T > *? AIIFO/?^ i^f ^v_ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES 51 /'~ /- ^ -? it ~r> ~ who was designed] who schoolmaster,] MS. adds : was then but thirteen years of (though but of very indifferent age, and designed parts) His educa- tion. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 7 after he was thirteen years of age; and being a I'ART younger son of a younger brother, was to expect a ' small patrimony from his father, but to make his own fortune by his own industry ; and in order to that, was sent by his father to Oxford at that time, He is sent , . ... . to Oxford. being about Magdalen election time, in expectation 1022. that he should have been chosen demy of Magdalen college, the election being to be at that time, for which he was recommended by a special letter from king James to Dr. Langton then president of that college ; but upon pretence that the letter came too late, though the election was not then begun, he was not chosen, and so remained in Magdalen hall (where he was before admitted) under the tuition of Mr. John Oliver, a fellow of that college, who had been junior of the act a month before, and a scholar of eminency d . The year following, the president of the college 1623. having received reprehension from the lord Conway then secretary of state, for giving no more respect to the king's letter, he was chosen the next election in the first place, but that whole year passed with- out any avoidance of a demy's place, which was never known before in any man's memory, and that year king James died, and shortly after, Henry his elder brother, and thereupon his father having now no other son, changed his former inclination, and resolved to send his son Edward to the inns of court : he was then entered in the Middle Temple Mr. Hyde i i i TVT t i TT -i entered of by his uncle Nicholas Hyde, who was then treasurer the Middle of that society, and afterwards lord chief justice of the king's bench ; but by reason of the great plague d eminency.] MS. adds : who was his tutor. B 4 8 THE LIFE OF PART then at London in the first year of king Charles, . and the parliament being then adjourned to Oxford, 1625. wm 'ther the plague was likewise then brought by sir James Hussy, one of the masters of the chan- cery, who died in New college the first night after his arrival at Oxford, and shortly after Dr. Chaloner, principal of Alban hall, who had supped that night with sir James Hussy, he did not go to the Middle Temple till the Michaelmas term after the term at Reading, but remained partly at his father's house, and partly at the university, where he took the de- gree of bachelor of arts, and then left it, rather with the opinion of a young man of parts and pregnancy of wit, than that he had improved it much by in- dustry, the discipline of that time being not so strict as it hath been since, and as it ought to be; and the custom of drinking being too much introduced and practised, his elder brother having been too much corrupted in that kind, and so having at his first coming given him some liberty, at least some ex- ample towards that license, insomuch as he was often heard to say, " that it was a very good for- " tune to him that his father so soon removed him " from the university," though he always reserved a high esteem of it. Before the beginning of Michaelmas term (which was in the year 1625) the city being then clear from the plague, he went from Marlborough after the quarter sessions with his uncle Nicholas Hyde e to London, and arrived there f the eve of the term &, c Hyde] MS. adds : who was morning afterwards chief justice f term] MS. adds: and dined f arrived there] MS. adds : that day in the Middle Temple about ten of the clock in the hall EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 9 being then between sixteen and seventeen years of PART age. In the evening he went to prayers to the - Temple church, and was there seized upon by a fit 1625> of an ague very violently, which proved a quartan, and brought him in a short time so weak, that his friends much feared a consumption, so that his uncle thought fit shortly after Alhollandtide to send him into the country to Pirton in North Wiltshire, whi- llem vedto Pirton. ther his father had removed himself from Dinton ; choosing rather to live upon his own land, the which he had purchased many years before, and to rent Dinton, which was but a lease for lives, to a tenant. He came home to his father's house very weak, his ague continuing so violently upon him (though it sometimes changed its course from a quartan to a tertian, and then to a quotidian, and on new year's day he had two hot fits and two cold fits) until Whitsunday following, that all men thought him to be in a consumption ; it then left him, and he grew quickly strong again. In this time of his sickness his uncle was made chief jus- tice : it was Michaelmas following before he returned Returns to to the Middle Temple, having by his want of health Tempi*. * lost a full year of study; and when he returned, it was without great application to the study of the law for some years, it being then a time when the town was full of soldiers, the king having then a war both with Spain and France, and the business of the Isle of Ree shortly followed ; and he had got- ten into the acquaintance of many of those officers, which took up too much of his time for one year : but as the war was quickly ended, so he had the good fortune quickly to make a full retreat from that company, and from any conversation with any 10 THE LIFE OF PART of them, and without any hurt or prejudice 11 ; inso- ' much as he used often to say, " that since it pleased 1626. Q Q( J to p reserve him whilst he did keep that com- " pany, (in which he wonderfully escaped from be- " ing involved in many inconveniences,) and to " withdraw him so soon from it, he was not sorry " that he had some experience in the conversation *' of such men, and of the license of those times," which was very exorbitant : yet when he did in- dulge himself that liberty, it was without any signal debauchery, arid not without some hours every day, at least every night, spent amongst his books ; yet he would not deny that more than to be able to an- swer his uncle, who almost every night put a case to him in law, he could not bring himself to an in- dustrious pursuit of the law study, but rather loved polite learning and history, in which, especially in the Roman, he had been always conversant. sets out on In the year 1628 his father gave him leave to the Norfolk ... .... .... , . , circuit. ride the circuit in the summer with his uncle the 1 628. c hj e f justice, who then rode the Norfolk circuit ; and indeed desired it, both that he might see those counties, and especially that he might be out of London in that season when the small pox raged very furiously, and many persons, some whereof were much acquainted 1 with him, died of that dis- ease in the Middle Temple itself. It was about the middle of July when that circuit began, and Cam- bridge was the first place the judges begun at ; Mr. justice Harvey (one of the judges of the common pleas) was in commission with the chief justice : they both came into Cambridge on the Saturday h prejudice] prejudice from ' much acquainted] very fa- their conversation miliar EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 11 night, and the next day Mr. Edward Hyde fell sick, PART which was imputed only to his journey the day be-. fore in very hot weather; but he continued so ill the day or two following, that it was apprehended of the small that he might have the small pox ; whereupon he Ege. " was removed out of Trinity college, where the judges were lodged k , to the Sun inn, over against the college gate, the judges being to go out of town the next day ; but before they went, the small pox appeared; whereupon his uncle put him under the care of Mr. Crane an eminent apothecary, who had been bred up under Dr. Butler, and was in much greater practice than any physician in the univer- sity ; and left with him Laurence St. Loe one of his servants, who was likewise his nephew, to assist and comfort him. It pleased God to preserve him from that devouring disease, which was spread all over him very furiously, and had so far prevailed over him, that for some hours both his friends and physician consulted of nothing but of the place and manner of his burial ; but as I said, by God's good- ness he escaped that sickness, and within few days more than a month after his first indisposition, he passed in moderate journeys to his father's house at Returns again to Firton, where he arrived a day or two before Bar- pirton after . , i , bis reco- tholomew day. very . He was often wont to say, that he was reading to his father in Camden's Annals, and that particu- lar place, in which it is said, " Johannes Feltonus, " qui bullam pontificiam valvis palatii episcopi " Londinensis affixerat jam deprehensus, cumfu- " gere nollet,Jhctum confessus quod tamen crimen k lodged] MS. adds: and where he had a chamber 12 THE LIFE OF PART " agnoscere noluit"&ic. when a person of the neigh- .bourhood knocked at the door, and being called in, 1628> told his father that a post was then passed through the village to Charleton, the house of the earl of Berkshire, to inform the earl of Berkshire that the duke of Buckingham was killed the day before (be- ing the 24th of August, Bartholomew day, in the year 1628) by one John Felton*, which dismal ac- cident happening in the court, made a great change in the state, produced a sudden disbanding of all armies, and a due observation of, and obedience to the laws ; so that there being no more mutations in view (which usually affect the spirits of young men, And from at least hold them some time at gaze) Mr. Hyde re- the Middle turned again to his studies at the Middle Temple, Temple. nav j n g ft s ^{\\ j n n j s resolution to dedicate him- self to the profession of the law, without declin- ing the politer learning, to which his humour and his conversation kept him always very indulgent ; and to lay some obligation upon himself to be fixed to that course of life, he inclined to a proposition of marriage, which, having no other passion in it than an appetite to a convenient estate, succeeded not, yet produced new acquaintance, and continued the same inclinations. Death and About this time his uncle sir Nicholas Hyde, lord his^nde chief justice of the king's bench, died of a malig- Hyde. cb ' las nan t fever, gotten from the infection of some gaol in his summer circuit. He was a man of excellent learning for that province he was to govern, of un- suspected and unblemished integrity, of an exemplar * For the particulars of the duced at court and in public duke of Buckingham's death, affairs, vid. Hist, of the Rebel- and of the alterations it pro- lion, vol. i. p. 47, &c. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 13 gravity and austerity, which was necessary for the PART manners of that time, corrupted by the marching of armies, and by the license after the disbanding them ; and though upon his promotion some years before, from a private practiser of the law to the supreme judicatory in it, by the power and recom- mendation of the great favourite, of whose council he had been, he was exposed to much envy and some prejudice ; yet his behaviour was so grateful to all the judges, who had an entire confidence in him, his service so useful to the king in his government, his justice and sincerity so conspicuous throughout the kingdom, that the death of no judge had in any time been more lamented. The loss of so beneficial an encouragement and support in that profession did not at all discourage his nephew in his purpose ; rather added new reso- lution to him ; and to call home all straggling and wandering appetites, which naturally produce irre- solution and inconstancy in the mind, with his fa- ther's consent and approbation he married a young Mr. Hyde's lady very fair and beautiful, the daughter of sir 1529. George Ayliffe, a gentleman of a good name and fortune in the county of Wilts, where his own ex- pectations lay, and by her mother (a St. John) nearly allied to many noble families in England. He en- joyed this comfort and composure of mind a very short time, for within less than six months after he was married, being upon the way from London to- wards his father's house, she fell sick at Reading, and being removed to a friend's house near that town, the small pox discovered themselves, and (she being with child) forced her to miscarry ; and she D . eatl | of died within two days. He bore her loss with so 14 THE LIFE OF PART great passion and confusion of spirit, that it shook . all the frame of his resolutions, and nothing but his 1629. en tire duty and reverence to his father kept him from giving over all thoughts of books, and trans- porting himself beyond the seas to enjoy his own melancholy ; nor could any persuasion or importu- nity from his friends prevail with him in some years to think of another marriage. There was an ill ac- cident in the court befell a lady of a family nearly allied to his wife, whose memory was very dear to him, and there always continued a firm friendship in him to all her alliance, which likewise ever ma- nifested an equal affection to him ; amongst those was William viscount Grandison, a young man of extraordinary hope, between whom and the other there was an entire confidence. The injury was of that nature, that the young lord thought of nothing but repairing it his own way; but those imagina- tions were quickly at an end, by the king's rigor- ous and just proceeding against the persons offend- ing, in committing them both to the Tower, and declaring that " since he was satisfied that there " was a promise of marriage in the case, the gentle- " man should make good his promise by marrying " the lady ; or be kept in prison, and for ever ba- " nished from all pretence or relation to the court," where he had a very great credit and interest. This declaration by the king made the nearest friends of the lady pursue the design of this reparation more solicitously, in which they had all access to the king, who continued still in his declared judgment in the matter. In this pursuit Mr. Hyde's passion- ate affection to the family embarked him, and they were all as willing to be guided by his conduct; EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 15 the business was to be followed by frequent in- PART stances at court, and conferences with those who ' had most power and opportunity to confirm the 1629< king in the sense he had entertained ; and those con- ferences were wholly managed by him, who thereby had all admission to the persons of alliance to the lady, and so concerned in the dishonour, which was a great body of lords and ladies of principal rela- The occa- tions in court, with whom in a short time he was of Hide's fn- great credit and esteem ; of which the marquis of [0^". Hamilton was one, who having married an excellent c ' uis of Ha - t * milton. lady, cousin-german to the injured person, seemed the most concerned and most zealous for her vindi- cation, and who had at that time the most credit of any man about the court, and 1 upon that occasion entered into a familiarity with him, and made as great professions of kindness to him as could pass to a person at that distance from him, which continued till the end and conclusion of that affair, when the marquis believed that Mr. Hyde had discovered some want of sincerity in him in that prosecution, which he pretended so much to assert. The mention of this particular little story, in it- self of no seeming consequence, is not inserted here only as it made some alterations, and accidentally introduced him into another way of conversation than he had formerly been accustomed to, and which in truth by the acquaintance, by the friends and enemies he then made, had an influence upon the whole course of his life afterwards ; but as m it made such impressions upon the whole court, by di- viding the lords and ladies both in their wishes and 1 and] and who ra as] that 16 THE LIFE OF PART appearances, that much of that faction grew out of it, which survived the memory of the original ; and from this occasion (to shew us from how small springs great rivers may arise) the women, who till then had not appeared concerned in public affairs, began to have some part in all business ; and hav- ing shewn themselves warm upon this amour, as their passions or affections carried them, and there- by entered into new affections, and formed new in- terests ; the activity in their spirits remained still vigorous when the object which first inspired it was vanished and put in oblivion. Nor were the very ministers of state vacant upon this occasion ; they who for their own sakes, or, as they pretended, for the king's dignity, and honour of the court, desired the ruin of the gentleman, pressed the magnitude of the crime, in bringing so great a scandal upon the king's family, which would hinder persons of honour from sending their children to the court ; and that there could be no reparation without the marriage, which they therefore only insisted upon, because they believed he would prefer banishment before it; others who had friendship for him and believed that he had an interest in the court, which might accommodate himself and them if this breach were closed any way, therefore if the king's severity could not be prevailed upon, wished it concluded by the marriage ; which neither himself nor they upon whom he most depended would ever be brought to consent to ; so that all the jealousies and animo- sities in the court or state came to play their own prizes in the widening or accommodating this con- tention. In the conclusion, on a sudden, contrary to the expectation of any man of either party, the EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 17 gentleman was immediately sent out of the king- PART dom, under the formality of a temporary and short banishment, and the lady commended to her friends, ! 