The humble address of the House of Commons presented to His Majesty upon Tuesday the 21th. day of December 1680. In answer to His Majesties gracious speech to both houses of Parliament upon the 15th. day of the same December.
1680rif. 31090London: John Wright & Richard Chiswell 1680. Folio 27.1 cm 10.75". 4 13343 1 pp. with England & Wales. Sovereign 16601685: Charles II. His Majesties declaration to all his loving subjects touching the causes & reasons that moved him to dissolve the two last parliaments. London: Pr. by the assigns of John Bill Thomas Newcomb & Henry Hills 1681. Folio. 10 2 pp. First editions of two significant documents one from Parliament and one from Charles II regarding the furor over the Exclusion Bill. In the first work the tone is indeed almost aggressively humble as per the title but the position is utterly unyielding: The Catholic Duke of York will not be accepted in the line of succession as Charles II's life will allegedly be in constant deadly danger as long as there is any possibility of "a Popish Successor" p. 135. In response to the "Humble Address" Charles dismissed the Parliament and called another which also refused to do his bidding after which he issued the second piece here an attempt at justification which invokes the Fitzharris treason case. Provenance: These two copies were joined together by a contemporary reader who marked the recto of the printing permission of the first piece with "The Address" and the verso of the permission of the second piece that is that piece's final page with "The King's Declaration. This read in ye Parochial Church of Thrandeston May ye first Anno Domini 1681. Tho. Mael." Mael served as rector of Thrandeston from 1670 until his death in 1709. Humble Address: ESTC R228475; Nelson & Seccombe 647.49B. Declaration: Wing rev. ed. C3000; ESTC R13996. Disbound from a nonce volume. Pages slightly age-toned with scattered light spots; inscriptions as above. => A nice pairing from the library of a clergyman who presumably had a strong interest in the outcome of the struggle. John Wright & Richard Chiswell unknown books
