therein This Petition was carried and presented by the Mayor and several Loyal Aldermen and Citizens Upon the Receipt whereof the Lord Keeper by the King's Command declared That for the sakes of so many of the present Magistrates and other Eminent Citizens who were of undoubted Loyalty and Affection to his Service he would show the City all the Favour they could reasonably desire if they would submit to such Regulations as he thought necessary forthe assuring the Loyalty and preserving the Peace of that City viz. That no person should be admitted to be Mayor Sheriff Recorder Common Serjeant Town-Clerk or Coroner of London or Steward of Southwark before they were approved by him under his Sign Manual And that after he had Twice disapproved the Mayor whom they should present to him he might if he pleased nominate one himself and so also for the Sheriff the Election being nevertheless to be still continued according to the ancient Customs and Usages of the City with some small Restrictions only then specified which gracious Offer was accepted by a Common-Council assembled on the 20th of June where the Question being propounded it was carried in the Affirmative by the Majority of Eighteen Voices And now came to light one of the basest and vilest pieces of Treachery that was ever hatcht in the World which seemed to point out and explain whereto the Bill of Exclusion and the Treacherous Association tended For those Factious and Designing Wretches having failed of accomplishing their Designs by those specious pretences resolved to attempt that by force which they now found they could not effect by Fraud and therefore entred into a Damnable Plot and Conspiracy to Murder the King and His Brother and alter the Government To effect which they had at several Treasonable Consultations resolved to Levy men and make an Insurrection For the management whereof they made choice of a Council of Six that were to direct and order the chief matters relating thereunto viz. the Duke of Monmouth the Earl of Essex the Lord Howard the Lord Russel Mr. Hambden and Collonel Sidney Besides which there was another Council of more Inferior persons whose business was to consult chiefly about the Assassination of the King and the Duke The King and the Duke being both at Newmarket they resolved to prevent their ever coming to London again by cutting them both off in their return To which end West by the appointment of the rest had provided several Musquets and other Arms which were to have been sent down to a House call'd the Rye inhabited by one Rumball about three Miles beyond Hodsden which was lookt upon as the most convenient place for that monstrous and hellish design in regard therewas by the house a narrow passage through which the King usually came when he went to and from Newmarket so that it would have been hard for him to have escaped But Heaven having preserved him from the many former Attempts of Men of the like Principles and disdaining that Hell should frustrate its designed blessings to these Nations as well in the remainder of his Reign as in his next Successors by cutting off its Principal Favourite resolved to render former Mercies the more compleat and full by adding a new one to their Number no less apparent and visible than his Preservation in the Oak had been And therefore a Fire which hapned there and consumed the greatest part of the Town forced him to return sooner than they expected and before they were ready for him whereby they were disappointed of their Barbarous Purpose and not a little confounded at the Strangeness of the Thing which altho it appeared at first sight to be purely accidental yet afterward was generally lookt upon to fall out by the special designation of Divine Providence But notwithstanding this remarkable disappointment and the consternation which at first seized them upon the news of it they still went on with their Plot and consulted about some other Time and Place for their Assassination But before they could bring their distracted Counsels to any conclusion Providence spoiled their Plot For one of the Conspirators whose Name was Keeling being convinced of the Wickedness of the design through the care of Heaven to prevent it by the remarkable Fire at Newmarket was so terrified that he could not rest till he had made a discovery of it Whereupon West a Councellor of the Temple was apprehended and a Proclamation issued out for the declaring Rumsey Rumball Nelthrop Wade Goodenough Wallcot Thompson Burton and Hone Traytors offering 100 reward to any that should discover them and another against Monmouth Grey Armstrong and Ferguson Rumsey the Lord Russel Essex Collonel Sidney Mr. Hambden the Lord Howard Walcot Rouse Hone and some others were taken but the rest made their escape beyond the Seas The Lord Grey indeed was taken but being after Examination by the King and Council committed to the Tower he found means to make his escape out of the Coach just as he came almost at the Tower Gate having made Deering the Messenger who had him in Charge so drunk as it was reported that he fell fast asleep and left him wholly unguarded The Lord Russel and Collonel Sidney were beheaded and Walcot Rouse and Hone
