will please to pardon my Frailties to accept of my faithful Endeavours and always to look favourably on the Work of Your own hands And now Sir my first Entrance upon this Service obliges me to make a few necessary but humble Petitions on the behalf of Your most Loyal and Dutiful House of Commons 1. That for our better Attendance on the Publick Service we and our Servants may be free in our Persons and Estates from Arrests and other Disturbances 2. That in our Debates Liberty and Freedom of Speech be allowed us 3. That as occasions shall require Your Majesty upon our humble Suit and at such times as Your Majesty shall judge seasonable will vouchsafe us access to Your Royal Person 4. That all our Proceedings may receive a favourable Construction That God who hath brought You back to the Throne of Your Fathers and with You all our Comforts grant You a long and a prosperous Reign and send you Victory over all Your Enemies and every good mans heart will say Amen To which the Lord Chancellour reply'd Mr. Speaker THe Kings Majesty hath heard and well weighed your short and Eloquent Oration And in the first place much approves that you have with so much advantage introduced a shorter way of speaking upon this occasion His Majesty doth well accept of all those dutiful and affectionate Expressions in which you have delivered your Submission to his Royal Pleasure And looks upon it as a good Omen to his Affairs and as an Evidence that the House of Commons have still the same Heart that have chosen such a Mouth The conjuncture of time and the King and Kingdoms Affairs require such a House of Commons such a Speaker for with Reverence to the holy Scripture upon this occasion the King may say He that is not with me is against me for he that doth not now put his Hand and Heart to support the King in the common cause of this Kingdom can hardly ever hope for such another opportunity or find a time to make satisfaction for the Omission of this Next I am commanded by his Majesty to answer your four Petitions whereof the first being The freedom of you and your Servants in your Persons and Estates without Arrest or other disturbance the King is graciously pleased to grant it as full as to any of your Predecessors The Second for Liberty and Freedom of Speech the Third for Access to his Royal Person And the Fourth That your proceedings may receive a Favourable construction are all freely and fully granted by his Majesty During the time of his Chancellourship he lived at Exeter-House in the Strand and managed and maintained all things with a Port and Bravery suitable to the Greatness and Dignity of his place exceeding therein all who have enjoyed that Honour in his Majesties Raign as will appear by the manner of his proceeding from his House to Westminster-hall the first day of Hilary Term January 23. being the first Term after his receiving the Seal In the Morning the Twelve Judges and the several Officers of the High Court of Chancery together with the whole Body of the Law repaired to Exeter-house where they were entertain'd at a splendid and magnificent Treat by his Lordship which being ended he proceeded according to the ancient and laudable Custom to Westminster in the following Order First went The Beadles The Constables The High Constable The Tipstaffes The Cryer of the Court The Gentlemen Clerks The Sixty Clerks of the Chancery The Master of the Subpoena Office The Master of the Affidavit The Students of the Inns of Court The Cursitors The Clerk of the Patents The Registers The Barristers at Law The Clerks of the Hanaper The Prothonotary The Clerk of the Crown The Examiners The Clerks of the Petty Bag. The Six Clerks Then proceeded the following Officers being all of them bare The Sealer to the Great Seal The Chafe Wax to the Great Seal The Usher of the Court The Master of the Rolls's Gentlemen The Lord Chancellors Gentlemen The Secretaries The Steward of the House and Warden of the Fleet The Gentleman Usher The Seal-bearer carrying the Purse wherein was the Great Seal The Serjeant at Arms attending the Great Seal carrying the Mace After whom came the Lord High Chancellor himself on Horse-back being richly Array'd The Gentleman of his Horse attended by a Page a Groom and Six Footmen walking along by his Stirrup Next to the Lord High Chancellor followed The Lord Chief Justice The Master of the Rolls The Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer and the rest of the Judges according to their Seigniority And last of all came The Kings Serjeant at Law The Kings Attorny-General The Kings Solicitor-General The Kings Council The Duke of Yorks Attorny and his Solicitor together with the several Masters of Chancery In which Order they passed all along the Strand by White-hall through Kings-street and so to Westminster-hall the Streets being Lined with abundance of crouding Spectators who were exceedingly pleased with the Decency and Gallantry thereof All the time he enjoyed the Chancellorship he managed it with as much Honour and Advantage to his Majesty as any that ever did or will enjoy it And that not only