hath been and still is a damnable Hellish Plot contrived and carried on by Recusants for assassinating and murdering the King subverting the Government and rooting out and destroying the Protestant Religion I am not insensible what Artifices have been used to ridicule this Plot in all the Parts of it and particularly so far as it relates to the Murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey But there are some Things so particular herein for evincing That that Gentleman fell a Martyr through Popish Cruelty and yet not commonly known that I shall take notice of them in this place There was one Prance a Papist by Religion and a Silversmith by Trade living near Covent-Garden and one that wrought for the Priests and others in Somerset-House who some time after the said Murder being observed to abscond from his House for several Days by his Neighbours some of them represented the same to some Parliament-Men with other circumstantial Suspicions they had of the said Prance and thereupon there was an Order got to seize him and he was referred to the Examination of Sir Richard Everard and Sir Charles Harboard Now before the Murder Le Pair Pritchard and some other Priests had treated with bedlow to be assisting in it which he at first assented to but after relented and did not come But the Monday after the Fact was committed which was Octob. 14. meeting with La Faire in Red-Lyon-Court he charged him with being worse than his Word but engaged him to meet him at 9 a Clock in Somerset-House where he was told by La Faire That though he was not assistant as he promised in killing Sir Edmund yet if he would be helpful to carry him off he should have 2000 l. Reward Hereupon Bedlow desiring to see the Body Le Faire shewed it him and then they advised together about the Disposal of it Bedlow being of Opinion it were best to sink it in the River with Weights which was not agreed to But in seeing the Body Bedlow saw Pranoe in the Company too yet did not know him before This being done Bedlow went to Bristol but finding himself much troubled in Conscience having twice taken the Sacrament to conceal the Business God put it into his Heart that some Murders being past and to prevent greater to come he was convinced it was his Duty to return to London to reveal what he knew which he did and went to the Lobby of the House of Lords in order to it In the mean time Sir Charles Harboard and Sir Richard Everard having examined Prance and the House being set left him to the Care of the Constable of Covent-Garden who brought him to the Lobby of the Lords House where Bedlow seeing him but never before save the foresaid Time in Somerset-House he charged the Guards to seize him for that reason saying He remembred him well he having when they viewed Sir Edmund ' s Body a black Perruke on but now none Hereupon search being made the Perruke was found And hence it was that Prance became an Evidence in this Discovery and on whose Evidence chiefly Green Berry and Hill were convicted and executed I shall not enter into any more Particulars of this Plot as being already sufficiently treated on by divers Authors and not falling directly under under the Course of our present Design but there is one Thing very remarkable attending it and such I think as can hardly be parallel'd in any other Story and that is that there should be so many and such clear Proofs to Murder the King's Person and yet that he should be solâ—ittle apprehensive of it But it may be as Tom. Killigrew was said to have told him He knew more of the Plot than any Body else and his Discovery of it would quickly have satisfied his People But whether it were my Lord Treasurer Danby's Business or the Popish Lords in the Tower or the Affairs of the Plot in general the King having on Monday the 30th of Dec. last Prorogued both Houses to the 4th of Feb. did on the 24th of Jan. Dissolve his once Darling Long-lived but now Expiring Parliament which had been continued by several Prorogations and Adjournments 17 Years 8 Months and 17 Days being first called on the 8th of May 1661. And issued out Writs to call another to Sit at Westminister on the 6th of March following but thought â—it on the 28th of Feb. in the Interim to direct a Letter to the Duke of York his Brother to command him to withdraw beyond Sea to this Effect I Have already given you my Resolves at large why I think it fit that you absent your self for some time beyond the Seas I am truly sorry for the Occasion so may you be sure I shall never desire it longer than it shall be absolutely necessary for your Good and my Service In the mean time I think it proper to give it you under my Hand that I expect this Compliance from you and desire it may be as soon as conveniently you can You may easily perceive with what Trouble I write this to you there being nothing I am more sensible of than the constant Kindness you have ever had for me I hope you are as just to me to be assured that no Absence nor any Thing else can ever change me from being truly and kindly Yours C. R. The Duke with his Dutchess and Family in pursuance to this Command within a few Days withdrew accordingly and for a while retired to the Hague and from thence to Brussels while the King in the mean time that he might let the World see how he was otherways as well as therein become a new Man for the future did upon the 20th of Apr. make a Declaration to this Purpose in Council and in his new Parliament and afterward Published it to the whole Nation How sensible he was of the ill Posture of his Affairs and the great Dissatisfactions and Jealousies of his good Subjects whereby the Crown and Government were become too weak to preserve it self which proceeded from his use of a single Ministry and of private Advices and therefore professed his Resolution to lay them aside for the future and to be advised by those whom he had chosen for his Council in all his weighty and important Affairs together with the frequent Advice of his great Council in Parliament The Members that composed which Council because of the great Worth of most of them we shall give the Reader a List of His Highness Prince Rupert William Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Henry Lord Finch Lord-Chancellor of England Anthony Earl of Shaftsbury Lord President of the Council Arthur Earl of Anglesey Lord Privy-Seal Christopher Duke of Albemarle James Duke of Monmouth Master of the Horse Henry Duke of Newcastle John Duke of Lauderdale Secretary of State for Scotland James Earl of Salisbury John Earl of Bridgwater Robert Earl of Sunderland one of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State Arthur Earl of Essex First Lord-Commissioner of
next Day and most part of the Night that followed But by how much the more Affectionate the Citizens and Nation appeared to be towards him the King and his Court proved to be so much the less so For all his Places of Profit and Trust were immediately taken from him Whereas the Duke of York was sent High Commissioner into Scotland where the Duke of Monmouth's Victory at Blackbourn had left a clear Field for the other to play his Game But this did not well agree with the King's Speech at the Opening of the last Parliament When he said That he had commanded his Brother to absent himself from him because he would not leave malicious Men room to say that he had not removed all Causes which could be pretended to influence him to Popish Councils and a little Time will shew it You have heard before that the King by Proclamation dissolved the Parliament upon the 12th of July and issued out Writs for the Meeting of another on the 17th of Oct. following But like the usual Methods of many other Things in this Reign when they met they were prorogued to the 26th of Jan. and from thence to the 5th of Ap. 1680. and further from thence to the 21st of Oct. when he graciously declared they should Sit and do Business These were strange doings and therefore the more sober Part of the Nation and such as had a due Regard to the publick Good bestirred themselves in the Interval of the first Prorogation to move the King in the most dutiful Manner for the Sitting of the Parliament and that you may have a true Idea of the Matter we will give you an Instance or two of the Entertainment they met with at Court upon this Occasion There came several Petitions to this end from divers Counties and Corporations and among the rest one from Wiltshire was on the 22th of Jan. presented to the King by Thomas Thynne Esq accompanied by Sir Walter St. Johns and Sir Edward Hungerford He asked them Whether they had Directions from the Grand Jury for what they did And Mr. Thynne having answered No the King replied Why say you then that you come from the Country You came from a Company of loose disaffected People What do they take me to be And what do you take your selves to be I admire Gentlemen of your Estates should animate People to Mutiny and Rebellion you would not take it well I should meddle with your Affairs and I desire you will not meddle with mine especially with a Matter that is so essential a Part of my Prerogative Another Petition of the like Nature being presented to him the Day following by Sir Gabriel Barrington Coll. Mildmay Mr. Honywood c. in the Names of themselves and others the Inhabitants of the County of Essex the Answer was That he was extreamly surprized to see them meddle with Matters that so immediately concerned the Crown and him and that against the Sense of the best and chiefest Men in the County that he believed that some of those that had Signed the Petition might mean well but that they were abused by those that did not To which he was pleased to add in my Mind a very strange Passage That he was not willing to call to mind Things past yet that he could not but remember the Act of Oblivion tho' not as some did That those who had stood in need of that Act would do well not to take such Courses as might need another and that he very well remembred 40 and so turned away And for the Berkshire Gentlemen and their Petition which was presented the same Day from their Quarter-Sessions he was pleased to droll it out saying That they would agree that Matter over a Cup of Ale when they met at Windsor tho' he wondered that his Neighbours would meddle with his Business Farther that the Nation as well as these respective Gentlemen might not be ignorant of the Court-Sentiments in these Matters these Answers were publickly inserted in the Gazzettes but without the Petitions as if they would have it suggested slily to the World that there were some audacious and very criminal Things contained in them Whereas the Abhorrers of Petitioning and consequently of Parliaments and of the Fundamental Constitution of our Government had the Honour of having their Addresses put in ample Manner into the Publick Prints which in these Times were stuffed with nothing else many of them to be Dubbed Knights