(M800)
"They will never kill me, James, to make you king," the late king is said
to have cynically remarked to his brother; and, indeed, the accession of
the Duke of York was accepted by the nation in general, as well as by the
City of London in particular, with considerable foreboding. The new king
for a short while was content to feel his way before plunging into the
headstrong course of action which eventually lost him the crown. Although
suspected of being a Catholic at heart, it was only during his last
moments that Charles had accepted the ministrations of the Roman Church.
The new king had for years been an avowed Catholic; nevertheless, in his
first speech to the Privy Council he announced his intention of
maintaining the established government, both in Church and State. This
speech, made within an hour of the late king’s death, was received with
rapturous applause. It was quickly followed by a proclamation of his
majesty’s wish that all persons in office at the time of the decease of
the late king should so continue until further notice.(1556) Another
document proclaiming the death of the late king and the devolution of the
crown to the Duke of York was at the same time drawn up by the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, with the assistance of the privy council, the
mayor, aldermen and citizens of London and others.(1557) This document did
not bear the signature of the mayor as that proclaiming James I had done.
(M801)
James had not been many days on the throne before the question of supply
had to be settled. More than one-half of the whole revenue of the crown
was derived from the customs, and these had been settled on Charles for
life only, and could not therefore be exacted by his successor without the
assent of parliament. No parliament had been summoned since the
dissolution of the parliament at Oxford four years since (28 March, 1681).
As time was pressing and some delay must have taken place before a new
parliament could meet, James took the advice of Chief Justice Jeffreys,
and did violence to the constitution by proclaiming (9 Feb.) the
continuation of the payment of customs as a matter of necessity, whilst at
the same time he intimated his intention of speedily calling a
parliament.(1558) The pill thus gilded was swallowed without protest. The
excise duties was another matter and was dealt with differently. The
"additional excise," like the customs, had been given to the late king for
life, but there was a clause in the Act which empowered the Lords of the
Treasury to let them to farm for a term of three years without any
limitation as to their being so long due. A lease was now propounded as
having been made during the late king’s life (the document bearing date
the 5th February, the day preceding his decease), although there was every
reason for supposing it to have been made after his death and to have been
post-dated. The judges were appealed to, and with every desire to curry
favour with the new king, the majority pronounced the document to be good
in law. Thus fortified, James no longer hesitated to issue a proclamation
(16 Feb.) for the continuation of the excise.(1559)
(M802)
A parliament was summoned for the 9th April, but did not meet until the
19th May. In the meantime the king and queen had been crowned at
Westminster on St. George’s day (23 April). The City put in their
customary claim,(1560) but this was at first disallowed "in regard of the
judgment upon the _Quo Warranto_ for seizure of the cities franchise."
Upon appeal being made, however, to the king himself the claim was
allowed, and the mayor, aldermen and citizens were treated with high
honour both in the Abbey and at the banquet in Westminster Hall, the mayor
being presented by the king with the cup of pure gold and cover, weighing
in all upwards of twenty ounces, with which he had served his majesty with
wine.(1561) A few days before the banquet took place Sir Robert Vyner sent
to the mayor to borrow the City’s plate for the occasion. The matter was
laid before the Court of Aldermen and permission was granted the lord
mayor to lend such plate as could be spared.(1562)
(M803)
When parliament met (19 May) the majority in favour of the court party was
enormous. This was in no small measure due to the reformation that had
been forced on other corporate towns besides the city of London. They had
been made to surrender their charters, and the late king had in return
granted them new charters in which Tories alone were named as members of
the corporations. Only one more step was necessary in order to secure the
return of a Tory parliament when the time for fresh elections should
arrive, and that step was taken. The parliamentary franchise in boroughs
was restricted to members of the corporations.(1563) In London the Whigs
were kept down by fear, and the Tory party reigned supreme. The mayor and
half the Court of Aldermen were nominees of the Crown, acting by royal
commission. No Common Council sat, or if it did it was only for the
purpose of enrolling a proclamation by the king or a precept by the mayor.
As the election drew near the king, in order to render the result in his
favour more sure, authorized the Court of Aldermen to grant liveries to
several of the city companies, taking care that such only should be
admitted to the livery as were of "unquestionable loyalty" for the purpose
of voting.(1564) By this means four of the most pronounced Tories in the
city were returned, all of them being aldermen. These were Sir John Moore
and Sir William Pritchard, both of whom had been placed in the mayoralty
chair, one after the other (in 1681 and 1682), by court influence, Sir
Peter Rich, who had served as sheriff with Dudley North in 1682, and Sir
Samuel Dashwood, who filled the same office the following year with Peter
Daniel, both of them, like their immediate predecessors, being nominees of
the Crown. As soon as the House met the Commons unanimously granted the
king the full revenue which had been enjoyed by his brother.(1565)
(M804)
The bent of the king’s mind was quickly discerned in the sentences
pronounced by judges eager to secure his favour. Titus Oates was taken out
of prison and whipt at the cart’s tail from Aldgate to Newgate the day
after parliament met. Two days later he was again whipt from Newgate to
Tyburn, and the punishment was so mercilessly carried out that it nearly
cost him his life. Precautions had to be taken by the mayor to prevent a
display of force by Oates’s partisans, who overturned the pillory on which
he was to stand.(1566) Dangerfield, another professional informer, was
made to undergo a punishment scarcely less severe. He survived the
punishment, but only to die from the effect of a vicious blow dealt him by
a bystander as he was being carried back to gaol from Tyburn.
