the Island joyned them to those which he had brought with him out of France the news whereof arriving at Westminster a Letter is dispatcht from the Parliament and delivered him by Colonel Russel Governour of Guernzey wherein they humbly desired that for his Fathers his own and for his three more than miserable Kingdoms sake he would come among his Fathers Subjects offering thereupon to afford all that lay in their power to give or himself could expect to receive But not daring to trust them he waved their Complement and proceeded to manage his affairs by Sea and Land to that advantage if they had had their desired success as might have enabled the King in the approaching treaty to stand upon such terms as conduced most to his Honour both as a Man a Christian and a King In order whereunto he came attended by the Duke of York Prince Rupert the Lords Hopton Wilmot Wilâ—oughby Branford and Ruthen and Sir Henry Palmer with twenty Sail of Ships towards Yarmouth and landed there with 2000 Men where the divided multitude entertained him according to their various Inclinations some with an Hosanna and others with a Crucifie And as himself had taken care of his affairs at Sea so he sent commissions to several Persons of Honour and Trust whom he commanded to take care of them by Land viz. Ormond Inchequeen and Montgomery in Ireland the Committee of State and their Officers in Scotland the Lords Goring and Capel in Essex and Kent Glenham and Langdale in the North Hales Lucas Langhorn Poyer Owen Buckingham and the Earls of Holland and Peterborough in those places where each of them resided and Letters of correspondence past mutually between him and the Scots his Father and the City in some whereof which were intercepted the City the Lords and some of the Commons declared themselves ready to contribute all possible asistance for the composing of those unhappy differences For whose encouragement he was graciously pleased to declare himself rather the asserter of his Peoples Priviledges than his own Rights as though he fought against his Subjects not to make himself but them happy against their wills for in a Declaration which he then publisht he Solemnly protested 1. For the Establishment of Religion according to his Fathers agreement in the 26th of the preceding December 2. The performance of the said agreement and pursuance of the concessions on the Kings part 3. The restoring of the King to a Personal Treaty 4. The just Priviledges of Parliament 5. An Act of Oblivion 6. The liberty of the Subject abolishing excise contribution forfeit quarter c. 7. Disbanding the Armies and setling of Peace 8. The Defence of the narrow Seas the securing of â—rade and the support of the Navy and Seamen was all he designed in his present undertakings Which Gracious Declaration he seconded with a Letter to the Lords wherein he required 1 That a Personal Treaty might be had in such place and manner as might consist with the Kings Honour Safety and Freedom that so it might not be blemished with any Face of restraint 2. That Scotland might be included 3. That in the mean time there might be a cessation of Arms and an orderly moderate subsistance mutually agreed on for the Forces on both sides to the Souldiers content and the Subjects ease But such was their stubborn peevishness that all his concessions were slighted and his endeavours came to nothing Wherefore seeing he could do nothing by fair means he applyed himself to Force and made several Honourable but unsuccessful attempts to reduce his Rebellious Subjects to the obedience of their Soveraign Poyer and Langhorn reduce South Wales raise a Thousand Men keep Pembroke Tenby and Chepstow beat Fleming and Horton but soon after received a total rout at St. Fogins Tenby and Pembroke being surrendred and Langhorn and Poyer forced to submit to Mercy in whose behalf he wrote to St. Thomas Fairfax from the Downs where he then lay with his Fleet that they might have the usage and terms of Souldiers of War as those had who were taken by him To which Letter the General answered with all due respects to his Highness that it was not in his power to Act further the Parliament having ordered their Tryals he dar'd not interpose their Justice but only pray for Mercy and Peace subscribing himself his Highness's Humble Servant Sir John Owen likewise reduced North Wales to as little purpose Nor had his affairs much better success in Surrey Essex Kent And the City who having first petitioned and then fought for their own Peace the Kings Honour Safety and Liberty and the Kingdoms Establishment were able to accomplish nothing to purpose The Kentish Men Rendezvouzed at Black-heath under Sir Edw. Hales who commanded them as General Sir Geo. Lisley and others offering a Parly to Sir Tho. Fairfax to which he returned this Answer c. SIRS I received a Message from you for a Pass for some Gentlemen to come and and Treat according to an Order of Parliament but know of no such Order of theirs or Authority of yours to appoint Commissioners for such a purpose finding you them in Arms against the Parliament I cannot admit of a Treaty but if ye shall forthwith lay down your Arms and return home I doubt not of the Parliaments mercy to such as have been deluded into this Rebellion and their Exemplary Justice to the Chief Actors therein Of which Answer having satisfied the Prince they did by directions from him make this Reply 1. That an universal and perpetual Dictate of Nature even self-preservation not to invade others Rights but to secure their own had drawn them together 2. 