Report to the Right honourable the master of the rolls upon the documents in the archives and public libraries of Venice / by Thomas Duffus Hardy.
- Thomas Duffus Hardy
- Date:
- 1866
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report to the Right honourable the master of the rolls upon the documents in the archives and public libraries of Venice / by Thomas Duffus Hardy. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.
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![his Majesty relied exclusively cm Lord Clarendon, Monk being in repute solely on account of past services, which caused universal reproof; they add that Monk spoke nothing but English, so that they communicated with him through an interpreter. The character of Charles II. is thus summed up by them :— He is extremely courteous ; he habitually extends his offers, we will not say beyond his intentions of performance ; but occasion- ally he does not scruple to pledge himself to things, from which his ministers subsequently dissuade him easily, above all the Chan- cellor, who is intent solely on home affairs. They having freely hinted to us that the state of affairs is not yet very firm, is an extremely remarkable caution which the Signory will ponder maturely. The ambassadors were unable to see the Duchess of York, who was drinking '•' certain waters probably at Tunbridge, but on taking leave of the Duke he said he would keep the King in mind of Candia, and that he, the Duke, was anxious to take the com- mand of a fleet against the infidels, having been a soldier all his life, and averse to domestic idleness, from which he could not escape more satisfactorily than by exercising his post of Lord High Admiral on so just and grand an occasion. The following extract ('21st August 1661) relates to the King- adjourning Parliament on the 30th of July 1661 : — The King did not go in state to adjourn the Parliament until Tuesday last; he gave his assent to the greater part of the Bills presented to him, and made a very judicious and discreet speech. One important Bill in his favour was passed concerning the army and navy (lamilizia) which henceforth are to depend entirely on his Majesty; he is to select the forces and to increase or diminish them at his option, appointing likewise the officers. l<r In the meanwhile, as the monthly allowance of 500,000/. for the civil list and public expenditure, including the cost of the fleet and of the garrisons of Dunkirk and Mardyck, do not correspond with the Treasury payments, which exceed that sum annually by 1,500,000/., and as the Parliament cannot furnish any other funds until its next meeting, they have decreed a voluntary contribution ( Benevolence ) for his Majesty. The sum levied from each of the nobility (members of the House of Peers?) is not to exceed 400/.; the rest (members of the House of Commons?) paying 200/.: and this is being scrupulously [puntualniente] exacted well nigh from everybody. At its last sittings the Lower House proposed prosecuting alj persons who circulate scandalous printed works, many existing ia private houses; the Peers, however, refused the right of search in their abodes, as a breach of privilege ; the Commons chose the search to be general, and the question is yet pending. It chiefly affects the King, to whom some one said in jest that the Parlia- ment was composed of members yet beardless, implying that he should change them: his Majesty, however, who considers the present Parliament quite devoted to him and chooses it to continue sitting, answered no less wittily, that if beardless, he must let C 2](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21021284_0039.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