executed at Tyburn for this Plot. The Earl of Essex prevented the Hand of Justice by cutting his own Throat Mr. Hambden against whom there was but one Evidence was only indicted and found guilty of a high Trespass and Misdemeanor and condemned in a Fine of 40000 l. to the King to find Sureties for his Good Behaviour during Life and to stand committed till that was paid and done The Lord Brandon Major Wildman Mr. Charlton Mr. Trenchard and some others for want of sufficient Evidence were first admitted to bail and afterward discharged Mr. Wade and Sir Thomas Armstrong being both taken beyond the Seas the first at Mevis and the other in Holland were brought into England and condemned and executed upon an Outlawry The King to shew his Sense of the Divine Goodness for his wonderful and Gracious Preservation from that horrid Plot and Conspiracy publisht a Declaration for a solemn Day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God to be celebrated throughout the Kingdom on Sunday the 9th of Septemb. commanding that Declaration which contained a short Narration of the Treasonable Conspiracy and the Persons concerned therein some whereof were not mentioned in either of the Proclamations to be read on Sunday the 2d of September as well as on the Day of Thanksgiving which was observed with great Seriousness and Devotion throughout the whole Kingdom every one looking upon himself to have a particular Interest in the Benefit of that Preservation It is observable that there was this remarkable difference between the two Plots all those who died for the first protested their Innocency with their last breath denying that they had any knowledg of a Plot or Conspiracy carried on against the King or the Government and all those who died for the Second did acknowledg something tho they denied the greater part of what they were accused of About this time the Lady Ann Second Daughter to his Royal Highness the Duke of York was married to Prince George Brother to the King of Denmark the Ceremony being performed by the Bishop of London in the Presence of the King Queen Duke and Dutchess with most of the Great Persons about the Court and that Night was observed with great Joy and Splendor and the next 〈◊〉 Bells proclaimed the publick Joy which every one took for her being so happily bestowed upon a Protestant and Religious Prince who was afterward installed Knight of the Garter at Windsor The Day for the Election of Sheriffs for London and Middlesex which of course used to be the 24th of June was this Year adjourned to the 5th of September when the Livery-Men assembled at Guild-Hall without the least Hesitation confirmed the Mayors choice of Peter Daniel and chose to serve with him Francis Dashwood Electing likewise Mr. Deputy Aleworth into the Office of Chamberlain in the Room of Sir Thomas Player who being one of the Rioters in the last Years Proceedings was then removed and performing all the other Elections of Bridg-master Ale conner c. with the ancient Gravity and Moderation and a Choice of Mayor on Michaelmas-day was likewise adjourned for six Days But in the mean time the King being highly displeased with the Cities delays in signing the particulars formerly accepted of and promised by the Common-Council in Relation to the Charter caused his Attorney to enter up Judgment against it and thereupon gave his commission to Sir William Pritâ—hard to execute the Office of Lord Mayor of that City during pleasure granting the like Commissions also to the two New Sheriffs Daniel and Dashwood who were thereupon sworn with the usual Oaths and Mr. Jenner of the Inner Temple knighted at the same time by the Name of Sir Thomas Jenner the Kings Recorder of London On Sunday the 7th of October the Mayor and Sheriffs appeared at Guild-hall Chappel as formerly in their Gowns and Chains but the Aldermen only in their ordinary habits being by vertue of that new Commission only made Justices of the Peace eight of the Factious ones being left out and their Number supplied by as many Worthy and Loyal Gentlemen viz. Sir Benjamin Newland Sir Benjamin Bathurst Sir John Buckworth Sheriff Dashwood Charles Duncomb Jacob Lucy Peter Palavazine and Benjamin Thoroughgood But on the 13th of that Month the King sent them a new Commission wherein he impowered them to act as Aldermen in their several Wards and accordingly divers of them attended the Mayor the next day to Chappel after their usual manner in Gowns and Chains and the next Week assembled a Court of Aldermen as formerly And upon the 29th of October which is the Annual Day for swearing the Lord Mayor of London the King having appointed Sir Henry Tulse to