'T was an undoubted Power over them ordained of God they did then obey and so did neither Tumult nor Rebel 3. That Providence which had given them that opportunity they dare not neglect nor could they lay down their Arms without the forfeiture of their Reason and their Honour and that as for the uncertain mercy which he offered to the deluded many whom he thought knew not why they were come together the certain Justice he had threatned their Leaders withal he might assure himself there was but one Soul in that great Body which was therefore resolved to stand or fall together as one Man being not tempted with any hope except that of returning to their ancient Rights Priviledges Governments and Settlements and altogether uncapable of any fear save only that of relapsing into their former slavery And that the fair managing of their business was a sufficient demonstration of their Inclinations to Peace entreating him therefore rather to make the Country his Friend than his Enemy The General being inexorable and and they resolved both Armies met at a barricadoed Bridge between the Heartâ— and Graves-end where both sides strenuously disputed the Passage till the Country-men retired back into their main Body being over-powered by multitudes rather than overcome by valour whereupon notwithstanding
Rights which none but such Monsters as themselves would unjustly detain from so great and so good a Prince Wherefore being deeply sensible of their danger they prepare for War but whether it should be Offensive or Defensive was yet a question among them But at last considering that if there must be a War it had ever been a Maxim among the greatest Politicians that it was most prudent to make the Enemies Country the Seat of it They resolved upon an Offensive War hoping that Scotland would quickly be weary of maintaining two Armies since it had so much ado to keep one And that since they were informed their Levies went on flowly they thought that their Forces which were already on Foot might easily go and surprize them before they lookt for them or were half ready to entertain them In order whereunto Cromwel being called out of Ireland was in great state made Captain General of all their Forces raised or to be raised in England Scotland and Ireland The Lord Fairfax who had in him some sparks of Loyalty waving at once that Employment and his own Commission not as some imagine to avoid the hazard of that Expedition for he was one that never turned his back upon danger but because he was unwilling any longer to be subservient to those base and vile Designs which he now began to abhor Whilst these preparations were making in England the King removed from the Hague to Diep in Normandy and from thence to Scheveling from whence after a dangerous Storm and narrow escape of some English Vessels which lay in wait for him he arrived safe at the Spey in the North of Scotland which the Parliament being informed of they sent some Lords to receive and attend him from thence to Edinburgh where he is received by the Parliament and Committee of Estates and Kirk with infinite expressions of Fidelity and Affection the common people like so many Echoes to their Superiors and the whole City sounding nothing but Vive le Roy. But Cromwel being advanced with his Army into Scotland and having been successful in some smaller Encounters and given them a total overthrow at Dunbar they found themselves in a sad and perplexed condition having not only the Enemy raging in the bowels of that Kingdom but being extreamly divided also amongst themselves wherefore they now thought it high time to unite among themselves In order whereunto a general meeting was appointed at St. Johnstons which should consist of King Lords and Commons and the Assembly of the Ministers in which Assembly several Lords formerly in favour with the Kirk were admitted to Commands in the Army and a Liberty to sit in Parliament as Hamilton Lauderdale and others And Major General Massey formerly Governour of Glocester for the Parliament but afterward reconciled to the King was admitted to a Command in the Army And as the perfection of all the Kings Coronation was there resolved upon so that now their wounds began to heal and their breaches to be made up again and it was generally hoped that these Clouds of Division being blown over a serene Sky would immediately follow and the Sun of Prosperity shine on their future proceedings The Parliament of Scotland in pursuance of those resolutions at St. Johnstons having dissolved themselves in order to the Kings Coronation it was performed on the first of January at Schone in as Solemn and Splendid manner as the exigency of the time could bear his Majesty with a great Train of his Nobles and others went first to the Kirk where a Sermon was Preacht by a Scotch Minister whose name was Duglass upon those words then they brought out the Kings Son and put upon him the Crown and gave him the Testimony and made him King and Jehojadah and his Son Anointed him saying God save the King 2 Chron. 