House of Commons Journal Volume 9: 14 February 1670

Die Lunæ, 14 Februarii, 1669. 22 Car. II.

Prayers.

Message to attend the King.

A MESSAGE from his Majesty, by Sir John Eyton, Usher of the Black Rod.

Mr. Speaker,

The King commands this honourable House to wait upon his Majesty in the House of Lords.

And accordingly Mr. Speaker, with the House, went up to attend the King in the House of Lords.

The King's Speech reported.

Mr. Speaker reports, That, being unwilling, at any time, to mistake in any thing, especially the King, he had obtained the Favour of his Majesty to have his Speech in Writing: Which he read to the House: And then further acquainted them, that the King had commanded the Lord Keeper to declare what he had further to impart to them: Which being delivered also in Writing, was read by the Clerk: And the Speeches are as followeth; viz.

My Lords and Gentlemen,

I SENT forth My Proclamation, that there might be a good Appearance at this Meeting; having most Confidence in full Houses; where the Well-being of the Church, and other Interests of the Crown and Nation, are best secured.

When We last met, I asked you a Supply: And I ask it now again with greater Instance: The Uneasiness and Streightness of My Affairs cannot continue without very ill Effects . . . and the whole Kingdom. Consider this seriously and speedily: It is Yours and the Kingdom's Interest as Well as Mine: And the ill Consequence of a Want of an effectual Supply must not lie at my Door: And, that no Misapprehensions or Mistakes touching the Expences of the last War, may remain with you, I think fit to let you know, that I have fully informed Myself in that Matter; and do affirm to you, that no Part of those Monies that you gave Me for that War, have been diverted to other Uses: But, on the contrary, besides all those Supplies, a very great Sum hath been raised out of My standing Revenue and Credit; and a very great Debt contracted: And all for the War.

One thing I must earnestly recommend to the Prudence of both Houses; That you will not suffer any Occasion of Difference between yourselves to be revived; since nothing but the Unity of your Minds and Councils can make this Meeting happy, either to Me or the Nation.

I did recommend to you, at Our last Meeting, the Union of the Two Kingdoms: And I did the same to My Parliament in Scotland. They have made a great Step towards it: And I do again seriously recommend that Matter to you.

I have directed my Lord Keeper to speak more at large to you.

The Lord Keeper's Speech.

My Lords, and you Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of the House of Commons,

AT your last Meeting, His Majesty did acquaint you with the great Occasions He had for a Supply; and that He had forborne to ask it sooner, more in consideration of giving some Time for the Ease of the People, after the Burden of the War, than that the Condition of His Affairs could so long have wanted it: And his Majesty hath commanded me now to speak more fully and plainly upon this Subject.

His Majesty hath, not only by His Ministers, but in His own Royal Person, examined the Accounts touching the Expences of the last War; and hath thought himself concerned to let you know, that all the Supplies you gave Him for the War, have been by Him applied to the War, and no Part of them to any other Uses: Nay, so far from it, that, if the Preparations towards the War shall be taken to be for the Use of the War, as they must be, a great Part of His own Revenue, to many Hundred thousand of Pounds, hath been employed also and swallowed up in the Charges of the War, and what did necessarily relate to it: To which may be added the great Debts contracted by His Majesty in the War; and the great Charge in the Repairs of the Hulls of the Ships, and putting His Navy into such a Condition as it was before.

Besides, His Majesty thinks it ought to be considered, that when the Charges of the War were at the highest, the inevitable Effects of it, and those other Calamities which it pleased God at that Time to bring upon us, did make so great a Diminution in His Revenues, that, besides all other Accidents and Disadvantages, the Loss that He sustained in Three Branches of His Revenues, in His Customs, Excise, and Hearth-money, by reason of the War, the Plague, and Fire, did amount to little less than Six hundred thousand Pounds.

Thus you see, that though your Supplies hath been great, yet the Charges occasioned by the War and the Calamities which accompanied it, have been greater; and that the Debt which is left upon His Majesty, and which He complains of, hath been contracted by the War, and not by the Diversion of the Monies designed for it.

His Majesty hath commanded me to say one . . . more to you upon this Subject; That he did not enter into this War upon any private Inclination or Appetite of His own.

The first Step He made towards it, did arise from your Advice, and the Promises of your Assistance: But, if the Charges and Accidents of the War have outgone all your Supplies, and left Him under the Burden of this Debt, He thinks that as well the Justice to your Promise, as the Duty and Loyalty you have always shewed Him, will oblige you to relieve Him from it; and the rather, when you shall seriously consider, how uneasy this Burden must be unto Him, and what ill Consequences the Continuance under it must draw upon all His Affairs; in which Particular you, and every Person you represent in this Nation, will be concerned as well as Himself.

His Majesty doth therefore command me, in His Name, to desire you once more, and to conjure you by that constant Duty and Loyalty which you have always expressed to Him, and by all the Concernment you have for the Support of the Honour and Safety of His Government, to provide such a Supply for Him at this time, as may bear Proportion to the pressing Occasion that He hath; and to the State of His Affairs at home and abroad; and so speedily, and so effectually, as may answer the Ends for which He has desired it.

