CHAPTER IX.
Parliament, which had been adjourned in July, reassembled in November. Charles, on the 20th of that month, attired in crimson velvet, the crown on his head, the sceptre in his hand, sat upon the throne of his fathers, attended by a good number of Earls and Barons, occupying their benches. It was a proud day for the Church of England; for then, the first time after a lapse of twenty years, the Spiritual Fathers, in their scarlet robes, as Peers of the realm, filled their ancient seats; and His Majesty, it seems, came to the House partly in honour of their re-instatement. "My Lords and Gentlemen of the House of Commons," he remarked; "I know the visit I make you this day is not necessary—is not of course—yet, if there were no more in it, it would not be strange that I come to see what you and I have so long desired to see, the Lords, Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons of England met together."
1661.
The greater part of the speech from the Throne related to the crying debts which every day he heard; but before the King ended he said: "Those [things] which concern matters of religion, I confess to you, are too hard for me, and therefore I do commend them to your care and deliberation which can best provide for them."[274] He was no polemic like his grandfather; but he had himself, in the autumn of 1660, undertaken to manage the Church question; a year's experience, however, had taught him a little wisdom, and no wonder that the subject which had been more than Charles V. could manage in Germany, had proved much too hard for Charles II. in England.
The Lord Chancellor delivered a message to the House of Peers on the 19th of December, to the effect that, besides the apprehensions and fears then generally prevalent, His Majesty had received alarming letters from several parts of the kingdom; and also that from intercepted letters, it appeared there were many discontented persons troubling the nation's peace; in consequence of which he sought the assistance of Parliament.[275] The contents of some of these letters we know. The object of informers, and of the people who rifled the post, was to make it appear that Nonconformists were disaffected, that Dissent was treason; and that measures ought to be adopted for the utter extinction of the growing evil. Yet the accusers, in many cases, were forced to acknowledge, that the accused were quiet when let alone. The letters prove that the nation felt dissatisfied,[276] that multitudes murmured against the Government, that Republican officers were unsettled, and that some were watching for a good opportunity to take up arms. A few fanatics entertained rebellious designs; but that Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, or Quakers, either generally or in large numbers, were covering political plots under a veil of religious worship—the point sought to be established—is an unfounded surmise, indeed a pure invention.
PRETENDED PLOTS.
An example of the method employed to criminate innocent persons may be adduced, and it will furnish an illustration of some of the evidence to which Clarendon alluded.
William Kiffin was a rich London merchant, and a famous Baptist preacher. Whilst held in honour by his fellow-citizens for commercial integrity, and by his fellow-religionists for fervent zeal, he was the object of relentless persecution to the party now in the ascendant, and his steps were tracked by informers with lynx-eyed vigilance, and wolfish ferocity. When other methods had failed to bring him within the reach of the law, one of the most abominable schemes which cunning and malignity ever contrived, was adopted with a view to compass his ruin.
A letter was posted at Taunton bearing the signature of Colonel Basset of that town, and directed to one Nathaniel Crabb, Silk-thrower, in London, "residing at his house in Gravel Lane." The letter is preserved in the State Paper Office. It is written in a spirit of fanaticism, expressing a desire for the destruction of the sons and daughters of Belial, and declaring that there were thousands of "dear saints" who were ready to "lay down their lives to do the work of God." "We do desire you," it is said, "to be careful to get into your hands powder and arms; as many as you can between this and Easter, and we will do what we can to perfect the work." The name of Kiffin is introduced, together with the names of Jesse and Griffin, as conspirators in the design. At first sight the letter appears genuine. Nothing is indicated to the contrary in the Calendar of State Papers. When I read it at first, it startled me; yet this letter is a fabrication. An autobiography, written by Kiffin, is at hand to expose the fraud. He was summoned before the Council. The letter was read to him. He replied that he knew nothing of the matters to which it referred; and afterwards, before the Chief Justice, by whom he was examined, he proceeded to show, from certain anachronisms in the document, that it must be a forgery. His Lordship expressed his satisfaction with Kiffin's defence, assuring him that the author of the letter, if discovered, should be punished.[277]
1661.