23 11. Joined to these words and Jehojadah made a Covenant between all the People and between the King that they should be the Lords People v. 16. Which Sermon being ended he was conducted from his Chair of State which was placed in the Kirk to that erected for his Coronation by the Lord High Constable and the Earl Marshal where being placed he was Proclaimed King by Herald King at Arms and then clad with a Robe of State by the Lord Chamberlain and the Lord Steward After which sitting he consented to the National Covenant the Solemn League Covenant Directory and the Catechisms and promised upon his Royal word to perform them so far as he understood them to be agreeable to the Word of God in his own Family in his Kingdom of Scotland and in all his other Dominions as soon as it should please God to restore him thereunto Which being done the Coronation Oath was next read which was Enacted in the first Parliament of King James and is as follows That His Majesty shall maintain that Religion Discipline and Worship that is most agreeable to the Word of God to the best Patrons of Reformation and is against all Heresy Schism Idolatry Superstition and Prophaneness that he should govern the Kingdom by Law and Equity and that he should maintain the just Rights of the Crown and Priviledges of the People After the reading of which Oath he declared with an audible Voice that he did promise in the name of the great God who Lives for ever that he would to the uttermost of his Power endeavour to do the things contained in that Oath Which done Herald King at Arms went to the four corners of the Stage and demanded of the People four times whether they were willing that Charles the Second Son and Heir of Charles the First should be King over them to which the People answered Long live King Charles God Save the King Then the Marquess of Argile Presented him with the Royal Scepter the Earl of Eglington put on the Spurs the Lord High Constable set the Crown upon his Head and the Earl Marshal having unsheathed the Sword put it into his hand to defend the Faith withal which having held a while he delivered it to the Earl of Glencarn to be carried before him Then the Nobility Gentry and Commons of the Kingdom did as in the presence of the Great God that Lives for ever swear Allegiance Fealty and Obedience to him as to their Liege and Soveraign Lord and the whole Ceremony was concluded by an Exhortation of the Minister to his Majesty to the Nobility to the Clergy and to the Commons the sum and substance whereof was in reference to the Covenant which they then lookt upon as the Center from which every Line both of Soveraignty and the Subjects Duty was to be drawn in their respective Circumstances And for a power to perform what he then exhorted them to the assistance of God is invoked by prayer who being Alpha and Omega they made him the first with whom they began and the last with whom they finished So soon as the Crown was set upon his Head he made a
in a matter of that concern without his Fathers privity advice and free consent and therefore before he could satisfie the Honourable House he desired a Pass might be granted to the L Capel to go to the King at Oxford to take his Advice and hearken to his Royal Pleasure and make some overtures to him in order to a Peace He desired likewise the assistance of the Reverend Father in God the Arch-Bishop of Armagh whose deportment toward the Publick was so moderate and inoffensive that even Jealousie it self entertained not the least suspicion of him But through the ill Influence some persons had on Publick Councils there was nothing done in either of those particulars althô when Providence was pleased to deprive him of Civil Comfort and Secular Attendants it had been but charity to have supplied him with some faithful good and able Chaplain by whose Piety Learning and Prayers he might be the better enabled to sustain the want of all other Enjoyments But they not only refused to gratifie him in that reasonable Request but also by an Ordinance barr'd him from all future converse with such Loyal Attendants as would otherwise have willingly waited on him there to deceive the tediousness of that Solitude so that those who would now adventure to repair to him or supply their unhappy absence by the civil correspondence of a Letter were to die without mercy During his abode there he spent a day or two in viewing the Isle of Gernsey the only remainder of our Rights to Normandy to try if peradventure the persons or the place would furnish him with the knowledge of any thing whereof he was a Stranger before and which he might observe for the future benefit of his Kingdom For as he afterward wrote to the Lord Mayor and Common-Council of London he neglected not any Maritime observations which might be useful to English Traffick the slands commodiousness for Shipping Trade from the