Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle which was performed with abundance of splendor at Colchester the place which they had bravely defended for him and where they were at its Reduction basely shot to death all the Gentry of those Parts together with the Townesmen in Armes and Mourning attending their Hearses As he had done a little before for the Earl of Montross in Scotland Count Coningsmark who was sent hither from the Young King and Queen of Sweden being upon his departure another more splendid Embassy was sent from thence at whose Reception near the Tower a Fray or Conflict happened between the French and Spanish Ambassadors upon a Quarrel for Precedency whose Coach should follow next after that wherein the Swedish Ambassador rode Both Parties came prepared for the Encounter but the French were basely worsted and seven or eight of them slain which was like to have proved the ground of a new War between those Crowns the French King sending a Messenger to Madrid to demand satisfaction But at the entreaty of the new married Queen and the Spanish King consenting that the French Ambassador should for the time to come have the Precedency upon such occasions the difference was composed Now also several Prisoners in the Tower Regicides and others were by reason of the unwearied Practices of their Parties abroad sent to several remote Castles and Islands for securing the Peace The adjournment being expired the Parliament met again on the 20th of November when the Lords Spiritual the Bishops by vertue of the Act of Repeal made in the former Session took their places again in Parliament which the King was very much pleased to behold and in his Speech to both Houses did Congratulate with them for their enjoyment of their former priviledges as a Felicity he had much desired to see accomplisht in that goodly restored and re-establisht Fabrick of the Government and the Regicides that came in upon Proclamation and were upon that account respited after Sentence to the Pleasure of the Parliament being brought to the Bar of the House of Lords and demanded what they had to say Why Judgment should not pass upon them according to Sentence pleaded the Proclamation Harry Martyn adding that he never obeyed any Proclamation before and therefore hoped he should not be then hanged for taking the Kings word whereupon they were remanded back again to the Tower till further Order Ireland having been hitherto governed by three Lords Justices The Duke of Ormond having been a faithful Servant and constant Attender upon the King in all his Troubles was now nominated Deputy of that Kingdom and Episcopacy after it had been so long banished out of Scotland and so many Miseries and Confusions had befallen that Kingdom through the Fury and Zeal of the Kirke was reduced with all gladness and sufficient testimonies of a welcome reception the four Bishops that had been a little before Consecrated at Lambeth restored whereof Dr. James Sharpe Arch-Bishop of St. Andrews and Metropolitan of Scotland was one who Consecrated others in that Kingdom the whole Order being defunct by the long Usurpation of the Presbyterian Discipline A Fleet was at this time sent to fetch home the Queen from Portugal and carry Forces to Garrison Tangier which being part of the Queens Dowry was delivered by them to Sir Richard Stayner who with Five Hundred Men had taken possession of it in his Masters behalf and was to maintain it till the Earl of Peterborough who was nominated for Governour should arrive and the King supposing her to be by this time at Sea on her way for England acquainted the Parliament therewith and desired that as a Complement to her they would cause the Streets and High-wayes of London to be fitted and cleansed against Her Reception This Royal Bride seems to have been fitted and predisposed by Heaven for his Princely Embraces for besides being designed for him by her Father in the beginning of the late Troubles her Family had suffered a long Eclipse by the interposition of the Spanish Monarchy for the space of near one hundred Years and had now newly recovered its Splendor by her Fathers assuming the Crown which was almost as miraculous a Revolution and as strange a turn of Providence as that of our Captivity by his recovery of his Dominions On the 14th of May She arrived safe at Portsmouth in the Charles which had brought the King over to England after a tedious and dangerous Voyage the joy whereof served to alleviate the grief and wipe away the Tears occasioned by the death of his Aunt the Queen of Bohemia who died a little before having lived to survive all the Misfortunes of her Family which almost from the very time of Her Marriage in the Year One Thousand Six Hundred and Twelve had fallen very thick upon it Her death was followed with a most violent and Tempestuous Wind whereby divers Persons were killed and much damage done as well in Forraign parts as in these Kingdoms as if Heaven had designed thereby to intimate to the World that those Troubles and Calamities suffered by that Princess and the Royal Family and by which most parts of Europe had been tempested were now all blown over and was like her to rest in a perpetual Repose Several Bills which were ready for His Royal Assent detained him at White-Hall somewhat longer then he was willing had their weight and tendency been of less importance but in regard their being past into Acts would set the Nation right where it was before the Troubles began by providing remedies against those mischiefs which had then unhinged the Kingdoms happiness such as the Forbidding armed or tumultuary Petitions and ordering that not above Twelve shall resort together at any time to deliver Petitions to the King whereby they provided so far as Humane Wisdom could foresee against the like dangers by insensible degrees brought upon the Nation in the late Confusions But having once signed those Acts and thereby furnisht his Subjects with so many good and wholsome Laws as no Age of our fore-Fathers could ever boast of he posted away to Portsmouth having sent the Bishop of London thither before Him who was to consummate the Sacred Rights of Marriage which was performed in private and the Queen Conducted soon after by Him to Hampton-Court and from thence to London in great Pomp and Splendour The Parliament of Ireland having about that time for the better defraying his necessary Charge given him a subsidy of One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Pounds to be raised in two Years The Affrican Potentates alarumed by the Arrival of the English and terrified by the Fame of those Warlike and Martial Atchievements began to fear that if they suffered them quietly to possess Tangier they should thereby give them incouragement to incroach farther upon them which consideration drew thither Gayland a War-like Prince but then a Rebel against the Emperour of Fez and Morocco having usurpt part of his Dominions who continued there
was he altogether void of Assistance from England being underhand supplied with some Moneys by his Loyal Friends from thence But Scotland was more entirely at his Devotion who having shewed their sad Resentment of his Fathers Death by observing a Publick Fast on that occasion on the 19th of February and chearfully promoted his Succession by the Estates of Parliament there assembled a Proclamation was issued out for the solemn proclaiming and declaring him to be their lawful King and Governour which was as follows His late Majesty being contrary to the consent and protestation of this Kingdom removed by violent Death we the Estates of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Scotland do unanimously in Recognition of his Just Rights proclaim his Eldest Son Prince Charles by the Providence of God and undoubted Succession King of Great Britain France and Ireland whom we are bound by the National and Solemn League and Covenant to obey maintain and defend with our Lives and Goods against all his Enemies But before he be admitted to the exercise of his Royal Power he shall give satisfaction to these Kingdoms touching the Security of Religion the Vnity oâ— the two Kingdoms and the Good and Peace of this Kingdom according to the National and Solemn League and Covenant God save the King Which Proclamation was for the better assuring the truth of their designed Allegiance to the Crown made in a most solemn manner at Edinburgh Cross which was hung with Tapestry all the Parliament-Lords attending there in their Robes and the Chancellor himself reading the said Proclamation and reciting the Murder of his late