(M805)
On the other hand Richard Baxter—the most learned and moderate of
Nonconformists—was tried at the Guildhall on a charge of having introduced
into his commentary on the New Testament some seditious remarks respecting
the attitude of the government towards dissenters. The infamous Jeffreys
presided at the trial, and spared neither counsel nor prisoner his
insolent invectives. The whole proceedings were nothing less than a farce,
and the evidence adduced was of such a flimsy character that Baxter
volunteered a remark expressing a doubt whether any jury would convict a
man on it. He was, however, mistaken. The sheriffs, like the mayor, were
but tools of the court party, and the jurymen selected to sit on the trial
did not hesitate to bring in a verdict of guilty. He was fortunate to get
off with no worse sentence than a fine of 500 marks and imprisonment until
it was paid.(1567)
(M806)
There was doubtless a large number of inhabitants of the city who would
gladly have assisted Monmouth—"the champion of the dissenters and extreme
Protestants"—had they been in a position to do so. But as soon as the news
of the duke’s landing in Dorsetshire reached London orders were issued by
the mayor for a strict watch to be kept by night throughout the city, and
for the arrest of all suspicious characters, whilst the duke and his
supporters were proclaimed traitors and rebels. It was forbidden to
circulate the duke’s manifesto in the city, and on the 16th June, or
within five days of his landing, a price of £5,000 was put upon his
head.(1568) After Monmouth’s defeat at Sedgmoor (6 July) he and his
companions sought safety in flight. Monmouth himself fled to the New
Forest, where he was captured in the last stage of poverty, sleeping in a
ditch, and was brought to London. He was lodged in the Tower, where his
wife and three children had already been sent. Thousands of spectators,
who, we are told, "seemed much troubled," went forth to witness his
arrival by water on the evening of the 13th July. Two days later he was
executed on Tower Hill.
(M807)
The utmost cruelty, both military and judicial, was inflicted on
Monmouth’s supporters. Many were hanged by royalist soldiers—"Kirke’s
lambs," as they were called—without form of law. Others were committed for
trial until Jeffreys came to hold his "Bloody Assize," when to the cruelty
of the sentences passed on most of them was added the ribald insolence of
the judge. The opportunity was taken of giving the city of London a
lesson, and Henry Cornish, late alderman and sheriff, was suddenly
arrested. This took place on Tuesday the 13th October. He was kept a close
prisoner, not allowed to see friends or counsel, and deprived of writing
materials. On Saturday he was informed for the first time that he would be
tried on a charge of high treason, and that the trial would commence on
the following Monday (19 Oct.). His attitude before the judges was calm
and dignified. Before pleading not guilty to the charge of having
consented to aid and abet the late Duke of Monmouth and others in their
attempt on the life of the late king (the Rye House Plot), he entered a
protest against the indecent haste with which he had been called upon to
plead and the short time allowed him to prepare his case. He asked for
further time, but this the judges refused.
One of the chief witnesses for the Crown was Goodenough, who had a
personal spite against Cornish for his having objected to him (Goodenough)
serving as under-sheriff in 1680-1, the year when Bethell and Cornish were
sheriffs.(1569) Goodenough had risked his neck in Monmouth’s late
rebellion, but he had succeeded in obtaining a pardon by promises of
valuable information against others. With the king’s pardon in his pocket
he unblushingly declared before the judges that he, as well as Cornish and
some others, had determined upon a general rising in the city at the time
of the Rye House Plot. "We designed," said he, "to divide it (_i.e._, the
city) into twenty parts, and out of each part to raise five hundred men,
if it might be done, to make an insurrection."(1570) The Tower was to be
seized and the guard expelled.
Cornish had been afforded no opportunity for instructing counsel in his
defence. He was therefore obliged to act as his own counsel, with the
result usual in such cases. He rested his main defence upon the
improbability of his having acted as the prosecution endeavoured to make
out. This he so persistently urged that the judges lost patience.
Improbability was not enough, they declared; let him call his witnesses.
When, however, Cornish desired an adjournment in order that he might bring
a witness up from Lancashire, his request was refused. His chief witness
he omitted to call until after the lord chief justice had summed up. This
man was a vintner of the city, named Shephard, at whose house Cornish was
charged with having met and held consultation with Monmouth and the rest
of the conspirators. The bench after some demur assented to the prisoner’s
earnest prayer that Shephard’s evidence might be taken. He showed that he
had been in the habit of having commercial transactions with Cornish and
was at that moment in his debt; that on the occasion in question Cornish
had come to his house, but whether he came to speak with the Duke of
Monmouth or not the witness could not say for certain; that he only
remained a few minutes, and that no paper or declaration (on which so much
stress had been laid) in connection with the conspiracy was read in
Cornish’s presence; that in fact Cornish was not considered at the time as
being in the plot. Such evidence, if not conclusive, ought to have gone
far towards obtaining a verdict of acquittal for the prisoner. This was
not the case, however; the witness was characterised by one of the judges
as "very forward," and when Cornish humbly remonstrated with the treatment
his witness was receiving from the bench he was sharply told to hold his
tongue. The jury after a brief consultation brought in a verdict of
guilty, and Cornish had to submit to the indignity of being tied—like a
dangerous criminal—whilst sentence of death was passed upon him and three
others who had been tried at the same time.