and a good Soak of Wine in the King's Cellar to boot by particular Order which I know to be true on my own Knowledge The King being found to be of this Humour and there happening to be so long an Interval of Parliament by the several Prorogations that were made and the Duke doing what he pleased in Scotland there could be no very earnest Prosecution of the Popish Plot you may well imagine nay it was so far ridiculed in this Time by L'Estrange and others Pensioners of the Tory Party that indifferent Men began to doubt whether there were any such Thing or no while the Popish Faction began to trump up a new Plot upon the Whigs or Dissenters But their Designs being not laid close enough though the Devil was at the Bottom of them they failed and so I will leave Matters till the Sitting of the Parliament and see what they are doing all this while beyond the Seas King Charles finding himself weak at Home tho' I must speak my Conscience I know of no one so great an Instrument of it as himself it was high time to make some Alliances Abroad and the rather since France by the late Peace was grown so extream Powerful and in the Main had no great Reason to be satisfied with his Conduct whatever good Meen they were pleased from time to time to put upon it he sent Mr. Sidney into Holland towards the latter end of the last Year to propose to the States the making a Treaty of Guarranty for the Peace concluded at Nimeguen France did then most industriously oppose that Alliance but yet in a covert Manner at first by a Stratagem as odd as it might seem to some Extravagant There being a Letter conveyed to the States-General from an unknown Hand wherein was represented at large the ill Posture those Provinces were fallen to which was the Reason the Neighbouring Princes had not the same Regard for their Republick as formerly witness the Menaces of Spain Denmark Brandenburg c. and that the only way to restore the States into the Condition it was in formerly was to enter into a strict Alliance with France in pursuance of which the French King would maintain 50000 Men in Arms and the States need not keep above 10000 Foot and 6000 Horse and Dragoons in their Pay That by that means those Provinces would be able to defend themselves against any whomsoever that should attack them That that Alliance should be confirmed every Year by mutual Oaths by the
of what Condition soever they be who shall refuse to assist Us and in Obedience to the Laws to execute vigorously what we required of them and suffer themselves at this juncture to be cajoled or terrified out of their Duty we will esteem them the most Criminal and Infamous Men Betrayers of their Religion the Laws and their Native Country and shall not fail to treat them accordingly resolving to expect and require at their Hands the Life of every single Protestant that shall perish and every House that shall be burnt and destroyed by Treachery and Cowardize Given under Our Hand and Seal at Our Head-Quarters at Sherburn Castle the 28th of Novemb. 1688. WILLIAM HENRY Prince of Orange By His Highness's Special Command C. HUYGENS. This was the boldest Attempt that ever was made by a private Person for it 's certain the Prince knew nothing of it disowned it as soon as he heard thereof but it did him good Service and I have been told that Captain B. boldly carry'd it to my Lord Mayor and charged him with the Execution of it But before this the Marquess of Hallifax my Lord Nottingham and the Lord Godolphin had been sent by the King and Council to treat with the Prince of Orange and to adjust the Preliminaries in order to the holding of a Parliament who Decemb. 8. sent these Proposals to him Proposals sent by the King to the Prince of Orange then at Windsor SIR THE King commanded us to acquaint you That he observeth all the Differences and Causes of Complaint alledged by your Highness seem to be referred to a Free Parliament His Majesty as he hath already declared was resolved before this to call one but thought that in the present state of Affairs it was advisable to defer it till Things were more composed Yet seeing that his People still continue to desire it He hath put forth His Proclamation in order to it and hath issued his Writs for the Calling of it And to prevent any Cause of Interruption in it he will consent to every thing that can be reasonably required for the Security of all those that come to it His Majesty hath therefore sent us to attend your Highness for the adjusting of all Matters that shall be agreed to be necessary to the Freedom of Elections and the Security of Sitting and is ready to enter immediately into a Treaty in order to it His Majesty proposeth That in the mean time the respective Armies may be returned within such Limits and at such distance from London as may prevent the Apprehensions that the Parliament may be in any kind disturbed being desirous that the Meeting may be no longer delayed than it must be by the usual and necessary Forms Hungerford December 8. 1688. Hallifax Nottingham Godolphin To this His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange returned this Answer VVE with the Advice of the Lords and Gentlemen Assembled with Vs have in Answer made these following Proposals I. That all Papists and such Persons as are not qualified by Law be disarmed disbanded and removed from all Employments Civil and Military II. That all Proclamations that reflect upon Vs or at any that have come to Vs be recalled And that if any Persons for having assisted Vs have been Committed that they be forthwith set at Liberty III. That for the Security and Safety of the City of London the Custody and Government of the Tower be immediately put into the Hands of the said City IV. That if His Majesty should think fit to be in London during the Sitting of the Parliament that We may be there also with an equal number of our Guards And if His Majesty shall be pleased to be in any Place from London whatever Distance He thinks fit that We may be at the same Distance and that the respective Armies be from London Forty Miles and that no further Forces be brought into the Kingdom V. And that for the Security of the City of London and their Trade Tilbury-Fort be put into the hands of the City VI. That a sufficient part of the Publick Revenue be assigned Vs for the Support and Maintenance of our Troops until the siting of a Free Parliament VII That to prevent the Landing of the French or other Foâ—eign Troops Portsmouth may be put into such Hands as by His Majesty and Vs shall be agreed on The King was so far from being pleased with this Answer that he resolved to withdraw from London as he did privately aboard a little Smack but he and his Company were seized by the Inhabitants of Fevershâ—m and somewhat roughly handled before they came to be known whence the King came to Rochester but before this he gave the E. of Feversham Directions by Letter to disband the Army Which Letter was to this effect My Lord THings being come to that Extremity that I have been forced to send away the Queen and my Son the Prince of Wales that they might not fall into the Enemy's Hands which they must have done if they had staid I am obliged to do the same thing in hopes it will please God out of his Infinite Mercy to this unhappy Nation to touch their Hearts again with true Loyalty and Honour If I could have relied on all my Troops I might not have been put to the Extremity I now am in and would at least have had one Blow for it But though I know there are many valiant and brave Men among you both Officers and Soldiers yet you know that both you and several of the General Officers and Soldiers and Men of the Army told me It was no ways advisable for me to venture my self at their Head or to think to fight the Prince of Orange with them And now there remains only for me to thank you and all those both Officers and Soldiers who have stuck to me and been truly Loyal I hope you will still retain the same Fidelity to me And though I do not expect you should expose your selves by resisting a Foreign Army and a poisoned Nation yet I hope your former Principles are so inrooted in you that you will keep your selves free from Associations and such pernicious things Time presseth so that I can add no more JAMES Rex The Earl of Feversham presently after the Receipt of this Letter disbanded 4000 Men which was all the Army he had then with him and under his Command After which he sent this Letter to the Prince of Orange SIR HAving received this Morning a Letter from His Majesty with the Vnfortunate News of his Resolution to go out of England I thought my self obliged being at the Head of his Army and having received his Orders to make no Opposition against any Body to let Your Highness know it with the Advice of the Officers here so soon as was possible to hinder the Effusion of Blood I have ordered already to that purpose all the Troops that are under my Command which shall be the last
Superiority Preheminence or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual within the Realm So help me God This Declaration being tendered to the Prince and Princess of Orange and the Conditions being accepted by both they were soon after proclaimed King and Queen of England according to the Tenor of a Proclamation drawn by the Convention for that very purpose and so they took a peaceable Possession of the English Crown the few Soldiers of Dumbarton's Regiment that sometime after revolted being quickly brought to submit and no other Punishment inflicted upon them than to be sent into Holland without any deâ—alcation of their Pay But the King having now done his Work in England 't was his next Thoughts to make sure of Scotland whither he had sent a Body of Men sometime since under the Command of Major General Mâ—ckay and where notwithstanding the Duke of Gourdon still held Edinburgh Castle and that there was a disposition in the Northern Inhabitants of that Kingdom to adhere to the late King a Convention met also and notwithstanding King James writ to them as well as King William yet the formers Letter was so far from having any effect upon them in his Favour that the Throne of Scotland was declared vacant and an Act of Recognition drawn up in the Form following THat whereas James the Seventh being a professed Papist did assume the Regal Power and act as a King without ever taking the Oaths required by Law whereby every King at his Access to the Government was obliged to swear to maintain the Protestant Religion and to Rule the People according to the laudable Laws and by the Advice of wicked Counsellors did invade the Fundamental Constitutions of the Kingdom of Scotland and alter'd it from a Legal limited Monarchy to an Arbitrary and Despotick Power and in a publick Proclamation asserted an Absolute Power to annul and disable all Laws particularly by arraigning the Laws establishing the Protestant Religion and to the Violation of