the desires of His People or to shift them off upon the Generality of their Desires But what they plainly desire He gives a distinct Instruction to it and when they point at any thing which they do not distinctly Express He Remits the whole Affair to themselves and in this Case because there was no necessity of Adjusting Narratives but only to Rescind some Acts of that Parliament therefore the King doth not Require His Commissioner to Transmit the Proposals as in many other Articles but Authorizeth him to give the Royal Assent in this Matter and in the Settling of Church-Government and in Redressing of Fines and Restoring of Forfaultures which were the greatest Tokens of his Intire Confidence in the Parliament and that He did not Proceed Cautiously or Narrowly with them Who could have expected such unsuitable Returns that some persons should press to proceed to Votes in Matters new not offered in their Grievances without Representing to His Majesty any thing of the Matter before they were previously engaged and put the King to the necessity of a Refusal But that you may have a Swatch of the Acts of that Parliament and how far our Great Men did Outvey one another to Depress the Nation and Raise the Prerogative I have set down the Second Act of that Parliament by which you will see that they have not rested in the Doctrine of Passive Obedience but for what I see we owne Active Obedience without Reserve and yet I am told this Act passed with very few or no contrary Votes A Declaration and Offer of Duty by the Kingdom of Scotland with an Annexation of Excise to the Crown April 28. 1685. THe Estates of Parliament now Conveened by His Majesties Soveraign Authority Taking into their Confideration how the Nation hath continued now upwards of 2000 years in the unaltered Form of our Monarchical Government and uninterupted Line of 111 Kings whose Sacred Authority and Power hath been upon all Signal Occasions so Owned and Assisted by Almighty God that Our Kingdom hath been Protected from Conquest Our Possessions Defended from Strangers Our Civil Commotions brought into Wished Events Our Laws Vigorously Executed Our Properties Legally Fixed and Our Lives Securely Preserved so that We and Our Ancestors have Enjoyed those Securities and Tranquillities which the greater and more Flourishing Kingdoms have frequently wanted Those great Blessings We Owe in the first place to Divine Mercy and in Dependance on that to the Sacred Race of Our Glorious Kings and to the Solid Absolute Authority wherewith they were Invested by the First and Fundamental Laws of Our Monarchy Nor can either Our Records or Our Experience Instance Our being Deprived of those happy Effects But when a Rebellious Party did by Commotions and Seditions Invade the Kings Sacred Authority which was the Cause of Our Prosperity yet so far hath Our Primitive Constitution and Fundamental Laws Prevailed against the Innovations and Seditions of Turbulent Men as that these Interuptions never Terminated but either in the Ruine or at least the Suppression of these who at any time did Rebell or Rise in Opposition to Our Government And since so many Ages hath Assured to Us the great Advantages that flow down to all Ranks of People from the happy Constitution of Our Monarchy and that all Our Calamities hath ever arisen from Seditious Invasions upon these Sacred Rights Therefore the Estates of Parliament for Themselves and in Name of the whole Kingdom Judge Themselves Obliged to Declare and They Do Declare to the World that they Abhor and Detest not only the Authors and Actors of all preceeding Rebellions against the Soveraign but likewise all Principles and Positions which are Contrary or Derogatory to the Kings Sacred Supreme Absolute Power and Authority which none whether Persons or Collective Bodies can Participat of any manner of Way or upon any Pretext but in Dependance on Him and Commission from Him and as Their Duty formerly did Bind them to Owne and Assert the Just and Legal Succession of the Sacred Line as Unalterable by any Humane Jurisdiction so now they Hold Themselves on this Occasion Obliged for Themselves and the whole Nation Represented by Them in most Humble and Dutiful Manner to Renew the Hearty and Sincere Offer of their Lives and Fortunes to Assist Support Defend and Maintain King James the 7th their present Glorious Monarch and his Heirs and Lawful Successors in the Possession of Their Crowns Soveraignty Prerogatives Authority Dignity Rights and Possessions against all Mortals And withall to Assure all His Enemies who shall Adventure on the Disloyalty of Disobeying His Laws or on the Impiety of Invading His Rights that such shall sooner weary of their Wickedness than they of their Duty And they firmly Resolve to give their intire Obedience to His Majesty without Reserve and to Concur against all His Enemies Forreign or Intestine and they solemnly Declare that as they are Bound by Law so they are voluntarly and firmly Resolved that all of this Nation betwixt Sixty and Sixteen Armed and Provided according to their Abilities shall be in Readiness for His Majesties Service where and as oft as it shall be His Royal Pleasure to Require them And since the Excise of In-land and Forreign Commodities Granted to King Charl. 