and communicating those copies, as is required, will by your diligent inspection and serious admonitions to your clergy, as occasion shall be offered, be able in due time to return an account of the success in the observation, answerable to his majesty's expectation and pious desires 5 in this his injunction. And so with my prayers to God for a blessing upon your endeavours herein, I commit you to his holy protection, and rest

Your lordship's very loving friend and brother,

His majesty's declaration to all his loving subjects.-From an original in the Bodleian library.

As

CHARLES R.

S it hath pleased Almighty God so wonderfully to restore us to the throne of our ancestors, and our subjects to happy peace and tranquillity without the least bloodshed by the military sword; so having still earnestly 15

His majesty's declaration] The act of uniformity (13 and 14 Charles II. c. 4.) had passed May 19, and was to take effect on the 24th of August following, that day being fixed upon, says bishop Burnet, (although it was manifestly too early,) for the purpose of anticipating the period at which the principal tithes of the year would become due. 20 The act itself was exceedingly stringent, and so earnest were the commons in its favour, that the house of lords vainly endeavoured to introduce more lenient provisions in behalf of schoolmasters, and in respect to the use of the surplice and the sign of the cross. The king was frequently and strongly importuned by the non-conformists to grant 25

wished that both might be secured and maintained with the least effusion possible of the same by the sword of justice, as desiring much rather to cure the ill intentions of the disaffected by our clemency, than to punish the 5 effects by rigour of law: we cannot but express our great grief and trouble, that the unpardonable as well as incurable malignity of some should have carried them anew to such traitorous practices against our person and government, as have necessitated us to make fresh examples by the death of any more of our subjects. But as the publicness of their trial in the ordinary course of law, hath by their conviction sufficiently satisfied the world of the enormity of their crimes, so we have thought fit, at the same time that we are forced to punish, to endeavour, 15 as much as in us lieth, the preventing all occasions of the like for the future by this declaration; wherein our

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them his protection; and partly from the facility of his nature, and partly from other considerations, private as well as public, he was induced to promise them that their prayer should be granted. His 20 intention was to dispense, by his royal supremacy, with the execution of the act for a limited period; but being told that its provisions would nevertheless take effect, and being earnestly entreated to consider the perilous condition of the church, he again yielded, and promised acquiescence in the wishes of his present advisers as readily as he had pre25 viously done in those of their opponents. The measure finally adopted was his declaration of the 26th of December, in which he endeavours to satisfy the non-conformists by assuring them that he would incline the wisdom of parliament to the mitigation of all penal statutes in matters of religion. By this method the king hoped to gain the repu30 tation of openness and generosity, whilst he was at the same time preparing the way for the accomplishment of his own secret projects. He was willing to obtain some further indulgences for the non-conformists, but he intended to make use of the same opportunity in favour of the Romanists. It appears that the presbyterians saw through his stra35 tagem, and would not give him their assistance in the prosecution of it. Burnet, Own Times, vol. i. p. 335. Neal, Purit. vol. iii. p. 111. Clarend. Life, vol. ii. p. 143. Baxter's Life, p. 305. North's Examen, p. 431. Hallam, vol. ii. p. 208. Lingard, vol. vii. p. 421.

principal aim is, to apply proper antidotes to all those venomous insinuations, by which (as we are certainly informed) some of our subjects of inveterate and unalterable ill principles, do daily endeavour to poison the affections of our good people, by misleading their understand- 5 ings, and that principally by four sorts of most false and malicious scandals, which we do look upon as the grounds of those traitorous attempts.

The first, By suggesting unto them, that having attained our ends in reestablishing our regal authority, and gaining the power into our own hands by a specious condescension to a general act of indemnity, we intend nothing less than the observation of it; but on the contrary by degrees to subject the persons and estates of all such who stood in need of that law, to future revenge, and to give them up to the 15 spoil of those, who had lost their fortunes in our service.

Secondly, That upon pretence of plots and practices against us, we intend to introduce a military way of government in this kingdom.

Thirdly, That having made use of such solemn promises from Breda, and in several declarations since, of ease and liberty to tender consciences, instead of performing any part of them, we have added straiter fetters than ever, and new rocks of scandal to the scrupulous, by the act of uniformity.

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Fourthly and lastly, we find it as artificially as maliciously divulged throughout the whole kingdom, That at the same time we deny a fitting liberty to those other sects of our subjects, whose consciences will not allow them to conform to the religion established by law; we are highly 30 indulgent to papists, not only in exempting them from the penalties of the law, but even to such a degree of countenance and encouragement, as may even endanger the protestant religion.

Upon occasion of all which wicked and malicious sug- 35 gestions, although we are confident that the innate loy

alty and good affections of the generality of our people, strengthened by a due sense of the late calamities brought upon them by the same arts, will hinder seeds of so detestable a nature from taking root, and bringing forth the 5 fruits aimed at by the sowers of them: yet we think that in our fatherly care to prevent any misleading of those who are so dear to us, we owe unto them and to ourselves this publication of our steadfast resolutions in all these particulars.

As to the first point, concerning the act of indemnity; certainly there can be no greater evidence that the passing it proceeded from the clemency of our nature, as well as from the present conjuncture of that parliament wherein it was first framed, than that we have been pleased to 15 make it our especial care to have it confirmed by a new act in this, a parliament composed of members so full of affections to our person, and of zeal for the public good, as we could never have cause to apprehend their exacting from us a confirmation of any thing that had been ex20 torted, or had at present been judged by us prejudicial to either: and therefore as we not only consented unto, but most earnestly desired the passing that act at first, and confirming it since, as being no less conformable to our nature, than conducible to a happy settlement; so we do 25 hereby most solemnly renew unto all our subjects concerned in it, this engagement, on the word of a king, That it shall never be in the power of any person or interest whatsoever, to make us decline from the religious observance of it: it having been always a constant profes30 sion of ours, That we do and shall ever think our royal dignity and greatness much more happily and securely founded on our own clemency and our subjects' loves, than in their fears, and our power.

Which most sincere profession of ours may suffice also 35 to expose the wickedness and falsehood of the other

malice concerning the design of introducing a way of government by military power.

It is true, that we should not think we discharged rightly what we owe to the public peace, and to the freedom and security of parliaments, as well as to the 5 safety of our person, if whilst we daily discover such multitudes of distempered minds, and such dangerous practices issuing from them, we should from want of sufficient guards put it in the power of those rebellious spirits to undertake probably at any time, what they have at seve- 10 ral times so madly attempted for the ruin and destruction of us all. Of which certainly, besides the present occasion of new precaution as well as new severity, we suppose all our good subjects need not a livelier nor more moving instance, than what their memories can furnish 15 them with, from the desperate undertaking of Venner, and his crew, which (as mad as it was) we leave to all the world to judge of how dangerous a consequence it might have been, without that little strength remaining of those forces, which (to give our people a testimony of 20 our founding all our security rather in their affections than in any military power) we had so frankly disbanded, and which afterwards, by advice of our council, merely upon motives of the public safety, we consented to increase to that moderate proportion, which was indeed 25 absolutely necessary, and hath since been sufficiently proved to be so, by the security which we owe to them from the late dangerous practices.

But the reasons of such precautions once ceasing, we are very sure that what guards soever may be found 30 necessary for us to continue, as in former times, for the dignity and honour of our crown; the sole strength and security we shall ever confide in shall be the hearts and affections of our subjects, endeared and confirmed to us by our gracious and steady manner of government, 35