629 - to be taken care of till her delivery ; and from that time never word more spoken of the business, nor shall their names ever come upon the stage by any record of mine. It was only observed, that at this time there was a great change in the friendships of the court, and in those of the marquis of Hamilton, who came now into the queen's confidence, towards whom he had always been in great jealousy ; and another lady more appeared in view, who had for the most part before continued behind the curtain ; and who in few years after came to a very unhappy 1632. and untimely end. Now after a widowhood of near three years, Mr. Hyde inclined" again to marry, which he knew would be the most grateful thing to his father (for whom he had always a profound reverence) he could do ; and though he needed no other motive to it, he would often say, that though he was now called to the bar, and entered into the profession of the law, he was not so confident of himself that he should not start aside if his father should die, who was then near seventy years of age, having long en- tertained thoughts of travels, but that he thought it necessary to lay some obligation upon himself, which would suppress and restrain all those appe- tites ; and thereupon resolved to marry, and so, be- ing about the age of twenty-four years, in the year of our Lord 1632, he married the daughter of sir His second marriage. Thomas Aylesbury, baronet, master of requests to " inclined] was inclined a profound] an infinite VOL. I. C 18 THE LIFE OF PART the king; by whom he had many children of both sexes, with whom he lived very comfortably in the 1632. mos t uncomfortable times, and very joyfully in those times when matter of joy was administered, for the space of five or six and thirty years ; what befell him after her death will be recounted in its place. From the time of his marriage he laid aside all other thoughts but of his profession, to the which he betook himself very seriously; but in the very entrance into it, he met with a great mortification : some months after he was married, he went with his wife to wait upon his father and mother at his house at Pirton, to make them sharers in that satis- faction which they had so long desired to see, and in which they took great delight. His father had long suffered under an indisposi- tion (even before the time his son could remember) which gave him rather frequent pains than sick- ness; and gave him cause to be terrified with the expectation of the stone, without being exercised with the present sense of it : but from the time he was sixty years of age it increased very much, and four or five years before his death, with circum- stances scarce heard of before, and the causes where- of are not yet understood by any physician : he was very often, both in the day and the night, forced to make water, seldom in any quantity, because he could not retain it long enough ; and in the close of that work, without any sharp pain in those parts, he was still and constantly seized on by so sharp a pain in the left arm for half a quarter of an hour, or near so much, that the torment made him as pale (whereas he was otherwise of a very sanguine com- plexion) as if he were dead; and he used to say, EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 19 " that he had passed the pangs of death, and he PART " should die in one of those fits." As soon as it was -__!__ over, which was quickly, he was the cheerfullest 1632 - man living ; eat well such things as he could fancy, walked, slept, digested, conversed with such a promptness and vivacity upon all arguments (for he was omnifariam doctus) as hath been seldom known in a man of his age : but he had the image of death so constantly before him in those continual torments, that for many years before his death he always parted with his son as to see him no more ; and at parting still shewed him his will, discoursing very particularly and very cheerfully of all things he would have performed after his death. He had for some time before resolved to leave the Hi* father'* country, and to spend the remainder of his time Salisbury, where he had caused a house to be pro- vided for him, both for the neighbourhood of the cathedral church, where he could perform his devo- tions every day, and for the conversation of many of his family who lived there, and not far from it ; and especially that he might be buried there, where many of his family and friends lay ; and he obliged his son to accompany him thither before his return to London ; and he came to Salisbury on the Friday before Michaelmas day in the year 1632, and lodged in his own house that night. The next day he was so wholly taken up in receiving visits from his many friends, being a person wonderfully reverenced in those parts, that he walked very little out of his house. The next morning, being Sunday, lie rose very early, and went to two or three churches ; and when he returned, which was by eight of the clock, he told his wife and his son, " that he had been to c 2 20 THE LIFE OF PART i 00 k out a place to be buried in, but found none " against which he had not some exception, the ca- * " thedral only excepted : where he had made a choice " of a place near a kinsman of his own name, and had " shewed it to the sexton, whom he had sent for to " that purpose; and wished them to see him buried " there ;" and this with as much composedness of mind as if it had made no impression on him P ; then went to the cathedral to sermon, and spent the whole day in as cheerful conversation with his friends, (saving only the frequent interruptions his infirmity gave him once in two or three hours, sometimes more, sometimes less,) as the man in the most confirmed health could do. Monday was Mi- chaelmas day, when in the morning he went to visit his brother sir Laurence Hyde, who was then mak- ing a journey in the service of the king, and from him went to the church to a sermon, where he found himself a little pressed as he used to be, and therefore thought fit to make what haste he could to his house, and was no sooner come thither into a lower room, than having made water, and the pain And death, in his arm seizing upon him, he fell down dead, without the least motion of any limb. The sudden- ness of it made it apprehended to be an apoplexy ; but there being nothing like convulsions, or the least distortion or alteration in the visage, it is not like to be from that cause ; nor could the physicians make any reasonable guess from whence that mor- tal blow proceeded. He wanted about six weeks of attaining the age of seventy, and was the greatest instance of the felicity of a country life that was p impression on him] impression of mind EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 21 seen in that age; having enjoyed a competent, and PART to him a plentiful fortune, a very great reputation L_ of piety and virtue, and his death being attended 1632 - with universal lamentation. It cannot be expressed with what agony his son bore this loss, having, as he was used to say, " not only lost the best father, " but the best friend and the best companion he " ever had or could have ;" and he was never so well pleased, as when he had fit occasions given him to mention his father, whom he did in truth believe ' to be the wisest man he had ever known ; and he was often heard to say, in the time when his condi- tion was at highest, " that though God Almighty " had been very propitious to him, in raising him to " great honours and preferments, he did not value " any honour he had so much as the being the son " of such a father and mother, for whose sakes prin- " cipally he thought God had conferred those bless- " ings upon him." There fell out at this time, or thereabouts, a great 1635. alteration in the court and state, by the death of the earl of Portland, lord high treasurer of Eng- land 1. The king from the death of the duke of Buckingham had not only been very reserved in his bounty, but so frugal in his own expense, that he had retrenched much of what had formerly issued out for his household, in so much as every year somewhat had been paid of his debts. He resolved now to govern his treasury by commission, and to take a constant account of it ; and thereby to dis- cover what had been of late done amiss. The com- i lord high treasurer of Eng- to the character of the earl land] MS. adds. -of whom enough inserted in the History, vol. i. hath been said before ; alluding p. 84. c 3 32 THE LIFE OF PART missioners he appointed were, the lord archbishop ! of Canterbury, Dr. Laud, (formerly bishop of Lon- Thl nla* don ') tne lord kee P er Coventry, and other principal urer's of- officers of state, who, together with the lord Cot- to comniis- tington, (who was chancellor of the exchequer, and ofwhom by his office of the quorum in that commission,) La C d ifone. were to su ppty tne ffi ce of treasurer in all particu- lars. The archbishop of Canterbury, who till now had only intended the good government of the church, without intermeddling in secular affairs, otherwise than when the discipline of the church was coricerned, in which he was very strict, both in the high commission, and in all other places, where he sat as a privy counsellor, well foreseeing, as he made manifest upon several occasions, the growth of the schismatics, and that if they were not w r ith rigour suppressed, they would put the whole king- dom into a flame, which shortly after fell out to be { too confessed a truth ; though for the present his providence only served to increase the number of his enemies, who had from that his zeal contracted all the malice against him that can be imagined, and which he, out of the conscience of his duty, and the purity of his intentions, and his knowledge of the king's full approbation of his vigilance and ardour, too much undervalued ; I say, as soon as he was made commissioner of the treasury, he thought himself obliged to take all the pains he could to understand that employment, and the na- ture of the revenue, and to find out all possible ways for the improvement thereof, and for the present managery of the expense. Many were of opinion that he was the more solicitous in that disquisition, and the more inquisitive into what had been done, EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 23 that he might make some discovery of past actions, PART which might reflect upon the memory of the late, treasurer, the earl of Portland, and call his wisdom 1635 - and integrity in question, who had been so far from being his friend, that he had always laboured to do him all the mischief he could ; and it was no small grief of heart to him, and much occasion of his ill humour, to find that the archbishop had too much credit with the king, to be shaken by him : and the archbishop was not in his affections behindhand ' with him, looking always upon him as a Roman ca- tholic, though he dissembled it by going to church ; and as the great countenancer and support of that religion ; all his family being of that profession, and very few resorting to it, or having any credit with him but such. It is very true, the archbishop had no great regard for his memory, or for his friends, and was willing enough to make any discovery of his miscarriages, and to inform his majesty of them, who he believed had too good an opinion of him and his integrity. The truth is, the archbishop had laid down one principle to himself, which he believed would much advance the king's service, and was without doubt very prudent ; that the king's duties being provided for, and cheerfully paid, the merchants should re- ceive all the countenance and protection from the king that they could expect, and not be liable to the vexation particular men gave them for their private advantage ; being forward enough to re- ceive propositions which tended to the king's profit, but careful that what accrued of burden to the sub- ject should redound entirely to the benefit of the c 4 24 THE LIFE OF PART crown, and not enrich projectors at the charge of '. the people : and there is reason to believe that if J635> this measure had been well observed, much of that murmur had been prevented, which contributed to that jealousy and discontent which soon after brake out. This vigilance and inclination in the arch- bishop opened a door to the admission of any mer- chants or others to him, who gave him information of this kind ; and who being ready to pay any thing to the king, desired only to be protected from pri- vate oppressions. The archbishop used to spend as much time as he could get at Ms country house at Croydon ; and then his mind being unbent from bu- siness, he delighted in the conversation of his neigh- bours, and treated them with great urbanity. There was a merchant of the greatest reputa- tion, (Daniel Harvey,) who, having a country house within the distance of a few miles r from Croydon, and understanding the whole business of trade more exactly than most men, was always very wel- come to the archbishop, who used to ask him many questions upon such matters as he desired to be in- formed in ; and received much satisfaction from him. Upon an accidental discourse between them, what encouragement merchants ought to receive, who brought a great trade into the kingdom, and paid thereupon great sums of money to the king, Mr.Har. Mr. Harvey mentioned the discouragements they vey'g cdm- . * plaint to had received in the late times, by the rigour of bishop of the earl of Portland, in matters that related nothing P e rt e i*nd! f to the king's service, but to the profit of private ' the distance of a few miles] a few miles EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 25 men ; and thereupon remembered a particular, that, PART after the dissolution of the parliament s in the fourth '. year of the king, and the combination amongst l635 ' many merchants to pay no more customs or impo- sitions to the king, because they had not been granted in parliament, which produced those suits and decrees in the exchequer, which are generally understood, and a general distraction in trade; many merchants of the greatest wealth and reputa- tion resolved to