2 of ever blessed Memory by the 14th Act of the Parliament 1661 during all the days of his Lifetime and Prorogat by the 8th Act of the Parliament 1681 for five years thereafter will shortly Terminat And the Estates of Parliament Considering the Usefulness of this Grant to Support the Interest of the Crown Do as the first Evidence of their Sincerity in the foresaid Tender of their Duty Humbly and Unanimously Offer to His most Sacred Majesty King James the 7th their present Monarch and to His Lawful Heirs and Successors in the Imperial Crown of Scotland the said Excise of In-land and Forreign Commodities exprest in the said 14th Act of Parliament 1661 to be Collected in the manner Prescribed by the said 8th Act of the Parliament 1681 for ever And His Majesty and Estates of Parliament by the force of this Act have United Annexed and Incorporated and Unites Annexes and Incorporats the same to the Crown of this Realm to Remain therewith in Annexed Property in all time coming And in respect that the Alteration in the method of Collecting the In-land Excise from what it was by the Act 1661 to that Prescribed by the 8th Act of the Parliament 1681 will require some time to establish it in Collection Therefore His Majesty with Consent of the Estates continues the Collection Prescribed by the 14th Act of the Parliament 1661 for the said In-land Excise for six Moneths from the first of May next allenarly Art. 12. Griev THat the Marriage of a King or Queen of this Realm to a Papist is dangerous to the Protestant Religion and ought to be provided against This is Answered by the Fourteenth Instruction Instruct 14. YOu are to pass an Act that
the King or Queens of that Realm shall not marrie with Papists under this Certification that a Popish Queen Consort or the Husband of a Soveraign Queen shall not be capable to enjoy the benefit or advantage of any Provisions which the Law provides or particular Contracts or Agreements may have secured to them This is a most just Grievance and at this Port much Mischief hath been Landed to these Nations and a great Danger to our Religion in general No Popish Princes do Marry with Protestants but all the Daughters of Popish Princes are assumed into the Throne of Protestant Kingdoms whereby the Royal Issue to sad experience may be poisoned with Popish-Principles from the Mother and her Priests which is unavoidable if a Papist can be a Queen If the Grievance had proposed any particular Remedy the King would not have refused His Consent who is above all Suspition in this Matter and therefore the King hath proposed in His Instruction to make a Law Disabling the King or Soveraign Queens of Scotland to Marry with Papists as to which at present they are under no Limitation by any former Law and for a further Penalty to deter all Papists to Marry with them it was to be Declared that the Popish Husband of a Soveraign Queen or a Popish Queen Consort should be incapable to enjoy any Provision or Benefit either by Law or Paction during the Marriage or after its Dissolution and if the Parliament could fall upon any further Securities it would be worthy of their pains to fortifie this Passage yet further which is in so great probability to be Attaqued and hath so great opportunity to sink the Interest of these Nations and endanger the Protestant Religion thorow the World. Article 13. Griev THat the levying or keeping on Foot a Standing-Army in time of Peace without Consent of Parliament is a Grievance This Thirteenth Article of the Grievances is Answered by the Nineteenth Instruction Instruct 19. YOu are to pass an Act against a Standing-Army in time of Peace but so as Guards Garisons and necessary Standing-Forces may be Continued By this Instruction tho the King hath the Power yet He is Content to pass a Law against a Standing-Army in time of Peace beyond His Guards Garisons and necessary Standing-Forces Article 14. Griev THat all Grievances relating to the Manner and Measure of the Leidges their Representation in Parliament be Considered and Redressed in the first Parliament This Fourteenth Article of the Grievance is Answered by the Fifteenth Instruction Instruct. 