Majesty to the King at Arms the night being concluded with all usual demonstrations of Joy and Gladness Which being over they sent an Expostulatory Letter to those at Westminster to give them an Account of their proceedings and require their concurrence therewith In answer whereunto they received Letters stuft with flattery and protestations of Amity and Friendship if they would desist from acting any farther therein and acquiesce and concur with their proceedings in England But they knowing that their Countrys Honour had been lost by the same Traiterous proffers refused to hearken to their overtures protesting in their messages directed to Lenthal the Speaker that they would not enter into any Treaty with them nor own them unless they were a free Parliament consisting of both houses without any force upon or seclusion of their members Wherefore having hereby made the English Parliament implacably their Enemies they endeavor to assure his Majesty to be their Friend ordring Joseph Douglas to repair forthwith to him at the Hague and acquaint him with what they had done and were preparing to do And presently after sent several Commissioners to treat with him about his repairing to them and entring upon the exercise of his Kingly Office Whereupon their Commissioners at London having sent a peremptory Paper to the Juncto withdrew themselves privately from London intending to pass by Sea for Scotland but were intercepted at Graves-end and by a Guard conveyed thither by Land an Envoy going likewise with them to the Scottish Parliament to know if they would justifie the aforesaid Paper who beginning now to be more than ever enraged against the Rump dismist him without any Answer but prepared themselves for defence intending to levy 17000 Foot and 6000 Horse against the return of their Commissioners who landing about the middle of the Summer though they did not bring with them a confirmation of the Agreement yet gave certain hopes of it by a Treaty presently to be commenced the King offering to perform whatsoever his Father had promised for the settlement of Presbytery Upon which Encouragement the Lord Liberton was presently dispatcht to wait upon the King who was then preparing for his return from the Hague through Flanders into France which he did on June 15 in company with his Sister and her Husband the Prince of Orange in their Coach and came early to Rotterdam where he was received by the Bâ—rghers in their Arms and saluted in his passing the Gates with the Artillery Ringing of Bells and all other signs of Joy and Honour and Noblely treated by them From whence he went to Dort where he was received in the same manner and then to Breda and then to Antwerp where by order of the Arch-Duke of Austria he was met and entertained with all possible state and splendor being presented likewise with a rich Chariot with eight Horses suitable thereunto and particularly welcomed by his former Tutor the Marquess of Newcastle who had then fixt his Residence there out of respect to the great Civility which he received from that People who had made him Excise-free and given him several other Immunities and Priviledges And from thence conducted to Brussels where he was as royally entertained with as much grandeur as if he had been the King of Spain himself And the King did afterward acknowledge that Entertainment for the most sumptuous and magnificent and to have in it the most pleasing variety of any that he ever met withal during the whole time of his Exile Which Amplitudes were observed throughout his whole passage For at his departure thence the Duke of Lorrayn gave him the like Entertainment and conducted him on his way toward France where in Compaign the French King accompanied with the most and choicest of his Nobility did receive and welcom him with all the Testimonies of Affection and Honour that became such a Prince and afterward conveyed him in State to St. Germains where the Queen his Mother then resided So that although he was banisht from his Throne yet he wanted not a Kingdom all men whereever he came being so taken with his Virtues that they seemed willing to become his Subjects Nor was his Court much inferiour in numbers and splendor to those of other Princes who were in the actual possession of their Crowns Toward the maintenance whereof his Aunt the Dutchess of Savoy assigned him fifty thousand Crowns per Annum several others contributing likewise thereunto according to their abilities He was very much solicited about this time by the Scottish Commissioners to repair to that Kingdom but finding that the Conditions upon which they were willing to admit him were such as he could not in honour accept of especially the parting with Montross he resolved to steer another course and therefore grants a Commission to Montross to Levy what Forces he could beyond the Sea and with them go and joyn the Lord Seworth Major Straughan and others who had got to Head for the King without the Kirk in the North of Scotland But they being routed before he came by Lisley and himself not long after his Arrival defeated by a Party of the Kirks Forces and taken Prisoner most ignominiously hanged at Edinburgh he was as it were forced by the necessity of his Affairs to comply with their demands which was so much the easier done in regard that about that time
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
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
considered the Plea and consulted with other Judges about it and were of opinion it was insufficient and was therefore overruled and the Prisoner ordered to plead over Whereupon he pleaded Not guilty and had till the first Thursday in the next Term allowed him for his Tryal In the mean while many Loyal Addresses flowed from all parts of the Nation full of Congratulations and Thanks to the King for his late Declaration And in Trinity-Term Dr. Oliver Plunket was Try'd for High-Treason the Evidence against him being all profest Papists affirmed he was made Primate of Ireland by the Pope at the French Kings Recommendation and that he having thereupon engaged to do that King all the Service he could had actually levied amongst his Popish Clergy great Sums of Money to introduce the French Dominion and extirpate the Protestants out of that Kingdom upon which evidence he was found Guilty and was together with Fitz-harris who received his Tryal the next day executed at Tyburn on the first of the following July protesting his innocency and praying for the King Queen and Duke Presently after the Tryal of Fitz-Harris his Wife and Maid accused the Lord Howard of Escrick of contriving the Treasonable Libel for which he was convicted who was thereupon committed to the Tower And in a Paper delivered at his Execution to Dr. Haukins Minister of the Tower for his Wife he confirmed that accusation denying what he had formerly confest about Danby and the Plot affirming he was drawn into that confession only through hopes of saving his Life thereby But a Bill of Indictment against Howard being delivered on the last day of the Term to the Grand-Jury of Edmunton Hundred sworn to by Fitz-harris's Wife and Maid and by some others that Jury pretending to be unsatisfied with the Evidence would have indorsed it with an Ignoramus had not one of the Clerks of the Crown who attended them withdrawn it from them for which notwithstanding they were told by the Court the Kings Attorney might stop such proceedings as he saw occasion they preferred a Bill of Indictment against the Clerk to the Jury of Oswelston Hundred there attending for that pretended Misdemeanor The Reason why some Persons went so well attended to the Oxford Parliament began now to appear for about this time there was discovery made of a design of seizing the Kings Person whilst he was there and several factious People were thereupon committed to the Tower viz. Rouse Haynes White Colledg and the Earl of Shaftsbury whose Papers were likewise seiz'd At the Sessions which began soon after he and Howard moved to be bailed but the Judges told them it lay not in their power to bail out of the Tower At this Sessions and Indictment of High Treason was preferred to the Grand-Jury of London against one of those lately committed to the Tower whose Name was Colledg But in regard he was a busie factious Fellow and ever loved to meddle most with that he least understood and pass his ignorant censures upon the great Affairs of State He was the more commonly known by the Name of the Protestant Joyner But notwithstanding the Evidence against him was full and clear they returned an Ignoramus upon the