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<DATE>2014-03-04</DATE>
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<NAME>TCP Staff (Michigan)</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140116.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<BIBNO T="umi">99857689</BIBNO>
<VID>177792</VID>
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<DIV1 TYPE="half title">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>QVEENE ELIZABETHS SPEECH TO HER LAST <HI>PARLIAMENT.</HI></P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="oration">
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<PB REF="2">
<OPENER><DATELINE><DATE>The <HI>30.</HI> of November <HI>1601,</HI></DATE> her Maie&s;tie being &s;et vnder State in the Councell Chamber at Whitehall, the Speaker, ac|companied with Privy Councellours, be|&s;ides Knights and Burge&s;&s;es of the lower Hou&s;e to the number eight-&s;coore, pre|&s;enting them&s;elues at her Maie&s;ties feet, for that &s;o graciou&s;ly and &s;peedily &s;hee had heard and yeelded to her Subiects de&s;ires, and proclaimed the &s;ame in their hearing as followeth.</DATELINE></OPENER>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Mr. <HI>Speaker,</HI></SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>WEE perceiue your comming is to pre&s;ent thankes vnto Vs; Know I accept them with no le&s;&s;e ioy then your loues can haue de&s;ire to offer &s;uch a Pre|&s;ent, and doe more e&s;teeme it then any Trea|&s;ure or Riches, for tho&s;e Wee know how to prize, but Loyaltie, Loue, and Thankes, I ac|count them invaluable; and though God hath ray&s;ed Mee high, yet this I account the glorie of my Crowne, that I haue reigned with your Loues. This makes that I doe not &s;o much reioyce that God hath made Mee to bee a
<PB REF="3">Queene, as to bee a Queene ouer &s;o thankefull a People, and to bee the meane vnder God to con&s;erue you in &s;afety, and pre&s;erue you from danger, yea to bee the In&s;trument to deliuer you from di&s;honour, from &s;hame, and from infamie; to keepe you from out of &s;eruitude, and from &s;lauerie vnder our Enemies, and cruell tyranny, and vilde oppre&s;&s;ion intended again&s;t Vs: for the better with&s;tanding wher|of, Wee take very acceptably your intended helpes, and chiefely in that it manife&s;teth your loues and largene&s;&s;e of heart to your Sove|raigne. Of My &s;elfe I mu&s;t &s;ay this, I neuer was any greedy &s;craping gra&s;per, nor a &s;trict fa&s;t-holding Prince, nor yet a wa&s;ter, My heart was neuer &s;et vpon any worldly goods, but onely for my Subiects good. What you doe be&s;tow on Me, I will not hoard vp, but receiue it to be&s;tow on you againe; yea Mine owne Properties I account yours to bee expended for your good, and your eyes &s;hall &s;ee the be|&s;towing of it for your wellfare.</P>
<P>M^r. <HI>Speaker,</HI> I would wi&s;h you and the re&s;t to &s;tand vp, for I feare I &s;hall yet trouble you with longer &s;peech.</P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Speaker,</HI> you giue me thankes, but I am more to thanke you, and I charge you, thanke them of the Lower-Hou&s;e from Me, for had I not received knowledge from you, I might a fallen into the lap&s;e of an Error, onely for want of true information.</P>
<P>Since I was Queene yet did I neuer put My
<PB REF="3">Pen to any Grant but vpon pretext and &s;em|blance made Me, that it was for the good and availe of my Subiects generally, though a private profit to &s;ome of my ancie<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">t Servants who haue de&s;erved well: But that my Grants &s;hall bee made Grievances to my People, and Oppre&s;&s;ions, to bee priviledged vnder colour of Our Pattents, Our Princely Dignitie &s;hall not &s;uffer it.</P>