Eastern parts to the West in the middle way between St. Malo's and the River Seine the capaciousness of its Harbour together with the smaller Islands Alderneley Lerke and Sarnia After this he betook himself to France to visit his Mother in that Court where he was received with all imaginable demonstrations of Joy where after having received his Mothers Blessing and the Complements of that Court he retired with her to the Louvre But his active disposition rendring him soon weary of a tedious and easie Retirement he desired leave of his Mother to go with the Duke of Orleans into the Field that Summer in the Head of a French Army which then marcht into Flanders against the Spaniards The Queen wrote to the King to know his pleasure about it but he absolutely refused it accounting it beneath the Princes of Great Britain to serve any as those who understood better how to command than be commanded in a Field having formerly had Kings and Emperours in pay under them in regard that our homebred miseries afforded Employment so agreeable with his active spirit that he thought he ought not to spare himself for any dangerous engagements in Foreign Quarrels and therefore advised him to expect Instructions from him how to dispose of himself more to his Kings his Fathers his own and Countreys Service Whereupon in obedience to his Royal Fathers command he quitted his own wishes and waited for farther directions from the King During which time the varieties of Airs he had passed through distempered his tender body brought upon him an Aguish â—ever which continued some weeks until by the goodness of God the care of his Loyal Attendants and the skill of his Physicians he was recovered to so good a temper as to attend his Fathers Affairs according to those Instructions he received from him in an inclosed Commission which was then sent him to be Generalissimo of all the Loyal Forces which had survived those late unhappy defects that declared to the World that good and ill success are no infallible demonstrations of Innocence or Guilt since there is a just man that perisheth in his Righteousness and the wicked sometime prosper in their wickedness The Kingdom of Scotland tender of his Safety Honour Conscience humbly move his Father not to suffer him who was their present hope and their future happiness to be exposed in his younger years to such Foreign Temptations and Dangers as might have those unhappy Influences upon these Kingdoms that the Child unborn might rue for since Princes are so publick that within the Fate of their own single persons are involved the concerns of whole Nations Rex est publica pars major meliorque mei Whereupon the King wrote to him to wait upon his Mother and obey her dutifully in all things Religion only excepted and that he should not stir any whither without his particular directions But not satisfied therewith they write to him themselves by their Committee of Estates to invite him thither protesting that none of the present Calamities except his Fathers distress and restraint afflicted them so much as his absence and seeing their Forces had at first entred England to do their duty to Religion his Majesty and himself they humbly desired his Highness to honour and countenance their Pious and Loyal Endeavours with his gracious presence and Royal Person for whose Safety Honour and Freedom they engaged the publick Faith of that Kingdom which Invitation was signed by Craford and Lindsey But he had learned by too sad experience what faithless Trustees they were of Princes persons and thought it dangerous for the Son to trust himself with those who had betrayed his Father Liberty being so much the desire of all men that it is not reason Princes should hazard Captivity since all free-born Souls embrace a Freedom though it be but to wander like forlorn Exiles in a strange Land rather than a Restraint upon their Persons their Judgments and their Consciences within the Precincts of their own Palaces wherefore he intended to wait with patience till Providence might find out some way for his return to his own Country with more Safety and Honour and sent the Earl of Lauderdale back with this Answer to the States of Scotland That their Civility which might well become the best Subjects should upon the first opportunity have that return from him which might become the best of Princes And in the mean time in pursuance of those Instructions he had received from his Father he negotiated his Affairs in the French Court where by his Mothers assistance he prevailed for some thousands of pounds to be advanced by that Court toward the furtherance of his Majesties Affairs in Ireland as an Earnest of greater Assistance to be afforded hereafter Some remainders of his Cornish Forces now geting to a head and others upon order Marching to him out of Ireland he met them in the Isle of Jersey with such Forces as he had procured beyond the Seas where he possest himself of some Vessels which lay in
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
