THE SPEECH OF Sr Edw. Turnor, Kt. Speaker of the Honourable House of COMMONS, TO THE KING'S Most Excellent MAJESTY, Delivered on Monday the Nineteenth day of May, 1662. at the Prorogation of the Parliament.   royal blazon or coat of arms 
C R  HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE DIEV ET MON DROIT 
LONDON, Printed by D. Maxwell for Henry Twyford, and are to be sold at his Shop in Vine-Court, Middle-Temple. 1662.   

THE SPEECH OF Sr. EDW. TURNOR, Kt Speaker of the Honourable House of Commons, TO THE KING'S most Excellent Majesty.  
Delivered on Monday the Nineteenth day of May 1662. at the Proroguing the PARLIAMENT.  
May it please Your most Excellent Majesty,  
THe glorious body of the Sun doth exhilarate the soul of Man with its light, and fructify the earth by its heat: In like manner, We the Knights, Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament, do with all humility and thankfulness acknowledge, these frequent accessions to Your Royal Presence, do both comfort our hearts, and influence our actions.  
Geographers do tell us, The Land of Egypt is a dry Soil, but made fertile by the overflowing of the River Nilus; and according to the degrees of the Flood, the Inhabitants do prognosticate the fruitfulness of the ensuing year, if it flows to twelve degrees, it presages a good Harvest; if to thirteen, then more plentiful; but if to fourteen degrees, their hopes are raised to an expectation of an abundant increase.  
Great Sir, your return into this Nation in the twelfth year of your Reign, resembles the flowing of the River Nilus in the twelfth Degree; That year was Crowned with the enjoyment of your Royal Person. The last year being the Thirteenth year of your Majesty's Reign, we were made happy in Your Coronation, and by Your Sanction of many good and useful Laws both for the Church and State. And now our River Nilus gins to flow fourteen Degrees, we are by the mercies of God in an humble expectation of a great Jubilee. Our Gracious Queen is now happily landed, who we do hope, and daily pray, may prove a suitable Companion to Your Royal Person, and ere long a Nursing Mother to this Nation.  
If Your Majesty but please to cast Your Eyes upon the Table, and behold the great number of Bills that there present themselves before You, like so many sheafs of Corn bound up and ready to be housed; and will vouchsafe to see how both my hands are filled with no light Presents from Your Loyal Commons; and if Your Royal Majesty, the great Lord of the Harvest, shall vouchsafe to Crown this Day by Your gracious Concessions to our Desires, the world will then see how great a duty Your people cheerfully pay both to Your Royal Person and Your Government, and likewise how great a Zeal Your Majesty hath, by the faithful Advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons Assembled in Parliament, to Settle the Church in her Ancient Glory, and to restore the happy People of this Nation to their ancient Rights and Privileges.  
Some Foreign Writers, that envy the happiness of our Government, injuriously asperse this Nation with a reproachful Saying, That the Crown of England is only maintained by the benevolence of the people, which never is granted, but in exchange of some Royal Prerogative.  
Great Sir,  
We know the strongest Building must fall, if the coupling Pins be pulled out; therefore our care hath been to prepare such Constitutions, that the Prerogative of the Crown, and the Propriety of the People, may like squared Stones in a well-built Arch, each support the other, and grow the closer and stronger for any weight or force that shall be laid upon them.  
We cannot forget the late Disputing Age, wherein most persons took a liberty, and some men made it their delight, to trample upon the Discipline and Government of the Church; the Hedge being trod down, the Foxes and the Wolves did enter, the Swine and other unclean beasts defiled the Temple: at length it was discerned, the Smectymnian Plot did not only bend itself to reform Ceremonies, but sought to erect a popular Authority of Elders, and to root out Episcopal Jurisdiction: In order to this Work, Church-Ornaments were first taken away, than the Means whereby Distinction or ●nequality might be upheld amongst Ecclesiastical Governors; then the forms of Common-Prayer, which, as Members of the public Body of Christ's Church, were enjoined us, were decried as Superstitious, and in lieu thereof, nothing, or worse than nothing, introduced. Your Majesty having already restored the Governors and Government of the Church, the Patrimony and Privileges of our Churchmen, We held it now our duty, for the Reformation of all abuses in the Public Worship of God, Humbly to present unto Your Majesty, a Bill for the Uniformity of Public Prayers, and Administration of Sacraments.  
We hope the God of Order and Unity will conform the hearts of all the people in this Nation, to serve him in this Order and Uniformity.  
Next to the Worship and Service of God, We applied ourselves to the settling our great Concern, the Militia. We have already, according to our duties, and the Laws, declared the Sole right of the Militia to be in Your Majesty: And now with Your Permission, We humbly tender Your Majesty a Bill for the better Regulation and Ordering the standing Forces of this Nation: wherein We have taken care, to make all things so certain, that Your Majesty's Lieutenants and their Deputies, may know what to Command, and all the people learn how to obey.  
And because our late Wounds are yet but green, and possibly before the body Politic be well purged, may incline to break out again, whereby Your Majesty may be forced to draw Your Sword before Your Treasury be supplied with money: We have consented that Your Majesty may raise for the three next ensuing years, one months' Tax in each year, after the rate of 70000 l. per mensem, if necessity shall so require.  
In the next place, according to Your Majesty's Commands, we have surveyed the wasted Revenue of the Crown; and in pursuance of our promises, do humbly propound unto your Majesty a fair addition: We considered that great part of Your Majesty's Revenue is but for life; and both that, and also part of the rest depends upon the Peace, the Trade, and Traffic of the Nation, and therefore may be much impaired by Wars with foreign Nations: This put us upon the search of something that might arise within our own walls, and not be subject to such contingencies: We pitched our thoughts at last upon those places where we enjoy our greatest comforts and securities, our dwelling houses: and considering even that security is secured unto us by Your Majesty's vigilance and care in the Government; We have prepared a Bill, whereby We desire it may be enacted, That all Houses in this Kingdom, which are worth in yearly value above Twenty shillings, and not inhabited by Almesmen, may pay unto Your Majesty, Your Heirs and Successors, two shillings yearly, for every Chimney-hearth in each house for ever.  
When the great Ahithophels' of our latter Age had by force ravished the venerable Laws of this Nation, (uno absurdo dato, sequuntur milia,) then every petty Artist in his way, yea even the very common Beggars had the Confidence to offer violence to their Chastity.  
We have therefore been constrained to prepare several Bills for the Regulation of Trade, our Clothing Trade, our Fishing Trade, our Trade for Stuffs, our Trade for Silks; and for the better maintenance of intercourse in Trade, to reinforce our former Laws for maintaining the Highways, with some Additions for decency and pleasure of Traveller's  
God in his Providence hath determined, That Poor we must have always with us; some are made so by the immediate Hand of God: others by their Loyalty, Duty and Service of Your Royal Person and Your Blessed Father: others by their own wickedness and idleness: We have taken care to relieve the first, to encourage the second, and to reform the last.  
Nor hath the Case of any private person been unwelcome to us; those many Private Bills that lie before Your Majesty do enough confirm this Truth, That where we found it Just and Honourable, We have denied our helping hand to none that prayed it  
And now, Great Sir, after these many Months most painful and faithful Service of Your Majesty and our Countries, we hope we shall have leave to go home, to visit our Relations, to tell our Neighbours, wh●t great things Your Majesty hath done for Us, what great things (absit invidia verbo) we have done for Your Majesty, and what great things God hath done for Us all; and to pray Almighty God for his Mercy to this Nation, in the continuance of Your Majesty's Long and Happy Reign over us.  
FINIS.