Bill whereupon part of the Treasonable Words and Matters for which he was there Indicted being transacted at Oxford whilst the Parliament sate there the Cause was removed to that Assizes where he was before the Lord Chief Justice North tryed upon the same Evidence and condemned and executed In a Parliament held at this time in Scotland the Duke of York presided as the Kings High Commissioner and an Act was past which asserted the Right of Succession to the Imperial Crown of Scotland asserting it to be by inherent right and that the nature of the Monarchy was such that by the fundamental and unalterable Law of the Realm it transmitted and devolved by Lineal Succession according to proximity of Blood and that no difference in Religion no Law nor Act of Parliament could alter or divert the Right of Succession of the Crown to the nearest and lawful Heirs and declaring it High Treason either by Writing Speaking or any other way to endeavour the least Alteration therein The French Protestants being greatly opprest and persecuted by that King flockt into England in great multitudes and were received by the King of England with abundance of Kindness and affection ordering that his Officers and Magistrates should give them the same Countenance and Favour with his own Subjects assuring them he would take them into his Royal Protection and grant 'em his Letters of Dennization and promising to procure in the next Parliament an Act for their Naturalization A special Commission of Oyer and Terminer being granted by him for the Tryal of Shaftsbury and others at the Old Bayly the Bill of High Treason preferred against Shaftsbury notwithstanding the Evidence swore very full to the Treason was returned by the Grand-Jury the Foreman whereof was Sir Samuel Barnardiston Ignoramus as a former Jury had done that of Colledg Whereupon the people whose Idol he was gave a great Shout and assaulted those who were Witnesses against him with that violence that the Sheriffs to prevent mischief were forced to guard them as far as the Savoy homeward Bonfires were that Night made by the Rabble almost in every Street at one whereof Capt. Griffith was knockt down and wounded in the Head for endeavouring to put it out And a rout of people marching down Warwick-lane one whereof had his Sword drawn sometimes cryed No York no Popish Successor and then bawl'd out a Monmouth a Shaftsbury a Buckingham till they were stopt by the Watch at Ludgate But tho the factious Rabble were thus overjoyed at the acquittal of their Idol yet the sober and Loyal part of the Nation had other sentiments about it and declared their Indignation in several Loyal Addresses against the most Execrable and Traiterous designed Association which was discovered in Shaftsburys Closet amongst his other papers which threatned not the King alone but Monarchy it self In February 1682 there hapned a strange and Barbarous Murder which for the boldness of the Attempt and the baseness of the manner wherein it was perpetrated is scarcely to be parellel'd in any History For Thomas Thin of Long-Leat Esq a Gentleman of an Estate of about 10000 l. per annum having privately married Elizabeth Daughter and sole Heir of Jocelin Earl of Northumberland and Relict to Henry Earl of Ogle Son and Heir apparent to the Duke of Newcastle And some of her Friends who were not so well satisfied with the Match as her Grand-mother was by whose means it was said to be made up having perswaded her before ever her New Husband had bedded her to withdraw her self secretly into Holland the Town was thereupon alarumed with the approach of a mighty Suit in Law concerning the Validity of the Match the best Civilians being engaged on the one side or the other And Count
they gained another Pass which was disputed between them and the Parliamentarians they retired to Maidstone which they stoutly maintained against the first and second but yielded upon a third Assault though with a great slaughter of their Enemies who obtained that with great loss which they parted with not without extream regret whereupon Rochester is quitted and left to the mercy of the Enemy In the mean time their General the Prince lay in the Downs with his Fleet in a very good condition waiting for that supply of Land Forces which his Brother the Prince of Orange was industriously raising for his Service in Holland and seizing several Merchant Ships not to be released under 200000 l. Intending his Subjects future gain by that present loss by employing of it in the defence of their Laws and Liberties But understanding that the Castle of Deale was in danger of being taken he Landed some Forces for its Relief who were Vanquisht almost as soon as Landed a Rebellion seeming to have chained the Goddess Fortune as the Trojans did of old to its side For it was so deplorably successful that whenever it met with Loyalty it presently vanquisht it But notwithstanding this loss he would have hazarded himself for the relief of Colchester wherein Sir Charles Lucas and the Lord Capel with their Essex-Forces were besieged had he not been disswaded by those about him and informed that Coll. Scroop had undertaken the relief of that City with a greater number of Men than was there under his Command whereupon he desisted from his intention and reserved his hitherto unblemished Reputation to expect a fairer opportunity And still continued at Anchor in the Downs But Fairfax whose actions were performed as soon as thought and whose designs did almost prevent his performances carried on the Siege of Colchester with so much strictness and resolution that he very much striatned those Valiant Worthies who had somewhat weakly imprisoned themselves within a place where they would be sooner tired than overcome when it might have been more discretion to have taken the Field and there have improved their opportunity of performing something to the Honour of their Master and the good of their Country by the gleaning of those Loyal Subjects who would have been continually resorting to them and the taking all advantages against their Enemy or at least they might have died Nobly and revenged However they resolved gallantly to defend the place to the last extremity their Valour being able to suffer whatsoever the Enemy without was able to reduce them to but Famine within became a more prevailing Adversary than Fairfax's Army and when Courage and Resolution would not yield to the one Nature was forc'd to stoop to the other For their want of Provisions were so great that Dogs and Cats were accounted great Rarities so that the Souldier thought it a Relief to be employed where he was most probable to meet with death as weary of the lingring doom of departing by piece-meals and dying daily Yet they yielded not the City till they were informed of the Scots defeat at Preston and that the Navy was revolted from the Prince again it being as unconstant as the Wind and as unstable as the Water that it sailed upon And indeed what could be expected but that those who were Traitors to their first should be unfaithful to their second Master And then those Desperado's resolved to make a general Sally upon the Enemy for since there now remained no Calamity unsuffered which they could possibly fear they thought it was better to go forth and meet their sudden doom than wait for it within the Town but the Souldiers and Towns-men shrinking they were forced to yield themselves to the General as Prisoners of War His brave and War-like Attempts for his Fathers Restauration having thus proved unsuccessful he was forced to content himself with being unhappy since he had approved himself to be Loyal and so he retired to the Hague in Holland where he resided with his Sister the Princess of Orange to avoid the Treachery of Cardinal Mazarine who was dealt withal to trapan him and had for that purpose as himself said as much from those in England as would maintain the Queen and Princess and defray all the incident Charges which they put that Kingdom to As also to avoid Suspicion which the Parliament might have of him during the time of the approaching Treaty About which having heard some uncertain Rumours he wrote to his Father by the Lord Seymour for better satisfaction that so he might manage his Designs and Counsels suitable to his Fathers Exigencies as he exprest in his Letter which was to this purpose SIR Having no means to come to the knowledge of your Majesties Affairs but such as I receive from the Prints or which is altogether as uncertain Reports I have sent this Bearer Seymour to wait upon your Majesty and to bring me an account of it and that