(M808)
The prisoner was allowed but three clear days before he was hanged at the
corner of King Street and Cheapside, within sight of the Guildhall which
he had so often frequented as an alderman of the city, and on which his
head was afterwards placed. He met his end with courage and with many
pious expressions, but to the last maintained his innocence with such
vehemence that his enemies gave out that he had "died in a fit of
fury."(1571) The injustice of his sentence was recognised and his
conviction and attainder was afterwards reversed and annulled by
parliament (22 June, 1689).(1572)
(M809)
Of the three others who had been tried with Cornish, two were reprieved
(one was afterwards executed), but the third, Elizabeth Gaunt, was burnt
at Tyburn the same day that Cornish suffered (23 Oct.) for having
harboured an outlaw named Burton and assisted him to escape beyond the
law. He had been implicated in the Rye House Plot, but with the aid of
Mrs. Gaunt, who lived in the city, had contrived to avoid capture. In
order to save his own skin the wretch did not hesitate to turn king’s
evidence and to sacrifice the life of his benefactress, a woman who is
described as having "spent a great part of her life in acts of charity,
visiting the gaols and looking after the poor." She too died with great
fortitude, arranging with her own hands the straw around her, so as to
burn the more speedily.(1573)
(M810)
Parliament began to be alarmed at the favour shown to Catholics, and this
alarm was increased by a report from France that Louis XIV, with whom
James was known to be closely allied, and on whom he depended, like his
late brother, for pecuniary support, had revoked the Edict of Nantes
granted by Henry IV in favour of his Protestant subjects. The report was
soon confirmed by the appearance of numbers of French Protestants—refugees
from persecution—in England, and more especially in the city of London.
What Louis had done in France James, it was feared, would carry out in
England by means of his standing army commanded by Roman Catholic
officers. Hence the alarm which pervaded not only parliament, but also the
city and the nation at large.
(M811)
Hence too it was that when the Houses, which had been adjourned during the
campaign in the West, met on the 9th November,(1574) they remonstrated
with him for the favour he had shown to Catholics in direct contravention
of the law. Finding himself unable to bend parliament to his will, he
determined to do without one, and accordingly, after a brief session, it
stood prorogued (20 Nov.),(1575) never to meet again during the present
reign.
(M812)
Without a parliament James could act with a free hand. By a piece of
chicanery he managed to get a legal decision acknowledging the dispensing
power of the king.(1576) He established an Ecclesiastical Commission
Court, with the infamous Jeffreys at its head, the first act of which was
to suspend the Bishop of London for upholding the Protestant faith. He
removed the Earl of Clarendon (son of the late Chancellor), who had
recently been appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,(1577) and appointed as
lord deputy the Earl of Tyrconnel, a Roman Catholic of low character, who
had gained an unenviable notoriety as the "lying Dick Talbot." The country
was over-run with Papists from abroad. All the laws against the exercise
of the Roman Catholic religion were set at defiance. There was no
disguise. Mass was publicly celebrated at Whitehall and Roman Catholic
chapels sprang up everywhere, giving rise to no small dissatisfaction and
tumult. The agitation in London was great, but greater in the city, where
men had been less accustomed to the sight of the Romish ceremonial than
those who lived in the neighbourhood of the court. Riots in the city were
of frequent occurrence, more especially on Sundays, when the Roman
Catholics were more in evidence than on week days. A Roman Catholic chapel
had recently been erected by the Elector Palatine in Lime Street. An
ineffectual attempt had been made by the mayor and aldermen to stay the
work. They were summoned to appear before the king and reprimanded. The
work was accordingly allowed to go on and the chapel was opened. On
Sunday, the 18th April (1686), the priests attached to the chapel were
followed by a mob into Cheapside, and matters would have gone hard with
them had not the mayor and aldermen appeared on the scene with a regiment
of trained bands. James again sent for the mayor and told him that if he
could not keep better order in the city he should himself send some
"assistance."(1578) Nevertheless another riot broke out on the following
Sunday. A mob entered a Roman Catholic chapel and carried away a crucifix,
crying out they would have no "wooden gods." A cross was set up on the
parish pump and mock obeisance made to it. The priests were insulted, but
no violence was offered them. When the mayor appeared to quell the tumult
the crowd affected to disbelieve that his lordship was in earnest. "What!
the lord mayor of our city come to preach up popery! too sure, it cannot
be!" When the trained bands were ordered to disperse the crowd they
declared that in conscience they could not hinder them in their
work.(1579)
(M813)
These disturbances were very injurious to the trade of the city, and
caused a considerable fall in the amount of customs paid for merchandise
entering the port of London. A regiment or two of the standing army which
James had formed might any day appear in the city. "I shall not wonder if
the Scotch regiment of guards now quartering at Greenwich be quartered in
Cheapside before this week is out," wrote a contemporary on the 27th
April.(1580) A month later the army was encamped at Hounslow, the king
himself being also there, ready to send "assistance" to the city should
occasion arise.(1581)
(M814)
For a time James had entertained the hope of obtaining favours for the
Catholics with the goodwill of the Church of England, whilst continuing
the persecution of dissenters. Finding this impossible he determined to
make friends of the dissenters, and to include them in a general
declaration of indulgence. Accordingly on the 4th April, 1687, there
appeared a Declaration of Indulgence suspending all laws against Roman
Catholics and dissenters alike.(1582)
(M815)
James would willingly have obtained parliamentary sanction for his
declaration if he could. To this end he again took to tampering with
corporations throughout the country, in the hope of securing thereby a
parliament favourable to his policy of toleration. Six commissioners were
appointed in November to "regulate" all the corporations of England, by
turning out all who were opposed to the abolition of the penal laws and
Test Act and putting in their place those who favoured it.(1583) In London
dispensations were granted to the livery companies relieving their members
from taking the oaths and test, whilst similar dispensations were included
in the royal commissions appointing aldermen. In many of the companies
Tories of a too pronounced character were turned out and their places
taken by dissenters.(1584) Everywhere dissenters were treated with the
greatest consideration. Notwithstanding every effort, however, to capture
the constituencies at the next elections, James found public opinion
against him to be too strong, and all thought of summoning a fresh
parliament had to be abandoned.