continue the trade ; and in a short time reduced it into so good order, and by, their ad- vice and example disposed others to make a punc- tual entry of their goods, and to pay their duties to the king, that the trade seemed to be restored to the nation, and the customs to rise above the value they had ever yielded to the crown : which was no sooner brought to pass, than the earl of Portland (who endeavoured to ^ persuade the king that this great work was entirely compassed by his wisdom, interest, and dexterity) disobliged the merchants in a very sensible degree, in requiring them to unlade their ships at the custom-house quay, and at no other quay or wharf, upon pretence that thereby the king would have his customs well paid, of which otherwise he would be in danger to be cozened ; and alleged an order that had been formerly made in the court of the exchequer, that fine goods which were portable, (as silks and fine linens,) and might easily be stolen, should always be landed at the custom-house quay. The merchants looked upon this constraint and restraint as a great oppression, and applied themselves to him for reparation and 8 parliament] Originally in viour of the house of eom- MS. upon the mutinous beha- mons. 26 THE LIFE OF PART redress: they undertook to make it evident to him, .that it was merely a matter which concerned the 1635. private benefit of the particular wharfingers, and not l in the least degree the king's profit ; that the custom-house quay was of great value to the owner of it, who had a very great rent for it, but that it yielded the king nothing, nor would in fifty years or thereabouts, there being a lease yet to come for that term ; that the mention of fine goods, and the order of the exchequer, was not applicable to the question ; that they disputed not the landing of fine goods, but that the pretence was to compel them to bring their grossest, and their merchandise of the greatest bulk to that quay, whereas they had been always free to ship or unship such goods at what wharf they would choose for their conveniences ; there being the sworn waiters of the custom-house attending in the one, as well as the other ; that the restraining them to one wharf, and obliging all the ships to be brought thither, must prove much to their prejudice, and make them depend upon the good-will of the wharfinger for their despatch ; who in truth, let his desire be never so good, could not be able to perform the service, without obliging them to wait very long, and thereby to lose their markets. All this discourse, how reasonable soever, made no impression upon the treasurer, but he dis- missed them with his usual roughness, and re- proached them that they desired all occasions to cozen the king of his customs ; which they looked upon as an ill reward for the service they had done, and a great discouragement to trade. The archbi- shop heard this discourse with great trouble and in- ' not] Omitted in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 27 dignation, and being then interrupted by the com- PART ing of persons of quality, told him, he would some other time run over all these particulars again, and 1635> that he -should recollect himself for other instances of that strange nature. The next time the archbishop returned to Croy- don, which he usually did once in the week during the summer, and stayed a day or two, impatient to understand more of the matter, he sent for Mr. Harvey, and told him, " that his last discourse had " given him much cause of sorrow, in finding how " the king had been used, and that he knew his na- " ture so well, that he could confidently say, that he " never knew of that kind of proceeding, and that " he wondered that the merchants had not then pe- " titioned the king to hear the matter himself." He answered, " that they had left no way unattempted " for their ease, having no fear of displeasing the " treasurer ; that they had caused a petition to be " drawn by their council, which was signed by all " the principal merchants in the city, wherein (to " obviate the calumny concerning refusing to pay, " or stealing customs) they declared, that they were " all very willing to pay all duties to his majesty, " and would never refuse the same, (which was *' a declaration would have been much valued a " year or two before, and ought to have been so " then,) only desired to be left at liberty to ship ^* and land their goods as they had been accustomed " to ; that they had given this petition to a secre- " tary of state to present it to the king, who re- " ferred it to the consideration of the treasurer ; and " thereupon they pursued it no further, knowing " how he stood resolved, and the cause of it, which 28 THE LIFE OF PART " troubled them most, viz. that that custom-house _ " quay did, though not in his own name, in truth 1635. belong to sir Abraham Dawes, one of the farmers " of the customs, and the only favourite u of the lord " treasurer, all the other farmers being offended " with the order, which they saw would offend the " merchants." The archbishop asked " where that " petition was ; that he thought it still of that mo- " ment, that he would be glad to see it." He an- swered, " he knew not where it was ; but he be- " lieved it to remain in the hands of Mr. Hyde, " who had drawn it, and was of council with the " merchants throughout the whole proceedings ; " and was so warm in it, that he had exceedingly " provoked the lord treasurer, who would have Mr. Harvey " ruined him if he could." He asked who that Mr. Mr. Hyde Hyde was, and where he was : the other said, " he bishop , anh " was a y un g lawyer of the Middle Temple, who " was not afraid of being of council with them, " when all men of name durst not appear for them ; " and that he was confident that he, having been " always present at all debates, remembered many " circumstances in the business which the other had " forgotten ; that he was generally known ; and had " lately married the daughter of sir Thomas Ayles- " bury." Within a few days after, the archbishop meeting sir Thomas Aylesbury at court, asked him whether he had married his daughter to one Mr. Hyde, a lawyer, and where he was : he answered, he had done so, and that he lived in his house, when he was not at his chamber in the Middle Temple. The 11 favourite] minion EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 29 archbishop desired him to send him to him, for he PART heard well of him; and the next morning he at-. tended x him, and found him walking alone in his 1635 ' garden at Lambeth : he received him civilly accord- attend? the ing to his manner, without much ceremony ; and archblsh P < presently asked him, whether he had not been of council with some merchants in such a business, and where that petition now was : he answered him, not knowing why he asked, " that he had been " about two years past of council with some mer- " chants about such an aifair, in which the earl of "Portland had been much incensed against him; " that he remembered he had drawn such a peti- " tipn, which was signed by all the considerable " merchants of London, but that there was little " progress made thereupon, by reason of the as- " perity of the treasurer." He asked still for the petition that was so signed ; he told him, he thought he had it himself, if he had it not, he was confident he could find who had it : he desired him, that he would find it out, and bring it to him, and any other papers concerning that affair, or the business of the customs. He said, " the king had, contrary " to his desire, made him one of the commis- " sioners of the treasury ; that he understood no- " thing of that province, but was willing to take " any pains which might enable him to do his mas- " ter service, which made him inquisitive into the " customs, the principal branch of the revenue ; " that his neighbour Daniel Harvey had spoken " much good of him to him ; and informed him of " that complaint of the merchants, which he thought 1 he attended] I attended, as far as relates to Mr. Hyde, is The whole of this conversation, given in the first person. SO THE LIFE OF PART " had much reason in it, but it was like other acts " of the earl of Portland ; that he would be willing 1635. to receive any information from him, and that he " should be welcome when he came to him." He told him, in short, (which he heard would please him best,) two or three passages that happened in that transaction ; and some haughty >' expressions which fell from the treasurer, when upon his urging that the farmers would not hold their farm, if he did not strictly hold the merchants to custom-house quay, he told him, " that if the farmers were weary " of their bargain, he would help the king to forty " thousand pounds a year above the rent they paid, " and that they should be paid all the money they " had advanced within one week ;" upon which the earl indeed had let himself out into an indecent rage, using many threats to him : which he found was not ingrateful to the archbishop, upon whom he at- tended within a day or two again, and delivered him the petition and many other useful papers, which pleased him abundantly; and he required him to see him often. By this accident Mr. Hyde came first to be known to the archbishop, who ever afterwards used him very kindly, and spoke well of him upon all oc- casions, and took particular notice of him when he came of council in any causes depending at the council board, as he did frequently ; and desired his service in many occasions, and particularly in the raising monies for the building St. Paul's church, in which he made a journey or two into Wiltshire with good success ; which the archbishop still acknow- >' haughty] huffing EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 31 ledged in a more obliging way than he was accus- PART tomed to ; insomuch as it was so much taken notice . of, that Mr. Hyde (who well knew how to cultivate.. 1 ^- * ^ Mr. Hyde those advantages) was used with more countenance receives en- by all the judges in Westminster hall, and the emi- ment in hu . .1 11 f profession. nent practisers, than was usually given to men of his years; so that he grew every day in practice, of which he had as much as he desired ; and hav- ing a competent estate of his own, he enjoyed a very pleasant and a plentiful life, living much above the rank 7 of those lawyers whose business was only to be rich ; and was generally beloved and esteemed by most persons of condition and great reputation. Though he pursued his profession with great diligence and intentness of mind, and upon the matter wholly betook himself to business, yet he made not himself a slave to it, but kept both his friends at court and about the town, by his fre- quent application and constant conversation : in or- His method der to which, he always gave himself at dinner to those who used to meet together at that hour, and in such places as was mutually agreed between them ; where they enjoyed themselves with great a delight and public reputation, for the innocence, and sharpness, and learning of their conversation. For he would never suffer himself to be deprived of some hours (which commonly he borrowed from the night) to refresh himself with polite learning, in which he still made some. progress. The after- noons he entirely dedicated to the business of his profession, taking instructions and the like; and very rarely supped, except he was called out by z living much above the rank] above the rank living very generously, and much "great] wonderful 32 THE LIFE OF PART some of his friends, who spared him the more, be- cause he always complied with those summons ; 1635. otherwise he never supped for many years, (before the troubles brought in that custom,) both for the gaining that time for himself, and that he might rise early in the morning according to his custom, and which he would say, he could never do when he supped. The vacations he gave wholly to his study and conversation, never going out of London in those seasons, except for two months in the summer, which he spent at his own house in the country, with great cheerfulness amongst his friends, who then resorted to him in good numbers. He never did ride any country circuits with the judges, which he often repented afterwards, saying, that besides the knowing the gentry, and people, and manners of England, (which is best attained that way,) there is a very good and necessary part of the learning in the law, which is not so easily got any other way, as in riding those circuits ; which as it seems to have much of drudgery, so is accompa- nied with much pleasure and profit b ; and it may be, the long lives of men of that profession (for the law- yers usually live to more years than any other pro- fession) may very reasonably be imputed to the ex- ercise they give themselves by their circuits, as well as to their other acts of temperance and sobriety. And as he had denied himself that satisfaction, purely to have that time to himself for other delight, so he did resolve, if the confusion of the time had not surprised him, for three or four years (longer he did not intend) to have improved himself by the ex- perience of those journeys. b and profit] as well as profit EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 33 He was often heard to say, that, " next the imme- PART " diate blessing and providence of God Almighty, ' " which had preserved him throughout the whole " course of his life, (less strict than it ought to have " been) from many dangers and disadvantages, in " which many other young men were lost ; he owed " all the little he knew, and the little good that was " in him, to the friendships and conversation he had " still been used to, of the most excellent men in " their several kinds that lived in that age ; by " whose learning, and information, and instruction, " he formed his studies, and mended his understand- " ing ; and by whose gentleness and sweetness of " behaviour, and justice, and virtue, and example, he " formed his manners, subdued that pride, and sup- '* pressed that heat and passion he was naturally in- " clined to be transported with." And he never took more pleasure in any thing, than in frequently men- tioning and naming those persons, who were then his friends, or of his most familiar conversation, and in remembering their particular virtues and faculties ; and used often to say, " that he never was so proud, " or thought himself so good a man, as when he was " the worst man in the company ;" all his friends and companions being in their quality, in their for- tunes, at least in their faculties and endowments of mind, very much his superiors: and he always charged his children to follow his example in that point, in making their friendships and conversation ; protesting, that in the whole course of his life he never knew one man, of what condition soever, ar- rive to any degree of reputation in the world, who made choice or delighted in the company or conver- VOL. i. D 34 THE LIFE OF PART sation of those, who in their qualities were inferior, or in their parts not much superior to himself. 1635. Whilst he was only a student of the law, and Some ac- ' count of his stood at gaze, and irresolute what course of life to - * take, his chief acquaintance were Ben Johnson, emof John Selden, Charles Cotton, John Vaughan, sir Ke- the law. ne i m Digby, Thomas May, and Thomas Carew, and some others of eminent faculties in their several ways. Ben Johnson's name can never be forgotten, having by his very good learning, and the severity of his nature and manners, very much reformed the character stage ; and indeed the English poetry itself. His na- tural advantages were, judgment to order and govern fancy, rather than excess of fancy, his productions being slow and upon deliberation, yet then abound- ing with great wit and fancy, and will live accord- ingly ; and surely as he did exceedingly exalt the English language in eloquence, propriety, and mas- culine expressions, so he was the best judge of, and fittest to prescribe rules to poetry and poets, of any man, who had lived with, or before him, or since : if Mr. Cowley had not made a flight beyond all men, with that modesty yet, to ascribe much of this to the example and learning of Ben Johnson. His conversation was very good, and with the men of most note ; and he had for many years an extraor- dinary kindness for Mr. Hyde, till he found he be- took himself to business, which he believed ought never to be preferred before his company. He lived to be very old, and till the palsy made a deep im- pression upon his body and his mind. c to himself.] to them. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 35 Mr. Selden was a person whom no character can PART flatter, or transmit in any expressions equal to his l ' merit and virtue. He was of so stupendous learn- 1635. ing in all kinds and in all languages, (as may appear den. in his excellent and transcendent writings,) that a man would have thought he had been entirely con- versant amongst books, and had never spent an hour but in reading and writing ; yet his humanity, court- esy, and- affability was such, that he would have been thought to have been bred in the best courts, but that his good nature, charity, and delight in doing good, and in communicating all he knew, ex- ceeded that breeding. His style in all his writings seems harsh and sometimes obscure ; which is not wholly to be imputed to the abstruse subjects of which he commonly treated, out of the paths trod by other men ; but to a little undervaluing the beauty of a style, and too much propensity to the language of antiquity : but in his conversation he was the most clear discourser, and had the best faculty of making hard things easy, and presenting them to the under- standing, of any man that hath been known. Mr. Hyde was wont to say, that he valued himself upon nothing more than upon having had Mr. Selden's acquaintance from the time he was very young ; and held it with great delight as long as they were suf- fered to continue together in London ; and he was very much troubled always when he heard him blamed, censured, and reproached, for staying in London, and in the parliament, after they were in rebellion, and in the worst times, which his age obliged him to do ; and how wicked soever the ac- tions were which were every day done, he was confi- dent he had not given his consent to them; but D 2 36 THE LIFE OF FART would have hindered them if he could with his own safety, to which he was always enough indulgent. If ton. 1635. j^ jjad some infirmities with other men, they were weighed down with wonderful and prodigious abili- ties and excellencies in the other scale, or Mr. cot- Charles Cotton was a gentleman born to a com- petent fortune, and so qualified in his person and education, that for many years he continued the greatest ornament of the town, in the esteem of those who had been best bred. His natural parts were very great, his wit flowing in all the parts of con- versation ; the superstructure of learning not raised to a considerable height; but having passed some years in Cambridge, and then in France, and con- versing always with learned men, his expressions were ever proper and significant, and gave great lustre to his discourse upon any argument ; so that he was thought by those who were not intimate with him, to have been much better acquainted with books than he was. He had all those qualities which in youth raise men to the reputation of being fine gentlemen ; such a pleasantness and gayety of humour, such a sweetness and gentleness of nature, and such a civi- lity and delightfulness in conversation, that no man in the court, or out of it, appeared a more accom- plished person ; all these extraordinary qualifications being supported by as extraordinary a clearness of courage and fearlessness of spirit, of which he gave too often manifestation. Some unhappy suits in law, and waste of his fortune in those suits, made some impression upon his mind; which being improved by domestic afflictions, and those indulgences to him- self which naturally attend those afflictions, rendered his age less reverenced than his youth had been ; and EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 37 gave his best friends cause to have wished that he PART had not lived so long. 1 fiQ John Vaughan was then a student of the law in the Inner Temple, but at that time indulged more the politer learning ; and was in truth a man of great parts of nature, and very well adorned by arts and books, and so much cherished by Mr. Selden, that he grew to be of entire trust and friendship with him, and to that owed the best part of his repu- tation : for he was of so magisterial and supercilious a humour, so proud and insolent a behaviour, that all Mr. Selden's instructions, and authority, and exam- ple, could not file off that roughness of his nature, so as to make him very grateful. He looked most into those parts of the law which disposed him to least re- verence to the crown, and most to popular authority ; yet without inclination to any change in government; and therefore, before the beginning of the civil war, and when he clearly discerned the approaches to it in parliament, (of which he was a member,) he with- drew himself into the fastnesses of his own country, North Wales, where he enjoyed a secure, and as near an innocent life, as the iniquity of that time would permit ; and upon the return of king Charles the Second d , he appeared under the character of a man who had preserved his loyalty entire, and was esteemed accordingly by all that party. His friend Mr. Hyde, who was then become lord high chancellor of England, renewed his old kind- ness and friendship towards him, and was desirous to gratify him all the ways he could, and earnestly pressed him to put on his gown again, and take upon d upon the return of king king returned Charles the Second^ when the D 3 38 THE LIFE OF PART him the office of a judge; but he excused himself .upon his long discontinuance, (having not worn his 1635. gown, and wholly discontinued the profession from the year 1640, full twenty years,) and upon his age, and expressly refused to receive any promotion ; but continued all the professions of respect and gratitude imaginable to the chancellor, till it was in his power to manifest the contrary, to his prejudice, which he did with circumstances very uncommendable. of sir Ke- Sir Kenelm Digby was a person very eminent and b y . m notorious throughout the whole course of his life, from his cradle to his grave ; of an ancient family and noble extraction ; and inherited a fair and plen- tiful fortune, notwithstanding the attainder of his father. He was a man of a very extraordinary per- son and presence, which drew the eyes of all men upon him, which were more fixed by a wonderful graceful behaviour, a flowing courtesy and civility, and such a volubility of language, as surprised and delighted ; and though in another man it might have appeared to have somewhat of affectation, it was marvellous graceful in him, and seemed natural to his size, and mould of his person, to the gravity of his motion, and the tune of his voice and delivery. He had a fair reputation in arms, of which he gave an early testimony in his youth, in some encounters in Spain and Italy, and afterwards in an action in the Mediterranean sea, where he had the command of a squadron of ships of war, set out at his own charge under the king's commission ; with which, upon an injury received, or apprehended from the Venetians, he encountered their whole fleet, killed many of their men, and sunk one of their galleasses ; which in that drowsy and unactive time, was looked EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 39 upon with a general estimation, though the crown PART disavowed it. In a word, he had all the advantages that nature, and art, and an excellent education could 1635 - give him ; which, with a great confidence and pre- sentness of mind, buoyed him up against all those prejudices and disadvantages, (as e the attainder and execution of his father, for a crime of the highest nature ; his own marriage with a lady, though of an extraordinary beauty, of as extraordinary a fame ; his changing and rechanging his religion ; and some personal vices and licenses in his life,) which would have suppressed and sunk any other man, but never clouded or eclipsed him, from appearing in the best places, and the best company, and with the best esti- mation and satisfaction. Thomas May was the eldest son of his father, aofMr. knight, and born to a fortune, if his father had not ay> spent it ; so that he had only an annuity left him, not proportionable to a liberal education : yet since his fortune could not raise his mind, he brought his mind down to his fortune, by a great modesty and ' humility in his nature, which was not affected, but very well became an imperfection in his speech, which was a great mortification to him, and kept him from entering upon any discourse but in the company of his very friends. His parts of nature and art were very good, as appears by his transla- tion of Lucan, (none of the easiest work of that kind,) and more by his supplement to Lucan, which being entirely his own, for the learning, the wit, and the language, may be well looked upon as one of the best epic f poems in the English language. He writ ' as] which f epic] dramatic D 4 40 THE LIFE OF PART some other commendable pieces, of the reign of some . of our kings. He was cherished by many persons of 1 635. nonour) and very acceptable in all places ; yet, (to shew that pride and envy have their influences upon the narrowest minds, and which have the greatest semblance of humility,) though he had received much countenance, and a very considerable donative from the king, upon his majesty's refusing to give him a small pension, which he had designed and promised to another very ingenious person, whose qualities he thought inferior to his own, he fell from his duty, and all his former friends, and prostituted himself to the vile office of celebrating the infamous acts of those who were in rebellion against the king ; which he did so meanly, that he seemed to all men to have lost his wits, when he left his honesty ; and so shortly after died miserable and neglected, and de- serves to be forgotten, of Mr. ca- Thomas Carew was a younger brother of a good rew. J family, and of excellent parts, and had spent many years of his youth in France and Italy ; and return- ing from travel, followed the court ; which the mo- desty of that time disposed men to do some time, before they pretended to be of it ; and he was very much esteemed by the most eminent persons in the court, and well looked upon by the king himself, some years before he could obtain to be sewer to the king ; and when the king conferred that place? upon him, it was not without the regret even of the whole Scotch nation, which united themselves in recom- mending another gentleman to it h : of so great value were those relations held in that age, when majesty 8 place] honour h to it] to the place EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 41 was beheld with the reverence it ought to be. He PART was a person of a pleasant and facetious wit, and made many poems, (especially in the amorous way,) which for the sharpness of the fancy, and the ele- gancy of the language in which that fancy was spread, were at least equal, if not superior to any of that time : but his glory was, that after fifty years of his life, spent with less severity or exact- ness than it ought to have been, he died with the greatest remorse for that license, and with the great- est manifestation of Christianity, that his best friends could desire. Among these persons Mr. Hyde's usual time of conversation was spent, till he grew more retired to his more serious studies, and never discontinued his acquaintance with any of them, though he spent less time in their company ; only upon Mr. Selden he looked with so much affection and reverence, that he always thought himself best when he was with him : but he had then another conjunction and com- munication that he took so much delight in, that he embraced it in the time of his greatest business and practice, and would suffer no other pretence or obli- gation to withdraw him from that familiarity and friendship ; and took frequent occasions to mention characters their names with great pleasure; being often heard Hyde's to say, " that if he had any thing good in him, in " his humour, or in his manners, he owed it to the friends< " example, and the information he had received in, " and from that company, with most of whom he " had an entire friendship." And they were in truth, in their several qualifications, men of more than or- dinary eminence, before they attained the great pre- ferments many of them lived to enjoy. The persons 42 THE LIFE OF PART were, sir Lucius Carey, eldest son to the lord vis- . count Falkland, lord deputy of Ireland; sir Francis I63o. "VVenman of Oxfordshire ; Sidney Godolphin of Go- dolphin in Cornwall ; Edmund Waller of Beacons- field ; Dr. Gilbert Sheldon ; Dr. George Morley ; Dr. John Earles ; Mr. John Hales of Eton ; and Mr. William Chilling worth, of sir LU- With sir Lucius Carey he had a most entire cius Carey. _ . . . ,, friendship without reserve, from his age of twenty years to the hour of his death, near twenty years after : upon which there will be occasion to enlarge when we come to speak of that time, and often be- fore, and therefore we shall say no more of him in this place, than to shew his condition and qualifica- tions, which were the first ingredients into that friendship, which was afterwards cultivated and im- proved by a constant conversation and familiarity, and by many accidents which contributed thereto. He had the advantage of a noble extraction, and of being born his father's eldest son, when there was a greater fortune in prospect to be inherited, (besides what he might reasonably expect by his mother,) than came afterwards to his possession. His edu- cation was equal to his birth, at least in the care, if not in the climate; for his father being deputy of Ireland, before he was of age fit to be sent abroad, his breeding was in the court, and in the university of Dublin ; but under the care, vigilance, and direc- tion of such governors and tutors, that he learned all those exercises and languages, better than most men do in more celebrated places; insomuch as when he came into England, which was when he was about the age of eighteen years, he was not only master of the Latin tongue, and s had read all EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 43 the poets, and other of the best authors with notable PART judgment for that age, but he understood, and spake, ! and writ French, as if he had spent many years in France. s He had another advantage, which was a great ornament to the rest, that was, a good, a plentiful estate, gf which he had the early possession. His mother was the sole daughter and heir of the lord chief baron Tanfield, who having given a fair por- tion with his daughter in marriage, had kept him- self free to dispose of his land, and his other estate, in such manner as he should think fit ; and he set- tled it in such manner upon his grandson sir Lucius Carey, without taking notice of his father, or mo- ther, that upon his grandmother's death, which fell out about the time that he was nineteen years of age, all the land, with two very good 1 houses very well k furnished, (worth above 2000/. per annum,) in a most pleasant country, and the two most plea- sant places in that country, with a very plentiful personal estate, fell into his hands and possession, and to his entire disposal. With these advantages, he had one great disad- vantage (which in the first entrance into the world is attended with too much prejudice) in his person and presence, which was in no degree attractive or promising. His stature was low, and smaller than most men ; his motion not graceful ; and his aspect so far from inviting, that it had somewhat in it of simplicity ; and his voice the worst of the three, and so untuned, that instead of reconciling, it of- fended the ear, so