I may also assure your Majesty that I do not only pray for your Majesty according to my duty but shall always be ready to do all which shall be in my power to deserve that Blessing which I now humbly beg of your Majesty c. And being now big with expectation of the joyful News of such a setled Peace as might be safe and honourable to his Majesty and advantagious to the Subject he receives Information that the Treaty was begun and so far concluded on such Reasonable Demands of the two Houses and Royal Concessions of his Majesty as upon three days mature deliberation it was resolved that the King's Answer to the Propositions of both Houses was a ground for them to proceed upon for the settlement of the Nation with his Majesties consent Who was in order thereunto to have been restored to the Freedom Safety and Honour that became his place he thereupon assured himself that his Majesty having now in order to an accommodation granted as much as modesty could ask there would undoubtedly follow a Peace and settlement of the Kingdom with an universal satisfaction and that the happiness and not the error of the Government were some Mens grievances which proved but too true For to such a height waâ— the Malice and Impudence of Cromweâ— and some other Officers of the Army now grown that they resolved to employ their Power against those that gave it them and to oppose themselves against the wisht for Peace and Settlement of the Kingdom therefore finding that all the pretence of Authority now failed them by the Parliaments Resolution to set the King at Liberty they now make use of plain Force and boldly adventure to contradict the Resolves of the Parliament it self from whom they had first received their pretended Commissions and presume without Law first to imprison them in their own House and then to sequester as many of them as they please from coming thither Whereby having patcht a Juncto of their own which they still ridiculously called by the name
where-ever he met with him Upon the Report whereof by Morrice he was infinitely pleased and therefore ordered Morrice to give him notice that he would meet him at his Chamber sometime in the Evening of the next day Greenvile according to appointment repaired to Morrice's Chamber whither the General upon intimation of his being there came likewise soon after To whom after some Complements Greenvile declared that he looked upon himself as infinitely obliged to his Excellency for giving him that opportunity of discharging himself of a Trust of great importance in relation to the King the General and the whole Kingdom which had been long deposited in his hands by his Soveraign adding that he thought himself more happy in having that good occasion of performing his duty in obeying the Commands and promoting the Interest of his Soveraign than in any occurrence of his whole Life presenting him at the same time with a Letter directed to him from the King and producing another sent to himseâ—f together with a Commission which he had received from the King to treat with him about the business of his Restauration Whereupon the General suddenly stepped back and holding the Paper in his hand with a kind of a forced frown hastily demanded of him how he durst mention a thing of that nature to him without considering the danger he thereby run himself upon Greenvile replied He had long since considered that matter and duly weighed the danger which attended an attempt of that nature but the hazard though great was not sufficient to deter him from the performance of his duty And that he was the more encouraged to adventure by the Message which he was pleased to send him by his Brother before he left Scotland Upon the mention thereof without making any reply he presently approached towards him with a more pleasing aspect and embracing him in his Arms said Dear Couzen I return you my hearty thanks for the Prudence Fidelity Care and Constancy wherewith you have managed this great Affair and your resolute Secrecy therein For could I have informed my self that you had ever revealed it to any person living since you first acquainted my Brother therewith I would never have consented to treat with you about it which now I shall most willingly do and with you rather than any other in regard you are so nearly related to me and I have received so many obligations both from you and your Family And then having read the King's Letter and the Commission he added that he hoped the King would forgive what was past according to the Contents of his gracious Letter assuring him that his heart was ever faithful to him although he had never been in a condition to serve him until then desiring Sir John that he would in his name assure His Majesty that he was now not only ready to obey his Commands but to sacrifice his Life and Fortune in his Service calling Morrice who stood without as Door-keeper to bear witness of that his solemn Protestation Sir John desired him to send some Confident of his own to the King to treat and advise with him what was fit to be done for the better carrying on their Design to which he â—asily consented but told him that that Confident must be himself for he would not as yet adventure to send any Letters to the King for fear of the worst And that without them the King had no reason to give any Credit to a Messenger sent from him but might very well believe one whom himself had employed wherefore at the next Conference he received Instructions with a Charge not to commit them to Writing till he came to the King at Brussels and there to communicate them to none but himself Greenvile managed this Negotiation with such Secrecy and his Journey to Brussels was so speedy and fortunate that few knew of it before his arrival there and those who did nay that went in companâ— with him thither had not so much as the leaâ—â— suspicion what Errand it was he went on The King having intimation of his Arrival went privately to his Lodgings to whom Greenvile related the Instructions he had received from Monk which were readily believed although he brought nothing under the General 's hand The News whereof was very acceptable and highly welcom to the King whose joy upon that account was so much the greater because the General required no Conditions of Restraint to his Royal Power and had left the Reward of his Service wholly to his goodness as appeared by what himself declared to Greenvile upon the receipt of a Letter sent him by some of his Friends in England to acquaint him with the great Service they had done His Majesty in prevailing with Monk notwithstanding his being so absolute a Common-wealths-man they knowing nothing of his being pre-engaged by the King not to oppose his Return upon his Fathers Concessions in the Isle of Wight which Terms though hard and consented to by his Father only in consideration of his necessity yet they beâ—ought His Majesty not to think hard of them now lest his refusal might exclude him longer from the Crown Little do they think in England said the King that the General and I are upon so good Terms and the truth is I could hardly believe it my self until your Arrival with the happy News The General 's resolution to restore me to my Crown and Kingdom without Conditions beyond our expectations here or the belief of all our Friends in England except your self who was employed in it The King having been informed by Greenvile that Monk had declared he would not tie him to any Terms of Reward affirming that he took more content in doing His Majesty and his Country Service than in the expectation of greatness pressed Greenvile to know what he should do for himself But he according to the General 's Example nobly refused all Proposals of Reward for that Service in which he had been so eminently successful till he should have the happiness to see him at his Palace of Whitehall But the King resolving nor to send him back without a mark of his Royal Favour secretly put into his Pocket a Warrant under his Hand and Seal for an English Earldom and the assurance of three thousand pounds per Annum to be settled upon him and his Heirs for ever to support that Honour with a promise moreover to pay those Debts which either he or his Father had contracted by engaging themselves in the Royal Cause The King upon his receiving this Message from Monk consulted with Sir Edward Hide whom he had then nominated for the Lord Chancellor the Marquess of Ormond Secretary Nichols and some others of his Confidents Greenvile likewise being present what return he should make thereunto In which Privy Council there was a Commission drawn up and signed by the King for the constituting Monk Captain General of all his Land-Forces in the three Kingdoms and Publick Diâ—patches framed and signed
