London and the Kingdom Volume II Part 25

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Besides returning an answer by the hands of the king's messengers, the Common Council appointed sixteen commissioners to wait upon the king at the Hague with the City's formal answer.(1173) By the 28th May the commissioners returned and reported the success of their expedition to the Common Council. They had been very graciously received by Charles, who had conferred knighthood upon those who had not already received that honour.

The court gave them a hearty vote of thanks for the great pains and charges they had been put to.(1174)

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In the meantime Charles had been publicly proclaimed king in the city by the lord mayor (8 May), who, in honour of the occasion, had been specially provided with a new crimson velvet gown, whilst his Swordbearer in attendance was scarcely less gorgeous in a damask gown of the finest "branch."(1175) The Commons of England joining with them, the lord mayor, aldermen and commons of London unanimously acknowledged and proclaimed that by inherent right the crown had devolved upon Charles II immediately on the decease of his father as next heir.(1176)

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On the 25th May Charles landed at Dover, and four days later entered London, being met at St. George's Fields(1177) by the mayor and aldermen.

The City's sword having been offered to the king and returned, Charles conferred the honour of knighthood upon Thomas Aleyne, the lord mayor, and partook of refreshment in the lord mayor's tent, set up for the purpose.

From there to Whitehall the journey was one long triumphal procession through streets strewn with flowers and lined with members of the companies in their handsome liveries. Never was there such a restoration, wrote John Evelyn, since the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity.(1178)

CHAPTER XXVIII.

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On the afternoon of Sat.u.r.day, the 2nd June (1660), the mayor and aldermen, accompanied by the Recorder, waited upon the king to congratulate him on his return and to restore to him Richmond Park, according to a resolution of the Common Council.(1179) Speaking on behalf of the City, the Recorder expressly declared that it was done by way of rest.i.tution and not as a gift. He a.s.sured the king that it was well that the park had been in the City's hands, for they had preserved the wood, vert and game. Not to be outdone in courtesy the king replied that "the city of London were still loading him with their kindness, and that he looked upon the said park to be kept for him, and that he accepted it not as restored, but as freely given unto him by the city, and thanked them for the same."(1180)

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The early days of June were busy days for lord mayor Aleyne, to whose house the citizens flocked in order to signify their acceptance of his majesty's offer of pardon.(1181) On the 5th June the mayor himself and those aldermen who were not barred by the Statute of Indemnity and Oblivion (12 Charles II, c. 11), subscribed a declaration of pardon, whilst members of the Common Council took the oaths of supremacy and allegiance pursuant to the king's orders.(1182) Later on the master and wardens of the livery companies, the presidents of the hospitals, the president and governors of the Irish Society, as well as the governors of the Merchant Adventurers and other trading companies, were called upon to do the like.(1183)

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Sir John Weld, who had been dismissed in 1642 from the office of town clerk(1184) for failing to attend the Common Council, a duty which he was rendered incapable of fulfilling owing to his having been appointed at that time high-sheriff of Shropshire, seized the opportunity of presenting a pet.i.tion to the court of Common Council (5 June) to be re-instated in office. A committee to whom the matter was referred reported to the council that they found that it had been by special command of the late king that Weld had been prevented carrying out his duties, and recommended that he should now be restored. The court, however, seemed loth to re-instate him, and it was not until after the receipt of a letter from secretary Nicholas and a writ of rest.i.tution had been issued that it consented (21 Sept.) to re-admit him to office, and then only by deputy.(1185)

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John Sadler, who held the office of town clerk at the time, was promptly got rid of on a charge of having given judgment in "a late pretended court of justice," and of having signed the death-warrant of Christopher Love, a zealous Presbyterian and minister of the church of St. Lawrence, Jewry, who had been accused of treason in 1651 and beheaded on Tower Hill in the midst of ominous thunderings and clouds of darkness.(1186)

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On the 4th September the king wrote to the City stating that as by the pa.s.sing of the Act of Indemnity many of the aldermen were rendered incapable of continuing in office, it was his wish that their places should be filled by restoring those aldermen who had in times past been removed for their allegiance to him. As many of the latter had submitted to pay fines rather than continue in office against their conscience, he further recommended that these fines should be returned to them.(1187) Pursuant to the king's wishes, the Common Council formally declared "that Sir Thomas Adams, Sir Abraham Reynardson, Sir Thomas Soame, Sir John Langham, Sir James Bunce and Sir Richard Browne are aldermen of this city," and called upon them to take upon themselves the execution of their respective places.(1188)

