Titus Britannicus AN ESSAY OF HISTORY ROYAL IN THE Life Reign OF HIS Late SACRED MAJESTY CHARLES II. Of Ever Blessed and Immortal Memory By AVRELIAN COOK Gent. Ut ameris Amabilis esto Ovid. Majora Veris Monstra vix capiunt Fidem Senec. LONDON Printed for James Partridg Stationer to His Royal Highness George Hereditary Prince of Denmark at the Post-Office by Charing-Cross 1685. To the most NOBLE HONOURABLE REVEREND WILLIAM Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury FRANCIS Lord Guilford C. S. LAWRENCE Earl of Rochester P. GEORGE Marquess of Halifax C. P. S. JAMES Duke of Ormond S. R. D. CHRISTOPHER Duke of Albemarle HENRY Duke of New-Castle HENRY Duke of Beaufort CHARLES Marquess of Winchester ROBERT Earl of Lindsey S. A. C. HENRY Earl of Arlington C. R. D. AUBERY Earl of Oxford THEOPHILUS Earl of Huntington JOHN Earl of Bridgwater HENRY Earl of Peterborough PHILIP Earl of Chesterfield Robert Earl of Sunderland HENRY Earl of Clarendon JOHN Earl of Bath WILLIAM Earl of Craven ROBERT Earl of Ailesbury JOHN Earl of Radnor DANIEL Earl of Nottingham HENRY Earl of Middleton THOMAS Vicount Falconberg HENRY Lord Bishop of London GEORGE Lord Dartmouth SIDNEY Lord Godolphin Sir JOHN ERNLY Sir THOMAS CHICHELEY Sir GEORGE JEFFERIES and Sir LEOLINE JENKINS The Lords of His late Majesties Privy-Council My LORDS IT was a Custom much us'd by the Ancient Writers among the Greeks and Romans to Dedicate their Books to their most particular Friends and sometimes to Intitle and call them by their Friends Names In our Age wherein we either do or shou'd imitate Antiquity in all commendable things This laudable Custom is either wholly laid aside or practis'd by so few that they almost escape Observance If indeed this Method of Dedicating Books was chang'd into a better I should have no reason to complain but rather to applaud the happy Genius of our Times for outshining the brightest days of Antiquity But most assuredly we can find no causes for such Triumphs The Dedications now made in England and France which two Countries in this Age we may Parallel with the foremention'd Greece and Italy upon the Score of Excellence in Wit with respect to the rest of Europe Our Dedications I say are so full of nauseous and fulsom Flatteries and Most of 'em so generally made up of about a dozen long Words variously turn'd and dispers'd that for my part I wonder how any Man can proceed any further in a Book of such small hopes but must needs lay it down and chuse rather to go to Bounding-Stones with Augustus Nay this crying Sin of the Nation is come to that pass that even our Poets who were made and fram'd on purpose in such a Make as only to lash Vice with the severest Satyr are yet most abominably guilty of this crime When an excellent Comedy has appear'd on the Stage for some time and perhaps done the Work of an Hundred Homilies in visiting and reclaiming Mankind from their evil ways it comes forth in Print and all is spoil'd again by a wicked Dedication in the beginning which propagatâ—â— Atheism so that no man can believe the Poet is honest and speaks his mind in the Play while he talks so lewdly and contradictorily in the Dedication It was not so in Ben. Johnson's days What I have said of Epistles Dedicatory in general may partly seem to hook my self into the crowd of these numerous Transgressors while I inscribe this Book to your Great Names But several Things I have to alledg for my self First tho this Piece be not presented to any private Friend of its Author in Emulation of the Ancients yet as far as possibly I have followed their Sacred Rules and Canons in a Work of this publick Nature For it is the Life of one of the Greatest and Wisest Princes that â—ver Sway'd the English or any other Scepter And to whom cou'd I better devote His Life than to His Greatest and Wisest Friends for such He always call'd His best Servants Ye are concern'd MY LORDS in every Page of this Book and can witness what is here related to be true No part of His Life but wherein some of you have had a share In His Education His Exile His Sufferings His Victories His Triumphs And while I write his Life in some measure I write Yours For such is the fate of Celsitude and honour that Great Men in some sense do frequently Dye before Sixty three And to be sure when a Prince falls he does not fall alone but several Others have their Lives interchangeably writ with his Besides MY LORDS being unable to find any Object nearer to him than Your selves except his Majesty whom God long preserve and the Family Royal I lay