lfi

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

cnAP. and he promised to imitate the singular lenity which had dis-~7ntr tinguished the late reign. He was aware, he said, that hehad been accused of a fondness for arbitrary power. But thatwas not the only falsehood which had been told of him. Hewas resolved to maintain the established government both inChurch and State. The Church of England he knew to beeminently loyal. It should therefore always be his care tosupport and defend her. The laws of England, he also knew,were sufficient to make him as great a King as he could wish tobe. He would not relinquish his own rights; but he wouldrespect the rights of others. He had formerly risked his lifein defence of his country, and he would still go as far as anyman in support of her just liberties.

This speech was not, like modern speeches on similaroccasions, carefully prepared by the advisers of the sovereign.It was the extemporaneous expression of the new King’sfeelings at a moment of great excitement. The members ofthe Council broke forth into clamours of delight and grati-tude. The Lord President, Rochester, in the name of hisbrethren, expressed a hope that His Majesty’s most welcomedeclaration would be made public. The Solicitor General,Heneage Finch, offered to act as clerk. He was a zealouschurchman, and, as such, was naturally desirous that thereshould be some permanent record of the gracious promiseswhich had just been uttered. “Those promises,” he said,“have made so deep an impression on me thatl can repeat themword for word.” He soon produced his report. James read it,approved of it, and ordered it to be published. At a later periodhe said that he had taken this step without due consideration,that his unpremeditated expressions touching the Church ofEngland were too strong, and that Finch had, with a dexteritywhich at the time escaped notice, made them still stronger.*

* London Gazette, Feb. 9.168$; Clarke’s Life of James the Second,ii. 3.; Barillon, Feb. -fc-, Evelyn’s Diary, Feb. 6.