(M816)
In the meanwhile addresses flowed in from various parts of the country
thanking the king for his declaration. Presbyterians, Quakers,
Independents, Congregationalists alike sent addresses, but as yet no
address was presented on behalf of the Court of Aldermen—the governing
body of the city, now that the Common Council was in abeyance. That body
had to be largely remodelled before it would consent to present any such
address. On Thursday, the 16th June, the infamous Jeffreys, who had been
rewarded with the seals for his work at the Bloody Assizes, appeared
before the Court of Aldermen and declared his majesty’s pleasure that in
future that court should nominate and recommend to the Crown such persons
as they thought fit to be aldermen as vacancies occurred, and that no one
so nominated should be exempt from service except for insufficiency of
estate, to be declared on oath. Those who were capable of serving and
refused to serve when nominated by the court were to be fined, and the
fines were to be devoted to the use and benefit of the city’s orphans. The
ancient privilege, too, of the mayor drinking to a future sheriff received
the king’s sanction.(1585) Having listened to the lord chancellor’s
message the court resolved to wait upon the king at Windsor on the
following Sunday to thank his majesty "for that and all other his
majesties acts of grace to this court and city."(1586) Both the mayor and
the Court of Aldermen lost no time in exercising their privileges, but
they experienced great difficulty in getting any one to serve sheriff or
alderman. Fines ran up apace, until no less than £8,500 had been paid by
persons desirous at any cost to be discharged from filling either of those
thankless offices. Many of the aldermen either voluntarily resigned their
gowns or were dismissed from the court because they were unwilling to vote
an address of thanks to James for his declaration.(1587)
(M817)
At length the court was sufficiently packed with dissenters to pass an
address to the king (26 July) thanking him for his declaration, and
assuring his majesty of their readiness to stand by him with their lives
and fortunes.(1588) The orphans of the city also voted an address,(1589)
as well they might, seeing the amount of money that the declaration had
been the means of bringing into the orphans’ fund.
(M818) (M819) (M820)
Not every dissenter welcomed the king’s declaration. To many of them it
seemed—what the king intended it to be—only a lever for raising the Roman
Catholics. Baxter, to whom friendly overtures were made by government to
win him over, refused to join in any address of thanks for the
declaration. John Howe declared himself an opponent of the dispensing
power, and Bunyan declined to enter into any negotiations on the matter at
all. William Kiffin, on the other hand, an influential Baptist in the
city, succumbed to the threats, if not to the blandishments, of
James.(1590) In addition to possessing spiritual gifts of no mean order,
Kiffin was also a man of wealth and position in the world of commerce. In
every way he would prove a valuable ally, if only he could be won over.
Against this, however, there was one great impediment: the recollection of
the judicial murder of his two grandsons, Benjamin and William Hewling, by
Jeffreys at the Bloody Assizes. Fondly imagining that the memory of that
foul act could be blotted out and the stricken heart salved by an increase
of wealth or elevation in rank, James sent for him to court, and after
some preliminary remarks touching the royal favour that was being shown to
dissenters, told Kiffin that he had put him down as an alderman in his
"new charter," alluding no doubt to the royal commission of 6th August, in
which Kiffin’s name appears as alderman of Cheap ward in the place of
Samuel Dashwood. On hearing this Kiffin replied, "Sir, I am a very old
man,"—he was seventy years of age when he lost his grandchildren—"I have
withdrawn myself from all kind of business for some years past, and am
incapable of doing any service in such an affair to your majesty or the
city. Besides, sir," the old man continued, with tears running down his
cheeks, and looking the king steadily in the face, "the death of my
grandsons gave a wound to my heart which is still bleeding, and never will
close but in the grave." For a moment the king was abashed, but quickly
recovering himself told Kiffin that he (James) would find "a balsam for
that sore." The old man still held out, until, hearing that legal
proceedings were about to be taken against him, he took counsel’s opinion
as to what was best to be done. He was told that he was running a great
risk by refusing to become an alderman, for the judges, as they then were,
might subject him to a penalty of ten, twenty, or thirty thousand pounds,
"even what they pleased." Under such circumstances he consented to be made
an alderman, rather than bring ruin on himself and family. He, however,
put off the evil day as long as he could, and was not sworn into office
until the 27th October.(1591)
Kiffin expressed himself as pleased with the reception he met with in his
ward, where he was almost a stranger. But much of the business which the
Court of Aldermen was called upon to execute in those days was distasteful
to him. "We had frequently orders from the king" (he writes) "to send to
the several companies to put out great numbers of liverymen out of the
privilege of being liverymen, and others to be put in their rooms; most of
which that were so turned out were Protestants of the Church of England.