under an indispensable necessity of imploring your Lordships Patronage For such is my Veneration to the Blood of my Prince that by no means can I be perswaded to think the ensuing Papers fit for his most Sacred and Princely Eye or worthy a Royal Protection and I am resolv'd to be as Innocent as I can and not offend One Prince after having committed Treason against the Fame of another However MY LORDS tho this be not a Piece fit for a Kings Cabinet yet I hope this Image of our late Sovereigns Life will not be refus'd by Your Lordships since we love the Pictures of those Persons we admire let 'em be never so unfinisht let them be drawn by what hand soever The other Thing which I propos'd to my self in this Address was the avoiding Flattery tho it may seem a very unnecessary Caution since he that looks up to such a Thick-set Conglobation and as it were Galaxy of heavenly Virtues must easily infer that they are too high for Flattery and too bright to have any lustre added to them With all the Tragical forces of Eloquence I might here expatiate on the Topicks of Grand Descent of Titles and honours of Policy and Government of Arms and Learning of the Tent and the Closet But it is not my design to manage these common Subjects And I beg leave of your Lordships to say That in the front of a Book consecrated to the fame of CHARLES the II d I think I shou'd do an Injury to him if I endeavour'd professedly to write any other Panegyrick but his tho at the same time I must needs include Your Lordships Praises And herein I have determin'd to take a View of the King himself and not of his Deeds that Province I leave to his history and to set his personal Virtues and not additional Actions before your Eyes for a bad man may do a praise-worthy thing but a good man himself can only be praised Many Kings themselves do either hear or read their own Commendations and take care to see their own Glory setled before they dye But such kind of Annals usually is as mortal as their Subject and as soon turns to Ashes No His late Majesties Praise shall not be Mercenary The World after his Death shall
Exchecquer and Judges of the Law according to their several Dignities Trumpets Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber Knights of the Bath the Knights Marshal the Treasurer of the Chamber the Master of the Jewel House the Knights of the Privy Councel the Comptrollor and the Treasurer of the Kings-Household two Trumpets and Serjeants Trumpets two Pursivants at Arms Barons Eldest Sons Earls Youngest Sons Viscounts Eldest Sons Marquesses Youngest Sons Earls Eldest Sons two Pursivants at Armes Viscounts and Dukes Eldest Sons Marquesses Eldest Sons two Heralds Earls Earl Marshal and Lord Chamberlain of the Houshold Dukes Eldest Sons Serjeants at Armes on both sides the Nobility Clarencieux and Norroy Lord Treasurer Lord Chancellor Lord High-Steward the Duke of Ormond and two persons representing the Dukeâ— of Normandy and Aquitain Gentleman Usher Garter Lord Mayor His Royal Highness the Duke of York alone the Lord High Constable of England which was the Earl of Northumberland the Lord Great Chamberlain of England which was then the Earl Lindsey and the Sword carryed by the Duke of Richmond Equeries and Footmen followed next and about the King himself Gentlemen and Pensioners without them Master of the Horse which was the Duke of Albemarle leading a Spare Horse the Vice-Chamberlain to the King the Captain of the Pensioners the Captain of the Guard the Guard the Kings Life Guard Commanded by the Lord Gerrard the Generals Life Guard by Sir Phillip Howard a Troop of Voluntiers Troop and a Company of Foot by Sir John Robinson The way from the Tower to Aldgate was guarded by the Hamblets from thence to Temple-Bar by the Train-Bands on the one side and by the Livery on the other with the Banners of each Company the Windows were all along laid with Carpets and the best Tapistry Bands of Musick in several places and the Conduits running with Wine In St. Pauls Church-Yard stood the Blewcoat-Boyes of Christ-Church Hospital one whereof in the Name of the rest declared their joy for his Majesties wonderful Preservation and Restauration Humbly beseeching his Gracious Favour and Indulgence according to the example of His Royal Ancestors and his Father of Blessed Memory With which Speech he was well pleased and testified his being so by his rewarding the Boy that spoke it In the Strand and through Westminster the wayes were likewise gravelled and railed and guarded on both sides with the Trained-Bands