Judicial proceedings And then he return'd to White-Hall where he chose the Lords of his Privy Council amongst whom were several of the long Parliament that had given sufficient Testimony of their sincere repentance and their resolution to be Loyal for the future and he appointed Judges for the Benches and Courts of Judicature Several Addresses were likewise made to him from the Nobility and Gentry of all the Countreys in England wherein they congratulated his Restitution to his Crown and Kingdom assuring him of their exceeding Joy and willingness to maintain his Royal Person and Authority Divers persons that had been eminent for their service and affection to him were about that time also dignified with the honour of Knighthood And several men guilty of his Fathers murder having made their escape beyond-Sea a Proclamation was Issued forth wherein all those persons who had â—ate gave Judgment or any way assisted in that horrid and detestable fact were commanded to surrender themselves within fourteen days to the Speaker or Speakers of Parliament to the Lord Mayor of London or the Sheriff of that County wherein they then resided forbidding all persons to conceal or harbour them under misprision of Treason whereupon divers submitted themselves and were secur'd in the Tower The Commons in drawing up the Act of Oblivion order'd that some others besides those who had actually sate in Judgment upon the late King should be excepted out of it viz. Broughton Phelps Cook Dâ—nby and Hugh Peters which so affrighted others who had a hand in that execrable murder that Col. John Hutchinson a Member of that Parliament and Coll. Frâ— Lussels presented their Petition to them wherein they confest their guilt and declar'd the artifices which were us'd to draw them in by which submission they obtain'd pardon upon some small forfeitures only But Peters being shortly after taken in Southwark was clapt up into the Tower And the Parliament not looking upon themselves nor the people of England free from the guilt nor safe from the punishment which in those unhappy times they had contracted unless they laid hold of the Kings offer of Grace in his Declaration from Breda did therefore resolv'd in a full house that they did in the name of themselves and of all the Commons of England lay hold on the gracious pardon mention'd in that Declaration with reference to the exclusion of such as should be excepted in an Act of Pardon and they order'd a Declaration that their Resolution should be drawn up which was done accordingly and presented to the King by Denzell afterward Lord Hollis some of the most eminent in Office under the late Usurpers having in the mean while to make sure of that Grace gotten their particular pardons exemplified under the great Seal of England To prevent which trouble the King was more than ordinary pressing for the speedy passing the Act of Oblivion taking care to express his grateful sentiments of the Loyalty and services of several Illustrious personages that were principally instrumental in accomplishing his Restauration by dignifying them with Places and Titles of honour And to shew how highly the Generals Loyalty had advanc'd him in his good Opinion he was dignifi'd by him with the Titles of Duke of Albemarle Earl of Torrington and Baron of Potheridge Beauchamp Teyes had his Temples deserv'dly incircl'd with a Ducal Coronet by the hand of his Majesty being thereby invested with the right of Peerage in all the three Kingdoms whose equal Felicity and Honour he had preferr'd before his own and therefore now most deservingly shar'd with them therein by his Investure in those Dignities which were compleated on the 13th of the following July by his taking his place in the House of Lords being attended by the Commons and introduc'd by the Duke of Buckingham Montague was made Earl of Sandwich Ormond Earl of Brecknock and Lord Steward of the Kings Houshold the Earl of Lindsey Lord High Chamberlain Manchester L. Chamberlain of the Kings Houshold Southhampton Lord High Treasurer Greenvile Earl of Bath and Groom of the Stole Sir Frederick Cornwallis Treasurer of the Kings Houshold by an old grant and Sir John Berkley Controller Divers rich Presents were now made to him from the several Cities and Burroughs of the Kingdom in Gold and Plate and the resignation of several Feefarm Rents which had been purchas'd from the Usurpers the City of London among the rest with a Complement of their good Stewardship rendred their grant of new Perk in Surrey and all the Rents accruing at Michaelmas Day were now secured from the late Purchasers of Crown and Church Laws to the utter disappointing of their unjust and covetous expectations from such base and unwarrantable Penny-worths A Peace was now made Proclaim'd between us and Spain and a Splendid Embassy dispatcht from Denmark to congratulate his happy Restauratian The Court of Soissons who had Married Cardinal Mazarines Neece being sent from the French King on the same Errand entring London with all the sumptuous and extraordinary Magnificence imaginable and there was no Prince nor State in Europe but what sent an Embassador thither to congratulate him upon that happy and wonderful occasion And the Parliament having after many debates and disputes alterations and insertions at last finish'd the long desir'd Act of Oblivion which was extraordinary comprehensive and indulgent even to the regret of many injur'd Loyalists who found no better Argument to perswade their acquiescing therein than their unchangeable Loyalty to the King whose special Act that was There were no more excepted out of it but only the Regicides and Murderers of the late King only Lambert Vane and twenty more were thereby reserv'd to such forfeitures as should be afterward declar'd by Parliament the principal whereof was Hazelrick St. John Lenthal the Speaker Philip Nye Burton of Tarmouth and some Sequestrators Officers and Major Generals of the Army among whom was Desbrough Pine Butler Ireton c. They likewise past an Act for the perpetual Anniversary Thanksgiving on the 29 of May which was the day both of his Birth and Restauration and therefore deserv'd a perpetual memorial and to be made by a Parliamentary Canonization the most auspicious in the English Kallender to both which he gave his Royal assent and shortly after at their adjournment to another for disbanding the Army and paying off the Navy which although they once threatned us with a perpetuating our slavery yet were now forc'd by the happy conjunction of his Fortune with his Wisdom and Goodness after many models to submit to its last desolation And the Commons having after the passing of their Bills acquainted him that they had nothing more to ask or offer at that time but that if his Majesties occasions would permit they might adjourn and go into their own Countries where they should endeavour to make his subjects sensible of their extraordinary happiness in having such a King to Rule and Govern them He consented to it telling
them that no man had long'd with more impatience to have those Bills past than he had done to pass them in regard he look't upon them as the Foundation of the Nations Peace and Security and that he did very willingly pardon all that were pardoned in the Act of Indempnity but assuring them withal that for the time to come the same discretion and conscience which had disposed him to the clemency that he had therein exprest and was most agreeable to his nature would oblige him to all Rigour and Severity how contrary soever it were to his Disposition towards those who should not now acquiesce but continue to manifest their Sedition and dislike of the Government not knowing any more probable way to assure himself of his peoples affections than by rendring himself just as well as kind to all The confluence of his felicities were about this time somewhat abated and the Joy of his Restauration somewhat allay'd by the immature and much lamented Death of his younger Brother Henry Duke of Gloucester a Prince of such extraordinary hopes that my silence will be his best Commendation since his vertues far transcend the highest expressions of my Pen. He dyed of the small-Pox and was privately buryed in Henry the 7th's Chappel The Princess of Orange soon after dispelling the grief which had been conceiv'd upon the account of his death by her Arrival from Holland to Joy and Felicitate her Brothers in the Recovery of their Rights About this