His Majesty, for the first time, since he had come to the throne, had
shewn an extraordinary open courage in dealing with the country-party.
(I must confess that my success in France was not wholly without
connection with this. He was so much strengthened in French affairs that
he felt, I suppose, that he could act more strongly at home.)

First, in January, he had dissolved the Parliament that had threatened
the exclusion of the Duke of York, and that would vote him no money till
he would yield. First he prorogued it, though there was a great clamour
in his very presence; and then he dissolved it, coming in so early in
the morning that none suspected his design.

Then he summoned a new Parliament to meet at Oxford: for at Oxford he
knew he would have the support of the city, whereas at London he had
not. That Parliament at Oxford will never be forgotten, I think; for it
was more like an armed camp than a Parliament. Both parties went armed.
My Lord Shaftesbury, in order to rouse the feeling on his side, went
there in a borrowed coach without his liveries, as if he feared arrest
or even death. But His Majesty answered that by himself going with all
his guards about him, as if for the same reason. There were continual
brawls in the city, and duels too. The parties went about like companies
of cats and dogs, snarling and spitting at one another continually; and
so fierce was the feeling that nothing could be done. My Lord
Shaftesbury's creatures were still strong enough to hold their own; and
at last His Majesty did the bravest thing he had ever done. He caused a
sedan-chair to be brought privately to his lodgings, and his crown and
robes to be put in there. Then he went in himself, and away to where the
House of Lords was sitting, and before anyone could utter a word, he
dissolved the Parliament once more, and altogether, and never again
summoned another.