His Majesty hath further commanded me to put you in mind of what was, at your last Meeting, proposed to you, concerning an Union between the Two Kingdoms; and to let you know, that the Parliament of Scotland hath since declared to His Majesty, that such Commissioners as His Majesty shall name, shall be authorized, on their Part, to treat with Commissioners for this Kingdom, upon the Grounds and Conditions of the Union.

His Majesty, therefore, thought fit now again to recommend it to you, to take the Matter effectually into your Consideration.

Regulating Juries.

A Bill for regulating Juries was read the First time.

Resolved, &c. That this Bill be read the Second time.

Glamorgan Writ.

Ordered, That Mr. Speaker do certify the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, of the Removal of William Lord Herbert, called up to the House of Peers; who lately served as a Knight of the Shire for the County of Glamorgan; desiring him, that a Writ may issue forth under the Great Seal, for a new Election of a Member to serve in this present Parliament, in his place and stead.

Ludlow Writ.

Ordered, That Mr. Speaker do certify the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, of the Removal of Mr. Serjeant Littleton, called up as an Assistant to the House of Lords; who lately served as a Member for the Borough of Ludlow in the County of Salop; desiring him, that a Writ may issue forth under the Great Seal, for the new Election of a Member to serve in this present Parliament, in his place and stead.

Evesham Writ.

Ordered, That Mr. Speaker do certify the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, of the Death of William Sandys Esquire, who lately served as a Member of this House for the Borough of Evesham in the County of Worcester; desiring him, that a Writ may issue forth under the Great Seal, for a new Election of a Member to serve in this present Parliament, in his place and stead.

Seaforth Writ.

Ordered, That Mr. Speaker do certify the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England of the Death of Sir Thomas Dyke Knight, who lately served as a Member of this House, as a Baron for the Cinque Port of Seaford in the County of Sussex; desiring him, that a Writ may issue forth under the Great Seal, for a new Election of a Member to serve in this present Parliament, in his place and stead.

Committee of Privileges.