<P>When I heard it, I could giue no re&s;t vnto my thoughts vntill I had reformed it, &amp; tho&s;e Varlets, lewd per&s;ons, abu&s;ers of my bountie, &s;hall know I wil not &s;uffer it. And M^r. <HI>Speaker,</HI> tell the Hou&s;e from mee, I take it exceeding gratefull, that the knowledge of the&s;e things are come vnto mee from them. And though among&s;t, them the principall Members are &s;uch as are not touched in private, and there|fore need not &s;peake from any feeling of the griefe, yet We haue heard that other Gentle|men al&s;o of the Hou&s;e, who &s;tand as free, haue &s;poken as freely in it; which giues Vs to know that no re&s;pects or intre&s;ts haue moved them other then the mindes they beare to &s;uffer no diminution of our Honour, and our Subiects loue vnto Vs. The zeale of which affection tending to ea&s;e my People, &amp; knit their hearts vnto vs, I embrace with a Princely care farre aboue all earthly Trea&s;ures. I e&s;teeme my Peoples loue, more then which I de&s;ire not to merit: And God that gaue me here to &s;it, and placed mee ouer you, knowes that I neuer re|&s;pected
<PB REF="4">my &s;elfe, but as your good was con&s;er|ued in mee; yet what dangers, what practi&s;es, and what perills I haue pa&s;&s;ed, &s;ome, if not all of you know: but none of the&s;e things doe mooue mee, or euer made mee feare, but it is God that hath delivered me.</P>
<P>And in my gouerning this Land, I haue euer &s;et the la&s;t Iudgement day before mine eyes, and &s;o to rule, as I &s;hall be Iudged and an&s;wer before a higher Iudge, to who&s;e Iudgement Seat I doe appeale in that neuer thought was cheri&s;hed in my heart that tended not to my Peoples good.</P>
<P>And if my Princely bountie haue beene abu&s;ed, and my Grants turned to the hurt of my People contrary to my will and meaning, or if any in Authoritie vnder mee haue negle|cted, or converted what I haue committed vnto them, I hope God will not lay their culps to my charge.</P>
<P>To be a King, and weare a Crown, is a thing more glorious to them that &s;ee it, then it is plea&s;ant to them that beare it: for my &s;elfe, I neuer was &s;o much inticed with the glorious name of a King, or the royall authoritie of a Queene, as delighted that God hath made me His In&s;trument to maintaine His Truth and Glorie, and to defend this Kingdome from di&s;honour, dammage, tyrannie, and oppre&s;&s;i|on. But &s;hould I a&s;cribe any of the&s;e things vnto my &s;elfe, or my &s;exly weakene&s;&s;e, I were not worthy to liue, and of all mo&s;t vnworthy
<PB REF="4">of the mercies I haue receiued at Gods hands, but to God onely and wholly all is giuen and a&s;cribed.</P>
<P>The cares and trouble of a Crowne I can|not more fitly re&s;emble then to the Drugges of a learned Phy&s;itian, perfumed with &s;ome Aromaticall &s;auour, or to bitter Pils guilded ouer, by which they are made more excepta|ble or le&s;&s;e offen&s;iue, which indeed are bitter and vnplea&s;ant to take; and for my owne part, were it not for Con&s;cience &s;ake to di&s;charge the duetie that God hath layd vpon me, and to maintaine his glorie, and keepe you in &s;afetie, in mine owne di&s;po&s;ition I &s;hould be willing to re&s;igne the place I hold to any other, and glad to be freed of the Glory with the Labors, for it is not my de&s;ire to liue nor to reign lon|ger then my life and reigne &s;hall bee for your good. And though you haue had and may haue many mightier and wi&s;er Princes &s;itting in this Seat, yet you neuer had nor &s;hall haue any that will loue you better.</P>
<P>Thus M^r. <HI>Speaker,</HI> I commend mee to your loyall Loues, and yours to my be&s;t care and your further Councels, &amp; I pray you M^r. <HI>Con|trouller,</HI> &amp; M^r. <HI>Secretary,</HI> and you of my Coun|cell, that before the&s;e Gentlemen depart into their Countreys you bring them all to ki&s;&s;e my Hand.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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