that nobody would have expected music from that tongue ; and sure no man was less ' very good] excellent k very well] excellently 44 THE LIFE OF PART beholden to nature for its recommendation into the world : but then no man sooner or more disappointed I /Q C this general and customary prejudice ; that little per- son and small stature was quickly found to contain a great heart, a courage so keen, and a nature so fearless, that no composition of the strongest limbs, and most harmonious and proportioned presence and strength, ever more disposed any man to the greatest enterprise ; it being his greatest weakness to be too solicitous for such adventures : and that untuned tongue and voice easily discovered itself to be sup- plied and governed by a mind and understanding so excellent, that the wit and weight of all he said car- ried another kind of lustre and admiration in it, and even another kind of acceptation from the persons present, than any ornament of delivery could rea- sonably promise itself, or is usually attended with ; and his disposition and nature was so gentle and obliging, so much delighted in courtesy, kindness, and generosity, that all mankind could not but ad- mire and love him. In a short time after he had possession of the estate his grandfather had left him, and before he was of age, he committed a fault against his father, in marrying a 'young lady, whom he passionately loved, without any considerable portion, which ex- ceedingly offended him ; and disappointed all his reasonable hopes and expectation of redeeming and repairing his own broken fortune, and desperate hopes in court, by some advantageous marriage of his son ; about which he had then some probable treaty. Sir Lucius Carey was very conscious to himself of his offence and transgression, and the consequence of it, which though he could not re- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 45 pent, having married a lady of a most extraordinary PART wit and judgment, and of the most signal virtue ' and exemplary life, that the age produced, and who 1635 - brought him many hopeful children, in which he took great delight ; yet he confessed it, with the most sincere and dutiful applications to his father for his pardon that could be made ; and for the pre- judice l he had brought upon his fortune, by bring- ing no portion to him, he offered to repair it, by re- signing his whole estate to his disposal, and to rely wholly upon his kindness for his own maintenance and support; and to that purpose, he had caused conveyances to be drawn by council, which he brought ready engrossed to his father, and was will- ing to seal and execute them, that they might be valid : but his father's passion and indignation so far transported him, (though he was a gentleman of excellent parts,) that he refused any reconciliation, and rejected all the offers that were made him of the estate ; so that his son remained still in the pos- session of his estate against his will ; for which he found great reason afterwards to rejoice : but he was for the present so much afflicted with his fa- ther's displeasure, that he transported himself and his wife into Holland, resolving to buy some mili- tary command, and to spend the remainder of his life in that profession : but being disappointed in the treaty he expected, and finding no opportunity to accommodate himself with such a command, he returned again into England ; resolving to retire to a country life, and to his books ; that since he was not like to improve himself in arms, he might ad- vance in letters. 1 and for the prejudice] and in order to the prejudice 46 THE LIFE OF PART In this resolution he was so severe, (as he was always naturally very intent upon what he was in- 1635. clined to,) that he declared, he would not see Lon- don in many years, which was the place he loved of all the world ; and that in his studies, he would first apply himself to the Greek, and pursue it with- out intermission, till he should attain to the full un- derstanding of that tongue : and it is hardly to be credited, what industry he used, and what success attended that industry : for though his father's death, by an unhappy accident, made his repair to London absolutely necessary, in fewer years, than he had proposed for his absence ; yet he had first made himself master of the Greek tongue, (in the Latin he was very well versed before,) and had read not only the Greek m historians, but Homer likewise, and such of the poets as were worthy to be perused. Though his father's death brought no other con- venience to him, but a title to redeem an estate, mortgaged for as much as it w r as worth, and for which he was compelled to sell a finer seat of his own ; yet it imposed a burden upon him, of the title of a viscount, and an increase of expense, in which he was not in his nature too provident or restrained ; having naturally such a generosity and bounty in him, that he seemed to have his estate in trust, for all worthy persons, who stood in want of supplies and encouragement, as Ben Johnson, and many others of that time, whose fortunes required, and whose spirits made them superior to, ordinary obli- gations ; which yet they were contented to receive from him, because his bounties were so generously m the Greek] all the Greek EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 47 distributed, and so much without vanity and osten- PART tation, that, except from those few persons from ' whom he sometimes received the characters of fit 1635> objects for his benefits, or whom he intrusted, for the more secret deriving them to them, he did all he could, that the persons themselves who received them should not know from what fountain they flowed ; and when that could not be concealed, he sustained any acknowledgment from the persons obliged with so much trouble and bashfulness, that they might well perceive, that he was even ashamed of the little he had given, and to receive so large a recompense for it. As soon as he had finished all those transactions, which the death of his father had made necessary to be done, he retired again to his country life, and to his severe course of study, which was very delight- ful to him, as soon as he was engaged in it : but he was wont to say, that he never found reluctancy in any thing he resolved to do, but in his quitting London, and departing from the conversation of those he enjoyed there ; which was in some degree preserved and continued by frequent letters, and often visits, which were made by his friends from thence, whilst he continued wedded to the country ; and which were so grateful to him, that during their stay with him, he looked upon no book, except their very conversation made an appeal to some book ; and truly his whole conversation was one continued convivium philosophicum, or convivium tkeologicum, enlivened and refreshed with all the facetiousness of wit, and good humour, and pleasantness of discourse, which made the gravity of the argument itself (what- ever it was) very delectable. His house where he 48 THE LIFE OF PART usually resided, (Tew, or Burford, in Oxfordshire,) being within ten or twelve miles of the university, J635. i 00 ij e( j iik e t ne university itself, by the company that was always found there. There were Dr. Shel- don, Dr. Morley, Dr. Hammond, Dr. Earles, Mr. Chillingworth, and indeed all men of eminent parts and faculties in Oxford, besides those who resorted thither from London ; who all found their lodgings there, as ready as in the colleges ; nor did the lord of the house know of their coming or going, nor who were in his house, till he came to dinner, or supper, where all still met ; otherwise, there was no troublesome ceremony or constraint, to forbid men to come to the house, or to make them weary of staying there ; so that many came thither to study in a better air, finding all the books they could de- sire in his library, and all the persons together, whose company they could wish, and not find in any other society. Here Mr. Chillingworth wrote, and formed, and modelled, his excellent book against the learned Jesuit Mr. Nott, after frequent debates upon the most important particulars; in many of which, he suffered himself to be overruled by the judgment of his friends, though in others he still adhered to his own fancy, which was sceptical enough, even in the highest points. In this happy and delightful conversation and re- straint, he remained in the country many years; and until he had made so prodigious a progress in learning, that there were very few classic authors in the Greek or Latin tongue, that he had not read with great exactness. He had read all the Greek and Latin fathers ; all the most allowed and au- thentic ecclesiastical writers ; and all the councils, EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 49 with wonderful care and observation ; for in religion PART he thought too careful and too curious an inquiry could not be made, amongst those, whose purity was not questioned, and whose authority was constantly and confidently urged, by men who were furthest from being of one mind amongst themselves ; and for the mutual support of their several opinions, in which they most contradicted each other ; and in all those controversies, he had so dispassioned a con- sideration, such a candour in his nature, and so pro- found a charity in his conscience, that in those points, in which he was in his own judgment most clear, he never thought the worse, or in any degree declined the familiarity, of those who were of an- other mind ; which, without question, is an excel- lent temper for the propagation and advancement of Christianity. With these great advantages of indus- try, he had a memory retentive of all that he had ever read, and an understanding and judgment to apply it seasonably and appositely, with the most dexterity and address, and the least pedantry and affectation, that ever man, who knew so much, was possessed with, of what quality soever. It is not a trivial evidence of his learning, his wit, and his can- dour, that may be found in that discourse of his, against the infallibility of the church of Rome, pub- lished since his death, and from a copy under his own hand, though not prepared and digested by him for the press, and to which he would have given some castigations. But all his parts, abilities, and faculties, by art and industry, were not to be valued, or mentioned, in comparison of his most accomplished mind and manners : his gentleness and affability was so trans- VOL. i. E 50 THE LIFE OF PART cendent and obliging, that it drew reverence, and some kind of compliance, from the roughest, and 163o. most un p iighed, and stubborn constitutions; and made them of another temper in debate, in his pre- sence, than they were in other places. He was in his nature so severe a lover of justice, and so pre- cise a lover of truth, that he was superior to all possible temptations for the violation of either ; in- deed so rigid an exacter of perfection, in all those things which seemed but to border upon either of them, and by the common practice of men were not thought to border upon either, that many who knew him very well, and loved and admired his virtue, (as all who did know him must love and admire it,) did believe, that he was of a temper and composi- tion fitter to live in republica Platonis., than in JtBce Romuli: but this rigidness was only exercised towards himself; towards his friend's infirmities no man was more indulgent. In his conversation, which was the most cheerful and pleasant that can be ima- gined, though he was young, (for all I have yet spoken of him doth not exceed his age of twenty- five or twenty-six years, 11 ) and of great gayety in his humour, with a flowing delightfulness of language, he had so chaste a tongue and ear, that there was never known a profane or loose word to fall from him, nor in truth in his company; the integrity, and cleanliness of the wit of that time, not exercis- ing itself in that license, before persons for whom they had any esteem. ofsirFran- Sir Francis Wenman would not look upon himself cis Wen- man. under any other character, than that of a country " years,] MS. adds: what will be mentioned in its proper progress he made afterwards season in this discourse, EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 51 gentleman ; though no man of his quality in Eng- PART land was more esteemed in court. He was of a noble extraction, and of an ancient family in Ox- fordshire, where he was possessed of a competent estate ; but his reputation of wisdom and integrity gave him an interest and credit in that country much above his fortune; and no man had more esteem in it, or power over it. He was a neighbour to the lord Falkland, and in so entire friendship and confidence with him, that he had great authority in the society of all his friends and acquaintance. He was a man of great sharpness of understanding, and of a piercing judgment ; no man better understood the affections and temper of the kingdom, or indeed the nature of the nation, or discerned further the consequence of counsels, and with what success they were like to be attended. He was a very good La- tin scholar, but his ratiocination was above his learn- ing ; and the sharpness of his wit incomparable. He was equal to the greatest trust and employment, if he had been ambitious of it, or solicitous for it ; but his want of health produced a kind of laziness of mind, which disinclined him to business, and he died a little before the general troubles of the kingdom, which he foresaw with wonderful concern , and when many wise men were weary of living so long. Sidney Godolphin was a younger brother of Go- or Mr. Sid dolphin, but by the provision left by his father, andphfn. by the death of a younger brother, liberally supplied for a very good education, and for a cheerful sub- sistence, in any course of life he proposed to himself. There was never so great a mind and spirit con- " concern] reluctancy E 2 52 THE LIFE OF PART tained in so little room; so large an understanding and so unrestrained a fancy in so very small a body ; 1635< so that the lord Falkland used to say merrily, that he thought it was a great ingredient into his friend- ship for Mr. Godolphin, that he was pleased to be found in his company, where he was the properer man ; and it may be, the very remark ableness of his little person made the sharpness of his wit, and the composed quickness of his judgment and under- standing, the more notable P. He had spent some years in France, and in the Low Countries ; and accompanied the earl of Leicester in his ambassage ' into Denmark, before he resolved to be quiet, and attend some promotion in the court ; where his ex- cellent disposition and manners, and extraordinary qualifications, made him very acceptable. Though every body loved his company very well, yet he loved very much to be alone, being in his constitu- tion inclined somewhat to melancholy, and to retire- ment amongst his books ; and was so far from being active, that he was contented to be reproached by his friends with laziness ; and was of so nice and tender a composition, that a little rain or wind would disorder him, and divert him from any short journey he had most willingly proposed to himself; insomuch as, when he rid abroad with those in whose company he most delighted, if the wind chanced to be in his face, he would (after a little pleasant murmuring) suddenly turn his horse, and go home. Yet the civil war no sooner began, (the first approaches towards which he discovered as soon as any man, by the proceedings in parlia- P notable] notorious and notable EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 53 ment, where he was a member, and opposed with PART great indignation,) than he put himself into the first. troops which were raised in the west for the king; 1635> and bore the uneasiness and fatigue of winter marches, with an exemplar courage and alacrity ; until by too brave a pursuit of the enemy, into an obscure village in Devonshire, he was shot with a musket ; with which (without saying any word more, than, Oh