execute that Office by Commission during his pleasure he was after the usual manner attended to Westminster by the Companies performing the accustomed Ceremonies in Westminster-Hall and making the usual Cavalcade through London but without any Pageants The Duke of Monmouth being accused as one of the Conspirators in the late Plot absconded and lay concealed for some time so as he could not be found by all the search that was made for him But having privately made his Application to the King in an humble and submissive Letter wherein he intirely resigned himself to his Majesties Disposal the Duke thereupon went down to Secretary Jenkins his Office to whom he had voluntarily surrendred himself and upon shewing himself very sensible of his Crime in suffering himself to be drawn into a Conspiracy against the King and Government and making a full Declaration of it and a particular Submission to his Royal Highness for his misbehaviour toward him he did upon the request and Mediation of the Duke obtain his Pardon and the Attorny-General was ordered to stop all further Proceedings against him But refusing afterwards to make the promised Discovery or to sign what he had confest he fell again into the Kings High Displeasure and was thereupon banisht the Court and expelled the Royal Presence About the middle of December this Year began a very extraordinary Frost which lasted till the 5th of February during which time the Thames was frozen over with solid and contiguous Ice with thousands of People walking thereon and whole streets of Booths built quite a cross and shops of almost all manner of Trades on each side as in the high streets of London and Coaches running almost as thick as in Fleetstreet The extremity of the Weather was such that great numbers of poor and indigent People who at other times could but just live were now in regard they could not follow their imployment brought into great necessities and many of them must have starved if the charity of others had not relieved 'em whereupon the King who always loved to take all opportunities to express his charity and affection to his Subjects especially those that were poor and indigent among them granted his Letters Mandatory to the Bishop of London to make a Collection in all Parishes in the
thrice and find security for his Good Behaviour during Life And one Butler of Northamptonshire for Presenting and Reading to the Knights of the Shire at the last Election for that County a seditious Paper of Address was fined 500 Marks and order'd to find Sureties for his Good Behaviour during Life And Dalby and Nicholson two Retainers to the Salamanca Doctor were ordered to stand in the Pillory for several false and scandalous Speeches utter'd by them But the most remarkable of all was the Business of one Roswell a Conventicle-Preacher about Redriff who was this Term tryed and convicted of High Treason in certain treasonable words spoken bâ— him in his Preachment on the 14th of September But some question arising about the Form of his Indictment which was argued by Council on both sides the Court took time to consider of their Judgment till the next Term before which time Roswel obtained the Kings Gracious Pardon who ever loved to endear his Subjects by Acts of Kindness rather than to terrifie them by Examples of Justice In this Term also was Oates indicted for Perjury in relation to Irelands being in London at the time sworn to by him at Irelands Tryal and being brought up to the Kings Bench-Bar to hear his Indictment read and pleading Not guilty his Tryal was appointed the next Term and at the Sessions which followed soon after at the Old-baily he was again Indicted upon a second Indictment for Perjury and upon pleading Not Guilty that was also appointed to be Tryed the next Term at the Kings Bench Court The Roads being now exrteamly infested with Robbers the King order'd for the ease and safety of his Subjects that all his Officers of Justice and others should with their utmost diligence endeavour the apprehending of High-way men and other Robbers promising That those who should apprehend any of them should have a reward of Ten Pounds for every Offender taken by them and delivered into Custody A little before Christmas when the minds of men in regard they were then to celebrate the Commemoration of the Incarnation and Nativity of the Prince of Peace shou'd have been wholly taken up with thoughts of Peace the restless and implacable Spirits of the factious and designing crew that were not yet so deprest as to be deprived of all hopes of reviving their Game were notwithstanding otherwise employ'd for about this time they dispers'd in a secret and clandestine manner a most wicked false and treasonable Libel relating to the Death of the late Earl of Essex Wherein they would have born the World in hand that he did not murder himself Strict enquiry was made after the Author and several of the Books seiz'd