THE King's Majesties LETTER TO His PARLIAMENT OF SCOTLAND, Met at Edinburgh, 28 of July, 1670. WITH His Grace the Lord Commissioners SPEECH To the said PARLIAMENT. Published by His Majesties Command.
In the SAVOY, Printed by Tho: Newcomb, 1670.
THE Kings Majesties LETTER TO His Parliament of SCOTLAND, Met at Edinburgh, 28 of July, 1670.
THE manifold Experience We have of your Loyalty and dutiful Affection to Our Person and Service, especially in your late Session, invites Ʋs on all occasions to signify to you, how sensible We are thereof. It is Our constant study to do it by Acts of Our Royal Care of the Concerns of that Our ancient Kingdom, the Peace and Welfare whereof are very dear to Ʋs. At present, We know not how to express both better, then by acquainting you with the clear confidence We have, of the constant continuance of your ready concurrence in every thing We do design for the Publick Good, whereof you gave Ʋs, in your last Letter of the twenty third of December, renewed Assurances. In pursuance therefore of the Proposal We made to you, at your first Meeting, of a nearer Conjunction of these Our two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, by as strict an Ʋnion as possible can be attained, We [Page 2]have commanded Our Commissioner to minde you of effectuating all those Particulars you so readily offered, in order to a Treaty for accomplishing the desired Ʋnion, wherein We and Our Houses of Parliament here, not only have freely concurred, but have done every thing else that is thereto requisite, in behalf of this Our Kingdom of England. It remains therefore, that you perform, as they have, what is further to be done by you; And you may be confident, nothing will be Wanting on Our part, that by Gods blessing may render the Treaty effectual. You will find Our Commissioner, to whom you shall give entire Trust, sufficiently instructed by Ʋs in all other matters, that either We could think on, or you can desire, for maintaining the setled Government of Church and State in its Lustre and Security, by making such Laws as may be found yet further necessary for the preservation of Peace and Ʋnion in that Our Kingdom. For effectuating whereof, We know your Zeal to Our Service will lead you to do all that is requisite on your Part, as Our Affection to you and all Our good Subjects there, carries Ʋs to intend nothing with greater Fervour, then what We judge conducible to your common Welfare, wherein We account Our own inseparably concerned. And so We bid you heartily farewel. Given at Our Court at Whitehall, the seventh day of July, one thousand six hundred and seventy, and of Our Reign the twenty two year.
His Majesties COMMISSIONERS SPEECH TO THE PARLIAMENT Of SCOTLAND, Met at Edinburgh, July, 28. 1670.
HIs Majesty hath been Graciously pleased, by His Letter which you have now heard, so fully to renew the expressions of His constant and continued care of this His ancient Kingdom, His confidence of this Parliament, and His sense of the Zeal to His Service, which you manifested in your last Session, that there is little left for me to say at this time. I need not repeat the assurances [Page 6]of His Majesties constant and unalterable Zeal, for maintaining and defending the true Reformed Protestant Religion in this His Kingdom; And that with no less Zeal and Constancy, He will maintain the ancient Government by Archbishops and Bishops, now happily restored and established here: For, in all the exercises of His Royal Authority, he doth daily give full and undenyable testimonies thereof.
At the opening of the first Session of this Parliament, I told you in His Majesties Name, that He would not endure those numerous and unlawful Conventicles that tend to Sedition and Schism, which had been too frequent in some Shires of this Kingdom; and the King did then require you, and all in Authority under Him, vigorously to suppress such Meetings, and to bring the most Guilty to condign punishment. In prosecution of which, the Lords of the Privy Council have done their Duty carefully, though not with that success which they desired: For, His Majesty hath been informed, that this Summer, divers seditious and numerous Conventicles have been kept, even in the open fields, which look liker endeavours to rendezvous for Rebellion, then any pretence of Religious Worship; and that in high contempt of His Majesties Authority, and of this Parliament, which they well knew was so soon to assemble. Yea, such hath been the insolent barbarity of that incorrigible sort of Non-conformists, that in some places, the Houses of Orthodox and Peaceable Ministers have been rob'd, their Persons and Families wounded, and they threatned to be murdered, if they stay at their Churches.
Therefore, His Majesty doth most seriously recommend [Page 7]it to your special care, by good Laws and vigorous prosecution of them, to curb, punish and prevent those seditious Conventicles; to cure the with-drawing of Protestants from their Paroch-Churches and the Ordinances there, which is the occasion of those Conventicles, and cannot be pretended for Conscience, but must be esteemed only out of design, to perpetuate Faction and Schism (seeing the form of Worship here is the same which hath been since the Reformation) As also, to punish exemplarly those barbarous Roberies and Assassinates, committed against honest and peaceable Ministers; and generally to provide what you shall think necessary for continuing the Peace of the Kingdom. The work will be easy, and I doubt not your care in it. The Kingdom generally is Loyal, Peaceable and Dutiful; it is but a small part of it which is tainted with such Principles and Practices; and I am fully instructed to give the Kings Royal Assent to these, or any other good Laws you shall think necessary in this Session.
But, your first work is, to perfect what remains to be done toward the Treaty of the Union. The King did seriously recommend it to you at your first meeting, and you did dutifully declare your hearty concurrence; and in Order thereto, your willingness that Commissioners be appointed for this Kingdom, to treat with such as should be imployed for the Kingdom of England, upon the Grounds and Conditions of the Union, reserving alwayes to the Parliament, the allowing and dis-allowing the same, as they shall judge fit. You did also freely and heartily offer to His Majesty, the nomination of the persons to Treat for this Kingdom, with the appointing [Page 8]the Number, Quorum, Time and Place of their meeting: Since that time, the two Houses of Parliament in England have as heartily concurred, and as freely left the Persons, Quorum, Time and Place to His Majesty; And farther, His Majesty, by and with their Advice and Consent, hath past an Act of Parliament, Authorising the Commissioners for the Realm of England to Treat. The Act it self is in Print: most of you, I think, have seen it; and I am confident, you will cheerfully pass such another Act, which shall be prepared at the Articles against your next meeting: And I assure my self, His Majesty will, out of His Fatherly care of both His Kingdoms, name such Persons as shall be fit for going about so good a Work.