the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom By erecting publick Schools and Societies of the Jesuits and not only allowing Mass to be publickly said but also converting Protestant Chapels and Churches to publick Mass-Houses contrary to the express Laws against saying and hearing of Mass By allowing Popish Books to be printed and disposed by a Patent to a Popish Printer designing him Printer to his Majesty's Houshold Colledge and Chappel contrary to Law By taking the Children of Protestant Noblemen and Gentlemen and sending them abroad to be bred Papists and bestowing Pensions on Priests to pervert Protestants from their Religion by Offers of Places of Preferments By disarming Protestants while at the same time he employ'd Papists in Places of the greatest Trust both Civil and Military c. and entrusting the Forces and Magazines in their hands By imposing Oaths contrary to Law By exacting Money without Consent of Parliament or Convention of Estates By levying and keeping up a Standing Army in time of Peace without Consent of Parliament and maintaining them upon free Quarter By employing the Officers of the Army as Judges throughout the Kingdom by whom the Subjects were put to death without legal Trial Jury or Record Bp imposing exorbitant Fines to the value of the Parties Estates exacting extravagant Bail and disposing Fines and Forfeitures before any Process or Conviction By imprisoning Persons without expressing the Reason and delaying to bring them to Trial. By causing several Persons to be prosecuted and their Estates to be forfeited upon Stretches of old and forfeited Laws upon weak and frivolous Pretences and upon lame and defective Proofs as particularly the late Earl of Argyle to the Scandal of the Justice of the Nation By subverting the Rights of the Royal Boroughs the Third Estate of Parliament imposing upon them not only Magistrates but also the whole Town Council and Clerks contrary to their Liberties and express Charters without any pretence of Sentence Surrender or Consent So that the Commissioners to Parliaments being chosen by the Magistrates and Councils the King might in effect as well nominate that entire Estate of Parliament Besides that many of the Magistrates by him put in were Papists and the Boroughs were forced to pay Money for the Letters imposing those illegal Magistrates upon them By sending Letters to the Chief Courts of Justice not only ordering the Judges to stop sine die but also commanding them how to proceed in Cases depending before them contrary to the express Laws and by changing the Nature of the Judges Patents ad vitam or culpam into a Commission de bene placito to dispose them to a Compliance of Arbitrary Courses and turning them out of their Offices if they refus'd to comply By granting personal Protections for Civil Debts contrary to Law All which were Miscarriages of King James utterly and directly contrary to the known Laws Freedoms and Statutes of the Realm of Scotland Upon which Grounds and Reasons the Estates of the Kingdom of Scotland did find and declare That K. James the 7th being a profess'd Papist did assume the Regal Power c. as at the beginning whereby he had forfeited the Right of the Crown and the Throne was become vacant Therefore in regard his Royal Highness then Prince of Orange since King of England whom it pleas'd God to make the glorious Instrument of delivering these Kingdoms from Popery and Arbitrary Power by Advice of several Lords and Gentlemen of the Scots Nation then at London did call the Estates of this Kingdom to meet upon the Fourteenth of March last in order to such an Establishment as their Religion Laws and Liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted The said Estates being at that time assembled accordingly in a full and free Representative of the Nation taking into their most serious Consideration the best Means for attainâ—ng the Ends aforesaid did in the first place as their Ancestors in the like Cases had usually done for the Vindicating and Asserting their Ancient Rights and Liberties declare That by the Law of Scotland no Papist could be King or Queen of the Realm nor bear any Office whatever therein nor that any Protestant Successor could exercise the Regal Power till he or they had sworn the Coronation-Oath That all Proclamations asserting an Absolute Power to null and disable Laws in order to erecting Schools and Colledges for Jesuits converting Protestant Churches and Chappels into Mass-Houses and the allowing Mass to be said That the allowing Popish Books to be printed and dispersed was contrary to Law That the taking the Children of Noblemen Gentlemen and others and keeping them abroad to be bred Papists the making Funds and Donations to Popish Schools and Colledges the bestowing Pensions on Priests and the seducing Protestants from their Religion by offers of Places and Preferment was contrary to Law That the disarming of Protestants and the employing Papists in the greatest Places of Trust both Civil and Military c. was contrary to Law That the imposing
Mediterranean Sea and as far as the Line within the space of Ten Weeks and beyond the Line and in all the other Parts of the World within the space of Eight Months to reckon from the Day of the Publication of this present Treaty the said Prizes which shall be taken of either side after the Terms prefix'd shall be restor'd with Reparation for Damages sustain'd XXVI In case of a Rupture which God forbid there shall be allow'd the Term of Six Months that so the Subjects of either Part may have time to remove and transport their Effects and Goods whither they shall think most convenient and it shall be lawful for 'em to do it with all Freedom without any Molestation or Obstruction or Seizure of the said Effects during the said Term much less shall any stop be put to their Persons XXVII The Soldiers on both sides shall immediately after the Ratification of this present Treaty return to the Territories and Countries of their proper Sovereigns and into the strong Holds and Places which are to remain and belong to their Majesties respectively after or according to this present Treaty not being to stay upon any Pretence whatever in the Territories of either Sovereign nor in the Places which are in like manner to appertain to him and there shall be also after the Signing of the same Treaty a Cessation of Arms and Hostilities in the Dominions of the said Kings as well by Sea and other Waters as by Land XXVIII It is also agreed That the Receipt of Duties of which the said Most Christian King is in Possession upon all the Countries which he surrenders back or restores to the said Catholick King shall be continu'd till the actual Restitution of the Places of which the said Countries are Dependancies and that what shall remain due at the time of the said Restitution shall be faithfully pay'd to those who have taken the Farms of the same as also that at the same time the Proprietors of Woods Confiscated within the Dependencies of the said Places which are to be restor'd to his Catholick Majesty shall re-enter into the Possession of their Estates and of all the Woods that are upon the Place it being to be understood that from the Day of the Signing this present Treaty all Cutting down of Woods shall cease on both sides XXIX The Treaty of Nimeghen and the preceding Treaties shall be observ'd and put in Execution according to their Form and Tenor except in the Points and Articles from which there shall have been any thing formerly derogated or any Alteration made by this present Treaty XXX All Proceedings and all Judgments given between private Persons by the Judges or particular Officers of this Most Christian Majesty settl'd as well in the Cities and Places which he enjoy'd by virtue of the Treaty of 〈◊〉 Chapelle and which he has since restor'd to his Catholick Majesty as in those which appertain to his Most Christian Majesty by the Treaty of Nimeguen or of which he was in Possession after the said Treaty and likewise the Decrees of the Parliament of Tournay pronounc'd by reason of Differences and Suits prosecuted by the Inhabitants of the said Cities and their Dependencies during the time they were under his Most Christian Majesty's Obedience shall take Place and have their full and entire Effect as if the said King were Lord and Possessor of the said Countries nor shall the said Decrees or Judgments be call'd in Question or made void nor shall the Execution of 'em be in any other manner hinder'd or delay'd But it shall be lawful for the said Parties to provide for themselves by review of the Cause and according to the Order and Disposal of the Laws and Ordinances the Judgments still remaining in full Force and Virtue without prejudice to what is stipulated to this Effect in the 21st Article of the aforesaid Treaty of Nimeghen XXXI The City and Castle of Dinant shall be restor'd by his Most Christian Majesty to the Bishop and Prince of Liege in the Condition they were at what time they were possess'd by his Majesty's Arms. XXXII His Most Christian Majesty having testify'd his Desire That the Island of Ponza in the Mediterranean Sea shall be restor'd to Monsieur the Duke of Parma his Catholick Majesty in consideration of the good Offices of his Most Christian Majesty is pleas'd to declare That he will withdraw the Soldiers which he has there and return that Island into the Power and Possession of Monsieur the Duke of Parma presently after the Ratification of this present Treaty XXXIII In regard it is of high Concernment to the publick Tranquility that the Peace concluded at Turin the 29th of August 1696. between his Most Christian Majesty and his Roval Highness of Savoy should be also exactly observ'd it is thought convenient to confirm and comprehend it in this present Treaty and in all its Points such as are contain'd in the Copy sign'd and seal'd by the Plenipotentiaries of Savoy and which shall be annex'd to the present Treaty for the due observance of which and the present Treaty their said Majesties do give his Royal Highness their Guarranty XXXIV Their said Majesties in acknowledgment of the good Offices and Cares which the Most Serene King of Sweden has continually employ'd toward the Re-establishment of Peace are agree'd That his Swedish Majesty his Kingdoms and States shall be nominally comprehended in this present Treaty in the best Form and Manner that may be XXXV In his Peace Alliance and Amity shall be comprehended all those that shall be nam'd on either Part by common Consent before the Exchange of the Ratifications or within the space of Six Months after they shall be exchang'd XXXVI The said Most Christian and Catholick Kings consent That his Swedish Majesty in the Quality of Mediator and all other Kings Princes and Republicks who are desirous to enter into the said Engagement may give their Majesties their Promises and Obligations of Guarranty for the performance of all that is contain'd in this present Treaty XXXVII And for the greater security of this Treaty of Peace and all the Points and Articles therein contain'd this Treaty shall be publish'd verify'd and register'd as well in the Grand Council and other Councils and Chambers of Accompts of the Catholick King in the Low-Countries as in the other Councils of the Crowns of Castille and Aragon the whole according and in the Form contain'd in the Treaty of Nimeghen in the Year 1678. As also the said Treaty shall be publish'd verify'd and register'd in the Court of Parliament of Paris and in all other Parliaments of the Kingdom of France and Chamber of Accounts of Paris aforesaid Of which Publications and Inregistrings Copies shall be return'd and deliver'd on both sides within the space of Three Months after publication of the said Treaty XXXVIII All which Points and Articles above-declar'd and express'd together with the Contents of every one of them were negotiated