Montross was removed by an unfortunate death Wherefore he sent Sir Will. Fleming beforehand to complement the States he returned them his Answer in the following Letter which he sent back by Liberton We have received your Letter by Mr. Windram of Liberton and graciously accept your good affections towards us your Resentment of our Condition and our Fathers Murder And out of a gracious desire of a good understanding between us and our Subjects of Scotland for their Peace Happiness and Comfort we command and desire you to send us Commissioners sufficiently Authorized to treat and agree with us about those things which concern the Interest of our Subjects of Scotland and our Interest in England Scotland and Ireland at Breda on the 5th of March. That all the World may know how sincerely we desire Agreement we have addressed these to you under the Name and Title of Committeee of Estates of our Kingdom of Scotland and do expect you use this Grace no otherwise for the prejudice of us and our Affairs than for the Treaty and in order to it Given at our Court in Jersey Jan. 6. 1649. Charles Rex Another Letter to the same purpose being likewise directed by him to the Committee of the Kirk The Scots gladly received those Letters and presently made choice of Commissioners to repair to Holland sufficiently instructed for the concluding of a Treaty with the King who arrived at Breda on the 16th of March and were on the 19th conducted by the L. Wentworth Master of the Ceremonies to their Audience when they delivered to His Majesty the following Propositions 1. That the Excommunicated should be forbid the Covenant 2. That all the Acts of Parliament be ratified the Covenant taken the Presbyterian Government establisht and practised in His Majesties Family and elsewhere and that he himself swear to it 3. That all Civill matters might be determined by subsequent Parliaments and all Ecclesiastical matters by the general Kirk assembled Which Propositions of theirs being delivered he distinguisht the Civil part of their Proposals from those that concerned Ecclesiastical matters and told them that as to what concerned Civil Affairs he would confirm all the Acts and Ordinances of the last Session of their Parliament And that all Affairs concerning that Kingdom should be transacted in a Parliamentary way as they had been in his Royal Father and Grandfathers time And that as long as any person did stand excommunicated he should be uncapable of any Office or place of trust in that Nation And as to what concerned the Ecclesiastical matters he told them That the Covenant seemed more proper for Subjects than for a King in regard Allegiance unto Soveraignty was a considerable part of it And that as to those parts of it wherein he thought himself concerned he would upon the word of a Prince with the limitation allowed in the Covenant viz. as far as he did or might in his Conscience according to the Word of God endeavour in his place the Reformation in Religion and Worship in England Scotland and Ireland Assuring them moreover that he would allow the Scottish Nation a Liberty as large as he enjoyed himself And that in case the generality of the Scottish Nation assembled in Parliament would propose unto him the Presbyterian Government as the way wherein that Nation would walk in fellowship with God he would confirm and establish it by his Royal Authority And finally That in order to his making good those particulars he would with all convenient speed repair to his Ancient Kingdom of Scotland desiring to be excused if his Fathers and his own ancient and faithful Friends who had constantly attended on him in all his sufferings should come along with him thither since he could not in point of gratitude discharge those from the Advantages of Loyalty whose faithfulness to him was so great that no hazards whatsoever could discharge them from the Services Employments and Dangers of it telling them he should be a King in vain if Allegiance in his Court were esteemed a fault that deserved cashiering These Proposals and Answers were rationally debated by Commissioners on both sides the Scots standing very stifly to their Principles and the Kings Commissioners resolved not to yield to all their demands whereupon by an influence which the English had upon some of the Commsssioners for they had their Active Agents both their and in Scotland streneously endeavouring to countermine the honest endeavours of all sides for pacification the treaty was like to break off as unhappily as by them it was thought to be begun but by the mediation of the States General the Queen of Bohemia and the Prince of Orange it was reassumed and brought to a Conclusion upon the Covenant Terms on the Kings part with the forementioned limitation it was the Religious part of the Treaty which kept them at the greatest distance and was the most difficult to be agreed upon controversies of that nature being ever the most irreconcileable the civil part ever quickly dispatcht in regard he was of such a condescending temper that conld contentedly quit much of his interest for the Peace and welfare of his People but was unwilling to quit any of his conscience which he knew to be a far more weighty and sacred matter On the Scots side it was agreed that his Majesty should be admitted to