There has been a list of seven hundred at a time to be discharged,
although no crime laid to their charge." The royal commission which
appointed him an alderman also created him a justice of the peace and a
member of the Court of Lieutenancy, but to use his own words, "I never
meddled with either of those places, neither in any act of power in that
court [_i.e._, Court of Aldermen] touching causes between man and man, but
only such things as concerned the welfare of the city and good of the
orphans, whose distressed condition called for help, although we were able
to do little towards it." He was not called upon to discharge his
invidious duties for any great length of time; for after being in office
only nine months he obtained his discharge, to his "very great
satisfaction." He continued to live for another thirteen years, dying on
the 29th December, 1701, in his 86th year, and he was buried in Bunhill
Fields—that "God’s acre" which holds the dust of so many of his fellow
non-conformists.
(M821)
In September the king had issued a patent for Sir John Shorter to be lord
mayor for the year ensuing. Shorter was a dissenter—"an Anabaptist, a very
odd ignorant person, a mechanic, I think," wrote Evelyn(1592) of him—and
on that account a clause was inserted in his commission permitting him to
have any preacher he might choose.(1593) His granddaughter was married to
Sir Robert Walpole. He was at one time alderman of Cripplegate ward, but
in December, 1682, he fell foul of Charles II for attending a conventicle
at Pinmakers’ Hall, and the Court of Aldermen received orders to remove
him.(1594) He had recently, however (6 Aug., 1687), been restored to his
aldermanry and to his rank of precedence by commission from James,(1595)
and now, by the same usurped authority, he was to become lord mayor. The
feast of SS. Simon and Jude (28 Oct.) happening this year to fall on a
Friday, the installation of the new lord mayor, as well as the banquet to
which James and the Papal Nuncio had been invited, was postponed until the
following day. The aldermen agreed to defray the cost of the entertainment
out of their own pockets,(1596) each laying down the sum of £50. Kiffin
also sent £50, although he had not yet been sworn a member of the court;
but he afterwards regretted having done so when he learnt that the Pope’s
Nuncio and other priests had been invited as guests.(1597) The day passed
off well. The Goldsmiths’ Company, of which the new lord mayor was a
member, made a particularly brave show. The entire roadway from Charing
Cross to the city had been fresh gravelled that morning, and the king, who
was accompanied by the queen, expressed himself as well pleased with the
entertainment afforded him.(1598)
(M822)
The Dissenters now had matters all their own way. The livery companies had
become so leavened with an influx of new members, whose claim for
admittance rested chiefly on their antagonism to the established Church,
that most of them now sent in addresses to the king thanking him for his
Declaration of Indulgence. The Barber-Surgeons and the Apothecaries had
already done so; so had the Clothworkers, the Mercers and the Glovers.
Their example was now followed by the Cutlers, the Goldsmiths, the
Haberdashers, the Joiners and the Weavers.(1599) The mayor, who kept his
mayoralty at Grocers’ Hall, openly held a conventicle there on Sunday, the
6th November,(1600) whilst he declined to listen to a sermon by the
learned Dr. Stillingfleet in the Guildhall chapel.(1601) More than this,
he would have turned the chapel itself into a conventicle could he have
had his own way.(1602)
(M823)
In the Spring of 1688 James published a second Declaration of Indulgence
varying but slightly from the former one, and ordered it to be read in the
churches of London and Westminster on the 20th and 27th May, and in the
country on the 3rd and 10th June. This was more than the clergy could
stand. A meeting of bishops was held at Lambeth for the purpose of drawing
up a petition to the king praying that the clergy might be excused reading
an illegal document in the midst of public service. This petition was
signed by Sancroft, the primate, and six bishops. Although the Bishop of
London was not among those who signed the petition—he at the time being
under disability—there is reason for believing that Compton had been taken
into counsel by those who drafted it.(1603) On the petition being
presented James pretended the utmost surprise, and insisted that the
presentation of such a petition was "a standard of rebellion." This took
place on Friday preceding the first Sunday (20th May) when the Declaration
was to be read in the London churches. When Sunday arrived people flocked
to the churches to hear what would happen. Only a few of the London clergy
attempted to read the Declaration.(1604) In the country not more than 200
clergy carried out the king’s orders, "and of these some read it the first
Sunday, but changed their minds before the second; others declared in
their sermons that though they obeyed the order they did not approve the
Declaration." One minister in particular told his congregation that though
he was obliged to read it they were not obliged to hear it, and waited
until all had left the church before he commenced reading the hateful
document. In other places the congregation took the initiative and rose to
go as soon as the minister commenced reading it.(1605)
(M824)
What followed is well known. On Friday the 8th June the Archbishop of
Canterbury and the six bishops who had signed the petition were summoned
before the council and asked if they acknowledged their respective
signatures. They were next required to enter into bond for appearance
before the King’s Bench. This they declined to do, and were thereupon
committed to the Tower.(1606) To have carried them through the streets of
the city might have caused a riot; they were therefore conveyed to the
Tower by water, "and all along as they passed the banks of the river were
full of people, who kneeled down and asked their blessing, and with loud
shouts expressed their good wishes for them and their concern in their
preservation."(1607) The enthusiasm of the Londoners did not end here.
They continued to flock to the Tower, filling the small chapel where the
bishops attended service to overflowing in order to gaze upon their
beloved pastors and receive their blessing.(1608) After being kept in
separate confinement, and allowed to meet only at meals and in chapel, for
ten days, the bishops were allowed to come out on bail.