the Peace with the Emperor 61. sollicites Peace in France with little success ib. Derry the Siege of it 323. Diepe bombarded by the English 498. Diet of Ratisbonne's Result on the Emperor's Memorial 88. Dixmude surrendered to the Fr. 520. Doge of Venice his Death 255. Dulcigno besieged by the Venetians in vain 580. Dundee slain 317. Dutch at Nimeguen inclinable to a Peace 8. E. EBeremberg taken by the Germans 631. Electorate the Ninth 476. Elbing invested by the E. of Brandenburgh 684. Articles of Surrendry 685 c. Eleanor Queen her death 673. Embassadors Turkish press for a Peace 357. Emp-prepares against the Turks 131. gives the Command to the Duke of Lorrain 132. retires from Vienna to Lintz 133. returns to Vienna 146. his Letter to the late K. James 318 c. his Proposal of Peace to the Turks 357. his Answer to the Polish Envoy's Complaint 488 c. Empire's Complaint of the French Incroachments 89. English die-a-pace at Dundalk Camp 328. their Attempt upon Brest 495. Esperies besieged by the Germans in vain 160. besieged a second time ib. surrendred 191. Esseck the Town taken and the Bridge burnt by the Imperialists 190. abandoned by the Turks 234. besieged by 'em in vain 412 c. Essex the Earl of his Speech to K. Charles II 97. his Murther in the Tower 116. Extract of the Peace between the Muscovites and Turks 692. between the Poles and the Turks 693 c. between the Emperor and the Turks 695 c. between the Venetians and the Turks 699 c. F. FEnwick Sir John the Bill of Attainder against him 585. Parliaments Proceedings upon it 586 c. his Paper at his Execution 589 c. Feversham E. of his Letter to the P. of Orange 296. Fitz-Harris Edw. his Libel 102 c. concerned in the Meal tub Plot 106. discovers the Sham 107. impeached by the Commons to prevent his trial ib. tryed condemn'd and executed 109 c. Five Churches besieged and taken by the Imperialists 213. Fleet French beaten and burnt by the English c. 458 c. Flerus the Battle there 394 c. French make Devastations in Germany 8. take Valenciennes 9. comply with the Spaniards 41. invade Juliers 56. invade it again 65. propose odd Conditions to the Court of Bavaria 86. enlarge their Limits in Alsatia 89. their Encroachments in Flanders 90. their Carriage upon the Turks invading Hungary 131. begin the War upon the Rhine 257. burn and ravage the Palatinate 333. beat the Confederate Fleet at Sea 361. prevail in Catalonia 400. attempt a separate Peace with the Emperor 420. opprest with Famine offer Peace to the Confederates 488. fight the Spaniards in Catalonia 562. attack the Smyrna Fleet 477. Friend Sir John his Paper at his Execution 554 c. G. GAlloway surrendred to the English 433. Genoa bombarded by the Fr. 152. submits 153. George Prince his Letter to King James 288. Germans march toward Buda and rout the Turks 155. Ghent besieged and surrendred to the French 14. Givet the Magazine burnt 560. Godfrey Sir Edmundbury Murdered 73. the Discovery of it ib. c. Gran besieged by the Imperialists 148. taken ib. besieged by the Turks 186. relieved and the Battle there 187. Grandval the Sieur de his Trial and Execution 467. Great Waradin blockaded by the Imperialists 455. besieged and surrendred 476. H. HAlliwell Baron worsted and slain by the Turks 154 c. Hanover Elector of his death 689. Havre de Grace bomb'd by the English 498. Heidelburg taken and destroyed by the French 483. Heusler General beaten and made Prisoner in Transylvania 409. Holland Preparations there for England 258. Holstein Gottorp Duke of restored to his Territories 72. Hough Dr. chosen President of Magdalen Colledge 202. Huy taken by the French 479. besieged and taken by the Confederates 500. I. JAmaica an Earth quake there c. 473. James II. King his Speech to the Council 165. Crown'd and his Speech to the Parliament ib. his Practises against the Duke of Monmouth 169. his proceedings in respect to Ireland 182. his Speech to the Parliament about the Popish Officers 183. thanked for it by the Lords 184. his proceedings in respect to Charters 196. sets up the Ecclesiastical Commission ib. his Usage of the Fellows of Magdalen Colledge 202. his Letter to the Scotch Parliament 205. grants toleration of Religion 223. instructs the Judges going the Circuits â—b c. commands the Declaration of Indulgence to be read in Churches 245. the Bishops petition to him upon it ib. his Answer 246. restores London Charter 260. dissolves the Ecclesiastical Commimission c. 263 c. enters Salisbury 284. forsaken by divers of the Nobility 288. returns to London 289. issues Writs to call a Parliament 290 his Proposals to the P. of Orange 294. his Letter to the E. of Feversham 295. withdraws ib. returns to London 301. withdraws into France 303. his Reasons for withdrawing ib. c. abdicates the Throne 306. lands in Ireland c. 319. flees for France 375. his Letter to the Irish Troops arrived in France 446. his Letter to the Fr. King 459 c. Jefferies Chief Justice his proceedings and cruelties in the West 180. takes Money 181. made Lord Chancellor 196. Jenkins Sir Lionel refuses to sign the separate Peace with Spain 41. Imperialists successful in Vpper Hungary 191. Innocent XI his Death and Character 357. Johnson Samuel whip'd 203. his Address to the English Soldiers 204 c. Joseph Archduke crowned King of Hungary 235. chosen K. of the Romans 397 c. Ireland entirely reduc'd 323. Irish routed by the Iniskilliners 446. defeated again near Sligo which they took 327. routed by Woolsly 362. K. KEys his Paper at his Execution 554. Keyserwaert besieged and surrendred to the Elector of Brandenburg 330 c. King of France's Letter to K. Ch. II. and Message 10. his project of Peace 14. c. refused by the Mediator 17. his Letter to the States General 19. ratifies the Peace with Holland 36. prefixes time and condions of Peace to Denmark and Brandenburg 62. his Letter to his Army 499 c. King his Paper at his Execution 553 c. Kingsale besieged and surrendred to the English 386 c. Kirk Major General his cruelty in the West 181. L. LAnden the great Battle there 481. Lepanto abandoned by the Turks 241 Lesley Count routs the Turks in Sclavonia 159. takes the Town of Esseck 190. Letter to the States General from Turin 533. of General Veterani's defeat 535 c. Liberachi Basha embraces the Venetian Interest 579. Liege the Pr. of dies 497. Limerick besieged in vain by the English 379 c. besieged a second time 434 c. surrendred and the Articles 436 c. Lippa taken by the Imperialists 249. retaken by the Turks 535. Lithuania Troubles there 682. appeased and the Articles 688. London the Charter of it question'd 116. taken away 115. the Bishop of it suspended and the Reason of the Courts displeasure against
be adjudged to hinder the Sittings of Parliaments and be responsible therefore in Parliament Things being brought to this desperate pass between them without any visible Hopes of a better Understanding the Thoughts of the Court now began to think of a Prorogation or Dissolution and the Commons were it seems aware of it For on Monday Jan. the 10th before the Usher of the Black-Rod came into the House to command their Attendance on the King in the House of Lords they had resolved That whosoever advised the King to prorogue this Parliament to any Purpose than in order to the Passing of a Bill for the Exclusion of James Duke of York was a Betrayer of the King the Protestant Religion and of the Kingdom of England a Promoter of the French Interest and a Pensioner to France Which was no sooner done but they were Prorogued to the 20th of Jan. and upon the 18th he Dissolved them And so ended this Sessions of Parliament with which having run out a few Days into the new Year we conclude the Year 1680 only we shall note first two or three Particulars On the 30th of July this Year died at Whitehall the Right and truly Honourable Thomas Earl of Ossory Son and Heir apparent to his Grace the Duke of Ormond after some few Days sickness of a violent Feaver whose Heroick Bravery and forward Zeal to serve his King and Country on all commendable Occasions was manifested by many brave and generous Actions Which as they made him be honoured and esteemed by all while living made him dying to be as generally lamented He was the Father of his Grace the present Duke of Ormond who to his great Glory has been so far from degenerating from him that he hath to the Height express'd his Vertues and Excellencies both in Peace and Way and is a Person that deserves as much and if all Circumstances be considered a great deal more of his Country than any other Nobleman whatsoever Sept. following was remarkable for the Death of Two Electors of the Empire viz. on the 2d John George Duke of Saxony dying at Friburg after a long Indisposition in the 68th Year of his Age leaving only one Son by his Wife Magdaline Sibille of Brandenburg Ansbach John George the Third of that Name who succeeded him in his Dominions and Dignities And but 5 Days after departed also this Life Charles Lovis Count Palatine of the Rhine suddenly in the Way between Manheim and Frankendal after a light Indisposition of 2 or 3 Days he was 63 Years old and left by his Wife Charlotte Daughter of William Landgrave of Hesse one Son Charles then in England and to whom an Express was immediately dispatch'd to give him advice of his Father's Death and a Daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Wife to the now Duke of Orleans And towards the middle of Nov. appeared a Comet with a prodigious Stream of Light in the West The Star from which the Blaze proceeded was but small and when first discovered seemed to be not much above the Horizon but every Night afterward it appeared higher and higher in the Beginning of the Night and consequently setting latter and latter its Magnitude and Lustre also proportionably decaying year 1681 The Nation at the Dissolution of the last Parliament upon the 18th of Jan. as already mentioned were strangely amazed and began now in general to be very doubtful of any