15. YOu are to pass an Act that the greater Shires of that Kingdom such as Lanark Air Perth Eyse Aberdeen and Mid-Lothian and others where it shall be found Convenient may send three or four Commssiioners to Parliament that the Representation may be the more equal The Parliament of Scotland is a Feudal Representation of the whole Nation wherein every Bit of Land within the Kingdom is represented The King as leidge-Leidge-Lord Jurae Coronae is not only Invested in the Kingdom and hath the Dominium directum as Superior as well as King of the whole but likeways has the particular Patrimony of the Crown and whatever falls to the King Jure privato by Succession Emption Excambion or any other Title and also what befals to Him by Confiscation or what is Caduciary or where the King Succeeds as Vltimus Haeres Nam quod nullius est Regis est The great Barons or Lords they Sat in Parliament for their Lordships and Baronies whether they be Bishops or Temporal Lords And by the Antient Custom of Scotland every Free-Holder that is to say not as in England he who is Seased of a Proportion of Lands belonging to Him in Property but he who Holds a parcel of Lands in Capite or immediatly of the King is understood a Free or Noble Holder in Scotland and because the Divisions and Multiplication of Baronies hath rendred many of the Free-Holders small so that their Attendance in Parliament was Chargeable and Burdensome to them and it was a Disparagement to the Kings great Court of Parliament that the Mean Free-Holders should be Pares Curiae with the Nobility or Peers therefore the small Barons who do not Hold an Hundred Merk Land of the King are Allowed to Send their Commissioners to the Parliament and the Barons of each Shire are Allowed to Send two or moe Commissioners to the Parliament The Royal Burrows make up the Third Estate to the Parliament and each Royal Burrow doth Send One Commissioner but Edinburgh which Sendeth Two to Represent in Parliament the Lands given out by the King to their respective Burrows to be holden of Him Burgage whereby unaquaeque Gleba every Bit of the Kingdom is represented in Parliament But the Number of the Lords being Increased at the Kings pleasure they are now become as many as the Commissioners of Shires and Burrows if they were all present and it hath been the custom of our Kings to Erect Royal Burrows as they think fit the Shires always remaining the same The Commissioners for Shires who do Represent the greatest part of the Property of the Nation they are not proportional in Number and they have made many Attempts that the Shires being unequal in Extent Value or Number of Inhabitants that therefore the great Shires might be Allowed to Send more Commissioners which is agreeable to the Act of Parliament to Send Two or More that the Representation in Parliament of the Nation might be the more equal This Design hath been always Obstructed by the Lords or great Barons that they might have more Votes and Influence in the Parliament as also the Court hath Considered the Barons as that part of the Parliament which could be least Pack'd or Influenced being persons generally of the best Sense and Substance as being chosen by the rest of the Barons to Represent them Therefore the Court hath never Favoured this Adjusting of the Representation having greater Influence upon the Royal Burrows who are Weaker and upon the Noblemen who are generally more Necessitous and so more easily brought over to the Sentiments and Designs of the Court. But this King Regarding Equity and Justice more than Power He hath Consented that the Representation in Parliament be rendred as equal as can be and that the greater Shires shall have a greater Number of Representatives Article 15. Griev THat the Grievance of the Burrows be Considered and Redressed in the first Parliament This is Answered by the Sixteenth Instruction Instruct 16. YOu are to pass an Act Ratifying the Priviledges of the Burrows and Securing their Rights in Electing their own Magistrats for the Future and that the Burrows of Glasgow and St. Andrews shall have the Electing of their own Provosts Baillies and Town Council as the other Royal Burrows of that Kingdom have The Royal Burrows have a peculiar Interest in the King for as Burghs of Barony and Regality are Incorporations belonging to Noblemen and Gentlemen so the Royal Burrows are in
men who make such a noise about the Authority of the Grievances that the King must satisfie them and yet when they please to bring in any little Overture it must take place and justle out the other 2º As to the Vote of Incapacities it is indeed a Vote incapacitating the King to imploy any person in his service but whom they please for the Terms are so lax and the Nation so universally involved that there are few men of Business Fortune or parts but they may be reached and most part of the Addressers themselves as far as they are capable they are guilty but when a man turns upon that side the most abominable and monstrous faults are covered whereas trifles are mustered and magnified if a man be on the King's side And I cannot forget the last Member of the incapacities that all who have obstructed the