THE SPEECH OF Sr. EDWARD TURNER Kt. Speaker of the honourable House of Commons, to the KING'S most excellent Majesty, delivered on Friday the twentieth day of December, 1661.  
 regnal crown LONDON, Printed for JOHN WILLIAMS at the sign of the Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1661.   

May it please your most excellent Majesty,  
THe last time the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament had the honour to wait upon you in this place, your Majesty was graciously pleased to congratulate with them for the glorious meeting of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons of England, in this your full, free, and legal Parliament.  
Great Sir, it is our present comfort, and will be our future glory, that God hath made us instrumental for the repairs of those breaches, which the worst of times had made upon the best of Governments. The late great Eclipse in our Horizon, occasioned by the interposition of the earth, is now vanished; the stars in our Firmament are now full of light; the light of our Moon is become like the light of the Sun; and the light of our Sun is sevenfold.  
A man that sees the River of Thames at a high water, & observes how much it sinks in a few hours, would think it running quite away, but by the secret providence of God, we see that when the ebb is at the lowest, the tide of a rising water is nearest the return.  
Your Majesty was likewise graciously pleased to speak something to us on Your own behalf; and did vouchsafe to say you would ask something for yourself; withal, declaring some uneasiness in your condition, by reason of some crying debts which daily called for satisfaction.  
Great Sir, I am not able to express, at the hearing of those words, with what a Sympathy the whole body of the Parliament was presently affected; The circulation of the blood, of which our late naturalists do tell us, was never so sensibly demonstrated, as by this experiment; before your Majesty's words were all fallen from your lips, you might have seen us blush; all our blood came into our faces, from thence it hasted down without obstruction to every part of the body, and after a due consulting of the several parts, it was found necessary to breathe a vein.  
We cannot forget how much our Treasure hath been exhausted, but we remember also, 'twas by Usurping and Tyrannical powers; and therefore we are easily persuaded to be at some more expense to keep them out.  
The Merchant tells us, 'tis good policy in a troubled Sea to lose some part of our Cargoe, thereby to save the rest.  
With Your Majesty's leave, we have been bold to look into the present state of affairs, and find those great sums that have been heretofore advanced upon us, were raised most of them in bad Times, and for ill purposes, to keep Your Majesty out of this Your Native Kingdom: And when Your Majesty returned home from Your long banishment, you found the Naval Storehouse unfurnished, which will not easily be supplied: The unsettled humours, and unquiet Spirits that are yet amongst us, do necessitate a Costly Guard for your Royal Person: The honourable Accessions of Dunkirk, Tangier and Jamaica do at present require a great supply; but we have reason to believe, in time to come, will repay this Nation their Principal with good Interest.  
Your Majesty hath sent a Royal Fleet upon an happy Errand, to bring your Royal Consort hither; and is there any English man will stick to pay the wages of those Mariners, whose ships do bring so good a Freight?  
Upon all these Considerations your Loyal COMMONS were in pain until, like prudent and good Husbands, they had redeemed the Nation from all its public Debts. And that your Majesty may at once have a full measure of their Duty and Affection to yourself: And that your Neighbours abroad, as well as the discontented Commonwealthsmen, with all their complicated Interests here at home, may see the happy correspondence that is between our Head and all the Members of this Body Politic: We have cheerfully and unanimously given your Majesty 1260000 l. which Sum we desire may be levied in 18 months, by six quarterly Payments, after the rate of 70000 l. per mensem, to begin the five and twentieth of this present December. In order whereunto we humbly pray your Majesty's Royal Assent unto this Bill.   

I Do appoint JOHN WILLIAMS to Print my SPEECH, and that none else presume to Print it without my Order.  
ED. TURNER.  
FINIS.