good Issue in their common Concerns which the Court was not unaware of and therefore in some measure to allay Things the King summoned another to meet on the 21st of March following at Oxford which was no sooner publickly known but it rather heightned than alleviated the Jealousies of the more intelligent Persons that there might be some hidden Design nourished in the Court that might have dangerous Influences both upon the Nation and Parliament Whereupon several of the Nobility after mature Consideration of the Matter resolved to petition the King against the Meeting of the Parliament at the forementioned Place which Petition was delivered by the Earl of Essex with which he made a short pithy Speech and both which we have hereunto subjoined May it please your Majesty THE Lords here present together with divers others of the Peers of the Realm taking notice that by the late Proclamation Your Majesty has declared an Intention of calling a Parliament at Oxford and observing from History and Records how unfortunate many Assemblies have been when called at a Place remote from the Capital City as particularly the Congress in King Henry the II's Time at Clarendon 3 several Parliaments at Oxford in Henry the III's Time and at Coventry in Henry the VI's Time with divers others which have proved fatal to those Kings and have been followed with great Mischief on the whole Kingdom And considering the present Posture of Affairs the many Jealousies and Discontents that are among the People they have great Cause to apprehend that the Consequences of a Parliament now at Oxford may be as fatal to Your Majesty and the Nation as those others mentioned have been to them Reigning Kings And therefore we do conceive that we cannot answer it to God to Your Majesty or to the People if we being Peers of the Realm should not on so important an Occasion humbly offer our Advice to Your Majesty that if possible Your Majesty may be prevailed with to alter this as we apprehend reasonable Resolution the Grounds and Reasons of our Opinions are contained in this our Petition which we humbly present to Your Majesty TO THE KING'S most Excellent MAJESTY The Humble PETITION and ADVICE of the Lords undernamed Peers of the Realm Humbly Sheweth THAT whereas Your Majesty hath been pleased by divers Speeches and Passages to Your Houses of Parliament rightly to represent to them the Dangers that threatned Your Majesty's Person and the whole Kingdom from the mischievous and wicked Plots of the Papists and the suddain Growth of a Power unto which no Stop or Remedy could be provided unless it were by Parliament and an Union of Your Majesty's Protestant Subjects in one Mind and one Interest And the Lord-Chancellor in pursuance of your Majesty's Commands having more at large demonstrated the said Dangers to be as great as we in the midst of our Fears could imagine them and so pressing that our Liberties Religion Lives and the whole Kingdom would be certainly lost if a speedy Provision were not made against them And Your Majesty on the 21st of Apr. 1679 having called unto Your Council many Honourable and Worthy Persons and declared to them and the whole Kingdom that being sensible of the evil Effects of a Single Ministry or Private Advice or Foreign Committee for the general Direction of Your Affairs Your Majesty would for the future refer all Things unto the Council and by the constant Advice of them together with the frequent Use of Your Great Council the Parliament Your Majesty had hereafter resolved to govern the
Kingdom we began to hope we should see an End of our Miseries But to our unspeakable Grief and Sorrow we soon found our Expectation frustrated the Parliament then subsisting was Prorogued and Dissolved before it could perfect what was intended for our Relief and Security and though another was thereupon called yet by the many Prorogations it was put off till the 21st of Oct. past and notwithstanding Your Majesty was then again pleased to acknowledge that neither Your Majesty's Person nor the Kingdom should be safe till the Matter of the Plot was gone through it was unexpectedly Prorogued on the 10th of this Month before any sufficient Order could be taken therein all their just and pious Endeavours to save the Nation were overthrown the good Bills they had been industriously preparing to unite all Your Majesty's Protestant Subjects brought to nought the Discovery of the Irish Plot stifled the Witnesses that came in frequently more fully to declare that both of England and Ireland discouraged those Foreign Kingdoms and States who by a happy Conjunction with us might give a Check to the French Power disheartned even to such a Despair of their own Security against the growing Greatness of that Monarch as we fear may induce them to take new Resolutions and perhaps such as may be fatal to us the Strength of our Enemies both at Home and Abroad increased and our selves left in the utmost Danger of seeing our selves brought into utter Desolation In these Extremities we had nothing under God to comfort us but the Hopes that Your Majesty being touched with the Groans of Your perishing People would have suffered Your Parliament to have met at the Day unto which it was Prorogued and that no further Interruption should have been given to their Proceedings in order to the saving of the Nation yet that failed us too But when we heard that Your Majesty by the private Suggestion of some wicked Persons Favourers of Popery Promoters of French Designs and Enemies to Your Majesty and the Kingdom without the Advice and as we have good Reason to believe against the Opinion even of Your Privy-Council had been prevailed with to Dissolve it and to call another to meet at Oxford where neither Lords nor Commons can be in Safety but will be daily exposed to the Sword of the Papists and their Adherents of whom too many are crept into Your Majesty's Guards the Liberty of speaking according to their Consciences will be thereby destroyed and the Validity of all their Acts and Proceedings consisting in it left disputable the Streightness of the Place no way admits of such a Concourse of Persons as now follows every Parliament the Witnesses that are necessary to give Evidence against the Popish Lords such Judges or others whom the Commons have Impeached or had resolved to Impeach can neither bear the Charge of going thither nor trust themselves under the Protection of a Parliament that is it self evidently under the Power of Guards and Soldiers The Premises consider'd we Your Majesty's Petitioners out of just Abhorrence of such a dangerous and pernicious Council which the Authors have not dared to avow and the direful Apprehensions of the Calamities and Miseries that may ensue thereupon do make it our most humble Prayer and Advice That the Parliament may not Sit at a Place where it cannot be able to act with that Freedom which is necessary and especially to give unto their Acts and Proceedings that Authority which they ought to have amongst the People and have ever had unless impaired by some Awe upon them of which there wants not Presidents and that Your Majesty would be graciously pleased to order it to Sit at Westminster it being the usual Place and where they may consult and act with Safety and Freedom And your Petitioners shall ever pray c. Montmouth Kent Huntington Bedford Salisbury Clare Stamford Essex Shaftsbury Mordant Evers Paget Gray Herbert Howard Delamere The Answer given by the King to this Petition is left Recorded no where that I can find but that he express'd his Displeasure at it by a Frown was commonly reported in those Times which was the more taken notice of because of thâ—â— kind Answers he was wont to give the other Party upon all Occasions and the greater Care that was taken in the Publication thereof that the Nation might know it But how looâ— soever he was in his Promises to the Parliament you will findâ— him steddy and unmovable in this of the Parliament's meeting at Oxford and the Lords that had an Hand in this Petitioâ— shall be remembred by him in their due Place But we shaâ—â— now leave this Matter and see a little what was done betweeâ— the last and 3d Westminster Parliament of this King 's Reigâ— and the meeting of this at Oxford Though the Meal-Tâ— Plot whereof we have already given you an Hint meet witâ— such ill Success yet the indefatigable Zeal of a Son of Sir Edâ—â—â— Fitz-Harris an Irish Papist and consequently very fit as 〈◊〉 really was to be a Correspondent with the Dutchess of Porâ—â— mouth her Woman Mrs. Wall and the French Embassadoâ— Confessor the first of which had several times supplied hiâ— with Money and at one time particularly with 250 l. 〈◊〉 such that happening to come acquainted with one Everard beyond Sea where they were both in the French King's Service he did about the Beginning of Feb. after the Parliament was Dissolved renew his said Acquaintance with Everard and represented to him the Advantages he might have in forsaking the English Interest and ingratiating himself into the French and Popish one and that it would be very conductive to that Interest if he would make a Pamphlet that reflected upon the King To this the other gave not a clear Consent yet Fitz-Harris upon the 21st of Feb. gave him some Heads by Word of Mouth to draw up such a Pamphlet Which Procedure of his made Everard acquaint several withal and particularly one Mr. Smith and Sir William Waller whom he engaged in a concealed Manner to be at a Place appointed to hear the further Discourse between them which was next Day and whither the former came where he heard Fitz-Harris give Everard Instructions to this Purpose That the King and Royal Family should be traduced as being Papists and arbitrarily affected from the Beginning That King Charles I. had an Hand in the Irish Rebellion and that Charles II. did countenance the same by preferring Fitz-Gerrald Fitz-Patrick and Mount-Garret who were engaged in the Irish Rebellion That the Act forbidding to call the King a Papist was to stop Mens Mouths when he should encline to further Popery which appeared by his adhering so closely to the Duke of York's Interests and hindring him from being proceeded against by the Parliament and hindring the Officers put in by the Duke of York to be turned out and for that the Privy-Councellors and Justices of the Peace who were for the Protestant Interest were turned out of
