To the arguments urged by others, he replied,[a] that
the parliament according to law determined by the death of Charles I.; that
the present house could justify its sitting on no other ground but that of
necessity, which did not apply to the House of Lords; and that it was in
vain to expect the submission of the army to a parliament called by royal
authority. The military had, with reluctance, consented to the restoration
of
[Footnote 1: Journals, passim.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1660. March 3.]
the secluded members; and to ask more of them at present was to hazard all
the advantages which had hitherto been obtained.[1]
Encouraged by the downfall of the republicans, the royalists throughout
the country expressed their sentiments without restraint. In some places
Charles was proclaimed by the populace; several ministers openly prayed
for him in the churches: the common council, in their address, declared
themselves not averse to his restoration; and the house itself was induced
to repeal[a] the celebrated engagement in favour of a commonwealth, without
a single person or a house of peers, and to embody under trusty officers
the militia of the city and the counties, as a counterpoise to the
republican interest in the army.
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