but the Author could not be discovered only Henry Danvers commonly called Collonel Danvers an Anabaptist by Profession and a Principal Officer in the late Rebellious Army was found to be the Author of a certain Sheet which was an abstract of that Libel wherein the very Qâ—intescence and Venom of it was crowded into a smaller Compass and a Warrant thereupon was sent out for his Apprehension but being an old cunning Fox he fled upon the discovery whereupon the King gave Publick Notice in the Gazette That whosoever should apprehend him and cause him to be deliver'd into safe Custody that he might be proceeded against according to Law for those dangerous and treasonable Practices should have a reward of 100l to be immediately paid by the Lords of the Treasury In the beginning of this Hillary Term Sir Scroop How one of the Knights of the Shire for the County of Nottingham in the late Parliaments appearing in the Kings Bench to answer to an Information exhibited against him for Words spoken against the King and his Brother pleaded Guilty confessing his Offence and with much sorrow cast himself upon the Kings and the Dukes Mercy whereupon being the next day introduc'd to them he was after his humble submission to them and promises of future Loyalty and Obedience receiv'd to Grace and being deeply affected with that unmerited favour acknowledg'd that he did in point of Gratitude for the Kings Goodness therein owe him his Life and Estate and would for the future dedicate Both to the service of him and the Royal Family But Englands Glorious Sun of Happiness and Tranquility which had shined bright and resplendent for near Five and Twenty Years together must now suffer a fatal Eclipse and be for some few days wrapt up in Black and Mournful Clouds and have it's Glory totally tho not finally obscur'd by the Lamented and much Deplored Death of this happy and wonderful Monarch for upon Monday the second of February he was suddenly taken with an Apoplectick Fit which was so violent that in all probability he would never have reviv'd again had not Doctor King who being one of his Physicians was then present having been that morning with some others of the Kings Physicians to look upon a sore Heel which he had for some time immediately let him blood by which and other proper means afterward used he seemed to be in so fair a way of recovery that the Lords of the Council thought fit for the preventing of false Reports to publish on Thursdâ—y That some Hours after the Kings being first taken an amendment appeared which wlth the Blessing of God improved by the Application of proper and seasonable Remedies was then so far advanc'd that the Physicians conceiv'd him to be in a condition of safety and that he would in a few days be freed from his Distemper The People in divers Places of the Country where it had been positively reported he was dead receiv'd this news of his Recovery with incredible joy exprest by the Ringing of Bells and Bonfires but in few days all was dampt again by the certain and unwelcome news of his Death For when neither the endeavours of men nor the invocations of Heaven could prevail he expired on Friday the Sixth of February having lain all that time in abundance of pain and misery which he endur'd with incredible Patience often lifting up his hands and eyes to Heaven and breathing forth the fervent desires oâ— his Holy and Pious Soul in several Short but sweet and Pathetick Ejaculations Kings in respect of their Office are stiled Gods in the Sacred Writ and are like him immortal and therefore can never die but their Persons being made of the same mouldring Principles with the meanest of their Subjects they must die like men and when the time appointed for their dissolution is come it is impossible either for men or Angels Physick or Physicians to detain them longer here for they may with as much ease dissolve the Covenant of the Night and Day keep the Sea from flowing and the Sun from shining as preserve Kings from being hurried as well as the rest of mankind to the place appointed for all Living As no King was ever better beloved by his Subjects whilst living so none ever died more lamented than
spoiled but left her Wealthy and Rich. Her Prelates He restored to their Ancient Rights and Dignities and filled Her Converts with Joy and Gladness His Religion and Piety He did not like most Princes make Religion an Artifice of State only but accounted it the Glory and Comfort of his Life His Soul in His private Devotion soared so high that he seemed to be wholly swallowed up with the Contemplation of the Holiness and Majesty of the God whom he adored and with whom he would plead in Prayer so earnestly and with such Affection as tho he were resolved to take no denial And one of the Presbyterian Ministers who attended the Commissioners sent over by the Parliament at Breda passing accidentally by when he was private in his Closet he was so astonished