had Success And this is so much the more to be credited since the King himself told Sheriff Cornish That Fitz-Harris had 3 Months before his Apprehension been with â—im and acquainted him he was in pursuit of a Plot which very much related to His Majesty's Person and Government c. And that upon Sir William Waller's acquainting the King with the Particulars he had taken while he was concealed as aforesaid tho' he thanked him for it and commanded Secretary Jenkins to issue out a Warrant for the Apprehension of Fitz-Harris and that Sir William should take Care of the Execution of it Yet he was no sooner gone but Sir William said He was informed by 2 worthy Gentlemen That the King was highly offended with him saying He had broken all his Measures and that he would one Way or other have him taken off Fitz-Harris however was soon after taken and committed to Newgate where being examined by Sir Robert Clayton and Sheriff Cornish he discovered a Disposition and at length a Willingness to discover the whole Design the next Day after But to prevent it in all appearance he was that Day removed into the Tower But while this hopeful Business was thus jumbled up the Time spun out and the 21st of March came when the Parliament met at Oxford and of which the Members of the Commons were generally the same as the last Parliament and those that were not so were of the same Kidney as the others had been so that their Proceedings began where the last Parliament left off They far indeed but 7 Days and of them the Lower House spent the first 3 in choosing their Speaker and confirming him and taking the Oaths as the Laws directed But in that little time they had these 4 Considerations before them 1. The preparing a Bill to prevent the Duke of York's succeeding to the Crown The 2d was to take the Bill of the Repeal of the Act of the 35th of Eliz. out of the House of Lords A 3d was an Enquiry into Fitz-Harris his Business And the 4th was to prosecute the Popish Lords in the Tower But this was more Work by a great deal than the stinted Opportunity of 4 Days would admit a Dispatch of However upon Friday the 25th of Mar. after that the House had been some time upon the Debate of Fitz-Harris's Concern and that one of the Members had reported That he remembred that one Hubert having confess'd he had fired the City of London and that the House then sitting having resolved thereupon to examine him they were prevented by his being hanged next Morning before they met And that there having been also a Design to try the Lords in the Tower by way of Indictment the House had prevented the same by exhibiting general Impeachments against them with that Success that the Lords were never tryed upon Indictments and the Judges had given their Opinion they could not This moved them that same Day to order an Impeachment against Fitz-Harris and appointed Sir Lionel Jenkins to carry it up to the House of Lords who at first refused it saying That his being sent upon that Message reflected upon the King his Master and let them do what they would he would not go But several of the Members having moved thereupon to call him to the Bar of the House and divers others in their Speeches aggravating highly his Offence he at last relented and carried the Impeachment to the House of Lords but the Lords threw it out At which the Commons next Day which was Saturday the 26th were so nettled that they ran very high in their Debates upon it ripping up several sharp Things against the Lords Proceedings herein So that at last it was moved That if any Judge Justice or Jury proceeded upon Fitz-Harris and that he were found guilty that the House would declare them guilty of his Murder and Betrayers of the Rights of the Commons of England To this it was added upon the Motion of Sir William Jones or that any inferiour Court should proceed c. which was passed But what little Notice was taken hereof you may hear by and by The House hereupon adjourned to Monday Morning March 27. when the King coming suddenly and unexpectly into the House of Peers dissolved the Parliament and immediately took Coach and made as hard as he could for Windsor leaving both Houses in a grand Amazement and the City of Oxford in an Hubbub Sir William Jones in his just and modest Vindication of this and the last Parliament at Westminster says The Peers at Oxford were wholly ignorant of the Council and that they never thought of a Dissolution till they heard the same pronounced Yet it is observable that the Dutchess of Mazarine published the News at St. James's many Hours before the same was done But if the Nation as well as the Parliament and City of Oxford were amazed at this Dissolution and the Manner thereof they were no less so with the King's Declaration that followed the Substance whereof was The Dissatisfaction of the King at the Proceedings of the 2 last Westminster Parliaments in giving him no suitable Return to support the Alliances he had made for the general Peace of Christendom nor for the further Examination into the Plot nor yet for the Preservation of Tangier He shewed a mighty Concern at their Votes against any Body's lending him Money upon the Revenues and that the Prosecution of Dissenters was a Grievance to the Subject by which he said They assumed to themselves a Power of suspending Laws But as Mr. Coke observes well the Commons in that did nothing but what they might do as well as in any other Law they found by Experience to be grievous to the Subject and must have done so in order to the Repealing of them And if the Matter had been really so as the Declaration intended the Crime had surely been somewhat the less in the Commons if his Majesty had considered that himself had twice before done the same Thing by his Declarations of Indulgence tho' to a contrary End to what the Commons intended That these Things had caused him to dissolve them and assemble another at Oxford who still pursuing the same Methods in the Business of the Exclusion of the Duke of York which he could by no Means give way to tho' he was willing to admit of any other Expedient whereby the Established Religion might be preserved tho' he never propounded any And the 2 Houses imbroiling themselves in the Business of Fitz-Harris so as they were put out of Capacity of transacting other Affairs had caused him to put an End to that Parliament also But that however notwithstanding the Malice of ill Men to perswade the People that he intended to lay aside the Use of Parliaments he declared That no Irregularity in Parliament should make him out of love with them and that he was resolved to have frequent Parliaments and in the Intervals would use his utmost
extraordinary Vigour and good Success and so on till the 27th when the Fort on which the Turks had planted Cannon from whence they play'd with great Fury on the Besiegers was utterly ruined And this encouraged the latter to work hard on a Battery which they had begun to raise on the Left Hand to ruine the Out-works of the Turks on that side and though the Turks made stout Resistance and made no less than 14 Mines 11 of them were discovered and the Besiegers discontinued their Works till they had found the other 3 which yet did not discourage the Turks who hourly expected Relief to come up Of this the Imperialists were sensible also so that on the 31st of Aug. a Council of War was held and Two Expresses sent away one to General Veterani and the other to Colonel Kiba with Orders for the latter to march with all the Men under his Command near Minoviza for the Security of that River and in the mean time the Siege went on and on the 7th of Sept. a General Assault upon the Counterscarp was resolved on But all things not being ready till it was late though the Attack was made with wonderful Bravery the Turks who had in the mean time Intelligence of it and had made Provision accordingly made such an obstinate Defence that what with that and the Darkness of the Night they failed to carry it Whereupon the General understanding the Grand Visier with 80000 Men was marching up it was on the 10th resolved in a Council of War to raise the Siege which was done accordingly and the Retreat made without so much as the Loss of one Man though the Enemy failed not to pursue them The Grand Visier having thus gained his Point sat down contented without undertaking any Enterprize And so the Campagne terminated without any other Action saving that the Ban of Croatia was said to have taken a considerable Town in Bosnia which I do not find named any where and that the Count of Heidersheim routed a considerable Body of Turks and Tartars near Guila killed several of them burnt all their Provision and took above 2000 Camels and Horses from them We have made so little a Digression about the Affairs of Europe on the Turkish side that it will be needless here to recapitulate what has been already said of things nearer Home in order to a better View of the little that is yet remaining only I desire it may be remembred how successful the Frenâ—â— King's Arms have been by Land and unfortunate our Fleeâ— at Sea which the States of Holland were so sensible of thaâ— they took an early Resolution considerably to augment boâ—â— their Army and Navy for which the King thanked them 〈◊〉 their Assembly before his coming over for England and after his Arrival to shew particularly the Dislike he had of the Sea-Proceedings did the Day before the Meeting of the Parliament declare in Council That he had appointed the Right Honourable Edward Russel Esq to be admiral of the Fleet and on the 7th of Nov. which was the Day of the Parliament's meeting delivered himself to them in the following Speech My Lords and Gentlemen I Am always glad to meet you here and I could heartily wish that Our Satisfaction were not lessened at present by Reflecting upon the Disadvantage We have received this Year at Land and the Miscarriages in our Affairs at Sea I think it is evident that the former was only occasioned by the great Numbers of our Enemies which exceeded Ours in all Places For what relates to the latter which has brought so great a Disgrace upon the Nation I have resented it extreamly And as I will take care that those who have not done their Duty shall be punished so I am resolved to use My Endeavours that Our Power at Sea may be rightly managed for the future And it well deserves Our Consideration Whether We are not defective both in the Number of Our Shipping and in proper Ports to the Westward for the better Annoying our Enemies and protecting Our Trade which is so essential to the Welfare of this Kingdom My Lords and Gentlemen I am very sensible of the good Affection wherewith you have always assisted Me to support the Charges of this War which have been very great And yet I am perswaded that the Experience of this Summer is sufficient to convince Vs all That to arrive at a good End of it there will be a Necessity of encreasing Our Forces both by Sea and Land the next Year Our Allies have resolved to add to Theirs And I will not doubt but you will have such regard to the present Exigency as that you will give Me a suitable Supply to enable me to do the like I must therefore earnestly recommend it to you Gentlemen of the House of Commons to take such timely Resolutions as that your Supplies may be effectual and Our Preparations so forward as will be necessary both for the Security and the Honour of the Nation The House of Commons quickly came to an unanimous