time the King knowing that the Common wealth never thrives so well as when the Church and State are equally Interested in the Princes care applied himself to settle the Miter as wel as the Crown and provide for the wel ordering of Ecclesiastical affairs as well as he had done for the Civil by reestablishing Episcopcay and restoring the Bishops to their ancient Rights and Priviledges So that the Ecclesiastical Regiment by Bishops recover'd its self by the Kings piety and prudence near as soon and in almost as Triumphant a manner as Monarchy it self appointing Dr. Juxon that ancient and excellent Prelate that had been in his Fathers Reign Bishop of London and had assisted him at the time of his death on the Scaffold to the Arch-Bishopprick of Canterbury whose Translation was perform'd with great Solemnity And not long after several new Bishops chosen from among the eminent and valiant asserters of the Church and Lawâ— of England were consecrated in the Abby at Westminster and all the Vacant Diocesses fill'd up with men of the greatest Learning and Piety And now divine vengeance having with a sure though a slow foot trac'd the Murderers of the Royal Martyr through several Mazes at last overtake them For the Parliament having in detestation of their Crime and to wipe away the stain of that most accursed Pollution giv'n them up as Sacrifices to the Law and the Honour of their Country the King order'd their Tryal by a Commission of Oyer and Terminer to begin on the Ninth of October that so his Justice might appear equally as Respondent in the punishment of their Parricide as his Clemency had done in the pardon of all other Crimes They were all of them convicted according to Law the full benefit whereof was allow'd them being tryed by a Jury of their Peers against whom they had the liberty of excepting and Condemn'd to be Drawn Hang'd and Quarter'd and Harrison Carew Scot Clement Scrope Jones Peters Hacker Axtell and Cook were Executed accordingly The last of whom acknowledg'd that the Person of the Prince they had Murder'd was beyond any Parallel being most Virtuous most Innocent most Religious and that his Judges were for the most part mean and desparate Persons whose Hands were lifted up by Ambition Sacriledge Covetousness and success against the Life of that incomparable Prince whose lamented and barbarous death God would not suffer to go unrevenged Their quarters were dispos'd of to the several Gates and most of their Heads set on Poles upon the Bridge but the rest of the Prisoners that had surrendred themselves on Proclamation were respited from Execution till the farther pleasure of the Parliament was known and after Sentence past upon them remanded to the Tower from whence they came And having now in some measure reveng'd his Fathers Death his next respects were due to his Mother who being about that time come over from France he could not better welcome her to his Kingdoms than by rendring his Entertainments of her Innocent and free from that horrible guilt which had Divorc'd her from her Husband and for so long a Tract of time estrang'd her from his People since he could neither with Justice nor civility have receiv'd her here without satisfaction and expectation of those Crimes which had so rudely driven her to seek her safety abroad He brought her back to his Pallace at Whitehall on the Second of November after she had been nineteen Years absent from them together with his Sister the Princess Henretta who had not been suffered to breath in English Air above two years after her Birth This meeting after so tedious and desperate an absence was very joyous and the Entertainment highly Magnificent The Marquess of Argile upon the Kings Restauration had the confidence notwithstanding all the base Treasons he had covertly acted in that Kingdom since the Kings departure thence to come up from Scotland in hopes by his fair and specious pretences to obtain his pardon and that the King according to his Gracious Inclination would have past by those many undutiful and Irreverend usages he had receiv'd from him and the rest of his Associates whilst he was there amongst them But such was the general hatred and detestation of that People and especially the Nobility against him that he was committed to the Tower and from thence by Sea convey'd to Edenborough where his process was making ready The Earl of Middleton the Kings great Commissioner for that Kingdom following him thither about the end of December in order to his Tryal where he was convicted and Executed for those many Treasons he had perpetrated against both Kings Death having tasted of the Bloud-Royal by cutting off the Duke of Glocester as though there were a circulation of the very same in every individual and it naturally ran in the same distemper through a whole Family the Infection by a kind of Sympathy in the same disease of the Small-Pox seized the vitals of the Princess of Orange and in spite of all art and remedy hurried her to the grave leaving her Brother and the whole Court fill'd with grief and sadness and her Son the young Prince not above ten years and a month old she was privately buried by her Brother in Henry the 7thâ— Chappel And now the happy Parliament which rendred it self deservedly Famous by rebuilding the glorious structure of the English Ancient and Renowned Government and assured the Foundation thereof in the establishing the Throne of their rightful Soveraign came to its
by his Predecessors Whereupon rising out of the Chair He was led by His two Supporters to the Communion Table where he made a solemn Oath to observe those things he had before promised and then returning to his Chair again kneeled at the Footstool while the Hymn of the Holy Ghost was Singing Then he arose from his Devotion and disrobed himself of his upper Garment and his under Garment being so contrived that the Places to be Anointed might be opened by undoing certain Loops The Arch Bishop proceeded to that Ceremony after which the Coife was put on his head and the Dalmatica the Super-Tunica of Cloath of Gold and the Tissue Buskins and Sandals of the same And the Spurrs being put on by the Peer that carried them the Arch-Bishop took the Kings Sword and laid it on the Communion Table which after Prayer was restored to him again and girt on him by the Lord Great Chamberlain then the Armil and the Mantle or Open Pall was put on after which the Arch-Bishop taking the Crown into his hands laid it on the Communion Table and having prayed took it up again and set it on the Kings head whereupon all the Peers put on their Coronets and Caps and the Choire Sung an Anthem Then the Arch-Bishop took the Kings Ring and having prayed put it on the fourth finger of the Kings hand after which the King took off his Sword and offered it up which the Lord Great Chamberlain having redeemed drew it out and carried it naked before him Then the Arch-Bishop delivered the Scepter with the Cross into his Right and the Rod with the Dove into his Left hand and the King kneeling blessed him after which the King ascended His Throne Royal attended by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal where after Te Deum Sang all the Peers did their Homage Kissing his leâ—t Cheek and afterward standing all round about him they every one in their order toucht the Crown upon his head promising their readiness to support it to the utmost of their Power and then proceeding to the Communion the King having received and offered returned to his Throne till Communion was ended after which he went into St. Edwards Chappel and taking his Crown from his head delivered it to the Bishop of London who having laid it upon the Communion Table the King withdrew into a Traverse where the Lord Great Chamberlain disrobed him of St. Edwards Robes delivering them to the Dean of Westminster and arrayed him with those prepared for that day and then being conducted to the Communion Table in St. Edwards Chappel the Crown Imperial provided for him to wear was set up â—n his head After which taking the Scepter and the Rod and his Train being set in order before him he went up to the Throne and so through the Choire and Body of the Church out at the West door to the Pallace at Westminster the Peers according to their Rank going before him with their Coronets on and in the great Hall at the upper end whereof was a Table and Chair of State raised upon an ascent for the King and below Tables for the Nobility the Lord Mayor and Citizens the Officers at Arms c. they were entertained with a Noble and Magnificent dinner after which he returned in his Barge to