No. 81.

Letter from Sir John Langham to the Court of Aldermen, declining to resume the Aldermanry from which he had been deposed by Parliament, on the score of ill-health. Dated Crosby House, 18 Sept., 1660.

Remembrancia ix, 8.

My Lord & Gentlemen,

By a copy of a vote of Common Councill held y^e 4^th of September present (w^ch was left at my house) I find my selfe declared to bee an Ald̃ran of London, & invited to y^e execucõn of that place. The knowledge of my vnfitness for y^t imploym^t by reason of my great age of 77 yeares, & those infirmities y^t accompany it, did soon put me upon y^e resolucõn of getting my discharge from it. But y^e death of my eldest sonn's wife & child, did overwhelme me as well as him w^th that greife, w^ch permitted not my goeing abroad untill the last Thursday, when I hoped to have found at Guildhall a full court of Ald̃ren. But those expectacõns failing me, I forbore y^e declaring my Intencõns & desires then. And being this day upon my retreat into the Country for the necessary refreshm^t of my selfe & sonn I thought it my duty to acquaint yo^r Lord^p: & this Court w^th my Condicon & most earnest Request. I have now beene laid aside about 12 yeares; The Rump Parliam^t haveing first imprisoned me in y^e Tower (y^e 24^th of 7^ber 1647), cheifly (as was conceived) to prevent my being chosen Lord Mayor the Michãs following, where I remain'd vntill the 6th of the next June, when I was enlarged w^th out so much as Peticõning. But afterwards to satisfye y^e Ambicõn of some that had a mind to bee in our seats, S^r John Gayre, Ald̃ran Adams, my selfe & Bro^r Bunce, by a resolve of that Remain of a House of Commons that presumed to sitt as a Parliam^t, were disenabled & discharged from being Ald̃ren, & others chosen in our steds. Notw^thstanding w^ch displeasure of those who usurped the Government & my being out of their sight, in y^e Country, y^e Citty retained those kind remembrances of me & my sufferings as to choose me 2^ce one of their Burgesses, in those Convencõns, w^ch wee called then Parliam^ts w^ch as they are argum^ts that I enjoyed their favour, so they are Reasons that I take not ill w^t this Court, or y^e Common Councill complyed in ag^t my Right, out of a feare of those who had made themselves Masters of the Three Kingdomes as well as this Citty: And that sense of my duty w^ch made me accept of serving this Citty (where God hath blest me) when called to it, & continue in that service whilst permitted, would now alsoe command my returne to the executing of my place, as an Ald̃ran, upon that Invitacõn I have rēcd, did not my finding and dayly discovering my disabilityes perswade me that you in Justice ought not to require, what I out of Conscience ought not to accept, ffor, both my age hath a legall excuse from the troubles of Magistracy, & yo^r affaires need that presentness of parts, w^ch a life so much worne out as mine is, cannot afford. I doubt not but I might have obteyned my discharge elswhere, but because yo^r Lord^p & this Court, are those to whome y^e memb^rs of it especially are to betake themselves I thought it unbecoming me so farr to despair of yo^r Justice & ffavour, as to look for it in any other place. Wherefore, I make it my importunate request to your Lord^p & this Hon^ble Court, that I may be discharged, for ever, from being an Ald̃ran, & part of that tyme that yet remaines of my life shall be spent in pray^rs for the happiness & flourishing of this Renowned Citty And when I shall have yo^r dismission into y^t privacy, wherein I may vndisturbedly prepare for the other & better world I am hasting into, I shall not cease to be a fervent Lover of that place, wherein I have received so manyfold mercyes from y^e Divine goodness, nor to bee my Lord and Gentlemen, yo^r affeccõnate ffreind and humble servant.

Crosby House the 18^th Septem^br 1660.