at the Ardency and Zeal wherewith he offered up his Sacrifices of Prayer and Praises to Almighty God that he suddenly clapt his hand upon his Heart and with a kind of Emotion of Spirit cried out to those that were with him We are not worthy of such a King And that which was the perfection of all his piety and zeal proceeded not so much from a desire to seem Religious as from a solemn Dedication of his great Soul to the Honour and Glory of his God by whom alone he knew Kings reign and Princes decree Justice Accounting himself like Theodosius the Emperor more happy in being a servant of Christ than in his being King of great Brittain and Ireland He was from his Infancy Eduducated in the Protestant Religion and Instructed by the Royal Martyr in the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England And yet he was not a Protestant so much by Education as Choice as appeared by his constant adhering to the Church of England in the time of his unhappy Exile when he was absolutely free to have profess'd what Religion he pleased and had so many Temptations from the baseness and villany of his own Subjects and the kindness of those Popish Princes by whom he was entertained and from whose Assistance he expected relief against the unjust Oppression of those that had Vsurp'd his Throne to embrace the Doctrine of the Church of Rome And the reason why he so strenuously endeavoured to promote and maintain an Vniformity in Religion through all his Dominions was not so much to Justifie his own Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Causes as thereby to strengthen the Protestant Interest knowing that the safety of England consisted chiefly in the Vnion of her Inhabitants So that his knowledg in the sacred Mysteries of Religion was the Crown and Glory of all his other Perfections and the great end and design whereat He aimed in all his other Studies was the improving them to the Glory of God and the increasing in Himself the knowledg of more sublime and heavenly things wherein He so much excelled that He might have said with King David I am wiser than all my Teachers Knowing likewise that nothing obstructed the growth of Piety and the power of Godliness more than the wasting those parts and spending that time in disputing about Forms which ought wholly to be employed in promoting Holiness of Life and Sincerity of Heart He had during his Exile visited the Courts and Travelled through the Countrys of the three greatest and most Potent Monarchs of Christendom His Travels viz. Germany France and Spain and had by his Observation made himself Master of what was excellent and worth learning in their Forms and Methods of Government and exactly inform'd himself what were the Excellencies and what the defects of each of them And to the Admiration of those who had the Happiness to converse with him had by that means obtained an universal insight into all the great and weighty Affairs of Europe and understood by what Principles they were first moved and by what Counsels and to what ends they vvere aftervvards carried on vvhich tho he chiefly learned from themselves yet vvhat he gathered from them all in General vvas strange and surprizing to every one of them in particular who greatly wondred at the Comprehensiveness of his Knowledg So that as he had by right of Nature a Power of Empire over the Bodies of one Part of Europe He might seem by a Natural and acquired right to claim an Vniversal Monarchy over the Intellectual Powers the Minds and Wills of Mankind in all the Parts of it besides He understood Spanish and Italian and spake and wrote French correctedly was well versed in Ancient and Modern History and had read the choicest Pieces of Politicks and Divinity and understood the fundamental Laws of England so well His skill in Arts and Sciences that he could readily answer the most difficult Queries and resolve the greatest Mysteries and Critical Niceties that were at any time started about them and had his mind so well furnished with the knowledg of Nature and the Reasons of Things that He comprehended almost all kind of Arts which contributed any Thing either to the Delight or Service of Mankind He understood the truest and best Method for Building of Ships and could better than those who pretended themselves the greatest Crafts-masters therein direct the making them far more useful both for Strength and Sailing than any which had been formerly built and was as well acquainted with Rigging and Fitting forth a Fleet for Sea He had great Skill in Guns knew all that belonged to their casting and could tell upon first view whether they were mounted to do Execution or not He was a great Lover of stately Buildings and several Curious Edifices were either built or repaired by Him But his greatest Cost and Care in that kind was laid out in Windsor-Castle which he took more delight in than in any other of His Palaces Nor were His Buildings all for