(M825)
On the 29th June they appeared before the King’s Bench on a charge of
publishing a seditious libel. A technical difficulty presented itself at
the outset, but this was got over, and after a trial of some hours the
question of their innocence or guilt was left to a jury drawn, not from
London, but from the county of Middlesex. One of the panel stuck out
against the rest, and wished to bring in a verdict of guilty, but after
being locked up through the night he allowed himself to be persuaded by
his fellow-jurymen, and on the morning of the 30th June a verdict of not
guilty was found. Thereupon "there were such shoutings, so long continued,
and as it were echoed into the city, that all people were struck with
it."(1609) Bonfires were lighted, guns discharged and church bells rung,
not only in London but throughout the kingdom.
(M826)
The beginning of the end was approaching. Already the troops encamped at
Hounslow, on which James placed so much dependence, showed signs of
disaffection. He had hoped that his army would have overawed London,
instead of which the free spirit of London had, as a result of his policy,
entirely captivated his army. So long as the king was in their midst the
troops maintained a respectful demeanour, but as soon as his back was
turned they threw off all restraint, and joined in the general exultation
at the late joyful deliverance to the Church of England.(1610)
(M827)
The birth of a prince (10 June), which had recently taken place, served to
hasten the crisis. Those who were willing to have waited patiently for a
recurrence to the old order of things at the king’s death now saw their
hopes dashed to the ground. The king’s heir and successor, brought up, as
he undoubtedly would be, in the tenets of his father, promised them little
relief. Even before the birth of the prince overtures had been made to
William of Orange to appear in England at the head of an army.
Nevertheless the Court of Aldermen displayed its loyalty by resolving that
the conduits in Cheapside and at the Stocks Market should run with claret
on Thanksgiving-day. The sheriffs were to take the matter in hand, whilst
the sum of £50 was raised by the court to defray the cost, the mayor
contributing £10, each of the sheriffs £5, and the rest of the aldermen
the balance between them.(1611) Later on (29 June) the mayor, aldermen and
sheriffs waited upon the infant prince and kissed his hand. The various
nurses were presented by the Chamberlain with the respectable _douceur_ of
sixty guineas, whilst ten guineas were given to the lord chancellor’s
messenger who brought the news to the city of the prince’s birth.(1612)
(M828)
The day that saw the bishops acquitted a letter was despatched, signed by
Shrewsbury, Danby, Compton (the suspended Bishop of London) and others, to
the Prince of Orange, again inviting him to land in England with an armed
force, and promising to render him every assistance. After some hesitation
William accepted the invitation, and began to make preparations, both
naval and military, for his descent on England. Towards the close of
September news came from Holland of the vast preparations that were being
pushed forward in that country. A fleet of sixty sail was in readiness,
and the prince himself was shortly expected on board. James lost no time
in informing the lord mayor of the state of affairs, and desired that he
and the aldermen would take measures for preserving the city in
peace.(1613) On the 28th he issued a proclamation informing his subjects
of the threatened invasion, and calling upon them to lay aside all
jealousies and to unite in defending the country against the foreign
enemy.(1614)
(M829)
James saw, when it was too late, that he had over-taxed the patience of
his subjects. He was now ready to make any and every concession. As for
the citizens of London, they should have their charter restored.
Accordingly, on Saturday the 6th October Lord Chancellor Jeffreys appeared
before the Court of Aldermen with two separate grants under the great
seal, the one appointing Sir John Chapman to be mayor (in the place of Sir
John Eyles(1615)) up to the feast of SS. Simon and Jude (28 Oct.), with
liberty to the citizens in the meantime to elect one of their own choice
to be mayor for the year ensuing; the other, continuing in office Sir
Samuel Thompson and Sir Humphrey Edwin, then sheriffs, until a new
election of sheriffs should be made by the citizens. The newly-appointed
mayor and the existing sheriffs thereupon went down into the Guildhall,
accompanied by the lord chancellor, who informed the citizens of the
restitution of their liberties.(1616) The mayor and sheriffs having taken
the oaths and subscribed the declaration prescribed by the Corporation
Act, the aldermen returned to their chamber, and such as had been aldermen
at the time of the judgment upon the writ of _Quo Warranto_ and were then
present were forthwith sworn in for the respective wards from which they
had been deposed. The court next proceeded to draw up an address to the
king, in which his majesty was assured that with all duty and faithfulness
they would cheerfully and readily _discharge the trust reposed in them_ to
the utmost hazard of their lives and fortunes.(1617) One cannot help
noticing how studiously different the wording of this address is from
those previously presented. Not a word about defending his majesty’s
person with their lives and fortunes; these are thenceforth to be expended
in guarding their own liberties! When the Court of Aldermen met three days
later (9 Oct.) the common sergeant, the town clerk, the comptroller,
swordbearer, common crier and other officers who had been ousted from
their places under the _Quo Warranto_ were formally re-instated;(1618) and
the same day Chapman issued his precept for a Common Hall to meet on the
11th for the election of sheriffs for the year ensuing.(1619) Several
aldermen who had lost their places in 1683 declined to be re-instated,
among them being Sir Robert Clayton.(1620) Sir George Treby, who had been
recorder at the time of the confiscation of the city’s liberties, also
refused to accept office again; but the Court of Aldermen finding great
difficulty in getting a suitable person to accept the appointment, Treby
was finally induced to change his mind, and before the end of the year he
occupied his old place and continued to occupy it until, in 1692, he was
made chief justice of common pleas.(1621)
The city was still without a Common Council, and it was not until the 26th
November that the Court of Aldermen advised the mayor to issue his precept
for an election of common councilmen to take place on the 28th. The
council so elected was to be but a provisional one until the regular
election should take place on St. Thomas-day (21 Dec.).(1622) On the 1st
December the new Common Council sat for the first time,(1623) none having
met since the 2nd October, 1683.
