I Believe there are scarce any of you here, who expected some Moneths since to have seen this great Assembly at this time, in this place, in peace; considering the great and unexpected Change which it hath pleased the all-disposing hand of God to make in the midst of us: I can assure you, that if things had been according to our own fears, and the hopes of our enemies, it had not been thus with us: And therefore it will become both you and me, in the [Page 2] first place as to reverence and adore the great God, possessor of Heaven and Earth, in whose hands our breath is, and whose are all our ways, because of his Judgements; so to acknowledge him in his goodness to these Lands, in that he hath not added sorrow to sorrow, and made the period of His late Highness his life, and that of the Nations peace to have been in one day.

Peace was one of the Blessings of my Fathers Government; a mercy after so long a Civil War, and in the midst of so great Division which that War bred, is not usually afforded by God unto a People in so great a measure.

The Cause of God, and these Nations, which he was ingaged in, met in all the parts of it, as you well know, with many enemies and great opposition; The Ar­chers, privily and openly, sorely grieved him, and shot at him, yet his Bow aboad in strength, and the Arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.

[Page 3] As to himself, He died full of days, spent in great and sore Travail; yet his eyes were not waxed dim, neither was his natural strength abated, as it was said of Moses, He was serviceable even to the last.

As to these Nations, He left them in great Honor abroad, and in full Peace at home: all England, Scotland and Ireland dwelling safely, every man under his Vine, and under his Fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer sheba.

He is gone to Rest, and we are entred into his Labors; and if the Lord hath still a Blessing for these Lands (as I trust he hath) as our Peace hath been lengthned out to this day, so shall we go on to reap the Fruit, and gather the Harvest of what his late Highness hath sown, and laid the foundation of.

For my own part, being by the Pro­vidence of God, and the Disposition of the Law, my Fathers Successor, and bear­ing that Place in the Government that I [Page 4] do, I thought it for the Publique good to call a Parliament of the Three Nati­ons, now united, and conjoyned together into one Commonwealth, under one Go­vernment.

It is agreeable not onely to my Trust, but to my Principles, to govern these Nations by the Advice of my two Houses of Parliament; I finde it asserted in the Humble Petition and Advice which is the Corner-stone of this Building, and that which I shall adhere to) That Par­liaments are the great Councel of the Chief Magistrate, in whose Advice both he and these Nations may be most safe and happy. I can assure you I have that esteem of them: And as I have made it the first Acts of my Go­vernment to call you together, so I shall further let you see the value I have of you, by the Answers that I shall return to the Advice that shall be given me by you, for the good of these Nations.

[Page 5] You are come up from your several Countreys, as the Heads of your Tribes, and with hearts (I perswade my self) to consult together their good: I can say I meet you with the same desires, ha­ving nothing in my design, but the maintenance of the Peace, Laws, Liber­ties, both Civil and Christian, of these Nations; which I shall always make the Measure and Rule of my Govern­ment, and be ready to spend my life for.

We have Summoned you up at this time to let you know the state of our Af­fairs, and to have your Advice in them: And I believe a Parliament was never Summoned upon a more important oc­casion.

It is true, as I have told you, We are, through the goodness of God, at this time in Peace; but it is not thus with us because we have no Enemies: there are enough both within us and without us, who would soon put an end to our [Page 6] Peace, were it in their powers, or should it at any time come into their powers.

It will be becoming your Wisdoms to consider of the securing of our Peace against those, who, we all know, are, and ever will be our implacable Enemies; what the means of doing this are, I shall refer unto you.

This I can assure you, That the Ar­mies of England, Scotland and Ireland, are true and faithful to the Peace and good Interest of these Nations, and it will be found so, and that they are a consisting Body, and useful for any good ends; and if they were not the best Army in the world, you would have heard of incon­veniencies, by reason of the great Arrear of Pay which is now due unto them, whereby some of them are reduced to great necessities: But you shall have a parti [...]ular account of their Arrears, and I doubt not but consideration will be had thereupon, in some speedy and effectual way. And this being matter of Money, [Page 7] I recommend it particularly to the House of Commons.

You have, you know, a War with Spain, carried on by the advice of Par­liament; He is an old enemy, and a potent one, and therefore it will be ne­cessary, both for the honour and safety of these Nations, that that war be vigo­rously prosecuted.

Furthermore, the Constitution of Af­fairs in all our neighbor Countreys, and round about us (as well friends as ene­mies) are very considerable, and calls upon us to be upon our Guard both at Land and Sea, and to be in a posture able to maintain and conserve our own State and Interest.

Great and powerful Fleets are pre­paring to be set forth into these Seas, and considerable Armies of several Na­tions and Kings are now disputing for the Mastery of the Sound with the ad­jacent Islands and Countreys; among which is the Roman Emperor, with [Page 8] other Popish States; I need not tell you of what Consequence these things are to this State.

We have already interposed in these Affairs, in such manner as we found it necessary for the interest of England; and matters are yet in such a condition in those parts, that this State may, with the assistance of God, provide that their differences may not prejudice us.

The other things that are to be said I shall refer to my Lord Keeper Fiennes, and close up what I have to say with onely adding two or three particulars to what I have already said.

And first, I recommend to your care the People of God in these Nations, with their Concernments. The more they are divided among themselves, the greater prudence should be use to cement them.

Secondly, The good and necessary work of Reformation, both in Manners and in the Administration of Justice, that Profaneness may be discountenan­ced [Page 9] and suppressed, and that Righte­ousness and Justice may be executed in the Land.

Thirdly, I recommend unto you the Protestant cause abroad, which seems at this time to be in some danger, having great and powerful Enemies, and very few Friends; and I hope and believe that the old English zeal to that cause is still among us.

Lastly, My Lords, and you Gentle­men of the House of Commons, That you will in all your Debates maintain and conserve Love and Unity among your selves, that therein you may be the patern of the Nation, who have sent you up in Peace, and with their Prayers, that the Spirit of Wisdom and Peace may be among you: and this shall also be my prayer for you; and to this let us all add our utmost endeavors for the making this an happy Parliament.