God ! I am hurt) he fell dead from his horse ; to the excessive grief of his friends, who were all that knew him ; and the irreparable da- mage of the public. Edmund Waller was born to a very fair estate, of Mr. Ed- by the parsimony or frugality of a wise father and"" mother ; and he thought it so commendable an ad- vantage, that he resolved to improve it with his ut- most care, upon which in his nature he was too much intent ; and in order to that, he was so much reserved and retired, that he was scarce ever heard of, till by his address and dexterity he had gotten a very rich wife in the city, against all the recom- mendation, and countenance, and authority of the court, which was thoroughly engaged on the behalf of Mr. Crofts ; and which used to be successful, in that age, against any opposition. He had the good for- tune to have an alliance and friendship with Dr. Morley, who had assisted and instructed him in the reading many good books, to which his natural parts and promptitude inclined him ; especially the poets : and at the age when other men used to give over writing verses, (for he was near thirty years of age when he first engaged himself in that exercise, at least that he was known to do so,) he surprised the town with two or three pieces of that kind ; as if a E 3 54 THE LIFE OF PART tenth muse had been newly born, to cherish droop- .ing poetry. The doctor at that time brought him 1635. m j. Q th^ company which was most celebrated for good conversation ; where he was received, and esteemed, with great applause and respect. He was a very pleasant discourser, in earnest and in jest, and therefore very grateful to all kind of company, where he was not the less esteemed for being very rich. He had been even nursed in parliaments, where he sat when he was very young ^ ; and so when they were resumed again, (after a long intermis- sion r ,) he appeared in those assemblies with great advantage, having a graceful way of speaking ; and by thinking much upon several arguments, (which his temper and complexion, that had much of me- lancholic, inclined him to,) he seemed often to speak upon the sudden, when the occasion had only ad- ministered the opportunity of saying what he had thoroughly considered, which gave a great lustre to all he said ; which yet was rather of delight than weight. There needs no more be said to extol the excellence and power of his wit, and pleasantness of his conversation, than that it was of magnitude enough to cover a world of very great faults ; that is, so to cover them, that they were not taken no- tice of to his reproach ; viz. a narrowness in his na- ture to the lowest degree ; an abjectness, and want of courage to support him in any virtuous under- taking; an insinuation and servile flattery to the height the vainest and most imperious nature could be contented with ; that it preserved and won his ( i when he was very youngi] r intermission] intermission in his infancy and interdiction EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 55 life from those who were most resolved to take it, PART and in an occasion in which he ought to have been ' ambitious to have lost it; and then preserved him 1635- again, from the reproach and contempt that was due to him for so preserving it, and for vindicating it at such a price; that it had power to reconcile him to those whom he had most offended and pro- voked ; and continued to his age with that rare fe- licity, that his company was acceptable, where his spirit was odious ; and he was at least pitied, where he was most detested. Of Doctor Sheldon there needs no more be said or Dr. shei- in this place, 8 than that his learning, and gravity, and prudence, had in that time raised him to such a reputation, when he was chaplain in the house to the lord keeper Coventry, (who exceedingly esteemed him, and used his service not only in all matters re- lating to the church, but in many other businesses of importance, and in which that great and good lord was nearly concerned,) and when he was after- wards warden of All Souls' college in Oxford, that he then was looked upon as very equal to any pre- ferment the church could yield f , or hath since yielded unto him ; and sir Francis Wenman would often say, when the doctor resorted to the conver- sation at the lord Falkland's house, as he frequently did, that " Dr. Sheldon was born and bred to be " archbishop of Canterbury." Doctor Morley " was a gentleman of very eminent or Dr. Mor- parts in all polite learning ; of great wit, and readi- le: in this place,] MS. adds : * yield] Not in MS. there being frequent occasions u Doctor Morley] MS. adds: to mention him hereafter in the of whom more must likewise prosecution of this discourse, be said in its place, E 4 56 THE LIFE OF PART ness, and subtilty in disputation ; and of remarkable .temper and prudence in conversation, which ren- 1635. dered hj m mos t grateful in all the best company. He was then chaplain in the house, and to the fa- mily, of the lord and lady Carnarvon, which needed a wise and a wary director. From some academic contests he had been engaged in, during his living in Christ Church in Oxford, where he was always of the first eminency, he had, by the natural faction and animosity of those disputes, fallen under the re- proach of holding some opinions, which were not then grateful to those churchmen who had the greatest power in ecclesiastical promotions ; and some sharp answers and replies he used to make in accidental discourses, and which in truth were made for mirth and pleasantness sake, (as he was of the highest facetiousness,) were reported, and spread abroad to his prejudice : as being once asked by a grave country gentleman, (who was desirous to be instructed what their tenets and opinions were,) " what the Arminians held," he pleasantly an- swered, that they held all the best bishoprics and deaneries in England; which was quickly re- ported abroad, as Mr. Morley's definition of the Ar- minian tenets. Such and the like harmless and jocular sayings, upon many accidental occasions, had wrought upon the archbishop of Canterbury, Laud, (who lived to change his mind, and to have a just esteem of him,) to entertain some prejudice towards him ; and the respect which was paid him by many eminent per- sons, as John Hampden, Arthur Goodwin, and others, who were not thought friends to the pros- perity the church was in, made others apprehend EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 57 that he was not enough zealous for it. But that PART disaffection and virulency (which few men had then '. owned and discovered) no sooner appeared, in those and other men, but Dr. Morley made haste as pub- licly to oppose them, both in private and in public ; which had the more effect to the benefit of the church, by his being a person above all possible re- proach, and known and valued by more persons of honour than most of the clergy were, and being not only without the envy of any preferment, but under the advantage of a discountenanced person. And as he was afterwards the late king's chaplain, and much regarded by him, and as long about him as any of his chaplains were permitted to attend him ; so presently after his murder he left the kingdom, and remained in banishment till king Charles the Second's x happy return. Doctor Earles was at that time chaplain in the or Dr. house to the earl of Pembroke, lord chamberlain of his majesty's household, and had a lodging in the court under that relation. He was a person very notable for his elegance in the Greek and Latin tongues ; and being Fellow of Merton college in Oxford, and having been proctor of the university, and some very witty and sharp discourses being pub- lished in print without his consent, though known to be his, he grew suddenly into a very general esteem with all men ; being a man of great piety and devotion ; a most eloquent and powerful preacher ; and of a conversation so pleasant and delightful, so very innocent, and so very facetious, that no man's company was more desired and more loved. No * king Charles the Second's] his majesty's 58 THE LIFE OF PART man was more negligent in his dress, and habit, and .mien; no man more wary and cultivated in his be- 1635. h av i our and discourse; insomuch as he had the greater advantage when he was known, by pro- mising so little before he was known. He was an excellent poet, both in Latin, Greek, and English, as appears by many pieces yet abroad ; though he suppressed many more himself, especially of Eng- lish, incomparably good, out of an austerity to those sallies of his youth. He was very dear to the lord Falkland, with whom he spent as much time as he could make his own ; and as that lord would impute the speedy progress he made in the Greek tongue, to the information and assistance he had from Mr. Earles, so Mr. Earles would frequently profess, that he had got more useful learning by his conversation at Tew, (the lord Falkland's house,) than he had at Oxford. In the first settling of the prince's family, he was made one of his chaplains ; and attended on him when he was forced to leave the kingdom ?. He was amongst the few excellent men who never had, nor ever could have an enemy, but such a one who was an enemy to all learning and virtue, and therefore would never make himself known. of Mr. M r j on n Hales had been Greek professor in the Hales. university of Oxford; and had borne the greatest part of the labour 7 of that excellent edition and im- pression of St. Chrysostom's Works, set out by sir Harry Savile ; who was then warden of Merton col- lege, when the other was fellow of that house. He was chaplain in the house with sir Dudley Carleton, y kingdom] MS. adds : and after. therefore we shall often have 7> the greatest part of the la- occasion to mention him here- hour] all the labour EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 59 ambassador at the Hague in Holland, at the time PART when the synod of Dort was held, and so had liberty ! to be present at the consultations in that assembly; 1635- and hath left the best memorial behind him, of the ignorance, and passion, and animosity, and in- justice of that convention ; of which he often made very pleasant relations ; though at that time it re- ceived too much countenance from England. Being a person of the greatest eminency for learning, and other abilities, from which he might have promised himself any preferment in the church, he withdrew himself from all pursuits of that kind into a private fellowship in the college of Eton, where his friend sir Harry Savile was provost ; where he lived amongst his books, and the most separated from the world of any man then living : though he was not in the least degree inclined to melancholy, but, on the con- trary, of a very open and pleasant conversation ; and therefore was very well pleased with the resort of his friends to him, who were such as he had chosen, and in whose company he delighted, and for whose sake he would sometimes, once in a year, re- sort to London, only to enjoy their cheerful conver- sation. He would never take any cure of souls ; and was so great a contemner of money, that he was wont to say, that his fellowship, and the bursar's place, (which, for the good of the college, he held many years,) was worth him fifty pounds a year more than he could spend ; and yet, besides his being very charitable to all poor people, even to liberality, he had made a greater and better collection of books, than were to be found in any other private library that J have seen ; as he had sure read more, 60 THE LIFE OF PART and carried more about him in his excellent me- mory, than any man I ever knew, my lord Falk- 1635. j an( j on iy excepted, who I think sided him. He had, whether from his natural temper and constitu- tion, or from his long retirement from all crowds, or from his profound judgment and discerning spirit, contracted some opinions which were not received, nor by him published, except in private discourses ; and then rather upon occasion of dispute, than of positive opinion : and he would often say, his opin- ions he was sure did him no harm, but he was far from being confident that they might not do others harm who entertained them, and might entertain other results from them than he did ; and therefore he was very reserved in communicating what he thought himself in those points, in which he differed from what was received. Nothing troubled him more than the brawls which were grown from religion ; and he therefore exceed- ingly detested the tyranny of the church of Rome ; more for their imposing uncharitably upon the con- sciences of other men, than for the errors in their own opinions : and would often say, that he would renounce the religion of the church of England to- morrow, if it obliged him to believe that any other Christians should be damned; and that nobody would conclude another man to be damned, who did not wish him so. No man more strict and severe to himself; to other men so charitable as to their opinions, that he thought that other men were more in fault for their carriage towards them, than the men themselves were who erred ; and he thought that pride, and passion, more than conscience, were the cause of all separation from each other's com- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 61 munion ; and he frequently said, that that only kept the world from agreeing upon such a liturgy, as might bring them into one communion ; all doctri- nal points, upon which men differed in their opin- ions, being to have no place in any liturgy. Upon an occasional discourse with a friend, of the fre- quent and uncharitable reproaches of heretic and schismatic, too lightly thrown at each other, amongst men who differ in their judgment, he writ a little discourse of schism, contained in less than two sheets of paper; which being transmitted from friend to friend in writing, was at last, without any malice, brought to the view of the archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Laud, who was a very rigid sur- veyor of all things which never so little bordered upon schism ; and thought the church could not be too vigilant against, and jealous of, such incursions. He sent for Mr. Hales, whom, when they had both lived in the university of Oxford, he had known well ; and told him, that he had in truth believed him to be long since dead; and chid him very kindly for having never come to him, having been of his old acquaintance : then asked him, whether he had lately written a short discourse of schism, and whether he was of that opinion which that dis- course implied. He told him, that he had, for the satisfaction of a private friend, (who was not of his mind,) a year or two before, writ such a small tract, without any imagination that it would be communi- cated ; and that he believed it did not contain any thing that was not agreeable to the judgment of the primitive fathers : upon which, the archbishop de- bated with him upon some expressions of Irenaeus, and the most ancient fathers ; and concluded with 62 THE LIFE OF PART saying, that the time was very apt to set new doc- ! trines on foot, of which the wits of the age were 1635. j. 00 SUSC eptible; and that there could not be too much care taken to preserve the peace and unity of the church ; and from thence asked him of his con- dition, and whether he wanted any thing : and the other answering, that he had enough, and wanted or desired no addition, so dismissed him with great courtesy; and shortly after sent for him again, when there was a prebendary of Windsor fallen, and told him, the king had given him the preferment, because it lay so convenient to his fellowship of Eton ; which (though indeed the most convenient prefer- ment that could be thought of for him) the arch- bishop could not without great difficulty persuade him to accept, and he did accept it rather to please him than himself; because he really believed he had enough before. He was one of the least men in the kingdom ; and one of the greatest scholars in Europe. or Mr. ]vt r> Chillingworth was of a stature little superior worth. to