Resolution to support Their Majesties and likewise shewed a good Disposition to comply with the King's Desires in the Increase of his Forces both by Sea and Land But at the same time they did not forget to spend some time in the Examination of the Mis-carrying of the Smyrna Fleet conâ—erning which they came to this Resolve That the House was of Opinion that there had been a notorious and treacherous mismanagement in that Affair But it is great pity the Rogues had not been found out and hanged for their Pains However Bembow's Bombing and Burning some part of St. Maloes about this time gave some sort of Contentment to Mens Minds tho' it was no Reparation of the Loss With this Action we shall close up the Year on the last day whereof the brave Prince Lewis of Baden landed at Gravesend from whence he went to Whitehall and thence to Kensington to wait upon his Majesty who received him with great Civility and Respect year 1694 His Majesty while the Parliament was deliberating upon Raising the necessary Supplies for the Navy and Standing Army and such Additional Force as was to be levy'd was pleased to entertain this Prince with the Diversions of Hunting Hawking and other the like innocent Recreations to say nothing of the weightier Affairs of the War concerted between them And the Bill of 4 s. in the Pound for carrying on a vigorous War against France being ready he gave the Royal Assent to it on the 25th of Jan. as he did some Days after to a Bill for Granting several Rates and Duties of Excise upon Beer Ale and other Liquors for Securing certain Recompences to such Persons as should voluntarily advance the Summ of 1000000 l. towards carrying on the War against France But before the Signing of any more Acts came the unfortunate News of our Loss in the Mediterranean which tho' a most melancholly Story yet it is not
over the Christistians Left Wing But they being soon rallied and reinforced the Turks were several times beaten back and after a Fight that lasted for 3 Hours forced to yield the Field of Battle to the Victorious Christians with the loss of about 3000 Men slain upon the Spot besides Prisoners and to retire into their Retrenchments which they quitted next Night and retreated silently out of the Morea But with so much haste that they left in their Camp behind 14 Pieces of Cannon 2 Mortars a good number of Bombs great store of Ammunition and Provision 2 Standards several Tents 700 Head of Oxen and 300 Cammels and Horses as a Booty to the Conquerors whose loss amounted to about 500 Men and who by this brave Action prevented the Ravaging of the whole Morea and the Besieging of Napoli di Romania by Land while the Turkish Fleet blocked it up by Sea as the Infidels had concerted their Design But I do not find the Venetians made any Improvement of this Victory tho' it hapned timely enough in the Summer However it was exceeding brave of them and the Germans too in comparison of the Poles which Army I think hardly ever turned out of their Quarters this Season and the chief business of whose King was to endeavour though in vain to mediate a reconciliation between the Bishop of Vilna and the General of Lithuania whom the former excommunicated for quartering of some Troops within his Jurisdiction A hard Case upon a Prince to have his measures broken in relation to the Campaign as himself told the Deputies of the said Bishop thro' the feuds of a couple of humorous Subjects But thus it is to hold a precarious Crown And as for the Muscovites all that we heard of them this Summer was their march against the Tartars but nothing of Action save the blocking up of Asoph of which you will hear more next Year It remains now that we return homewards and briefly see what had been doing before the Conclusion of the Year His Majesty after so glorious a Campaign as before mentioned hasted for England and being arrived to the gladning of the Hearts of all his honest Subjects on the 11th of Oct. at his Palace at Kensington He called a Council that very Night and a Proclamation was ordered to be issued fourth for the Dissolving of the then Parliament and calling a new one to meet upon Nov. 22d following Soon after this the Great Duke of Tuscany's Envoy whose Master was grown mighty good Natur'd since our Fleet went into the Streights had his Audience of His Majesty to Congratulate his Happy Accession to the Throne but this was somewhat like to that of the Ilienses which we Read of in Suetonius who coming a Day after the Fair to Condole with the Emperor Tiberius for the Death of his Son Drusus the other made them Answer And I also Condole with you the Death of your great Countryman Hector This being over His Majesty went a short Progress and the day of the Parliaments sitting being come he spake to them to this Effect My Lords and Gentlemen IT is with great Satisfaction that I meet you here this Day being assured of a good Disposition in my Parliament when I have had such full Proofs of the Affection of My People by their Behaviour during My Absence and at My Return I was engaged in the present War by the Advice of My first Parliament who thought it necessary for the Defence of Our Religion and for the Preservation of the Liberties of Europe The last Parliament with great Chearfulness did assist Me to carry 〈◊〉 on and I cannot doubt but that your Concern for the Common Safety will oblige you to be unanimously zealous in the Prosecutio◠of it And I am glad That the Advantages which We have had this Year give Vs a Reasonable Ground of hoping for farther Success hereafter Vpon this Occasion I cannot but take Notice of the Courage and Bravery the English Troops have shewn this last Summer which I may say has answered their highest Character in any Age. And it will not be denied That without the Concurrence of the Valour and Power of England it were impossible to put a Stop to the Ambition and Greatness of France Gentlemen of the House of Commons I think it my great Misfortune That from the Beginning of My Reign I have been forced to Ask so many and such large Aids of My People And yet I am confident you will agree with Me in Opinion That there will be at least as great Supplies requisite for Carrying on the War by Sea and Land this Year as were Granted in the last Session and the rather because Our Enemies are Augmenting their Troops and the Necessity of Increasing Our Shipping does plainly appear The Funds which have been given have proved very deficient The Condition of the Civil List is such that it will not be possible for Me to subsist unless that Matter be taken into your Care And Compassion obliges Me to mention the miserable Circumstances of the French Protestants who suffer for their Religion And therefore Gentlemen I most earnestly recommend to you to prouide a Supply suitable to these several Occasions I must likewise take notice of a great Difficulty We lie under at this time by reason of the ill State of the Coin the Redress of which may perhaps prove a further Charge to the Nation But this is a Matter of so general Concern and so great Importance that I have thought fit to leave it entirely to the Consideration of My Parliament I did recommend to the last Parliament the Forming some good Bill for the Encouragement and Increase of Seamen I hope you will not let this Session pass without doing something in it And that you will consider of such Laws as may be proper for the Advancement of Trade and that you will have a particular Regard to that of the East-India's lest it should be lost to the Nation And while the War makes it necessary to have an Army abroad I could wish some Way might be thought of to Raise the necessary Recruits without giving Occasion of Complaint My Desire to meet My People in a New Parliament has made the Opening of this Session very late which I hope you will have such Regard to as to make all possible Dispatch of the great Business before you And also that you will call to mind that by the long Continuance of the last Session We did not only lose Advantages which We might have had at the Beginning of the Campaign but gave the Enemy such an Opportunity as might have proved very fatal to us And I am the more concerned to press this because of the great Preparations which the French make to be early in the Field this Year My Lords and Gentlemen I have had such Experience of your good Affections and I have such an entire Satisfaction in the Choice which My People have made of you Gentlemen
Quantity of Silk and Silver Stuffs So that every Soldier of the 2000 had for his Share 6 Piasters the rest being divided among the Officers and other Soldiers the Czar reserving only the Cannon and Ammunition to himself This being happily effected the Siege of Asoph was carried on with great Application which all the Endeavours of the Turks and Tartars could not relieve by Land they being routed in the Attempt and a great many of their Number slain So that it was surrender'd to the Czar upon Articles on the 28th of July in pursuance of which the Garrison consisting of 3000 Men besides Tartars marched out with their Arms and Baggage and presently the Muscovites marched in and found 90 Pieces of Cannon together with a great Quantity of Ammunition in the Town But want of Provisions hasten'd the Surrender of it The News hereof no sooner arrived at Constantinople but it occasioned a great Consternation there and more especially for fear of losing those Supplies of Provisions which usually come to that City by the Euxine Sea which the Loss of that Place opened a Gap for the Moscovites to be Masters of But now after so long a Peregrination 't is time we should return homewards and take notice That the State of Affairs in Flanders this Year being already given an Account of it gave the King an Opportunity of returning to England somewhat sooner than usual and the Parliament to meet about the middle of Octob. to whom his Majesty said That he thought it our Happiness considering the Disappointments in the Funds and other Difficulties we laboured under that Things had passed without any Disadvantage That this was a convincing Proof of the good Disposition of his Army and steady Affections of his People That the Enemy's Hopes had been hitherto frustrated in respect to the difficult Conjuncture we were in and that their unanimous Proceedings was the Way to have the same continued That the Business before them was very great and our Occasions pressing That he could not let slip the Occasion to tell them That some Overtures had been made towards setting up a Negotiation of a General Peace But that the best Way to Treat was with our Swords in our Hands and by shewing our selves prepared to make a vigorous and effectual War Wherefore he recommended earnestly to the Commons to take Care for Raising the necessary Supplies with Speed As he did also the Remedying of some Inconveniences still remaining in Relation to the State of the Coin And so he concluded as