Pomp but some for Charity witness that Curious and Stately Fabrick of Chelsey-Colledg for the Entertainment of decayed Soldiers He understood Navigation Astronomy and all the parts of the Mathematicks to such a Degree that he is supposed to have attained a greater Perfection therein than any Prince ever did before Him and took so much delight in those Pleasant and Useful Studies that he endeavoured as much as possible the promoting them in others Witness His Worthy Gift to the Hospital of Christ-Church for the Annual breeding up a certain Number of the most Ingenuous of their Children in the Mathematical Studies and the Liberal Rewards which were frequently bestowed by Him upon Ingenious Men that had any way contributed toward the making those Studies more easie and delightful or had been imployed by him in any thing relating thereunto His Recreations for the most part were very stirring and such as tended to the making his Body more Robust and strong His Recreations and maintaining it in Health which he enjoyed to as great a degree as any Prince in the World ever did such as Riding Hunting Fishing Tennis and the like He loved Walking extreamly
of Parliament they renewed the Vote of Non-Addresses declare the Treaty at the Isle of Wight dishonourable and dangerous and therefore protest against it and then proceeded to disarm the City and Country that so there might not be a Sword drawn for the good and Peace of the Kingdom Which obstacles being thus removed the Army encouraged the Juncto with a Remonstrance wherein they proposed that the People should agree finally to take away the Government by King Lords and Commons whereby they made good those Charges which had formerly been made against the Parliament and their Army and from which they had endeavoured by so many Oaths and Protestations to clear themselves And that they should in the name of the People proceed against all Malefactors from the highest to the lowest wherein they impudently included and chiefly aimed at the King himself who was in order thereunto closely imprisoned and deprived by them of the comfort of his Loyal Attendants and of the Honour of that State and Ceremony that was due to him But these were but essays toward and beginnings of Sorrows to that Pious though unfortunate King First It was moved in the House on the first of the following January that he might be tryed as a Traytor Which horrible as well as senseless Vote was past into an ordinance and sent to the House of Lords Upon which the Earl of Manchester to his Eternal Honour did declare that in regard the King was the chief of the three States in Parliament he could not possibly be a Traytor to the rest since Treason always goes upward and the lowest only are capable of being Traytors to the highest Which Speech the Earl of Northumberland seconded by declaring his opinion that suppose it was without question that the King was first in the War yet they had neither Law Custom or President to make that War Treason in his Majesty and the Lord Say affirmed that he knew not who should to say to Kings Ye are unrighteous or to Princes Ye are ungodly And Kings added Pembroke they say can do no wrong much less can they be guilty of Treason whereupon the Ordinance was immediately thrown out of that Honourable House But the Juncto mad upon their ungodly and destructive project resolved notwithstanding that the Persons impowered therein to try the King should proceed accordingly altho the Lords consented not Which unexpected News being brought the Prince by Seymour together with the Ordinance for his Fathers Tryal he was thereby surprized with so much Passion and Amazement to see their Oaths of Allegiance Covenants Protestations and Treaties for Peace conclude in Paricide and Murder that he knew not how to contain himself until he began to consider with himself that Passion must not be suffered to disturb reason in such an exigency of affairs wherein its consultations were to be imployed in the weighty business of saving a Father a King and three Kingdoms and that it became him therefore to give himself rather to discreet Advice and Council than to sullen grief It being more Princely and Heroick to prevent the mischief than either to be angry at it or revenge it when it was done And in order thereunto he solicits Spain France Holland and the Scots to interpose themselves in his Fathers behalf who accordingly by their respective Embassadors and Messengers did mediate for his Life offering themselves together with the English Peers to become Pledges for him But the Barbarous Juncto were inexorable their guilt having made them so desperate that they thought themselves no otherwise safe from former mischiefs committed by them but by perpetuating a far greater and unparallel'd wickedness those Monsters of Men hurrying his Majesty from the Isle of Wight to bring him to his Tryal as tho they had designed to explain to the wandring