The speech of the king to the assembled Parliament was all that could be desired, and went far to secure that general accord so necessary to success. His principles were unaltered. Pardon and protection were again offered to all who, within a certain day, would return to their homes. He pledged himself to secure social harmony through the establishment of civil and religious liberty; to elevate the social condition of the people, and advance the interests of trade and commerce. The address met the approval of both Houses, and, under the best auspices, they entered on their important duty.... With the exception of the following acts, which appear supplementary, the measures introduced into this Parliament were the same as those already noticed: First: An act declaring that all persons should pay tithes only to the clergymen of their own communion. Second: An act repealing the act of settlement, and indemnifying Catholics who had been declared innocent by the Court of Claims. Third: An act of attainder against all persons bearing arms for William, declaring their property, real and personal, forfeited, unless they surrendered before a certain day.[16] Fourth: An act increasing the king's subsidy to £20,000 per month. These acts all received the royal sanction, though the third met with considerable opposition; and the fourth was passed over an earnest protest from the Protestant lords, spiritual and temporal. But the _great_ act, the one which concerned the future welfare of the country, far more than all the others, met with the persistent opposition of the king, though strenuously advocated by the majority; and so the act of Poyning remained unchanged until the days of Grattan and the volunteers of '82.