White-Hall It is very observable that althoâ— it had rained for about a month before yet it pleased God that not one drop fell upon this Splendid Triumph which appeared in its full Lustre and Grandeur but was no sooner over and the King and his Traine sat down to Dinner but it fell a Thundering Lightning and Raining with the greatest Force Vehemency and Noise that was ever known at that season of the Year the Thunder and Lightning seeming as it were to imitate the Fire and Noise of the Cannon which then plaid from the Tower it being observed that they exactly kept time with that loud Musick so that they were easily distinguishable from each other the Thunder and lightning still intermitting between each firing of the Canons as if they had waited to receive and answer the Reciprocated and ecchoed Boation and Clashes of the Guns which was taken by the most Judicious and discerning part of Mankind for a very auspicious and promising Omen notwithstanding the mad Remnant of the Rebellion would have had it paralled to Sauls Inauguration without reflecting upon the Season or the Different case between the Ancient Kingly Right and Descent in Christendom and that new Title and Government in Jewry which in regard of the peculiar presence of God amongst them before was a kind of casting him off and declaring they would not have him to Reign over them There was not only in London but through the whole Kingdom great rejoycing for the Kings Coronation which was manifested by Feasting and other Publick shews as Trayning the several Bands of the Countryes with the additional Voluntary Gentry in a new and gallant Cavalry And so there was in Scotland and Ireland in each whereof there was likewise the same kind of Tryumphs in resemblance of this Magnificence And having with as much Brevity as possible glided through this Sphere of Glory in which the Ancient honour of the Government and Kingdom was refixt and given the World the full and compleat View of that wonderful Revolution which will undoubtedly be the amazement of all succeeding Ages each Luminary being thereby placed and shining in their proper Orbs and degrees the Soveraign Nobility Clergy Gentry and Commonalty having by that blessed change recovered their former and distinct Lustre and from being the scorn and derisâ—on were once again become the Envy of the World I shall proceed to shew by what Rules and Methods he managed the Government throughout his whole Raign and therein shall begin First with his Calling a Parliament with whom he desired to meet and consult for the more effectual healing the Breaches uniting the Differences and redintegrating the mutual Affections and Endearments which the unnaturalness and perverse malignity and divisions of the late times had abrupted and hitherto discontinued When he dissolved that Parliament or Convention which was sitting when he came in He promised the calling of a new one and accordingly Issued out His Writs soon after for their sitting down the Eighth of May a little before which several Musters had been made in England of the Militia and a General Train in Hide-Park of all the Forces about London both Horse and Foot Fifteen Regiments whereof he there took a view of The chief Stickling in the Election of Members for this Parliament was between the Episcopal and Presbyterian Parties the Latter whereof notwithstanding their Numbers found themselves greatly mistaken in the suffrages of the Kingdom when under no Awe nor distempered with a Frenzy and a misguided Zeal For altho several Letters were dispatcht by the chief Ministers of that Perswasion to their Correspondents wherein they exhorted them to do their utmost in procuring such persons
Embassador the Lord Lockhart to compose the differences between them and resolving whether he succeeded in that Mediation or not to be no partaker with them in their Quarrels and Commanded by Proclamation that none of his Subjects should enter into the Service of any Foreign Prince And for the better securing of Trade to and from his Ports which was much disturbed by the Insolency of several Dutch Spanish and French Privateers betwixt whom the War still continued he Publish'd a Proclamation wherein he declared That all Ships to what Party soever they belonged should be under his Protection during their stay in any of his Ports or Harbours Commanding the Officers of his Navy to use their utmost endeavours to hinder the Roving of any Private Men so near his Coast as to give apprehension of danger to Merchants And that if a Man of War of either Party and one or more Merchant-Men of another should come into any of his Ports the Merchant-Men should sail out two Tides before the Man of War should be permitted to stirr forbidding his Sea-men to List themselves on Board any Foreign Man of War or other Ship designed for Traffick or the Fishing-Trade without his Licence laying down several other Rules in Relation to the security of Trade and the Maintaining his Sovereignty in those Seas which were punctually observed and thereby many Merchants and Traders preserved from being made prize of by their Enemies And that he might secure the Peace of his Kingdom for the future as well as for the present he procured the Parliament to give him the sum of five hundred eighty four thousand nine hundred and seventy eight Pounds for the speedy building thirty Ships of War which he caused to be built so large and substantial that they cost him one hundred thousand Pounds more than they gave him And now beginning to reflect upon the success of the French King's Arms and fearing lest the growing Greatness of that Monarch might too much obscure his own Glory and threaten the future Peace of his Kingdom resolved with himself by entring into an Alliance with some Princes and States abroad to put a stop to his further Conquests in Flanders And that the French might not think him in jest only he immediately applied himself to the raising of Forces and in a short time had a brave Army on Foot ready to be transported into Flanders and Married his Niece the Lady Mary eldest Daughter to his only Brother the Duke of York to the Prince of Orange The Parliament having at their last sitting desired him to hasten his entering into such Councils and Alliances as might save what remained of Flanders from being devoured by the French he acquainted them at their next Meeting with what he had done telling them that he had made such an agreement with Holland and the rest of the Confederates that if seconded by plentiful supplies from them and due care from the Spaniards for their own Preservation he doubted not but to restore such an Honourable Peace to Christendom as might not be in the Power of one Prince alone to disturb which he had endeavoured by a fair Treaty And was resolved if that succeeded not to enter into an actual War with France laying before them the expences he had been at already and what sums of Money such a War would necessarily require And to remove all sorts of Jealousies he had Married his Niece to the Prince of Orange thereby giving full assurance never to suffer that Prince's Interest to be ruined if assisted by them as he ought to be to preserve it To Alarm the French King the more with a noise of War the Parliament made several Addresses to the King wherein they intreated him to enter into an Actual War with that Crown promising to stand by him with their Lives and Fortunes to that end And a Book was Published Intituled Christianissimus Christianandus wherein reasons were given for reducing the most Christian King to a more Christian state in Europe And finding that the French King still went on in his Conquests he sent some Regiments of his new raised Forces over into Flanders to secure the places of greatest consequence there and Commanded a Fast on Wednesday the tenth of April to be kept in London and on that day fortnight throughout the whole Kingdom to implore the blessings of Heaven on his undertakings And the Parliament to assist him with Money which is the sinews of War raised him a liberal sum by a Pole-Bill and that they might weaken the French as well as strengthen him Prohibited French Wines and other things of the Growth and Manufactury of that Country a contrivance that would certainly have reduced him to terms of Moderation and Peace had the rest of the Confederates done the like but for want of that the design of the Prohibition fell and he received little or no dammage thereby However remembring how fatal the Arms of England had formerly been to France and being Thunder-strook with the Fame of the King 's having in forty days