designs of the House after they came the length of Votes shall be incapable of Publick Trust though the Royal consent neither is nor I believe will perhaps ever be adhibited so they are no Laws but abortive Attempts which never had a precedent and it may be will never have a parallel So it was above measure hard to inflict the severest pain of incapacity where there was no Law Transgressed as appears by the words of the Statute Act 3. Par. 1. K. Ch. 2d So no Acts Sentences or Statutes to be past in any Parliament can be binding upon the people or have the Authority and force of Laws without the special Authority and Approbation of the King's Majesty or His Commissioner interpon'd thereto at the making thereof the punctual observance thereof is injoyned that none offer to call in question impugn or do any deed to the contrair hereof under the pain of Treason 3. As to that Article concerning the Session I have already told you how it was thrown out by the Committee of the Estates I dare say to you upon my reputation that there is not one word in our Law giving the Parliament any power in Tryal or Admission of the Lords of Session I shall refer you to two short Acts in Anno 1661 the second eleventh Acts of the first Session first Parliament K. Ch. 2d Where the King 's Right in this point is as clearly stated as can be exprest These Acts are as follows ACT and Acknowledgment of His Majesties Prerogative in the choise of His Officers of State Counsellors and Judges THE Estates of Parliament considering the great obligations that do ly upon them from the Law of God the Law of Nations the Municipal Laws of the Land and their Oaths of Allegiance to maintain and defend the Soveraign Power and Authority of the King's Majesty and the sad consequences that do accompany any incroachments upon or diminutions thereof do therefore from their sence of duty declare that it is an inherent priviledge of the Crown and an undoubted part of the Royal Prerogative of the Kings of this Realm to have the sole choise and appointment of the Officers of State and Privy Counsellors and nomination of the Lords of Session as in former times preceeding the year 1637. And that the King 's Sacred Majesty and his Heirs and Successors are for ever by vertue of that Royal Power which they hold from God Almighty over this Kingdom to enjoy and have the full exercise of that Right And therefore the King's Majesty with Advice and Consent of his Estates of Parliament doth hereby Rescind all Acts Statutes or Practices to the contrair Follows the acknowledgment of His Majesties Prerogative FOrasmuch as the Estates of Parliament of this Kingdom by their several Acts of the 11th and 25th of January last have from the sense of their humble duty and in recognizance of His Majesties just Right declared that it is an inherent priviledge of the Crown and an undoubted part of the Royal Prerogative of the Kings of this Kingdom to have the sole choise and appointment of the Officers of State Privy Counsellors and Lords of Session c. I shall only tell you that the Session is sitten down with as great satisfaction as ever it did and several of the most eminent Lawers have accepted whose Practice was much better than their Sallaries and you must allow me to say since they must know the Law they are great fools if they be not safe And I am sure the greatest Lawers that did oppose this would have been content to have run the hazard of the Parliaments censure if they could but procured the King's Commission and would have parted with the Club to the Boot when they had got their own Staik And as to that part of the Vote that the President should be chosen by the Lords this did not concern the Parliament since the Lords did not complain And the five last successive Presidents are named by the King in the same manner Besides my Lord Stairs is not made of new President but restored to an Office whereunto He had been formerly Admitted by the Lords conform to the King's Declaration from which he was unjustly thrust out And withal the Lords did unanimously by a Vote acquiesce in His Majesties nomination and reponing the President and declared if the matter had been intire to themselves they would all and every one of them have chosen him so this dust has been very idly raised 4o. I must again take notice of that grief they express for the want of that Church-government they themselves hindered to be established and the design of the Address is to Imprint in the apprehensions of the people that the King is slow or backward in that matter 5o. As to the Apology for not giving Cess it is very pleasant they did not refuse it absolutely but till some things were first exped which might give them satisfaction that is to say they would give no Cess or Subsistence for the Kings Troops though they must quit the Countrey if he withdraw them till such