(M830)
The day that a new Common Council was elected Jeffreys (who was already
packing up to be off) notified that writs were about to be issued for a
new parliament. The House was to meet on the 15th January (1689). James
had purposed summoning a parliament for November (1688), and some of the
writs had been actually sent out, but the Dutch preparations so alarmed
him that the writs were recalled.(1624)
(M831)
In the meantime an extraordinary council had been held at Whitehall (20
Oct.) which the mayor and aldermen of the city had been invited to attend.
The object of the meeting was to dissipate any doubt that had been
entertained as to the infant prince being actually the king’s son. There
had been rumours to the contrary, and as the king was about to enter upon
a dangerous enterprise in person, he declared his intention of settling
the question beyond all doubt before leaving. Some twenty witnesses were
accordingly examined then and there as to the prince’s legitimacy, the
king offering to send for the queen herself if the meeting so wished. This
offer, one need scarcely say, was declined.(1625) The same day
proclamation was made for guarding the sea coast and withdrawing all draft
cattle into the interior.(1626)
(M832)
The feast of SS. Simon and Jude (28 Oct.) falling on Sunday, Sir John
Chapman, who had been re-elected mayor by free choice of the citizens,
proceeded to Westminster by water according to custom on the following
Monday, accompanied by the aldermen, and was sworn before the barons of
the exchequer. He returned to Grocers’ Hall and there entertained the
lords of the council, the judges and many of the nobility. Notwithstanding
the precautions taken against riot during the mayor’s absence from the
city the mob broke out and sacked and burnt a "mass house" in
Bucklersbury. For this disturbance the mayor and sheriffs were called to
account by the king.(1627)
(M833)
On the 5th November the Prince of Orange successfully effected a landing
in Torbay. As soon as the news reached London James again sent for the
mayor and aldermen, ordered them to take care of the city, and, if he
should fall in battle, to proclaim the Prince of Wales successor to the
crown.(1628) William proceeded to march upon London. At Exeter he was well
received, but some little time elapsed before the gentry showed any
disposition to throw in their lot with the prince. On the 17th James set
out with his army to meet the invader, after receiving an assurance from
the mayor and aldermen that they would take care of the city during his
absence.(1629) He reached Salisbury, but soon found himself deserted by
officers and friends. Among the former was Lord Churchill, afterwards
known as the Duke of Marlborough, and the greatest soldier of the age.
Left almost alone, James returned to London, having been absent from the
capital less than ten days. Like his name-sake the Conqueror, William made
no haste to reach London, but advanced by slow marches, putting up at
various gentlemen’s houses on the way. It was agreed that both armies
should remain at a distance of forty miles from London in order to allow
the new parliament to meet in safety.
(M834)
Since the news of the prince’s landing there had been a renewal of the
attacks made on Roman Catholics and their places of worship in London. On
the 11th November the mob broke into St. John’s, Clerkenwell, where rumour
declared there were stored gridirons, spits and other instruments for
torturing Protestants. The troops were called out and one or two of the
rioters killed. It was deemed advisable to close all the Roman Catholic
chapels except the royal chapels and those belonging to foreign
ambassadors.(1630) Another sign of the times was the fact that the sceptre
belonging to the statue of Queen Mary set up in the Royal Exchange had
either accidentally fallen or (as was more probable) had been forcibly
struck out of her hand.(1631) On the 7th December the mayor issued a
precept to the aldermen of each ward for a careful search to be made in
the city for all Papists and suspicious persons. He did this because he
understood that the inhabitants of the city were much alarmed at the great
resort of Papists to the city who were believed to be meditating some
attack upon London.(1632)
(M835)
The negotiations which had been opened with William were only intended by
James to serve the purpose of giving the latter time to place his wife and
child in a place of security before he himself should seek safety in
flight. On the 11th December he attempted to make good his escape. As soon
as it was known that the king had left London a great number of lords,
both spiritual and temporal, came to the Guildhall, as to a place of
security, the better to consult and take measures for the common weal.
Having informed the Court of Aldermen of the king’s flight the lords
retired into the "gallery adjoining to ye councell chamber," and there
drew up a Declaration,(1633) containing in effect their resolution to
assist the Prince of Orange in maintaining the religion, the rights and
the liberties which had been invaded by Jesuitical counsels. This was
communicated to the Court of Aldermen, who thanked the lords for the
favour shown to the Court. As the occasion was an important one it was
deemed advisable to summon forthwith a Common Council, as well as the law
officers of the City, to advise the aldermen as to what was best to be
done.(1634) A Common Council was accordingly held that same day. Being
informed of the state of affairs, the court quickly resolved to follow the
example set by the lords, and themselves to present an address to the
prince.(1635) An address was accordingly prepared, in which, having warmly
acknowledged the prince’s zeal for the Protestant religion and expressed
regret at the king’s measures and his recent flight, the citizens implored
the prince’s protection, promising him at the same time a hearty welcome
whenever he should repair to their city. The lieutenancy of the city
followed suit the same day with another address, in which his highness was
assured that measures had been taken for preserving the city in peace
until his arrival.(1636) The lords, having finished their business in the
city, dined the same evening with the lord mayor at Grocers’ Hall.(1637)
(M836)
On the 17th a letter from the prince was read before the Common Council.