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One of these, Sir John Langham, then in his seventy-eighth year, wrote from Crosby House to the Court of Aldermen asking to be excused on the score of his advanced age. He had been, he said, laid aside about twelve years since and imprisoned in the Tower by order of parliament(1189) (24 Sept., 1647), chiefly to prevent his being chosen lord mayor, and had been released on the following 6th June without any effort being made on his part. He had afterwards (7 April, 1649) been removed from office with Sir John Gayer, Alderman Adams and "brother" Bunce by resolution of "that remain of a House of Commons that presumed to sit as a parliament," and others had been chosen in their stead.(1190) The Court of Aldermen acceded to the veteran's request(1191)

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At Michaelmas the citizens would again have placed the royalist Reynardson in the mayoralty chair, but he excused himself on the ground of ill-health,(1192) and the gallant Alderman Sir Richard Browne was elected in his stead. A twelvemonth later Reynardson was dead, having pa.s.sed away on the 4th October, 1661.

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In the meantime (5 July) the king and parliament had been entertained at dinner by the City with great magnificence. The day was unfortunately rainy, and Pepys, who seems never to have quite forgotten that he was the son of a tailor, and never put on a new suit of clothes without recording the fact in his diary, remarks that the rain that day "spoiled many a fine suit of clothes." The entertainment on this occasion took place at the Guildhall instead of at the hall of one of the great city companies. The mayor took the opportunity in the course of the dinner to present the king with a "welcome cupp according to the usuall custome," as a token of loyalty and duty. On the following day the members of the Common Council and the masters and wardens of those companies which had advanced money to defray the cost of the entertainment dined together in the hall, when there was "the same musicke as was the day before at the entertainment of his majesty."(1193)

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When the Entertainment Committee waited on his majesty to thank him for his condescension in accepting the City's entertainment and to crave his pardon for whatever had gone amiss, they took the opportunity of satisfying him on certain matters-viz., the repair of St. Paul's and the building a drawbridge on London bridge-about which his majesty desired to be informed. They at the same time reported the City's choice of Sir Richard Browne to be major-general of the City's forces in the place of Monk, recently created Duke of Albemarle, who had been obliged to resign his commission "by reason of the multiplicity of affairs in his majesty's service."(1194)

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On the 14th August a deputation from the Lords and Commons attended a court of Common Council and desired a loan of 100,000 on the security of the poll tax. The court declined to commit itself to any promise. It was much dissatisfied, and more especially with the inequality of the poll tax; it therefore preferred submitting the matter to a committee for investigation before giving an answer.(1195) A committee was then and there nominated to consider the question.

By October matters were so pressing that Charles himself wrote to the City, insisting upon the money being advanced within ten days upon the security of the Act for two months' a.s.sessment about to be levied on the whole kingdom, and out of which he solemnly promised, "on the word of a king," that the loan, both princ.i.p.al and interest, should be repaid before any other disburs.e.m.e.nts were made. The money was wanted for the purpose, he said, of disbanding the army.(1196)

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Notwithstanding this pecuniary difficulty and the existence of certain grievances of which the City complained, more especially the abolition of the Court of Wards,(1197) for which the king was to receive another 100,000 by way of compensation, the good relationship between Charles and the City still continued; so that when a deputation waited on him with a pet.i.tion from the livery companies relative to their Irish estates, the following gracious reply was given:-"That his majesty would perform what his father had promised and more, and that his majesty would deny the city nothing; that his majesty found they dealt honestly with him, and his majesty would deny them nothing."(1198)

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Thus far all had gone well with Charles. Within a month of his first letters from Breda he had recovered his father's throne without shedding one drop of blood. Of his enemies the more powerful were either in prison or had fled the country, whilst others had paid the penalty for their implication in the death of the late king with their own heads. Danger, however, lurked where least expected. A small band of fanatics known by the name of Fifth Monarchy men, who believed in the immediate coming of Christ upon earth to rule the world, were in the habit of holding meetings in Coleman Street. On Sunday, the 6th January, 1661, excited by a harangue uttered by their leader, a wine-cooper named Venner, they broke out, and with arms in their hands hurried to St. Paul's. There they posted sentries, and demanded of pa.s.sers-by whom were they for? Upon one of them replying that he was for King Charles, he was at once shot by the fanatics, who cried out that they were for King Jesus. Luckily the city was at the time in the hands of that staunch soldier Sir Richard Browne.