World the meaning of that Riddle which was contained in their pretence of defending him whilst they fought against him Being unjustly condemned by the pretended high Court of Justice set up by the Juncto for his Tryal to lose his sacred Head he did upon the near approach of his death take care with good Hezekiah to set his House in order giving charge concerning the same to the Dutch Embassador with whom he was as private as the rudeness of the Souldiers would permit him For the most part of the Saturday in the Afternoon ordering him to carry his Blessing to his Son and deliver him such Instructions as equally declare the greatness of our loss in him and our happiness in his Successor whose actions were always steered according to them wherein he breathed more like an Angel than a Man or at least as one then already entred upon the confines of Eternity and within view of Immortality and Perfection as you may perceive by the Instructions themselves which are as follow Son if these Papers with some others wherein I have set down the private reflections of my Conscience and my most impartial thoughts touching the chief passages that have been most remarkable or disputed in my late Troubles come to your hands to whom they are chiefly designed they may be so far useful to you as to state your Judgment aright in what hath passed whereof a pious use is the best that can be made and they may give you some Directions how to remedy the present and prevent future Distempers This advantage of Wisdom you have above other Princes that you have begun and now spent some years of discretion in the the experience of Trouble and the exercise of Patience wherein Piety and all other Virtues both Moral and Political are commonly better planted to a thriving as Trees set in Winter than in warmth and serenity of times or amidst those delights which usually attend Princes Courts in time of Peace and Plenty which are prone either to root up all Plants of true Virtue and Honour or to be contented only with some Leaves or withering Formalities of them without any real Fruit such as tend to the publick good for which Princes shall always remember they are born and by Providence designed The Evidence of which different Education the Holy Writ affords us in the contemplation of David and Rehoboam the one prepared by many Afflictions for a flourishing Kingdom the other softened by the unparallell'd Prosperity of Solomon's Court and so corrupted both for Peace Honour and Kingdom by those Flatteries which are as inseparable from prosperous Princes as Flies are from Fruit whom adversity like cold Weather driveth away I had rather you should be Charles Le bon than Le grand good than great I hope God hath designed you to be both having so early put you upon that exercise of his Gifts and Graces bestowed upon you which may best weed out all vicious Inclinations and dispose you to those princely Endowments and Employments which will most gain the love and intend the welfare of those over whom God shall place you With God the King of Kings I would
have you begin the best Government you can attain to is to be subject to his Word and Spirit swaying in your heart Your Glory will be the advancement of God's Glory in the maintenance of true Religion and of the Churches good and in the dispensation of Civil Justice and Honour for the publick good Piety will make you prosperous or at least not miserable whereby in the loss of all you save a Soul to which as to a Creature I see all these black Lines of Affliction drawn This Cup we tast is God's Physick having that in healthfulness in wants and pleasure I would have you above all well grounded in your Religion according to the best Profession of the Church of England which I wish may be judiciously your Religion sealed by your Judgment and Reason persevering iâ— it as the nearest to the Word of Goâ— for Doctrine and the Primitive Examples for Government with such amendment as I elsewhere expressed and often offered but in vain A fixation for Relâ—gion is necessary for your Souls and Kingdoms Peace The Devil of Rebellion can turn himself into such an Angel of Reformation and the Old Serpent can pretend such New Lights that when some mens Consciences accuse them for Sedition and Faction they stop their mouth with the name and noise of Religion When Piety pleads for Peace and Patience they cry out Zeal so that you must be settled or you shall never want Temptations to destroy you and yours Men are so good at putting the best of Princes for the worst of Designs especially when Novelty prevails much attended with Zeal for Religion and 't is a good way to hide their own Deformities by severe censures upon other mens Opinions and Actions Abet no publick Faction against your own and the Churches settled judgment least the advantage you gain in some Mens Hearts who are prone to be of their Kings Religion be lost in others who think themselves