upon the Bench but in the Senate too wherein he endeavoured to the uttermost of his Power to vindicate his Majesties Actions and by his admirable Eloquence labour'd to prevent or remove any Misunderstandings and Jealousies between the King and his Parliament as appears by the many excellent Speeches he made to the Two Houses when he was the mouth of the King to his People and had the Honour to be more successful therein then any who have succeeded him in that Honourable Station His sentiments of and veneration for his Soveraign and the smooth and charming Eloquence wherewith he fluently expressed himself upon all occasions sufficiently appear in that Speech which he made to the Lord Treasurer December the 5th 1672. upon his taking his Oath before him in the Exchequer My Lord Treasurer THe Kings most Excellent Majesty knowing your Integrity Abilities and Experience in his Affairs and particularly those of his Treasury hath thought fit to make choice of you to be his Lord High Treasurer of England and what necessarily accompanies that place hath by his Letters Patents under the Great Seal made you Treasurer of his Exchequer The Lord High Treasurer of Englands Office is held by the Kings delivery of the White-Staff The Treasurers of the Exchequer hath ever been held by Letters Patents And is that by which your Lordship is more immediately intituled to be a Chief Judge of this Court It were too nice and tedious and peradventure too formal to give an account of the several distinct Powers of these two Offices Reason and the length of time hath now so woven them together But as they are both in your Lordship I may justly say you are in a place of the first Rank as to Dignity Power Trust and Influence of Affairs
to the King's Head Tavern whither the Justice came to examin him as soon as the the Council was risen But in the mean while he Writ a Note to Mrs. Cellier and ordered her to acquaint the Lord and Lady Powis that he was apprehended for they knew that the Messenger would not suffer the Note to be sent until he had first read the Contents of it which having done the Boy carryed it according to directions The next day Colonel Mansel and he being both called into the Council Chamber the Lord Chancellor demanded of the Colonel what Correspondencies these were which he held Here are Papers saies he of dangerous Consequence importing no less than the levying Men and raising Rebellion against the King here is also a Catalogue of Names whom you have listed The Colonel affirmed he knew nothing either of the Letter or List of Names nor never did or ever would hold any Treasonable Correspondence with any Man living And humbly prayed the favour of the Court that he might be permitted how he came by a sight of those Papers assuring them that he did not question but to make it appear that those Papers were brought into his Chamber by Dangerfield and upon leave given by the Board he gave them a full and clear account of the whole Matter whereupon he was ordered to call in his Witnesses which he did And Mr. Harris made Oath That the Papers then before the Council were the same which were left at his House by Mr. Sretch and Mr. Bostock who made Oath That being inform'd by Dangerfield of certain prohibited goods concealed in Ax-yard they appointed to meet him at Mrs. Celliers in order to go with him to seize them but when they came there he was not then ready having not yet lain at his New Lodgings but told them that he intended to go to them that very night and therefore appointed them to come the Wednesday following in the Morning and that when they came there they found Dangerfield in his Chamber and one Bedford with him and that Dangerfield took them aside least Bedford should hear and whispered to them that the goods were in the Room above Stairs and desired them to charge him to assist 'em which they did and that after a narrow search finding no such goods as they were informed of he pointed towards the Bed whereupon they pulled it away from the Wall and searched very narrowly but could discover no goods nor did the Papers appear to them whereupon he pointed to the Beds-head and then Mr. Stretch went behind the Bed with a Candle but could see nothing And that then Dangerfield went himself behind the Bed and calling to them cryed What 's that hangs there pointing to a bundle of Papers that were pinned to the Beds-head which they had no sooner taken down but he snatched one of them out of the Officers hand and cryed out Here 's Treason There was in that Paper words to this Effect I wonder at your delay and that the four Lords have left us for now the Tyrant has declared himself a Papish which agreed very well with what they afterwards endeavoured to charge upon his Lordship and the rest of the Protestant Nobility upon the reading of which words he cryed out Did not I tell you these were Treasonable Papers they ought to be secured and the person whose Chamber this is if he were present They swore likewise that the Papers which the Council had then before them were the same which they took down from behind the