of that City and the Kings two Regiments of Foot under the Command of Albemarl and Collonel Russel and the Houses adorned with Carpets and Tapestry like those in London When he came through Temple-Bar the Head Bayliffe and High-Constable in Scarlet met and received him with loud Musick and alighting off their Horses and kneeling down the Head Bayliff on behalf of the Dean and Chapter City and Liberty signified their Joyful Reception of His Royal Person into that Liberty Declaring how much their happiness exceeded any other part of the Nations in that their Soveraign Lord and King was come among them and humbly desiring His Majesty to continue his Grace and Favour to them whereby they might still be enabled to do His Majesty service Infinite and Innumerable were the Shouts and Acclamations from all parts as he past along to the no less Joy than amazement of the Spectators And the Pomp of this Solemnity was so great that it is vain to attempt the describing it it being not only unutterable but almost Inconceivable and many outlandish Persons who beheld it admired how it was possible for the English after such horrible confusions to appear in so rich and stately a manner It is incredible to think what costly Robes were worn that day it being scarcely discernable what their Cloaks were made of for the Gold and Silver Laces and Imbroidery that was laid on them besides the inestimable treasures of Diamonds Pearles and other Jewels and the Rich Liveries of their Pages and Footmen some suits whereof were so very rich that they amounted to near 1500 l. In this order he arrived at White-Hall where having retired himself to supper and so to Rest he came the next day which being St. Georges day was to consummate the Coronation from his privy Staires to the Old Pallace where in a Room behind the House of Lords called the Prince's Lodgings he stayed till the Lords and the rest of his Train had Robed and Ranked themselves in Westminster-Hall and so soon as they were ready descended the Stairs that went down into the Hall and placed himself in a Throne in the upper end thereof Then came the Dean and Prebends of Westminster in their Rich Copes each of them having a part of the Regalia and delivered them to the Lord High Constable who delivered them to the Lord Great Chamberlain and being by him set on a Table the King immediately distributed them St. Edwards Staff to the Earl of Sandwich the Spurrs to Pembrâ—ke the Sword called Curtana to Oxford the pointed Sword carryed on the Right Hand of it to Shrewsbury that carryed on the left to Derby and the Sword of State to Manchester the Scepter with the Dove to Albemarle the Orb with the Cross to Buckingham St. Edwards Crown to Ormond and the Pattina and Challice to the Bishops of London and Exeter And having thus bestowed the Regalia he set forward on foot much after the same order which was observed the day before upon blew Cloath spread on the ground from the Hall to his Chair in the Abby supported by the Bishops of Bath and Durham and having his Trayn carried up by the Lords Mandevill Cavendish Ossery and Piercy assisted by the Lord Viscount Mansfield Master of the Robes All the Peers with their Coronets in their hands went up along with him till he was placed in the Chair of State Then the Bishop of London on behalf of the Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury told the People he did there present them King Charles the Second the Rightful Inheritor of the Crown of this Realm and demanded of all those that came thither that day to do their Homage Service and Bounden Duty whether they were willing to do the same Whereupon all the Peers in their Parliament Robes and People gave a shout testifying their willingness Then the King rising from his Chair turned himself to the four sides of the Throne and speaking to the People who again with loud Acclamations signified their consent all in one voice After which the Choire sung an Anthem in the interim whereof he went supported by the Bishops of Bath and Durham attended by the Dean of Westminster to the steps before the Communion Table where upon Carpets and Cushions he offered a Pall and a piece of Gold and then removing to the right hand kneelled down during a short Collect then the Sermon began being Preacht by the Bishop of Worcester which ended the Bishop of London on behalf of the Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury ask't Him If He would be pleased to take the Oath that was wont to be taken
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