the Throne of Scotland and his just Rights in that Kingdoms recovered by Parliament from the hands of those who had usurpt them and that they should assist his Majesty in bringing the Murderers of his Royal Father to condign punishment restore him to the Kingdom of England and the vindicating his Right thereunto against the present Usurpers c. The Treaty being thus finisht the Commissioners both of the Kirk and the State were splendidly treated by the Prince of Orange and highly honoured by his Majesty after which they returned into Scotland exceedingly satisfied in their success and entertainment Nor were the Scots alone in their Endeavours at this time to restore His Majesty to his lost Dominions For many of the Presbyterians in England did likewise by their Agents at Bâ—â—da engage all their Interest for the promotion thereof But Cromwel's Emissaries being so thick that three could scarcely meet together but one of them would in the end prove his Spie they were betrayed and their Designs came to nothing Many eminent persons especially of their Ministers being taken and brought to Tryal as Case Jenkins Jackson Love and others some whereof were executed upon the importunity of Cromwel who protested to the Juncto that if they did not Justice in England he would not fight in Scotland viz. Love and Gibbons The Juncto were very much allarumed when they understood that notwithstanding all their Endeavours to the contrary the Treaty at Breda is concluded And that among other things the Scots had engaged to assist His Majesty to bring them and the Rebels of their Conspiracy to condign pnnishment and â—o recover those
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
under the Command of the Earl of Suffolk a smart Skirmish pass'd between them and continued till Ten at Night when it was renewed again by the return of the beaten Companies from the Fort but the English Horse not being able to come up there was not that execution done upon them which otherwise might have been However the Dutch lik'd not that hot Service well enough to abide their coming but as soon as their Boats were afloat embarqued with all haste and returned to their Ships and sailing for the Humber they engaged a Squadron of the English which they found there but being worsted shewed themselves before Portsmouth and made some slight Attempts in Devonshire and Cornwall And after de Ruyter their Admiral had been civily treated in the West by the Earl of Bath and Sir Jonathan Trelawney and received advice that the Peace was concluded they sailed back for Holland This Peace was concluded at Breda upon the twenty first of June in the Year 1667. when the Articles were signed by the several Plenipotentiaries and upon the fourteenth of the following August the Ratifications thereof interchanged the Mediators first bringing the Ratifications and other Instrustruments of the Dutch French and Danes into the English Embassadors Lodgings and received theirs in exchange which done the English Embassadors went into the apartments of the Dutch and their Allies where they made and received the Complements usual in such cases and the Peace was thereupon immediately Proclaimed before the Doors of the several Plenipotentiaries and on the twenty fourth of that Month at the Exchange which was then kept at Gresham Colledge and other places in London But the Foundation of the Royal Exchange in Cornhil being about that time appointed to be laid the King was pleased to shew his readiness to countenance that Work by being present at and assisting in the solemnity thereof with his own Royal hands as his Brother the Duke of York did shortly after who laid the first stone of the second Pillar which Edifice was in a short time finished and is now the most curious Fabrick of that kind in the whole World About this time that wise and useful States-man and Privy-Counsellor Edward Hide Earl of Clarendon and Lord High-Chancellor of England who had always behaved himself with abundance of Loyalty and Faithfulness to his Master as well before as after his Restauration falling into disgrace with the Parliament was forced to abscond and leaving that Office which he had so long managed with advantage to the King and honour to himself retired into France where he lived in a voluntary Exile 'till he died A sort of idle and licentious Persons getting together in the Holy-days at Easter and pretending former custom took the liberty to pull down some Houses of bad repute about the Suburbs of London under the notion of Apprentices yet others being found guilty of it four of them were apprehended Tryed Condemned and Executed and two of their Heads set upon the Bridge for a terror to others Having dispatch'd the Earl of Carlile as his Embassador Extraordinary to the Court of Sweden with which King he always maintained a friendly correspondence he directed a Letter for the Earl when he was at Copenhagen on his way to Sweden to be by him delivered to the King of Denmark in answer to an obliging Letter he had a little before received from him which Letter of the King 's was so acceptable to the Dane that upon the Earl's request he immediately dispatch'd