Beds-head and that they did verily believe them to be placed there by Dangerfield The Council proceeding no further in the examination of the Plot that day the Justice took Bail for Dangerfield till the next day And then the Colonel Petitioning that the rest of his Witnesses might be heard His Majesty Adjourn'd the Examination thereof till the next Council day in regard of some other business which the Council had then before them whereupon Dangerfield moved that till then he might be Bailed but His Majesty refused to grant it and ordered in Council that he should be taken into Custody by the Messenger who acquainting Dangerfield therewith he stormed and said He was confident there was no such order for he knew there were those persons that would not suffer him to be so Treated but the Messenger insisting upon his order demanded his Sword which he very unwillingly delivered and so was conducted to the Messengers House He had the impudence to move the Board that the Colonel might be committed likewise but my Lord Chancellor opposed the motion and so it fell On the Monday following they being both called into Council and Dangerfield having by that time received instructions from the Conspirators how to proceed in it Addressed himself to His Majesty affirming there were in all sixteen Papers desiring to know what was become of the rest which was before the Council and what was become of the Box of Treasonable Papers and two or three hundred Letters Adding That Mansel had got together a company of Witnesses to disparage the Kings Evidence and to palliate his Treasonable Practices and desiring leave to ask him some questions which being granted he asked him if he did not frequent a Club in Westminster Market whether he did not know one Disney Lisle English Grange and Brown whether he did not bring into the Club a Pamphlet called A Word without Doors and read it publick to the Club whether he did not after the reading thereof utter Seditious Words again His Royal Highness Mansel replyed He knew many of the Gentlemen he had named that they were very honest Gentlemen and good Subjects and that all of them lived in Westminster except Captain Brown who had been Lieutenant to Major Russel's Troop of Horse in His Royal Highnesses Regiment But for all Treasonable discourse with them or any other persons he utterly disowned and was thereupon commanded to call the rest of his Witnesses who appearing proved that there were no more Papers taken in the Chamber than what was before the Council And Mr. Bedford who lay with Dangerfield the night before the pretended discovery and was to have been an Assistant in the management of the Plot acquainted the Council That after the searching the Colonels Chamber and seizing the Papers there he went to Mrs. Celliers and told Dangerfield what an ill thing he had done both in injuring Mr. Mansel and likewise by ingaging him in so base and vile a business desiring him therefore to discover and lay open the whole contrivance and who it was that put him upon it And that Dangerfield replyed He did not doubt but to come off well enough since so great persons had ingaged him in it c. Mr. D'oiley deposed that he had prosecuted him at two several Sessions held in the Old Bayly for uttering false Guinneys to which Dangerfield replyed He was indeed twice prosecuted upon that account but it was out of pure malice
being Landed at Pool in Dorsetshire the Gentlemen of the County to shew the extraordinary respect they had to his Lordship and although they were not invited yet they got together and went in a body to meet the Corps and accompany'd it to his ancient Seat at Wimbourn St. Giles's where he was decently and honourably Interred and will have a stately Monument erected over him He made his Countess Sir William Cooper c. Executors of his Will wherein he gave very liberally to his Grand-Son the Lord Ashley and Intailed the whole Estate upon him after the death of his Son the present Earl of Shaftsbury And as he had formerly been the making of several of his Servants and others by his Liberality so he was no less bountiful at his Death having left very considerable Legacies to his Servants especially those who were with him in Holland besides several Gifts to pious and charitable uses And having thus traced this Nobleman from the Cradle through all the Labyrinths and Vicissitudes of his Life to the Hour of his Death and from thence to his Envied Grave I shall conclude this Tract with his Character a Character so extraordinary and rare that it will certainly deserve and therefore justly command the Admiration of all men But I will fist incert the Elegy and Character of Sir Walter Rawleigh wherewith the Author of his Life concludes his History thereof GReat Heart who taught thee so to die Death yielding thee the Victory Where took'st thou leave of life If here How could'st thou be so far from fear But sure thou diest and quit'st the state of Flesh and Blood before that fate Else what a Miracle was wrought To triumph both in flesh and thought I saw in every stander by Pale Death Life only in