The parliament succeeded the long
Cavalier Parliament of 1661–1678/79, which the King had dissolved. Elections were held for a new parliament on various dates in February 1678/79, after which the
Earl of Shaftesbury estimated that of the members of the new
House of Commons one third were friends of
the court, three-fifths favouring the
Opposition, and the rest capable of going either way. On Thursday, 6 March, the Parliament first met, and the King opened the session with a speech to both houses, in which he said: I have done many great Things already... as the
Exclusion of the Popish Lords from their Seats in Parliament; the Execution of several Men, both upon the score of the
Plot, and the Murder of
Sir Edmundbury Godfrey... I have disbanded as much of the
Army as I could get Money to do; and I am ready to disband the rest so soon as you shall reimburse me the Money they have cost me, and will enable me to pay off the Remainder: And above all, I have commanded my
Brother to absent himself from me, because I would not leave malicious Men room to say, I had not removed all Causes which could be pretended to influence me towards Popish Counsels... I have not been wanting in giving Orders for putting all the present Laws in Execution
against Papists; and I am ready to join in the making such farther Laws, as may be necessary for securing the Kingdom against
Popery... I must needs put you in mind how necessary it will be to have a good
Strength at Sea, next Summer, since our Neighbours are making naval Preparations... I will conclude as I begun, with my earnest Desires to have this a Healing Parliament; and I do give you this Assurance that I will with my Life defend both the
Protestant Religion, and the
Laws of
this Kingdom, and I do expect from you to be defended from the Calumny, as well as the Danger of those worst of Men, who endeavour to render me, and my Government, odious to my People. The rest I leave to the
Lord Chancellor.
Lord Chancellor Finch replied. On 25 March, Shaftesbury made a strong speech in the
House of Lords warning of the threat of
Popery and arbitrary government, and denouncing the royal administrations in the
Kingdom of Scotland under
John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, and in the
Kingdom of Ireland under
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde. He also denounced anew the
Earl of Danby. Parliament resumed the pursuit of Danby's
impeachment, showing even more anger against him than its
Cavalier Parliament predecessor had. As the parliament's name implies, its most notable achievement was the passage of the
Habeas Corpus Act 1679. This was part of the struggle led by Shaftesbury to exclude the King's
Roman Catholic brother
James, Duke of York, from the
succession to the throne, as Shaftesbury and his allies believed James would rule England arbitrarily. On 15 May 1679, Shaftesbury's supporters in the
Commons introduced the
Exclusion Bill, which had the specific aim of disbarring the Duke of York from the throne. When it appeared that the bill was likely to pass, Charles used his
prerogative to dissolve Parliament, which was
prorogued on 27 May 1679 and did not meet again before it came to an end on 12 July 1679. On 22 June, in the dying days of the parliament, although some weeks after its final meeting, came the
Battle of Bothwell Bridge, at which troops commanded by the King's illegitimate son
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth defeated a rebellion in Scotland by militant
Presbyterian Covenanters against Lauderdale's rule. Following the battle, Lauderdale was replaced in Scotland by the Duke of York. == See also ==