raised an Army of thirty thousand Men and fitted out a Navy of ninety Ships he durst not adventure notwithstanding his success in Flanders to run the hazard of a War with that Nation To prevent which he resolved to consent to a Peace with some of the Confederates hoping thereby to break the measures already taken by King Charles and therefore presently offered a separate Treaty with Holland which People according to their usual though unjust and base Custom of serving themselves and leaving their Confederates in the lurch without acquainting the King of England therewith accepted of and afterwards concluded upon condition that he would give up Maestricht and other places which he had taken from them during the War But besides their usual custom of waiting the first opportunity of slipping their own necks out of the Coller they being informed that the League Offensive and Defensive which the King of England had entred into with them was not well understood at home and had met with some unfitting and very undeserv'd Reflections and that the Parliament had taken up a Resolution of giving no Money till satisfaction was first had in some Matters of Religion and those Jealousies removed which they had without all ground taken up of his Proceedings very much influenced their entrance into that Treaty concluding that it was now vain to rely any longer upon England since England was no longer it self by reason of those Divisions and Misunderstandings between the King and his Parliament But the King who was not ignorant of what the Dutch were doing resolving to save Flanders either by a War or Peace perswaded the King of Spain and the rest of the Conferates to accept of the same Treaty with them endeavouring to procure a Cessation of Arms on all sides during the time of the Treaty the better to make way for the desired Peace However considering the influence that Peace would have upon England
own Prerogative and his Peoples Properties by the just Dimension of his Laws so that Justice was impartially administred throughout his whole Reign unless where himself was party and there he would rather lose his own Cause than have his Subjects seem oppressed nor was there ever known so few Executions in so long a Reign And truly when we especially for the first Eighteen Years after the Interregnum consider his great Mercy to Traytors it looks as if he design'd not to spare himself provided he could but people again or at least keep as full as possibly a Nation which had been so monstrously emptied of men by a long unnatural and sanguinary War For he was ever unwilling to inflict the least Severities upon his offending Subjects unless when necessity of State or the nature of the Crime did bind the hand of Mercy and render Severity absolutely necessary rather for the publick than his own Secuirty He always professed to love and seek Peace and prefer it before the Troubles and Hazards of War wherein he was like Solomon rather than David and imitated our Blessed Saviour who stiles himself the Prince of Peace ever bearing it in his Princely mind that when Christ came into the World Peace was sang by the Holy Angels and when he made his Exit Peace was the Legacy he bequeathed Nor can it be imagined That his desire of Peace was the effect of softness or fear for he was both Active and Valiant but he had a Conduct peculiar to himself in bringing about his Purposes His peaceable disposition and accomplishing his designs by the most easie and gentle means and would do that by Peace which others could not perform by War and effect more by shewing his Sword than others could do by using it He knew the way to preserve and obtain Peace was sometimes to pretend an inclination to embrace War and therefore would when provok'd make offers of the latter till he had mended the Conditions of the former By which means he was more absolutely and with far less charge to his Subjects the Arbitrator of Europe than any of his Predecessors had ever been and could at his Pleasure dispence War and Peace where and to whom he pleas'd which makes it the greater Wonder That He who was so great a Lover of Peace should be so successful in War for his Arms were always fortunate nor did he ever after his Restauration know what a miscarriage meant The Two Rebellions in Scotland were ended by Victory as if raised industriously to encrease the Fame of his Arms which after so long an interval of Peace wanted exercising and in his Wars with Holland France Spain and Denmark he was always sued to for peace before he granted it and the French King did ever fear his Threatnings more than other Princes performances In the exercising his Sovereignty he consulted his own Judgment rather than other mens Affections or Interests and always reserv'd the disposal of his Royal Favours to his own Will and Pleasure and to avoid the fate of too many Princes who are ruled by their Favourites and Govern'd by those whom they themselves have raised he never admitted any of his Nobles to so familiar an intimacy with him His care to maintain the Prerogatives of the Crown as to give others occasion to account them his Favourites For altho he had many Noblemen about him whom he greatly loved and upon whose Advice and Counsel he much rely'd as Clarendon Buckingham Lauderdale Danby and others yet none of them could be properly called his Favourites as Gaveston and Spencer were the Favourites of Edward the Second or the Duke of Norfolk of Richard the Second And altho he would frequently acquaint his Parliaments with his Intentions and require their advice and assistance for the executing of them yet he would not endure they should be too positive or peremptory therein accounting that too great an Invasion of his Prerogative and would tell them The Right of making and managing War and Peace was invested in Him and if they thought he would depart from any part of that Right they would find themselves mistaken for having the Reins of Government in his own hands he would have the same care to maintain them there as he would have to preserve his own Person His Prudence and Conduct in managing the great Affairs of his Kingdom was so admirable and successful that it is rather to be wondred at than believed and he made so many good and wholsome Laws every one whereof was grounded upon the most searching Maxims of State for the Welfare and security of His Subjects and the maintaining the prerogatives of the Crown as no Age before him could ever boast of which begot in all men the greater Awe and Veneration of him and yet there is nothing more certain than that his Reputation was as great if not greater abroad than at home His Prudence and Conduct tho perhaps not so well grounded for Forreigners could not see at that distance the passages of Affairs nor discern by what Secret Councils he always attained his own ends and disappointed the Expectation of his Enemies abroad and the Factions at Home and were therefore forced to make their Judgment upon the Issues and Success of them No Prince ever had a Wiser Council than He and yet no Prince ever needed it less for he was Himself a Counsellor to his Council and was able to direct those of whom he asked advice For he was as well skilled in the Art of Kingship as His Royal Grandfather was wont to term it and had as great an insight into and understood as well the best Rules and Methods of Government as any Prince that ever sway'd a Scepter which rendred him more capable of exercising his Kingly Office to the greatest advantage of Himself his Kingdom and the Protestant Religion and enabled Him to govern His Subjects for so long a Tract of Time with so much exactness that by his Wise and Prudent Management he so poized all jarring and different Interests as to preserve the publick Peace and Tranquility of his Kingdom to the very last Minute of His Life notwithstanding the many restless Attempts of unruly and designing Men to disturb it and left things in so good a posture at his Death that his most Illustrious Brother and Royal and Lawful Successor ascended his Imperial Throne with as much Facility and Applause as any of his Predecessors He loved so well to see his Subjects thrive that he coveted not so much to fill his Exchequer as to reign over a Rich and Wealthy People and thought Money as well bestowed when laid up in their Coffers as when it filled his own He was Religious toward God as well as just towards man and took care to promote the Interest of the Church as well as the State At His Restoration he found the Church involved in Trouble but left her possessed of Peace he found her robbed and