Ordered, That a Committee of Privileges and Elections be appointed of the Members following; viz. Lord Richardson, Mr. Newport, Mr. Barnaby, Sir Jo. Talbott, Sir Jo. Moreton, Sir Thom. Carey, Col. Reames, Sir Robert Barnham, Mr. Daniell, Sir Jonath. Trelainey, Mr. King, Mr. Prideaux, Mr. Trelawny, Sir Jo. Dawny, Sir John Birkenhead, Sir Solom. Swale, Sir Will. Lowther, Col. Titus, Col. Legg, Sir Nich. Cary, Lord Fanshaw, Sir Jo. Fitz James, Sir Antho. Irby, Sir Job Charlton, Sir Thom. Allen, Sir Robert Howard, Sir Rich. Edgcombe, Sir Jo. Duncombe, Sir Will. Doyley, Sir Will. Fleetwood, Mr. Montague, Sir Jo. Covett, Lord Cornbury, Sir Thom. Meres, Sir Thom. Gower, Mr. Attorney Mountague, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Humfry Wynch, Mr. Pleydall, Sir Walter Young, Lord Fitzharding, Sir Jo. Robinson, Sir Hen. Yelverton, Mr. Thom. Morris, Sir Fran. Vincent, Major General Egerton, Sir Fretchvile Hollis, Mr. Garraway, Sir Robert Carr, Sir Wm. Lewis, Col. Phillipps, Mr. Cheyne, Dr. Burwell, Mr. Milward, Sir Robert Atkins, Sir Clifford Clifton, Mr. Churchill, Sir Hen. Capell, Sir Wm. Coventry, Colonel Bishop, Col. Sandys, Sir Herbert Price, Sir Jo. Heath, Mr. Morrice, Mr. Whorwood, Lord St. John, Sir Jo. Kyrle, Sir Phill. Howard, Mr. Tregonnell, Mr. Finch, Sir Jo. Brampston, Mr. Law. Hyde, Sir Jo. Stroud, Mr. Bartu, Mr. Hambden, Mr. Secretary Trevor, Sir Norton Knatchbold, Mr. Henly, Mr. Serjeant Jones, Mr. Treasurer, Sir Wm. Steward, Sir Thom. Tomkins, Lord Ancram, Sir Fran. Lawley, Sir Edm. Pye, Sir Jo. Bennett, Sir Gilbert Gerrard, Sir Allen Apsley, Mr. Dalmahoy, Sir Jo. Newton, Sir Thom. Dolman, Col. Kirkby, Col. Stroud, Sir Trevor Williams, Mr. Lovelace, Mr. Wright, Mr. Jones, Mr. Buller, Mr. Grenvil, Mr. Tanner, Sir Ralph Hare, Sir Wm. Terringham, Sir Ralph Bancks, Sir Nicho. Slaning, Col. Sherrard, Sir Rich. Oatley, Sir Fran. Goodrick, Mr. Spry, Sir Charles Sidley, Sir Jo. Nicholas, Mr. Williamson, Sir Thom. Littleton, Mr. Clarke, Sir Jo. Hanmore, Lord Allington, Mr. Pepis, Sir Geoff. Shackerley, Mr. Mainard, Col. Whitley, Sir Jo. Norton, Sir Phill. Warwick, Mr. Johnson, Sir Edw. Poole, Sir Eliab Harvey, Mr. Robarts, Sir Richard Wiseman, Sir Wm. Portman, Mr. Waller, Sir Thom. Smith, Sir Wm. Wyndham, Sir Fra. Clarke, Sir Thom. Hanmore, Sir Thom. Strickland, Sir Will. Hickman, Sir Roger Bradshaigh, Mr. Serjeant Maynard, Sir Cha. Wheeler, Mr. Serjeant Peckham, Mr. Wrenn, Col. Gray, Sir Edm. Pooley, Mr. Vaughan, Sir Hen. Newton, Sir Anth. Cope, Sir Jo. Rouse, Sir Wil. Peyton, Sir Will. Smith, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Spencer, Mr. Thomas, Col. Gilby, Mr. Morgan, Sir Henry Coventry, Mr. Crook, Lord Cavendish, Sir Jo. Shaw, Sir Edw. Hales, Sir Thom. Lee, Col. Birch, Sir Wm. Thompson, Lord Hawley, Sir Wm. Morley, Sir Jo. Steward, Sir Edw. Bish, Sir Tho. Ingram, Mr. Boscawen, Mr. Garraway, Mr. Rob. Austen, Sir James Smith, Sir Thom. Clargis, Mr. Dodswell, Mr. Hatten, Sir Jo. How, Sir Jo. Coventry, Sir Tho. Woodcock, Mr. Gray, Sir Wm. Courtop, Sir Richard Franklyn, Sir Jo. Coryton, Sir Ceril Wych, Sir Rich. Powle, Mr. Street, Sir Nich. Steward, Sir Edw. Hungerford, Mr. Stanley, Mr. Steward, Mr. Boscawen, Sir Jo. Austin, Mr. Tho. Price, Mr. Ashe, Sir Wm. Basset, Sir Edm. Windham, Mr. James, Colonel Palmer, Mr. Edw. Seymour, Sir Jo. Fagg, Mr. Neale, Mr. Elliot, Sir Tho. Meres, Mr. Ratcliffe, Sir Gilbert Talbott, Sir Frederick Hide, Sir Jo. Stroud, Lord Castleton, Mr. Devereux, Sir Walter Buckland, Sir Allen Broadrick, Sir Jo. Malet, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Edw. Lewis, Sir Joseph Tredenham, Sir Hugh Wyndham, Sir Geo. Hungerford, Mr. Hen. Seymour, Sir Fra. Popham, Mr. Fagg, Mr. Jo. Buller, Sir Rich. Oateley, Mr. Cholmley, Mr. Herbert, Sir Fra. Goodrick, Sir Wm. Heyward, Lord Buckhurst, Mr. Oatway, Sir Wm. Whitmore, Lord Mandevill, Sir Jo. Hotham, Mr. Malet, Sir Robert Paston, Sir Phil. Harcourt, Mr. Hungerford, Lord Rosse, Sir Wm. Terringham, Mr. Darcey.

Resolved, &c. That this Committee do meet every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, in the Exchequer Chamber, at Two of the Clock in the Afternoon; and take into Consideration all such Matters as shall or may come into Question, touching Returns, Elections, and Privileges; and to proceed upon double Returns in the first place; and report their Proceedings to the House: And all Persons that will question double Returns already made, are to do it in Fourteen Days next, and so in Fourteen Days after any new Return shall be brought in: And the Committee hath Power to receive Petitions; and to send for Witnesses, Papers, and Records for their Information; and to make Report of any Matter which may concern Breach of Privilege. And all Members that are returned for Two or more Places, are to make their Elections by this Day Three Weeks, for which of the Places they will serve; provided there be no Question upon the Return for that Place. And, if any thing shall come in Question touching the Return or Matter of Privilege of any Member of this Committee, such Member is to withdraw from the Committee, during the Time the Matter which concerns himself, is in Debate.

Grand Committees

Ordered, That the Grand Committee for Religion do sit every Monday at Two of the Clock in the Afternoon, in the House.

Ordered, That the Grand Committee for Grievances do sit every Wednesday at Two of the Clock in the Afternoon, in the House.

Ordered, That the Grand Committee for Trade do sit ever Friday in the Afternoon, at Two of the Clock, in the House.

Ordered, That the Grand Committee for Courts of Justice do sit every Saturday in the House, at Two of the Clock in the Afternoon.

The King's Speechto be considered.

The Question being propounded, That his Majesty's Speech be taken into Consideration on Monday next;

And the Question being put, That this Question be now put;

The House divided.

The Noes went out.

Tellers,

And so it passed in the Negative.

The Question being put, That the King's Speech be taken into Consideration on Thursday next;

It was resolved in the Affirmative.

Publick Accounts.

Ordered, That the Commissioners of Accompts be desired to attend the House on Thursday Morning next: And if they have any new Matter, to offer it to the House.

And then the House adjourned till Thursday Morning next, Eight of the Clock.