orders to all his Ports and Towns of commerce especially those in Norway for restoring the English to the same Freedom and Priviledges in Trading thither as they had before the War And the Earl upon his arrival in Sweden presented that King with the George worn by the Knights of the Garter and after his having been entertained in that Court with all imaginable respect upon his Masters account and dismiss'd with particular marks of the King of Sweden's favour and testimonies of the acceptableness of his Embassie he was upon his return home solemnly Installed in that Order at Windsor While the King was diverting himself this Summer with the Duke and others of his Nobles in the new Forrest in Hampshire he received the doleful tidings of his Mothers death at Columbe the thirty first of August she being nobly buried in the December following at St. Dennis And to close the publick affairs of this Year the restorer of the Crown to the King and happiness to the Kingdom George Duke of Albemarle and Lord General of all the Kings Land Forces exchanged his temporary Coronet for an Eternal Crown and the King as a mark of Gratitude to the Father sent his Garter to his Son and Successor the present Duke of Albemarle whom he continued in many of his Honours and Preferments promising withall that himself would take care of his Fathers Funeral which he accordingly did and after he had publickly lain in State at Somerset-House for some time caused his Funeral to be solemnized with that Pomp and Splendor that it is verily believed no Subject was ever honoured with the like In the following Spring the King having a great desire to unite Scotland and England into one Kingdom endeavoured to have it accomplish'd by procuring an Act of Parliament in order thereunto and nominating Commissioners for each Kingdom to meet and treat about it But they not being able to agree it was wholly laid aside and came to nothing The King's Wisdom and Conduct being famed throughout all parts of the World like a second Solomon drew to his Court several Foreign Princes to see and admire him And about this time the Prince of Tuscany came upon the same Errand and was by him treated both at London and Windsor with great Respect and Splendour and by several of his Nobles in his Progress through England the chief Cities whereof he was desirous to take a view of after which he departed for Holland and so returned into his own Countrey where not long after besides his splendid Entertainment of the Earl of Northumberland in acknowledgment of the King's Kindness and Affection express'd to him when in England he built and gave to the King two very stout Galleys for a guard of the Coast about Tangier which were of great importance to his Service in those parts But altho' the King was well pleased with this Princes visit yet he shortly after received a more welcome one from his Sister the Dutchess of Orleans who came to Dover to pay him her last Visit and was there entertained by him with as much Affection and Bounty as the time of her stay which was but short would permit Nor was her stay in this World much longer for soon after her return she died suddenly to his unexpressible grief The King being now at peace at home employed his Naval Forces against the Algerines a People that never keep Peace longer than till they can have an opportunity to break
observing the Orders sent him At which Proceedings of the States the King being â—ustly enraged resolved to trifle with them no longer but make them feel the effects of his Indignation And knowing that whilst he had Wars abroad it was necessary to have Peace and Union at home he put forth a Declaration of Indulgence to all Dissenting Persons promising notwithstanding that Indulgence to maintain the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England as it was then established Sir Robert Holmes Cruising with five of the King's Frigots near the Isle of Wight about the middle of March met with the Dutch Smyrna and Streight Fleet Convoyed by six of their men of War and standing with them gave them a Gun to strike and lower their Flag which they refusing he poured a Broad-side upon them whereupon their Convoy coming up the Fight began about two in the afternoon and continued until night and the next morning was again renewed five of their richest Merchant-men being taken their Reer-Admiral sunk and the rest made their escape for want of more assistance The first blow being thus given the King denounced open War against them by Publishing his Declaration wherein he gave the World an account of the Grounds and Reasons of his Quarrel with them which together with the French Kings preparations and proceedings towards them in laying great Impositions upon their Manufacture which they foresaw tended to a rupture with them they fortifiing themselves with all imaginable speed and diligence endeavoured to procure Allies abroad and made the Prince of Orange their Captain-General at Land and Admiral at Sea And looking upon Maestricht as the first place that would in all probability be attacked by the French King they repaired the Fortifications thereof and re-inforced that City