The terms of the letter are not recorded in the City’s archives, but it
probably contained some reference to the peace of the city, for the
council, after preparing an answer to it, forthwith gave orders for the
guards of the trained bands to be increased by three regiments.(1638)
(M837)
The following day (18 Dec.) the prince himself entered London, and the
council, having heard of his arrival, immediately despatched the sheriffs
and the common sergeant to learn when his highness would be pleased to
receive a deputation from the city. It was arranged that the aldermen and
their deputies and one or two members of the council of each ward,
according to the number of its representatives, should form the
deputation.(1639) The lord mayor (Chapman) being indisposed was unable to
attend. He had recently been seized with a fit of apoplexy whilst trying
the terrible Jeffreys, who had been discovered and apprehended in disguise
at Wapping. But Treby, the recorder, was there, and made a speech on the
City’s behalf.(1640)
(M838) (M839)
By this time James, who had been foiled in his first attempt to reach the
coast, and had returned to London, had, with the connivance of the Prince
of Orange, been more successful in a second attempt, and had crossed over
to France, where he spent the remainder of his days. The country was
therefore left without king, parliament or legal system for its
government. In London the Corporation of the city was almost the only
authority that remained unaffected by the king’s abdication; and it is
significant as well of its power as of the respect which that body
commanded that when William was endeavouring to form an authoritative
assembly by summoning all the members who had ever sat in parliament under
Charles II,(1641) he likewise desired that the lord mayor of the city, the
entire Court of Aldermen and fifty representatives of the Common Council
should attend.(1642) This assembly met on the 26th December, and after due
consultation decided to adopt the same procedure as was adopted in 1660
before the return of Charles II. As there was no king there could be no
writs for a parliament, but William could call a Convention, which would
be a parliament in everything but name. A Convention was accordingly
summoned to meet on the 22nd January, 1689. The election of the city
members to serve in the convention was ordered to take place on Wednesday
the 9th January,(1643) when the choice of the citizens fell upon their
former well-tried representatives, Sir Patience Ward, Sir Robert Clayton,
Pilkington (who had regained his liberty in August, 1686)(1644) and Love.
(M840)
In the meantime (8 Jan.) the prince wrote to the civic authorities setting
forth the inadequacy of the revenue to supply three pressing wants. These
were the maintenance of the navy, the partial disbandment of the army and
the furnishing of a force for the speedy relief of the Protestants in
Ireland. He desired the City, therefore, to advance him such a sum as
could be "conveniently spared."(1645) The City was still to keep up its
character as the purse of the nation. The Common Council, having heard the
letter read, at once resolved to assist the prince to the utmost of their
power. A committee was appointed to settle with the revenue officers the
nature of the security, and orders were given for precepts to be sent to
the aldermen to raise subscriptions in the various wards.(1646) Sir Peter
Rich, who had recently been re-instated in the office of city chamberlain
from which he had been ousted, was instructed to pay into the exchequer
all money received on account of the loan, and to strike tallies for the
same in his own name in trust for the use of the several lenders. Ten days
later (18 Jan.) the committee reported the steps taken for the security of
repayment of the money already paid into the exchequer, and the council
recommended that similar steps should be taken with respect to those sums
yet to be paid in. It was at the same time unanimously agreed to ask the
Prince to dinner in the city, and the recorder, the sheriffs and the
common sergeant were instructed to wait on his highness and learn his
pleasure.(1647)
(M841)
On the 22nd January the Convention met. On the 28th the Commons declared
the throne to be vacant, and on the 6th February a vote to similar effect
was passed by the Lords. Some over-zealous inhabitants of the city had in
the meanwhile prepared a petition, which they purposed presenting to the
House of Lords, praying that the crown might be offered to the Prince of
Orange and his consort. The prince ordered the lord mayor to put a stop to
such proceedings, and a precept (200 copies of which were ordered to be
printed) was accordingly issued to this effect.(1648)
(M842)
A Declaration of Rights was drawn up condemning the unconstitutional acts
of James II, and offering to settle the crown on William and Mary and
their children, with remainders over. On the 13th February this offer was
accepted,(1649) and the prince and princess were forthwith proclaimed king
and queen with the usual ceremony. The next day the Common Council
unanimously agreed to wait upon their majesties and congratulate them upon
their accession to the throne.(1650)
(M843)
At the coronation banquet of the king and queen, which took place on the
11th April, the masters of the twelve principal livery companies were for
the first time nominated by the Court of Aldermen to join with the lord
mayor in assisting the chief butler,(1651) and they continued to be so
nominated on like occasions up to the coronation of George IV, when in
consequence of a change of masters taking place between the time of their
nomination and the day of the coronation, the new masters presented a
petition to the Court of Claims praying to have their names inserted in
the place of the former masters whose term of office had expired. This
petition was opposed by the Remembrancer, on behalf of the City, on the
ground that the masters of the livery companies enjoyed no peculiar right
to serve on such occasions, and after some deliberation the commissioners
declined to interfere, inasmuch as the power of nominating the twelve
citizens rested absolutely with the Court of Aldermen.(1652) The lord
mayor and swordbearer were resplendent at the coronation ceremony in new
crimson and damask gowns, whilst the city’s plate—again lent for the
occasion—added lustre to the banquet.(1653)