time as the King shall renounce the remainder of his Soveraignty And I shall not say that he hath been prodigal of his Prerogative but I am sure he hath been so liberal of it that it might at this time have given contentment for once It is needless in this case to remember either the obligations we owe to our King or the necessity we have of his Protection but I shall offer two things to show the ingratitude and foolishness of refusing this Supply 1o. The King hath expended above Threescore thousand pounds upon his Troops in Scotland out of his own Pocket for our defence and in sending Arms Ordnance and Ammunition thither and if he should abandon us this Winter the best part of the Nation would be forced to leave the Countrey 2o. By a standing Law the Parliament settled Eight Months Cess upon King James during his lifetime which we payed pleasantly for supporting that Government was it discretion to refuse the King four Months Cess which is but 24000 Pounds
An Account of the Affairs of Scotland In Answer to a Letter Written upon the occasion of the Address lately Presented to His Majesty by some Members of the Parliament of that Kingdom SIR I Will comply with your Desires in giving you a view of the Scottish-Affairs and before I make particular Answers to your Questions I will lay open the whole matter of Fact which hath occurred in the Meeting of Estates in Their Majesties Acceptance of the Crown and the Instructions given by His Majesty to His Commissioner for holding of the Parliament that you may be the better able to make a Judgment how far His Majesty hath made Concessions to satisfie the Minds and ease the Grievances of that Nation by His Offers in His Instructions to quite voluntarily these Advantages which the Crown hath insensibly got over the People ever since the Union of the two Kingdoms whereby Scotland is as much in the Power and Mercy of their Kings as most of the Nations in Europe by a Legal Constitution and the Consent of the People in Parliament It may be then Surprising if this great Opportunity hath not been Imbraced and these offered Concessions turned into perpetual Laws But the Ambition of some and the Selfish-Designs of others hath Obstructed the Happiness which that Nation could only expect from this Revolution and have kept it under the Power of these severe Laws and stretched Prerogatives which His Majesty was willing to have parted with A considerable number of the Nobility and Gentry of Scotland did Attend His Majesty in His Expedition for Britain and many moe having Met Him at London they did Address to His Majesty then Prince of Orange to Assume the Government till the Meeting of the Estates which they desired Him to Call. The Procedure in that Meeting was with a great deal of Discretion and Dispatch till the Country was put in a posture of Defence against an Invasion they had reason to apprehend from Ireland and till the Instrument of Government was finished which is almost in the same terms with that of England Upon the Eleventh day of April last the Estates did Proclaim Their Majesties King WILLIAM and Queen MARY King and Queen of Scotland with all the Joy and Sincerity that could be Exprest the same day Their Majesties were Crowned in England Upon the Eighteenth day of the said Moneth the Estates did proceed to the Consideration of some Grievances to be Represented to His Majesty which they humbly desired might be Redressed in His Majesties first Parliament The Instrument of Government doth contain what the Estates did Assert to be the Peoples Right and the several Facts condescended upon are declared Illegal and the highest Violations of Law for which the Throne was declared Vacant The Grievances do acknowledge the things complained upon to be Legal but that the Laws introducing or allowing them are grievous and therefore there was necessity of applying to the King for Rescinding and taking off these Laws Upon the Twenty Fourth of April all the Grievances were concluded and three Commissioners being one for each Estate of the Kingdom were dispatched with the offer of the Crown to their Majesties Upon the Eleventh of May the Commissioners did present a Letter from the Estates of Scotland to His Majesty which waâ— Read first then the Instrument of Government then the Grievances and last a Desire from the Estates to be turned into a Parliament The King Answered the Commissioners in these Terms When I engaged in this Vndertaking I had particular Regard and Consideration for Scotland and therefore I did Emit a Declaration for that as well as to this Kingdom which I intend to make good and effectual to them I take it very kindly that Scotland hath exprest so much Confidence in Me and Affection to Me They shall find Me willing to Assist Them in every thing that concerns the Well and Interest of that Kingdom by making what Laws shall be necessary