Upon his appearance on the scene with an armed force the rioters retreated to Highgate, but not before they had killed at least half-a-dozen men.

During the next two days the streets were strongly patrolled; travellers abroad were strictly examined as to the nature of their business before being allowed to pa.s.s on their way, and suspected persons were disarmed and compelled to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy.(1199) Every moment the return of the rioters was expected, but Monday and Tuesday pa.s.sed and none appeared. One of their meeting houses (probably that in Coleman Street) was ordered to be pulled down. At six o'clock on Wednesday morning the inhabitants were aroused by hearing again the cry of the fanatics, "The King Jesus and their heads upon the gates," as they madly attacked the king's life guards. Their whole number, it is said, did not amount to much more than thirty, of whom twenty were killed, whilst Venner and nearly all the rest were made prisoners. When questioned the prisoners one and all refused to make any confession, saying that they would not betray the servants of the Lord Jesus.(1200) Ten days later they expiated their crime on the scaffold, and the lord mayor, having received orders to seize all suspected persons in the city, proceeded to imprison a number of Quakers. These he kept in confinement until the following March, when all fear of further disturbance having pa.s.sed away, they were discharged.(1201)

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The Common Council pa.s.sed a vote of thanks (25 Jan.) to the lord mayor and sheriffs for their vigilant conduct during the outbreak,(1202) and appointed a deputation to wait on his majesty to know his pleasure as to when a day of public thanksgiving should be kept for its timely suppression. It also appointed a committee (28 Jan.) to enquire as to the number killed and the best means of raising money for the relief of their widows and children.(1203)

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Having successfully paid off and disbanded the army,(1204) the king turned his attention to paying off the navy, for which purpose he sent a deputation from the Privy Council to the City (11 March) with a letter asking for a speedy loan of 100,000. The city fathers at once took steps to raise the money in the several wards, and any able inhabitant refusing to subscribe was ordered to be reported to the lord mayor; but three days later the king again wrote saying that, as money was coming in from the country quicker than had been antic.i.p.ated, the loan would not be required.(1205)

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A month had scarcely pa.s.sed before the Duke of Albemarle, the Earl of Manchester, the Earl of Sandwich, Viscount Valentia, Denzill Holles, and Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper appeared before the court of Common Council (9 April) with a letter from the king asking for another loan of 60,000. As the City was anxious to have its rights and liberties ratified and confirmed by a new charter, it did wisely in giving an unanimous a.s.sent to this demand, more especially as the loan was to be made upon parliamentary security.(1206)

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The City had other expenses to meet. The day fixed for the king's coronation (23 April) was drawing near, and preparations had been going on since February.(1207) The sum of 6,000 had already been spent in "preparing ornaments for his majesty's pa.s.sage through the city to his coronation," and 3,000 more was wanted. The money was immediately voted.(1208) On the 1st April the Court of Aldermen nominated twelve citizens to a.s.sist the chief butler on the day of the coronation,(1209) whilst the court of Common Council voted a sum of 1,000 in gold as a gift to be made by the City to the king on that occasion.(1210)

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The old regalia having been dispersed, broken up or lost after the death of Charles I, a commission was given to Sir Robert Vyner, alderman of the city and the king's goldsmith, to make a new set for the coronation of Charles II. This was accordingly done, care being taken to follow the old patterns as far as possible. The new regalia comprised two crowns, three sceptres, an orb, a mace and a quant.i.ty of collars, Georges and garters for the order of St. George. Vyner also supplied the king with plate for new year's gifts and for his majesty's own use, the entire cost amounting to over 30,000.(1211)

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On the day before the ceremony (22 April) Charles set out from the Tower to Whitehall. The procession was one of exceptional splendour as it pa.s.sed through the streets new gravelled for the occasion.(1212) A special gallery was erected in Cheapside for the city aldermen, as well as a triumphal arch.(1213) Pepys, who dearly loved a gala day as affording him an excuse for putting on new finery, was lost in admiration at the sight which presented itself to his eyes as he viewed the procession from the windows of "Mr. Young's, the flagmaker," in Cornhill, and declared it to be "impossible to relate the glory of this day, expressed in the clothes of them that rid and their horses and horse-clothes." The mayor himself was provided with a crimson velvet gown for the occasion.(1214)