I Am now to inform you of one of the most glorious Pieces of Royal Justice, that perhaps any Age hath afforded. His Majesty hath heard the Cries of his Loyal Subjects, and (in imitation of the Divi­nity) hath been pleased to come down and deliver them. I will no longer either amuse or torture you with Expectation, but shall now at once overwhelm you with the Joyful Tidings: The King hath setled the Debt of the Gold-smiths, and their Creditors, and the Letters Patents are now ennobled under the Great Seal of England.

When this Heroic Act of Justice was lately propos'd by His Majesty in Council, the Noble Lords, and other the Worthies of the Council, assented thereunto, with the most generous Unanimity and Concurrence that ever hath been known, not so much as one contradicting.

And particularly that Noble Lord, who hath the Admi­nistration [Page 4] of the Treasury, hath, upon every occasion, con­tributed to it all the furtherance imaginable.

Neither is it to be forgotten, that One Illustrious Person, who in truth was concern'd to have obstructed this Settle­ment with all his vigour and puissance, (for I should have told you, this Debt is charged upon the Hereditary part of the Excise) was pleas'd notwithstanding to relinquish his own Interest, and the Grandeur of his Person, to that degree, as to become even the very indefatigable Sollicitor therein. I say Sollicitor, for by that very word himself was often pleased to express his Fervour and Zeal for the ac­complishment of this Business. An Action certainly of great Glory! fit indeed to be illustrated with a Beam of the Sun! and to be celebrated with due praise by every good Englishman to the end of the World!

I remember you told me two or three Moneths ago, that this Debt had been then dead and buried five years compleat, and that Miracles were ceas'd, and therefore Men did in vain expect the Resurrection thereof. But you see now it is a Prerogative peculiar to God, and his Vicegerent the King, to restore to Life and Vigour, what, in humane Apprehension, was long since dead and ex­tinct.

Sir, This Glorious Action hath replenish'd all Places here with Exultation! An inexpressible Joy hath here­upon invaded all mens Souls! Upon the breaking this Box of Precious Ointment, the whole Kingdom is fill'd with the Redolency and Sweetness thereof! If I should tell you, that this happy News was received here with the same Transports of Gladness, that those People which inhabit that part of the Globe, where there is a Six moneths continued darkness, do entertain the first Returns of the Sun, I should give you but a very languid and faint re­presentation [Page 5] of the Joy; for indeed, while I labour to disclose so stupendious a passion, I find Nature wanting to me in Metaphors and Similitudes. It shall suffice me then to tell you onely, That the Tears of the Widow are now dried up, the Cries of the Orphan are quieted; that the Aged poor man weeps no longer, unless it be for ex­cessive joy; and that all Mankind here hath conceiv'd an unspeakable Contentment in the Action.

Neither shall you need to wonder, Sir, that all men here whatsoever take themselves to be sharers in this Jubile; for though every individual person, 'tis true, is not immediately concern'd in the Debt, yet I must tell you, Sir, every man is concern'd in the Justice and Generosity of his Prince, though shower'd down upon his Fellow-Subjects. To say nothing, that there be few per­sons in the Kingdom, but will, by this Emanation of His Majesty's Clemency, receive direct and real advan­tage to Themselves, or Relations, in some Capacity or other.

Sir, The Fraternity of Kings are the Subjects of God, as the rest of Mankind are of Kings (whom the Scri­ptures likewise call Gods) And can there be any thing more Divine, than for a Prince thus to handle his Sub­jects with the Passion and Tenderness, with the which he desires the Immortal God should treat his own Royal Person? The great Roman Emperors valu'd themselves more upon their Stile of Fathers of the Countrey, than upon all their other August and Illustrious Attributes, because that Compellation exprest (as they conceiv'd) some Affinity with Divine Honour. If thou art a God, as thou pretendest (said the Scythian Qu. Cur­tius, lib. 7. Ambassadors to the Great Alexander, when he was about to invade their Masters Territories) thou oughtest to be a Bene­factor [Page 6] to poor Mortals, not to commit Rapines upon them, for in doing so, thou wilt be less than a Man. And it was not without Mystery, that God chose the first Governours of His People from the Flocks and the Sheepfolds, that they might be the better instructed to become the indulgent Shepherds and Pastors of Mankind. Nay, we find, that the ve­ry first Question made by the firstSaul. King that God Almighty appointed in the World, was, [Quid est huic populo quod plorat?] What aileth this People that they weep?

Without all peradventure, Sir, the Redress of Grie­vances of this kind, and the obliging of the World with Clemency and Justice, is the very Pinnacle of that Renown, which a Mortal Nature can hope to attain to in this Life. This was the way, Sir, this was the way by which the Hero's of old time consecrated their names to Immortality! by which they ascended the Tri­umphal Chariot of Glory! and were at length ascrib'd into the number of the Deities! And if this be a true Doctrine, (as I think no man will doubt it) how pre­cious and sweet will the memory of his Majesty's Name be to the Present and Future Ages, by reason of this so magnificent an expression of His Grace and Justice to His People.