for the Security of Their Religion Property and Liberty and to Ease them of what may be justly grievous to Them. Then Their Majesties took the Coronation Oath and within some few days the King declared His Pleasure for turning the Meeting of Estates into a Parliament at their own desire and He did Nominat the Duke of Hamilton His Commissioner and upon the Thirty One day of May His Majesty did Sign his Instructions Upon Their Majesties acceptance of the Crown all Commissions Gifts and other Writs Superscribed by the King must of necessity be Docueted and Counter-signed by His Secretary of State The King made choice of my Lord Melvil for that Office a person who could never be induced to act in the Publick during the former Reigns who had been Forefault and forced to abandon his Relations and native Countrey and flee to Holland where and in Germany he remained seven years of whose Integrity and Sufficiency the King had good proof abroad and of his sincere Inclinations for the interest of Religion and His Majesties Undertaking It was likewise necessary for His Majesty to have an Advocat and He did name Sir John Dalrymple one of the three Commissioners which the States had so much recommended and considered as to Signalize and Intrust Them with a Matter of the highest Credit and Reputation as the offer of the Crown and receiving the Coronation Oath The rest of the Offices His Majesty did not supply that He might have more opportunity to know who were Habile and Deserving Persons for these Imployments Hitherto Matters were Mannaged with Calmness and Concord But now when the other Offices of Honour and Profit began to be Disposed on many who formerly did pretend to be behind with none for their Zeal in Their King and Countreys Service they quickly forgot the sense of their Deliverance and that Duty and Gratitude they owe to their Deliverer It had been moved in the Grand Committee of the Meeting of the Estates that it might be specially Provided in the Instrument of Government That the King should not have Power to Name the Judges Privy Counsellors or Officers of State but with Consent of Parliament This Motion was universally Rejected and thrown out with Detestation as an unreasonable Incroachment upon the Monarchy and there were only three in that whole Meeting who did favour the Proposal of whom some have worthily Retrited themselves by owning the King 's Right in this Point when it was afterwards called in question but what was universally Considered as an intollerable Invasion on the Royalty when there was no Government hath been since owned for Law and a Matter of the highest Importance this alteration of some mens Sentiments fell out Critically at that period when the King came to dispose of the Honourable or Advantagious Posts of the State then every man began to value himself and to believe he was better Judge of his own fitness for these Offices than the King whose Right it is to Dispose on them and thus our
a particular manner the King 's own Burrows Holding immediatly and directly of the King and the Law doth not allow the interposition of any Nobleman or Baron to have interest in the Magistracy of Burrows but only such as are of their own Community Of late the Royal Burrows were extreamly Incroached upon and in the last Reigns the Magistrats of Burghs were nominat by Letters from the King though by their Charters the Incorporation and Town Council had Right to choose their own Magistrats His Majesty then Prince of Orange in His Declaration for Scotland takes special notice of the Injury done to the Royal Burrows and therefore though the Grievance in relation to the Burrows be altogether general yet His Majesty hails an opportunity to Redress and Gratifie them and therefore He Impowers His Commissioner to make a Law Ratifying all their Priviledges whereby the Commissioner was obliged to give the Royal Assent to any thing that the Parliament should Determine to be the Right and Priviledge of the Burrows 2o. His Majesty offers to secure to the Burrows that they shall never be Invaded for the future and that they shall have the sole and free Choise of their own Magistrats 3o. By the Abolishing of Episcopacy the King being come in the place of the Arch-Bishops of St. Andrews and Glasgow he had in their Right the Power of naming the Provost and Magistrats of these Burghs whereby Glasgow though it be the second Burgh in the Kingdom yet it hath not the ordinary Priviledges of the meanest Burgh Royal And the King to signifie His Gracious Intentions to the Burrows in general He gives them all that is in His Power and allows these two Burrows to choose their own Magistrats albeit some have represented this Concession to be prejudicial to the Crown and that it is fit for the Crown that the King retain in His own Hand the choosing of the Magistrats of Glasgow as an Aw-band over