thine Eye The Legacy thou gav'st us then We 'll sue for when thou diest agen Farwel Truth shall this Story say We died Thou only livest that day Thus died that Knight who was Spain's Scourge and Terrour and Gondamor's Triumph whom the whole Nation pitied and several Princes interceded for Queen Elizabeths Favourite and her Successors Sacrifice a Person of so much Worth and so great Interest that King James would not execute him without an Apology One of such incomparable Policy that he was too hard for Essex was the Envy of Leicester and Cicill's Rival who grew jealous of his excellent Parts and was afraid of being supplanted by him His Head was wished on the Secretarie's Shoulders and his Life valued by some at an higher Rate than the Infanta of Spain though a Lady incomparably excelling in both the Gifts of Mind and Body Authors are perplex'd under what Tophick to place him whether of Statesman Sea-man Souldier Chymist or Chronologer for in all these he did excell he could make every thing he read or heard his own and his own he could easily improve to the greatest Advantage He seemed to be Born to that onely which he went about so dexterous was he in all his Undertakings in Court Camp by Sea by Land with Sword and with Pen. The Earls person was somewhat small but very comely God and Nature having distributed in the framing thereof an exact agreeableness and an equal proportion to every Part and Member But as the smallest Cabinets usually inclose the Richest Jewels so his little Body inclosed a great and vastly Capatious Soul the Virtues and Perfections whereof as far transcended the generallity of the offspring of Adam as Gold exceeds Silver or Diamonds transcends Pebles in value He had a couragious and undaunted Mind a deep Judgment and a quick and ready Apprehension he was Religious towards God Loyal to his Prince True to his Country Faithful to his Friends Charitable to his Enemies Liberal to the Poor Chaste in his Affections and made the keeping of his Solemn Contracts in Marriage Sacred and Inviolable and the preserving his Chaste Soul free from Polution a considerable part of his Religion He was Courteous and Affable in his Carriage towards all Men Sociable and Free in his Converse yet so wonderfully reserved as to any of his great Designs and Projects that he never revealed his Intentitions to the nearest Relations or the most intimate Friends which made him so extraordinary usefull to His Majesty in the late Times and rendered him capable of ordering and disposing all publick Actions and Councils so that they naturally tended towards his Restoration 'T was his close and reserv'd temper that rendered the penetrating into his Sentiments and Intentions a work so intricate and perplexing that the greatest diligence of the many Spies who had their Eyes constantly fix'd upon and perpetually watched and pried into his Actions were not able to effect it and made it a Task too hard and difficult even for Cromwel himself to perform It was that which rendered those who undertook it unable to prove him Guilty of a Plot wherein he was really engaged and was a principal promoter and contriver thereof Viz. The rising of Sir George Booth And this close and reserved temper strongly argues his Innocency in the late charge of Treason for can any Man in his right Senses imagine that the Earl who had till now been so reserved and private in all his Designs even to near Relations noble Personages and familiar Friends should all on a suddain relinquish his constant and avowed Practice and transform himself into a perfect Changeling by freely discovering that he designed no less than Rebelling against his Soveraign The levying Men the forming of an Army and deposing the King and thereby put himself into the Power and expose his Life and Honour to the mercy of Six or Eight needy and mercinary Fellows That he should do so will appear very improbable if we reflect upon the temper of the Earl and the condition of the Men who pretended to such a familiarity with him and insight into his Designs unless we can suppose that the longer he lived the more foolish he grew or that the more experience he had of the endeavours of the Papists to effect his Ruine by fixing the Guilt of Treason upon him the more careful he would be to furnish them with Witnesses to prove and make good their Charge He was such a Proficient in Wisdom and Policy that he seem'd like a Second Solomon and so clear an understanding of the Mysteries both of Law and Divinity that he could easily and with great readiness resolve the most difficulty Queries and discuss the greatest Mysteries and Critical Nicities thereof Which made Dr. Ward Bishop of Sailsbury who held an intimate Correspondence with him delight in his Converse and value his acquaintance at a high rate And so did Sir Matthew Hailes Lord Chief Justice of the Kings-Bench and many more both Lawyers and Divines who had the happiness to be acquainted with him And occasioned His Majesty as it is said upon the being informed of his desiding a very difficult Case when he was Chancellor to affirm as