and their professions first dispised and then Persecuted by you Either calmly remove the seeming differences and offences by impartiality or order it so in point of power that you need not fear or flatter any else you are undone so quickly will the Serpent devour the Dove There is less Loyalty Justice or Humanity in none than in Religious Rebels whose Ambitious Policies march under the Colours of Piety with security and applause You may hear from them Jacobs Voice but you shall feel they have Esaus Hands The Presbyterian Faction in England while compliant with publick order was inconsiderable in Church and Sâ—ate When discontents drove Men to sideing as ill humors fall to the disaffected part so did all that affected Novelty adhere to that side as the most remarkable note of difference then in point of Religion all lesser Factions until time and success had discovered to them their several advantages being officious Servants to Presbytery What may seem at first but an hand-breadth in Religion by Seditious Spirits as by strong Winds are soon made to cover and darken the whole Heavens and therefore must be suppressed or reformed Next to your care for Religion take care for Justice according to the settled Laws of these Kingdoms which by an admirable temperament give very much to the Subject and yet reserve enough for any King who owns his People as Subjects and not as Slaves Never charge your Head with such a Crown as may oppress the whole Body that it cannot return any strength honour or safety to the head Your Prerogative is best exercised in remitting rather than exacting the just Vigour of the Laws I hope you will never think it safe for a King to gratify any Faction with the perturbation of the Laws in which is wrapt up the publick interest and the good of the Community My Counsel and charge to you is that if it please God to restore you you seriously consider the former real or objected miscarriages which might occasion my troubles that you may avoid them Never repose so much upon any Mans single fidelity and distraction in managing affairs of Religion and Justice as to create in your self or others a diffidence of your own judgment which will prove more faithful to your own and the Kingdoms interest than any Mans. Exasperate no Faction by the asperity of any Mans Passions or humors employed by you about differences in lesser matters wherein a charitable toleration dissipates that strength whom rougher opposition fortifieth provided the differences amount not to an insolent opposition of Laws and Governments our Religion Established as to the essentials of them Always keep up solid Piety and those fundamental Truths which mend both the hearts and lives of men with impartial Favour and Justice Take heed that outward Circumstances of Religion devour not all the Encouragements of Learning Industry and Piety but with an equal Eye and impartial Hand distribute Favours and Rewards to all men as you find for their real goodness both in abilities and fidelity worthy or capable of them This will give you the hearts of the best and most too who though they be not good themselves yet are glad to see the severer ways of Virtue at any time sweetned with Temporal Rewards Time will dissipate all Faction when the roughâ— Designs of some men shall discover themselves which were at first wrapt up under the smooth pretences of Religion Reformation and Liberty For as the Wolf is not less cruel so he will be more justly hated when he shall appear no better than a Wolf under Sheeps clothing And as for the secluded Train of the vulgar who in their simplicity follow those disguises my charge and counsel to you is That as you need no palliations for any Designs so you study really to exceed in true and constant demonstrations of Goodness Piety and Virtue toward the People even those men that make the greatest noise and ostentation of Religion So you shall neither fear any detection as they do who have but the face and mask of goodness nor shall you frustrate the just expectation of your People who cannot in reason promise themselves so much good from any Subjects Novelty as from the goodness of their King And when Factions are by God's Mercy and your Virtue dissipated the abused vulgar will then learn that none are greater Oppressors of their Estates Liberties and Consciences than those men that entitle themselves the Patrons and Vindicators of them only under that pretence to usurp Power over them Let no passion therefore betray you to any study of revenge upon those whose own sense and folly will sufficiently punish in due time But as soon as the Forked Arrows of Factious Emulations is drawn out use all Princely Arts and Clemency to heal the Wounds that the smart of the Cure may not equal the smart of the Heart Where-ever it shall be desired and accepted offer Indempnity to so great a latitude as may include all that can but suspect themselves to be any way