that numerous people or that He Commit this Power to some great Family about them who may keep that City in Order 4o. Trade being the great concern of the Burrows the King hath allowed His Commissioner to pass Acts one or moe what the Parliament shall think fit for the Encouragement of Trade which give a sufficient Rise and Warrant for Repairing the Royal Burrows against any Invasions that had been made upon their Rights in the point of Trade So that they should not be obliged to pay for a Priviledge they did not enjoy Here is a notable Evidence how far the most Gracious Concessions of a Prince may be mistaken and slighted The Royal Burrows were abused by the Industry of some persons and made believe that the King by His Instructions had given them no Relief and that He had not regarded the Grievance in relation to the Royal Burrows upon this Imposture they did Combine in the Parliament to refuse a Supply to oppose any thing that was brought in in pursuance of the King's Instructions and to concur in all the Votes that was brought in against Him which they did accordingly only a few Burgesses being excepted and certainly if they had understood the King's Gracious Intentions towards them they could never have been guilty of such Transports against both their Duty and their Interest and when they come to be informed it will oblige them for the future to be more cautious not to take up an ill Report rashly to doubt their Soveraign or destroy themselves and the Royal Burrows being further sham'd to send up these same persons who had abused them with an Address to His Majesty desiring an Answer to that Grievance which did concern them His Majesty pitying their Innocence gave an Answer in Writing that it might be sure to come to their Hands signifying That He had remembred their Concerns very particularly from the beginning and that they had no reason to doubt His Care desired them not to suffer themselves to be further abused to mistake their own Interest but that they might believe He would Redress all the just Grievances of the Nation and specially of the Royal Burrows in whom He owned a peculiar Interest This Goodness and Forbearance in the King cannot fail to produce suitable Effects of Duty and Gratitude and when the Burrows shall be sufficiently Informed they will certainly take occasion to have a new Convention and return His Majesty an humble acknowledgment of their mistakes and a dutiful sense of His Favours as well as the Concessions in His Instructions Now you see that the King hath given a particular Gracious Answer to every one of the Grievances and besides these there is an Instruction for the Regulation of the Universities And after all the King concludes with a general Instruction If there be any thing else that may be necessary for the good of that Kingdom to be past into Laws You are to acquaint Us from time to time with such Overtures that you may be Authorised with particular Instructions thereanent This admits no Paraphrase it was impossible for a Prince to say more this was a Catholicon for curing all the Grievances that either were or could be represented and what a strange Return was it not to Transmit their Overtures but to proceed to Votes Straiten and Manacle the Royal Authority in its most necessary and undoubted Powers Since I have given you the Grievances and Instructions together you are able to Judge and I do submit to your Judgment whether my Reflections be Genuin or no and I shall conclude 1o. That Nation lyes under the pressure of most heavy and grievous Laws 2o. The King hath done all upon His part that was possible to render that Nation happy and since He must be acquitted by all indifferent Judgments I will not give my self the trouble to tell you who are guilty since the Instructions are so full the Ministers of State must be innocent By this time I think you may be able to resolve your own Questions 1o. If the King hath done His part and be not to blame how comes the Majority of the Parliament to be discontented 2o. Why did not the Parliament accept these Concessions pro tanto and turn them into Laws and then ask what more they thought necessary 3o. What is the meaning of so many Addresses and particularly the last which is Printed 4o. Upon what grounds does these men build their hopes who do so pertinaciously oppose the King and what may be expected whether the Presbyterians will joyn with them or not I must confess your Doubts are highly reasonable but they may be Resolved by what hath been already clearly Stated and what I shall further tell you great expectation is a mighty enemy to Contentment if there were less selfishness amongst us there would be more Satisfaction people did expect the return of the Golden Age or the beginning of the Thousand years from this Revolution and their Impatience is like to hinder them to enjoy what they