we shall also conclude the Year with leaving the Parliament to take care in the first place of this last Clause of his Majesty's Speech about the Coin and to make a strict Enquiry among other Things into the late Conspiracy which took them up much Time And of which but very briefly before we hasten to give an Account of the General Peace Yet we will observe first as we were wont to do That this Year proved fatal to Mary Anne of Austria Queen-Mother of Spain who departed this Life on the 17th of May after she had been long tormented with a Cancer in her Breast Her Death being no less considerable a Loss to the Confederacy in general than to Spain in particular considering her great Influence over the Spanish Counsels to make them take such Resolutions as were conformable to the Interests of the Common Cause For which Reason she was but little beloved in France and gave Occasion for a great Prince of that Nation as was reported to say when he heard of the dangerous Distemper which had seized that Princess That he could have wished she had died Ten Years ago year 1697 Tho' this Year produced a General Peace between the Allies and the French Monarch yet our Parliament before the Close of the last in pursuance to his Majesty's Pre-monition to them in his Speech at the first Opening of the Session proceeded vigorously to other Methods for carrying on the War But they had not been long sate when they met with a considerable Interruption therein by the Business of Sir John Fenwicke who was one of the Conspirators in the late Plot for invading the Land and taking away the King's Life and was designed to have been tried at the Common Law as the rest had been But there were some Accidents fell out which made his Case extraordinary and brought it into Parliament of which take this short Account Upon Sir John Fenwicke's Apprehension which was in Kent as he designed to have made his Escape that way beyond Sea it did appear by a Letter of his writ to his Lady thereupon and which hapned to come in the Governments Hands That he was so far sensible of his Guilt and Danger that he proposed no other way for the present to Escape than by either getting a Jury Pack'd that would be Obstinate and not bring him in Guilty or making Friends to the King for a Pardon or Reprieve at least to gain Time But after his being brought to Town Commitment to Newgate and farther Consulting with his Friends the said Methods being found not very Practicable there was another Topick resolved upon which had a much more apparent Prospect of Success and that was to set up a Counterplot by accusing a great many of the King 's best and greatest Friends to have been guilty of Conspiring against him which startled a great many People at first not knowing who and who was together And tho' the same in the dilatory Managements of it did for a time with Sir John to gain him Space to have his Tryal put off yet he could not be but sensible it would not do always and therefore there was another Game for him to Play before he could conceive himself out of Danger which was to seduce away one at least of the Evidences that had swore the Treason against him as well knowing according to the late Act one was not sufficient in Cases of High Treason And this being also effected in the Person of Cardell Goodman who privately withdrew into France the Danger seemed now to be quite over tho' they could have been glad both for his and others sake that Captain Porter also had been got to the same or a worse Place and made Overtures to him by a rascally Irish-man one Clancy by Name to that end But he proved stanch against the great Temptation and made a Discovery thereof unto the Government So that the Government thereby finding it self horribly abused by these Clandestine Proceedings and no room left to bring the Criminal by the ordinary Course of Law to a Condign Punishment The King thought fit to give leave to Admiral Rassell to acquaint the House of Commons and lay before them the several Papers which were given in by Sir John Fenwicke in the Nature of Informations against himself and several Persons of Quality and desired that the same might be read that so he might have an Opportunity to justifie himself or
is not to be forced in Matters of Religion and so regulate their Actions accordingly But however it may prove with these of the Popish Communion and how rigorously they may be still bent to extripate that which they mis-call by the Name of Heresie and how great soever the Demerit of our Suffering Brethren may be the general and solemn Days of Humiliation and Prayers appointed for their Deliverance by almost the Universal Authority of all the Protestant Princes and States of Europe is one good sign that their Salvation draweth nigh The INDEX A. ABstract of Peace between the Empire and France Page 58 c. between France Sweden and Brandenburgh 66. between France Sweden and Denmark 71 c. Ackmet Sultan of the Turks his Death 534. Aeth besieged and surrender'd to the French 593. Agria surrendred to the Imperialists 235. Aghrim a Relation of the Battle there 429 c. Albania ravaged by the Turks 407. Alba Regalis surrendred by the Imperialists 249. Alexander VIII Pope his Death 456. Allâ—es endeavour to keep Spain out of the Peace 38. Altercations about the Basis of the Reswick Treaty 595 and 599. Ann Princess her Letter to the Queen 289 c. Argyle E. of lands in Scotland 267. his Declaration 268 c. taken and beheaded 269. Articles of Alliance between England and Holland 23 c. of Peace between Holland and France 28 c. between France and Spain 41 c. between Strasburgh and France 113 c. between France and Savoy 565 c. Of Neutrality in Italy 575. Of Peace between England and France 603 c. between Holland and France 609 c. between France and Spain 619 c. between the Empire and France 647 c. of Alliance between France and Sweden 676 c. Assassination discovered 541. Assassins tried and executed 552 c. Association at Exeter for the Prince of Orange 285. Athens submits to the Venetians 242. Athlone besieged in vain by the English 375. besieged again 425. taken 427. Avaux Count de his Memorial at the Hague 259. Ausburg the League there 131. B. BAden P. Lewis of defeats the Turks at Brod 254. made General in Hungary 336. defeats the Turks at Patochin 337 c. At Nissa 333. reduces Transylvania and expels Tekeley 414. beats the Turks at Salankemen 453 c. Barkan the Battle there between the Christians and the Turks 147. taken by the Germans 148. Bavaria Elect. of arrives with his Troops before Buda 158. made General in Hungary 250. his Letter to Osman Basha 252. takes Belgrade by storm 254. Beaumont Lieutenant-Colonel his Speech refuses Irish Soldiers is imprisoned c. 260. Belgrade besieged by the Imperialists 250. taken by Storm 254. besieged again by the Turks 411. taken by Storm 412. besieged again by the Imperialists 489. Siege raised 490. Berghen Prince of his Letter to Villeroy 522. Beverning Dutch Plenipotentiary his Saying of the French 11. of the King of England ib. Acts the Mediator ib. complies with the French 19. Articles against him 40. Bill of Exclusion 91 c. rejected by the Lords 94. Bishops seven their Petition to King James 245 c. imprison'd and acquitted 246 c. Advice to him 261 c. Black Box the story of it 80. Bonne besieged and surrendred to the Elector of Brandenburgh 335 c. Boufflers Mareschal de seized at Namur 530. released 531. Boyle Robert Esq his Death and Character 475. Boyne the Battle there 369 c. Brandenburgh Elector of solicits Peace in France 62. Fails and endeavours to embroil the Peace of the Empire ib. his Letter to the French King 64 c. receives Money of France 67. his Demands of the States ib. his Death 305. this Letter to Elbing 684 c. Brussels bombarded by the French â—22 Buda besieged by the Imperialists 156. the Siege raised 159. besieged a second time 208 Battle there 205. the siege continued 209 taken by storm 211. C. CAlais bomb'd by the English 561. Catamata abandoned by the Turks 195. Cambray surrendred to the French 9. Caminieck relieved by the Tartars 507. Canea besieged by the Venetians in vain 475 c. Canisia surrendred to the Imperialists 408. Carignan the Action there between the French and Confederates 403. Carigfergus besieged by the English and surrendred 324. Carmagnola besieged and taken by the French 449. retaken by the Confederates 451. Casal the siege of it and taken by the Confederates 532. Castle-Nuova besieged by the Venetians 240. surrendred 239. Charlemont Castle surrendred to the English 365. Charleroy besieged by the French and surrendred 482. Charles II. King unconstant to his Engagements to the P. of Orange 13. tempted with Money from France 18. concludes an Alliance with Holland 22. his Letter to the Duke of York 75. constitutes a new Council ib. unconstant 76. disclaims any Marriage with Monmouth's Mother 80 c. his Different Demeanour to the Addressors for Parliaments and Abhorrers of Petitioning 82. his Speech to the Parliament 90 c. petitioned by several Lords for the Sitting of the Parliament at Westminster 97 c. dissolves the Oxford Parliament and his pretended Reasons for it 108. prosecutes Protest-Dissentors 115 his Methods to get Charters surrendred and his design therein 129. demolishes Tangier that cost him so much 130. contemptible abroad 149. his Death and Character 165. Charnock his Paper at his Execution 552 c. Chialafa besieged by the Turks in vain 216. Churchill Lord his Letter to King James 289. Ciclut taken by the Venetians 505. Colledge Stephen tried at Oxford and Executed 110. Congress at the Hague 421. Comet appear'd 97. Commons the House of debate King James's Speech 184. address him to turn out the Popish Officers ib. Conferences about Peace renewed at Nimeguen 55. Coni besieged by the French 449. relieved 450. Conspiracy in the Army in Ireland 328. in England 458. Conti Prince of goes from Poland and his Letter to the Republick 640. returns 641. Corinth abandoned by the Turks 241. Cork besieged and surrendred to the English 384 c. Cornish Mr. tried 181. executed 182. Coron besieged the Battle there 192 c. taken by Storm 194. Coin remedied 540. Courland Duke of his Death 689. Cross du his Message from England to Holland 25. contriv'd in Portsmouth's Lodgings 26. Czar of Muscovy his Travels 682. D. DAngerfield Thomas whipp'd and kill'd 203. Dauphine Married 87. Debates of the Lords and Commons about Abdication 307 c. Declaration for Liberty of Conscience 224. at Nottingham in favour of the Pr. of Orange 286 c. of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal at Guildhal 297. of Right in England 308 c. of Right in Scotlandâ— 312. English Declaration of War against France 320 c. of the Protestant Princes against the 4th Article of Reswick 643 c. Deynse surrendred to the French 520. Delamere Lord rises for the P. of Orange in Cheshire 284. Demands of the Allies at Nimeguen 5 c. Denmark Ambassador of enrag'd at