Sir, You cannot with any reason suppose me herein to play the Parasite or Flatterer, (you well know the aversions of my Nature to all the servile Arts of that kind) the true and substantial Greatness and Glory of this Action will acquit me from all those little Surmises, and Suspicions. For my own part, I cannot but declare to you, and all the World, that if the like Act of Justice had been done by a Prince that Reign'd here a [Page 7] thousand years ago; or by a King that at this time in­habited the farthest parts of the Indies, I could not but have conceiv'd in my mind a singular Deference and Ve­neration for the Action. And withall I must tell you, Sir, That the Envy and Discontents are great, and in no wise to be excused, when the most laudable Actions of a Prince or State, and which ought to give the greatest Satisfaction, are yet taken in ill sense, and not thought worthy of that Applause and Remarque which is due unto them. Especially when it hath also been some­time seen, that the best Governments, yea, and the best Men, are like the choicest precious Stones, wherein the least Flaw or Speck is presently discover'd; when as those that are generally foul and corrupted, are not observ'd with the same Niceness and Curiosity.

Sir, The People of Egypt (they say) do presage the Fertility of the ensuing year, from the gradual In­undations of their River Nilus: I think a man may, with equal reason, prognosticate a great Harvest of Fe­licity to this Nation, from this late fructifying Over­flow of his Majesty's Justice. I pretend not to foretel Futurities; but, in so plain a case, I think, a very weak person may undertake to be a Prophet: You will give me leave then to instance in two or three particulars which come first to my mind.

In the first place then, this Action will, in all pro­bability, conduce to the Sedation and Quieting of mens minds, when they shall observe His Majesty's so singular Regard and Tenderness to His Subjects Property (a word which hath been always Precious and Sacred in this Na­tion, and I doubt not will for ever so continue) that so Vast and Immense a Debt, a Debt, humanely speak­ing, long ago dead and buried; that a Debt of this [Page 8] nature, I say, should be thus honourably reviv'd, and secur'd, and yet with such Difficulties too, and Hare Shifts to the Crown (as His Majesty was lately pleas'd to express himself in an Audience of the whole King­dom) This, this, Sir, is a matter not altogether to be neglected, and (as my Lord Chancellor then also said) None but a Just and Generous Prince would ever have un­dergone it.

I rememberIn Prafa­tione ad Vi­tam Jul. A­gricolae. Tacitus doth tell us (not without some Ostentation) that his Divus Nerva and Divus Trajanus (two excellent Emperours it must be con­fest) had the knack of rightly mixing and tempering [Principatum & Libertatem] Sovereignty and Liberty, two things (he adds) which before those times did not often keep company together. Our King hath, in this Action, discover'd himself a great Master in the same Art, and therefore deserves equal Glory with them. And his Majesty seems to have acted here­in according to that Great Saying of His Royal Grand­father King James, (which my Lord Chancellor Advance­ment of Learning, lib. 7. cap. 2. Ba­con could not be persuaded, but that King spake by nothing less than a Divine Inspiration) viz. That Kings should rule by the Laws of their Kingdoms, as God did by the Laws of Nature; and ought as rarely to put in use their Prerogative, which transcends Laws, as we see God put in Ʋse his power of working Mi­racles.

Secondly, This Action will undoubtedly have a sweet Influence upon the Nation in point of Trade, Commerce, and indeed all Negotiations and Business of what nature soever. I have observ'd to you hereto­fore, That Money is the Bloud of the Body Politick, and that if the Circulation thereof he stopt in one Member, that [Page 9] Blood can never be transmitted to the Neighbouring Veins, and thereupon not only that part, but the whole Body, in fine, becomes fev'rish and distemper'd. But this Gratious Act of His Majesty hath remov'd the Obstruction, open'd again the Passages and Current of the Blood, and thereupon the Body will be re­stor'd to its pristine Health and Vigor. To say no­thing, that as the Sea will now feed the Rivers and little Brooks, so these again will, in good measure, disburthen themselves into the Sea in matter of Par­liamentary Taxes, Customs, Imposts, and other Re­turns of that Nature; the Advantage being recipro­cal both to King and People.

Lastly, (and which perhaps will be more conside­rable than all the rest, in the opinion of all good Englishmen) The Sacred Honour and Declarations of the King, the Common Faith, and Laws of the Na­tion (which were indeed the Hostages and Gua­ranty for this Debt, and ought to be as immove­able as the Centre of the Earth) will be hereby preserv'd Chaste and Inviolate. States and Communi­ties, Sir, are supported by Fame and Reputation, as well as Individuals, and single Bodies. And the honourable Performances of publick Sanctions, are the Arteries and Ligaments which hold together a Body Politick, which may not be cut assunder, or loosed without a manifest Peril to the Whole. This Royal Balsome, Sir, hath now perfectly heal'd up the Wound, and a new and more vigorous Phoenix of Credit and Reputation will arise again, as it were, out of its own Ashes.

Sir, After the time of that excellent Prince Tra­jan, there was, amongst the Romans, under every re­nowned [Page 10] Emperor, a form of Acclamation of this kind, Long may'st thou live, Antonius! Long may'st thou reign, Theodosius! happier than Augustus, better than Trajan! I am sure we of England may, with much more reason, proclaim, Long may'st Thou live, CHARLES THE SECOND! the grand Ex­emplar of Clemency to all the Potentates of the Earth! Long may'st Thou Reign here in Happiness and Glory! and make a slow, though sure, Return to Heaven! And let this Illustrious and Immortal Act of Thy Justice, fill the mouth of Fame, and be resounded with loud Ap­plause throughout the whole Ʋniverse, as long as the Sun and Moon endure! So prayeth,