with Men and Provisions The King resolving to prosecute the War with all imaginable resolution and vigour provided for the security of his own Subjects by allowing them sufficient Convoys and giving them liberty to make use of what Foreign Mariners they could procure And his Fleet being now ready to put to Sea he went to Rye to see them joyn with a Squadron of French Ships which that King according to agreement was to furnish him with under the Command of the Count d' Estree Vice-Admiral of France And so soon as he was returned the two Fleets being now joyned stood over for the Coast of Holland Commanded by His present Majesty then Duke of York whose very name was terrible to the Dutch And on the twenty eighth of May meeting with the Enemies Fleet about five Leagues off the Wheelings there ensued a very fierce and bloody Engagement both sides being emulous for Honour and desirous of Victory fighting with extraordinary eagerness But the night coming on and the Dutch finding themselves unable to bear up against the Valour of the English stood towards their own Coasts and were pursued by the Duke who resolved to have renewed the Engagement the next morning had not a Fog prevented and favoured their securing themselves in their Shallows The loss on the Dutch side was very great both as to Men and Ships but on the part of the English there was little Dammage beside the loss of the Earl of Sandwich and the Royal James This loss at Sea was attended with many more on Land the French King having taken several of their Frontier Towns which possessed them with such a Consternation that many of the wealthy Inhabitants forsook their Habitations resolving not to hazard their Persons and Estates in a Countrey falling into the hands of a Victorious Foreigner And the States not thinking themselves secure enough at the Hague removed to Amsterdam and to impede the French King's approach causeâ— the Sluces to be opened and the Country be put under Water to the incredible Prejudice and Dammage of the miserable Inhabitants Which Distraction of theirs the King of England wisely improved to the strengthening himself and the weakening of them by putting forth a seasonable Declaration wherein he promised That if any of their Subjects out of affection to him or his Government or to avoid the oppression they met with at home would take refuge in his Kingdom they should be protected in their Persons and Estates and have an Act pass for their Naturalization and that such Ships as they brought with them should be accounted as English Built and enjoy the same Priviledges and Immunities as to Trade Navigation and Customs as those of his own Subjects Yet commiserating the deplorable condition into which the States were reduced and supposing their misfortunes had rendred them more humble he sent the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Arlington to try if they would at length offer any reasonable terms of Peace who were received by the Common People with great joy and satisfaction crying out God bless the King of England and God bless the Prince of Orange but the Devil take the States But their Pride being not sufficiently abated the Embassadors returned without bringing them to any Conclusion which together with the French King's taking Nimeguen and the English Fleets appearing upon their Coasts so enraged the People that they brake out into tumultuous Insurrections and there was scarce a Town in Holland where they were not masterless And therefore the States that they might appease them commanded their Fleet to go out and beat the English from their Harbours which De Ruyter attempted with all the force that Courage and Resolution could inspire him with but finding himself overmatched was forced to retire with considerable loss The Fleets having both repaired the Dammages of this Fight hastened to try their fortune in a second Engagement which being as unsuccessful to the Dutch as the former De Ruyter stole away in the night But having increased his Fleet was not long before he got to Sea again and meeting about the middle of August with the English Fleet endeavoured to get the Wind of them which then blew North-East resolving if possible to redeem his lost reputation but night coming on both Fleets came to an Anchor The next day the Fight began with the morning wherein the Dutch sustained a very great loss and the greatest part of their Fleet had in all probability been destroy'd and the contest about the Dominion of the Narrow-Seas ended had not the Cowardly French who were then Masters of the Wind behaved themselves as though they had been sent thither only to be spectators of the Bravery and Valour of the English Whereupon the States-General finding they could no longer withstand the successful Arms of that fortunate King sued for Peace by their Embassador and had it granted as well out of Pity to them as Jealousie of the French King's too growing greatness whose Progress they were now at leisure to oppose The King having now consented to admit the Hollanders to terms of Peace became a Mediator for the like accommodation between the Crown of France and Spain endeavouring by his