owever, subscribed by
all sorts of people in different parts of the kingdom; and the bishops
drew up a form for the clergy, which was signed by a great majority. The
commons brought in a bill, declaring all men incapable of public trust,
or of sitting in parliament, who would not engage in this association.
At the same time the council issued an order for renewing all the
commissions in England, that those who had not signed it voluntarily
should be dismissed from the service as disaffected persons.

ESTABLISHMENT OF A LAND-BANK.

After these warm demonstrations of loyalty, the commons proceeded upon
ways and means for raising the supplies. A new bank was constituted as
a fund, upon which the sum of two millions five hundred and sixty-four
thousand pounds should be raised; and it was called the land-bank,
because established on land securities. This scheme, said to have been
projected by the famous Dr. Chamberlain, was patronised by the earl of
Sunderland, and managed by Foley and Harley; so that it seemed to bo a
tory plan which Sunderland supported, in order to reconcile himself to
that party. [067] _[See note O, at the end of this Vol.]_ The bank of
England petitioned against this bill, and were heard by their counsel;
but their representations produced no effect, and the bill having passed
through both houses, received the royal assent. On the twenty-seventh
day of April the king closed the session with a short but gracious
speech; and the parliament was prorogued to the sixteenth day of June.

Before this period some of the conspirators had been brought to trial.
The first who suffered was Robert Charnock, one of the two fellows
of Magdalen-college, who, in the reign of James, had renounced the
protestant religion; the next were lieutenant King and Thomas Keys,
which last had been formerly a trumpeter, but of late servant to captain
Porter. They were found guilty of high treason, and executed at Tyburn.
They delivered papers to the sheriff, in which they solemnly declared,
that they had never seen or heard of any commission from king James for
assassinating the prince of Orange; Charnock in particular observed,
that he had received frequent assurances of the king's having rejected
such proposals when they had been offered; and that there was no other
commission but that for levying war in the usual form. Sir John Friend
and sir William Perkins were tried in April. The first, from mean
beginnings, had acquir