THE SPEECH OF FRANCIS LOVELACE, Esquire, Recorder of the City of CANTERBURY, To His Majesty, King CHARLES THE SECOND.  
Upon his Arrival to KENT, And coming to CANTERBURY that day he landed, being the 25th day of May, 1660. and in the twelfth year of his Reign over England, etc.  
Printed and Licenc'd according to Order.  
LONDON: Printed by S. Griffin, for Matthew Walbancke at Grays-Inne Gate, 1660.   


C R  DIEV ET MON DROIT HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE  royal blazon or coat of arms  
THE SPEECH OF Francis Lovelace, Esq Recorder of the City of CANTERBURY, to his Majesty King CHARLES the Second, etc.  
smay it please your most Excellent Majesty;  
Your loyal Subjects, the Mayor, aldermans, and Commonalty of this your City of Canterbury, by me present their hearty & sincere gratulations and Thanks to God for your Majesty's happy Arrival to this your Kingdom of England, and in that for your access to this City. This City of Canterbury (though much decayed) was sometimes the Metropolitan City of this Kingdom, and had in it one of the fairest and most resplendent Cathedral Churches, that for its beauty and structure might have been compared to any Church in Europe: It was endowed with great and plentiful Revenues; It was supplied with Grave, Learned, Orthodox Divines; but all are gone and taken from her, and her Fabric ruined and almost demolished, and the City impoverished, wasted, and defaced, and her Gates of late torn from her Walls, and cut in pieces. This your Kingdom of England is, and always was a Monarchy successive by inherent Birthright, governed by Ancient known Laws that have been refined and perfected by the wisest of men in all former Successions of Ages, and proved and approved by continual experience to be good and profitable for this Nation; wherein Kings and Queens, your Majesty's Royal Progenitors, and their Subjects have flourished in peace and plenty: But in these later times, during your Majesty's unhappy Absence, her Laws have been overgrown and choked up with weeds, and her government usurped by bold ambitious self-seeking men, who like Beasts have made a prey of your most Loyal Subjects, and trodden down and trampled our Laws, Liberties, and Properties under foot, and exercised Tyranny, Oppressions, and all manner of Cruelties, Things that our Laws never knew, never owned: And what hath been worse to us, and came nearest our hearts, have too too long debarred us of the enjoyment of your most Sacred Majesty.  
But Magna est veritas & praevalens; Truth though she may be impugned, yet will she of herself ever prevail in the end, & flourish like a Palm Tree. She may for a time be trodden down, but she can never be trodden out. The Laws of England are jura Coronae, jura Regiae and though they have of late been trodden down, they are not trodden out. Your Majesty's just rights hath been prevalent to restore you to your own who like the sun in the Firmament, with those glorious Starts your now Parliament and his Excellency the Lord General Monck, have dispersed and dissipated all those black Clouds, and will cause our Laws again to bud out, spring up, and flourish more than ever. And now most gracious Sovereign that it hath pleased the great God of Heaven & Earth, the King of Kings, out of his great goodness to preserve your Majesty, and out of his infinite Wisdom & providence to restore you to the actual possession of your most undoubted Birthright & Inheritance, & to vouchsafe to us your Subjects this, the greatest blessing this World can afford, to enjoy your Majesty, and to see your face here, which like the Sun arising in the East hath enlightened & enlarged our Hearts with Joy and gladness: May your Ma.tie enjoy all your Rights and prerogatives: May all the people of this Land render to your Majesty all loyalty, faithfulness, love, and allegiance, and may the Sceptre and the sword never departed from your Majesty and your Royal family; that Common peace may once more be settled and stated in all your Kingdoms and Dominions in a calm and quiet order, like harmony in Music where all the strings of an Instrument give several sounds and yet are all in one Tune. This peace, this tranquillity of Order, this harmony of hearts and minds, may they ever be and continue under your Majesty. And may your Majesty long live and reign over us in all Felicity, Health and Tranquillity. These good wishes together with this small present of Gold (their Mite) are all the offerings this poor City is able to present; which bare essays of love and duty, may your Majesty be graciously pleased to honour with acceptance, and in the largeness of your royal breast to conceive and be assured, that this City and her inhabitants do bear a great deal more of loyal duty, faithfulness, love, and affection towards your Majesty in their hearts and minds than they are able to express, or I in words to declare.  
God bless and preserve King CHARLES the Second.