Mr. Hales, (and it was an age in which there were many great and wonderful men of that size,) and a man of so great a subtilty of understanding, and so rare a temper in debate, that, as it was im- possible to provoke him into any passion, so it was very difficult to keep a man's self from being a little discomposed by his sharpness and quickness of argu- ment, and instances, in which he had a rare facility, and a great advantage over all the men I ever knew. He had spent all his younger time in dispu- tation, and had arrived to so great a mastery, as he was inferior to no man in those skirmishes : but he had, with his notable perfection in this exercise, EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 63 contracted' such an irresolution and habit of doubt- PART ing, that by degrees he grew confident of nothing, and a sceptic, at least, in the greatest mysteries of l635 * faith. This made him, from first wavering in religion, and indulging to scruples, to reconcile himself too soon and too easily to the church of Rome ; and carrying still his own inquisitiveness about him, without any resignation to their authority, (which is the only temper can make that church sure of its proselytes,) having made a journey to St. Omer's, purely to perfect his conversion by the conversation of those who had the greatest name, he found as little satisfaction there ; and returned with as much haste from them ; with a belief, that an entire ex- emption from error was neither inherent in, nor ne- cessary to any church : which occasioned that war, which was carried on by the Jesuits with so great asperity and reproaches against him, and in which he defended himself by such an admirable eloquence of language, and clear and incomparable power of reason, that he not only made them appear unequal adversaries, but carried the war into their own quar- ters ; and made the pope's infallibility to be as much shaken, and declined by their own doctors, (and as great an acrimony amongst themselves upon that subject,) and to be at least as much doubted, as in the schools of the reformed, or protestant ; and forced them since to defend and maintain those un- happy controversies in religion, with arms and wea- pons of another nature than were used or known in the church of Rome when Bellarmine died; and which probably will in time undermine the very foundation that supports it. 64 THE LIFE OF PART Such a levity, and propensity to change, is com- monly attended with great infirmities in, and no 1635. j ess re p roac h and prejudice to the person; but the sincerity of his heart was so conspicuous, and with- out the least temptation of any corrupt end ; and the innocence and candour in a his nature so evi- dent, and without any perverseness ; that all who knew him clearly discerned, that all those restless motions and fluctuations proceeded only from the warmth and jealousy of his own thoughts, in a too nice inquisition for truth. Neither the books of the adversary, nor any of their persons, though he was acquainted with the best of both, had ever made great impression upon him ; all his doubts grew out of himself, when he assisted his scruples with all the strength of his own reason, and was then too hard for himself; but finding as little quiet and re- pose in those victories, he quickly recovered, by a new appeal to his own judgment ; so that he was, in truth, upon the matter, in all his sallies and retreats, his own convert ; though he was not so totally di- vested of all thoughts of this world, but that when he was ready for it, he admitted some great and considerable churchmen, to be sharers with him in his public conversion. Whilst he was in perplexity, or rather some pas- sionate disinclination to the religion he had been educated in, he had the misfortune to have much acquaintance with one Mr. Lugar, a minister of that church ; a man of a competency of learning in those points most controverted with the Romanists, but of no acute parts of wit, or judgment ; and wrought so in] of EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 65 far upon him, by weakening and enervating those PART arguments, by which he found he was governed, (as he had all the logic, and all the rhetoric, that was 1635> necessary to persuade very powerfully men of the greatest talents,) that the poor man, not able to live long in doubt, too hastily deserted his own church, and betook himself to the Roman : nor could all the arguments and reasons of Mr. Chillingworth make him pause in the expedition he was using, or reduce him from that church after he had given himself to it ; but he had always a great animosity against him, for having (as he said) unkindly betrayed him, and carried him into another religion, and there left him. So unfit are some constitutions to be troubled with doubts, after they are once fixed. He did really believe all war to be unlawful ; and did not think that the parliament (whose proceed- ings he perfectly abhorred) did in truth intend to involve the nation in a civil war, till after the battle of Edge-hill ; and then he thought any expedient or stratagem that was like to put a speedy end to it, to be the most commendable : and so having too mathematically conceived an engine, that should move so lightly as to be a breastwork in all en- counters and assaults in the field, he carried it, to make the experiment, into that part of his majesty's army, which was only in that winter season in the field, under the command of the lord Hopton, in Hampshire, upon the borders of Sussex ; where he was shut up in the castle of Arundel; which was forced, after a short, sharp siege, to yield for want of victual ; and poor Mr. Chillingworth with it, fall- ing into the rebels' hands ; and being most barba- rously treated by them, especially by that clergy VOL. i. F 66 THE LIFE OF PART which followed them ; and being broken with sick- ' ness, contracted by the ill accommodation, and want 1635. Q f mea t anc i fire during the siege, which was in a terrible season of frost and snow, he died shortly after in prison. He was a man of excellent parts, and of a cheerful disposition ; void of all kind of vice, and endued with many notable virtues ; of a very public heart, and an indefatigable desire to do good; his only unhappiness proceeded from his sleeping too little, and thinking too much ; which sometimes threw him into violent fevers. This was Mr. Hyde's company and conversation, to which he dedicated his vacant times, and all that time which he could make vacant, from the business of his profession ; which he indulged with no more passion than was necessary to keep up the reputa- tion of a man that had no purpose to be idle ; which indeed he perfectly abhorred : and he took always occasion to celebrate the time he had spent in that conversation, with great satisfaction and de- light. Nor was he less fortunate in the acquaint- ance and friendships which he made with the per- sons in his profession ; who were all eminent men, or of the most hopeful parts ; who being all much superior to him in age and experience, and entirely devoted to their profession, were yet well pleased with the gayety of his humour, and inoffensive and winning behaviour; and this good inclination of theirs was improved by the interest they saw he had in persons of the best quality, to whom he was very acceptable, and his condition of living, which was with more expense b than young lawyers were accustomed to. b expense] splendour EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 67 Those persons were, Mr. Lane, who was then at- HART torney to the prince of Wales, and afterwards lord i / Q t chief baron of the exchequer, and lastly, upon the Mr. Hyde's death of the lord Littleton, was made keeper of the friends in great seal, who died in banishment with king Charles 9 io n pr the Second d ; Mr. Geoffrey Palmer, afterwards attor- ney general 6 ; Mr. John Maynard; and Bulstrode Whitlock ; all men of eminent parts, and great learn- ing out pf their professions; and in their professions, of signal reputation : and though the two last did after- wards bow their knees to Baal, and so swerved from their allegiance, it was wkh less rancour and malice than other men : they never led, but followed ; and were rather carried away with the torrent, than swam with the stream ; and failed through those in- firmities, which less than a general defection and a prosperous rebellion could never have discovered. With these, and very few other persons of other societies, and of more than ordinary parts in the profession, he conversed. In business and in prac- tice, with the rest of the profession, he had at most a formal acquaintance, and little familiarity ; very seldom using, when his practice was at highest, so much as to eat in the hall, without which no man ever got the reputation of a good student : but he ever gave his time of eating to his friends ; and was wont pleasantly to say, "that he repaired himself " with very good company at dinner, for the ill com- " pany he had kept in the morning ;" and made him- self amends for the time he lost with his friends, by declining suppers, and with a part of that time c banishment] MS. adds: and cond] Not in MS. of whom we shall say more e attorney general] MS. adds : hereafter. who will likewise have another d with king Charles the Se- part in this story F 2 68 THE LIFE OF PART which was allowed for sleep : but he grew every day ' more intent on business and more engaged in prac- 1635. ^ cej so that he could not assign so much time as he had used to do to his beloved conversation. The countenance he received from the archbishop of Canterbury, who took all occasion to mention him as a person he had kindness for ; the favour of the lord Coventry, manifested as often as he came before him ; the reception he found with the lord privy seal, the earl of Manchester, who had raised the court of requests to as much business as the chan- cery itself was possessed of; and where he was looked upon as a favourite ; the familiarity used towards him by the lord Pembroke f , who was lord chamber- lain of the king's house, and a greater man in the country than the court ; by the earl of Holland, and many other lords and ladies, and other persons of interest in the court, made him looked upon by the judges in Westminster hall with much condescen- sion ; and they, who before he put on his gown looked upon him as one who designed some other course of life, (for though he had been always very punctual in the performance of all those public exercises the profession obliged him to, both before and after he was called to the bar ; yet in all other respects he seemed not to confine himself wholly to that course of life*,) now when they no sooner saw him put on his gown, but that he was suddenly in practice, and taken notice of particularly in all courts of justice with unusual countenance, thought he would make what progress he desired in that profession. f lord Pembroke] earl of Pern- himself wholly to that course of broke life] he lived as if he thought g he seemed not to confine himself above that course of life EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 69 As he had those many friends in court, so he was PART not less acceptable to many great persons in the. country, who least regarded the court, and were 1635 - least esteemed by it ; and he had that rare felicity, that even they, who did not love many of those upon whom he most depended, were yet very well pleased with him and with his company. The earl of Hert- ford and the earl of Essex, whose interests and friendships were then the same, and who were looked upon with reverence by all who had not reverence for the court ; and even by all in the court who were not satisfied there, (which was, and always will be, a great people,) were very kind to him, and ready to trust him in any thing that was most secret : and though he could not dispose the archbishop or the earl of Essex to any correspondence or good intelli- gence with each other, which he exceedingly la- boured to do, and found an equal aversion in both towards each other ; yet he succeeded to his wish in Mr - H y^ e i_ reconciles" bringing the archbishop and the earl of Hertford to the archbi- a very good acquaintance and inclination to each the L*" of other ; which they both often acknowledged kindly Hertford - to him, and with which the earl of Essex was as much unsatisfied. The person whose life this discourse is to recollect (and who had so great an affection and reverence for the memory of archbishop Laud h , that he never spake of him without extraordinary esteem, and be- lieved him to be a man of the most exemplar virtue and piety of any of that age) was wont to say, the greatest want the archbishop had was of a true friend, who would seasonably have told him of his infirmities, h archbishop Laud] that prelate F 3 70 THE LIFE OF PART and what people spake of him ; and he said, he knew ! well that such a friend would have been very accept- 1635. a bj e to hj m . an( | U p 0n t ij at OCC asion he used to mention a story of himself: that when he was a young practiser of the law, being in some favour with him, (as is mentioned before,) he went to visit him in the beginning of a Michaelmas term, shortly after his return from the country, where he had spent a month or two of the summer. HI* free ex- He found the archbishop early walking in the postulation . ... ,. . with the garden ; who received him according to his custom. ? ' very graciously ; and continuing his walk, asked him,. " What good news in the country ?" to which he an- swered, " there was none good ; the people were " universally discontented ; and (which troubled him " most) that many people 1 spoke extreme ill of his " grace, as the cause of all that was amiss." He re- plied, " that he was sorry for it ; he knew he did " not deserve it ; and that he must not give over " serving the king and the church, to please the " people, who otherwise would not speak well of " him." Mr. Hyde told him, " he thought he need " not lessen his zeal for either ; and that it grieved " him to find persons of the best condition, and who " loved both king and church, exceedingly indevoted " to him ; complaining of his manner of treating " them, when they had occasion to resort to him, it " may be, for his directions." And then named him two persons of the most interest and credit in Wilt- shire, who had that summer attended the council board in some affairs which concerned the king and the county : that all the lords present used them 1 many people] every [one] EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 71 with great courtesy, knowing well their quality and PART reputation ; but that he alone spake very sharply to them, and without any thing of grace, at which they 1635 - were much troubled; and one of them, supposing that somebody had done him ill offices, went the next morning to Lambeth, to present his service to him, and to discover, if he could, what misrepresentation had been made of him : that after he had attended very long, he was admitted to speak with his grace, who scarce hearing him, sharply answered him, that " he had no leisure for compliments ;" and so hurried away k ; which put the other gentleman much out of countenance : and that this kind of behaviour of his was the discourse of all companies of persons of qua- lity ; every man continuing any such story with an- other like it, very much to his disadvantage, and to the trouble of those who were very just to him. He heard the relation very patiently and atten-i'henrchbi- T i shop's re- tively, and discoursed over every particular with allpiy. imaginable condescension ; and said, with evident shew of trouble, that " he was very unfortunate to " be so ill understood ; that he meant very well ; " that he remembered the time when those two per- " sons were with the council ; that upon any delibe- " rations, when any thing was resolved, or to be said " to any body, the council enjoined him to deliver " their resolutions ; which he did always according " to the best of his understanding : but by the im- " perfection he had by nature, which he said often " troubled him, he might deliver it in such a tune, " and with a sharpness of voice, that made men be- " lieve he was angry, when there was no such thing; k hurried away] turned away F 4 72 THE LIFE OF PART " that when those gentlemen were there, and he had . " delivered what he was to say, they made some 1635. staV) an d spake with some of the lords, which not " being according to order, he thought he gave them " some reprehension ; they having at that time very " much other business to do : that he did well re- " member that one of them (who was a person of " honour) came afterwards to him at a time he was " shut up about an affair of importance, which re- " quired his full thoughts ; but that as soon as he " heard of the other's being without, he sent for him, " himself going into the next room, and received him *' very kindly, as he thought ; and supposing that " he came about business, asked him what his busi- " ness was ; and the other answering, that he had no " business, but continuing his address with some " ceremony, he had indeed said, that he had not time " for compliments : but he did not think that he " went out of the room in that manner : and con- " eluded, that it was not possible for him, in the " many occupations he had, to spend any time in " unnecessary compliments ; and that if his integrity " and uprightness, which never should be liable to " reproach, could not be strong enough to preserve " him, he must submit to God's pleasure ! ." He was well contented to hear Mr. Hyde reply very freely upon the subject, who said, "he observed " by what his grace himself had related, that the " gentlemen had too much reason for the report they " made ; and he did not wonder that they had been " much troubled at his carriage towards them ; that " he did exceedingly wish that he would more re- 1 God's pleasure.] God's good pleasure. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 73 " serve his passion towards all persons, how faulty PART " soever ; and that he would treat persons of honour, ' " and quality, and interest in their country, with 163 - " more courtesy and condescension ; especially when " they came to visit him, and make offer of their " service." He said, smiling, that "he could only un- " dertake for his heart ; that he had very good " meaning ; for his tongue, he could not undertake, " that he would not sometimes speak more hastily " and sharply than he should do, (which oftentimes " he was sorry m and reprehended himself for,) and " in a tune which might be liable to misinterpreta- " tion with them who were not very well acquainted " with him, and so knew that it was an infirmity, " which his nature and education had so rooted in " him, that it was in vain to contend with it." For the state and distance he kept with men, he said, " he " thought it was not more than was suitable to the " place and degree he held in the church and state ; " or so much as others had assumed to themselves *' who had sat in his place ; and thereupon he told " him some behaviour and carriage of his prede- " cessor, Abbot, (who he said was not better born " than himself,) towards the greatest nobility of the " kingdom, which he thought was very insolent and " inexcusable ;" and was indeed very ridiculous. After this free discourse, Mr. Hyde n ever found himself more graciously received by him, and treated with more familiarity ; upon which he always con- cluded, that if the archbishop had had any true friend, who would, in proper seasons, have dealt frankly with him in the most important matters, and m sorry] sorry for Mr. Hy.de] After this bold en- " After this free discourse, terprise, that gentleman 74 THE LIFE OF PART wherein the errors were like to be most penal, he would not only have received it very well, but have 1635. profited himself by it. But it is the misfortune of most persons of that education, (how worthy soever,) that they have rarely friendships with men above their own condition ; and that their ascent being commonly sudden, from low to high, they have af- terwards rather dependants than friends, and are still deceived by keeping somewhat in reserve to themselves, even from those with whom they seem most openly to communicate ; and which is worse, receive for the most part their informations and ad- vertisements from clergymen who understand the least, and take the worst measure of human affairs, of all mankind that can write and read. Under this universal acquaintance and general acceptation, Mr. Hyde led for many years as cheer- ful and pleasant a life as any man did enjoy, as long as the kingdom took any pleasure in itself. His practice grew every day as much as he wished, and would have been much more, if he had wished it ; by which, he not only supported his expense, greater much than men of his rank and pretences used to, make, but increased his- estate by some convenient purchases of land adjoining to his other; and he grew so much in love with business and practice, that he gave up his whole heart to it ; resolving, by a course of severe study, to recover the time he had lost upon less profitable learning; and to intend nothing else, but to reap all those benefits to which that profession could carry him, and to the pursuing whereof he had so many and so unusual encourage- ments ; and towards which it was not the least, that God had blessed him with an excellent . wife, who EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 75 perfectly resigned herself to him ; and who then had PART brought him, before any troubles in the kingdom, ______ three sons and a daughter, which he then and ever 163< own bowels ; the former, by frequent rebellions from their own factions and animosities, the latter, by the defection of Portugal ; and both laboured more to ransack and burn each other's dominions, than to extinguish their own fire. All Germany weltering in its own blood, and contributing to each other's destruction, that the poor crown of Sweden might grow great out of their ruins, and at their charge : Denmark and Poland being adventurers in the same destructive enterprises. Holland and the United Provinces wearied and tired with their long and chargeable war, how prosperous soever they were in it ; and beginning to be more afraid of France their ally, than of Spain their enemy. Italy every year infested by the arms of Spain and France, which di- vided the princes thereof into the several factions. Of all the princes of Europe, the king of Eng- land alone seemed to be seated upon that pleasant promontory, that might safely view the tragic suf- ferings of all his neighbours about him, without any other concernment than what arose from his own princely heart and Christian compassion, to see such desolation wrought by the pride, and passion, and ambition of private persons, supported by princes who knew not what themselves would have. His three kingdoms flourishing in entire peace and uni- versal plenty, in danger of nothing but their own surfeits ; and his dominions every day enlarged, by sending out colonies upon large and fruitful planta- " invasions] invasions of each other 80 THE LIFE OF PART tions ; his strong fleets commanding all seas; and the numerous shipping of the nation bringing the ' 1G39. t ra( j e O f th e WO rld into his ports; nor could it with unquestionable security be carried any whither else ; and all these blessings enjoyed under a prince of the greatest clemency and justice, and of the greatest piety and devotion, and the most indulgent to his subjects, and most solicitous for their happiness and prosperity. O fortunati nimium, bona si sua norint ! In this blessed conjuncture, when no other prince thought he wanted any thing to compass what he most desired to be possessed of, but the affection and friendship of the king of England, a small, scarce dis- cernible cloud arose in the north, which was shortly after attended with such a storm, that never gave over raging till it had shaken, and even rooted up, the greatest and tallest cedars of the three nations ; blasted all its beauty and fruitfulness ; brought its strength to decay, and its glory to reproach, and al- most to desolation ; by such a career and deluge of wickedness and rebellion, as by not being enough foreseen, or in truth suspected, could not be pre- vented. Upon the rebellion in Scotland, in the year 1640, the king called a parliament ; which met, according chos" yde to summ ns, upon the third of April. Mr. Hyde member for was chosen to serve for two places ; for the borough Wotton- Basset. of Wotton-Basset, in the county of Wilts ; and for the borough of Shaftesbury, in the county of Dorset; but made choice to serve for his neighbours of the former place: and so a new writ issued for the choice of another burgess for Shaftesbury. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 81 The next day after Mr. Pym had recapitulated PART the whole series of the grievances and miscarriages which had been in the state, Mr. Hyde told the 164 - house, that "that worthy gentleman had omitted His first " one grievance, more heavy than (as he thought) " many of the others ; which was, the earl marshal's " court : a court newly erected, without colour or " shadow of law, which took upon it to fine and " imprison the king's subjects, and to give great da- " mages for matters which the law gave no damages " for." He repeated a pleasant story of a citizen, who, being rudely treated for more than his fare came to, by a waterman, who, pressing him, still shewed his crest, or badge upon his coat, the citizen bade him be gone with his goose ; whereas it was, in truth, a swan, the crest of an earl, whose servant the waterman was : whereupon the citizen was called into the marshal's court, and, after a long and charge- able attendance, was, for the opprobrious dishonour- ing the earl's crest, by calling the swan a goose, fined and imprisoned, till he had paid considerable damages to the lord, or at least to the waterman ; which really undid the citizen. He told them another story as ridiculous, of a gentleman, who, owing his tailor a long time a good sum of money for clothes, and his tailor coming one day to his chamber, with more than ordinary impor- tunity for his debt, and not receiving any good an- swer, threatened to arrest him ; upon which the gen- tleman, enraged, gave him very ill words, called him base fellow, and laid his hands upon him to thrust him out of his chamber : in this struggle, and under this provocation, oppression, and reproach, the poor tailor chanced to say, that he was as good a man as VOL. I. G 82 THE LIFE OF PART the other; for which words he was called into the marshal's court ; and for his peace, was content to 164 - be satisfied his debt, out of his own ill manners; being compelled to release all his other demands in , lieu of damages. The case was known by many *, and detested by all. He told them, that " there was an appendant to " that court, which he called the pageantry of it, " the heralds ; who were as grievous to the gentry, " as the court was to the people." He said, " that " sure the knights of that house, when they received " that honour from the king, though they might " think themselves obliged to live at a higher rate, " yet they believed that they might die as good " cheap as other men ;" he told them, " they could " not, it would cost them ten pounds more ; and yet " a gentleman could not die for nothing." The he- ralds had procured such an order from the earl mar- shal, to force all persons to pay at their funerals, such several sums, according to their several degrees. He concluded with a desire, that when the wisdom of that house provided remedies against the other grievances, it would likewise secure the subject against this exorbitance. This representation was very acceptable to the house, both in respect of the matter, which was odious enough, and in regard of the person that usurped that monstrous jurisdiction, who was in no degree grateful to them ; upon whom he that made the motion u had not made the least re- flection, the modesty of that time not permitting the mention of great men with any reproach, until their offences were first examined and proved : and this being the first part he had acted upon that stage, * by many] to many " he that made the motion] the speaker EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 83 brought him much applause ; and he was ever after- PART wards heard with great benignity. ' Upon the warm debate in the house of commons, . 7 He endea- concerning the giving the king money, Mr. Hyde vourst observed by the several discourses of many of the dissolution court, who were of near admission to the king and Ha queen, and like to make probable guesses, that they believed the king would be so much displeased at the proceedings of the house, that he would dissolve them ; which he believed would prove the most fatal resolution could be taken. As soon as the house was up, he went over to Lambeth, to the archbi- shop ; whom he found walking in his garden, hav- ing received a full account of all that had passed, from persons who had made more haste from the house. He appeared sad, and full of thoughts ; and calling the other to him, seemed willing to hear what he would say. He told him, "that he would not " trouble him with the relation of any thing that " had passed, of which he presumed he had received " a good account : that his business was only to in- " form him of his own fears and apprehensions, and " the observations he had made upon the discourses " of some considerable men of the court, as if the " king might be wrought upon, because there had " not been that expedition used as he expected, " speedily to dissolve the parliament : that he came " only to beseech him to use all his credit to pre- " vent such a desperate counsel, which would pro- " duce great mischief to the king and to the church : " that he was confident the house was as well con- '* stituted and disposed, as ever house of commons " was or would be : that the number of the disaf- " fected to church or state was very small ; and G 2 84 THE LIFE OF PART " though they might obstruct for some time the quick resolving upon what was fit, they would 1640. never be able to pervert their good inclinations " and desires to serve the king." The archbishop heard him very patiently, and said, he believed the king would be very angry at the way of their proceedings ; for that, in this con- juncture, the delaying and denying to do what he desired was the same thing, and therefore he be- lieved it probable that he would dissolve them, with- out which he could not enter upon other counsels : that, for his own part, he was resolved to deliver no opinion ; but as he would not persuade the dissolu- tion, which might be attended by consequences he could not foresee, so he had not so good an opinion of their affections to the king or the church, as to persuade their longer sitting, if the king were in- clined to dissolve them : as he actually did on the fourth or fifth of May, not three weeks after their first meeting. v The temper and constitution of both houses of parliament, which the king was forced to call shortly after, and met on the third of November, 1640, X was very different from the last : and they disco- vered not more prejudice against any man, than He is again against Mr. Hyde ; who was again returned to serve serve in par- there, and whom they were sorry to find amongst :nt * them , as a man they knew well to have great af- fection for the archbishop, and of unalterable devo- tion to the government of the church; and there- fore they first laboured to find some defect in his v as he actually did on the x and met on the third of fourth or fifth of May first November, 1640,] Not in MS. meeting.] Not in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 85 election, and then to irreconcile those towards him, PART who they found had any esteem or kindness for him: but not finding the success in either answer- able to their expectation, they lived fairly towards him, and endeavoured, by several applications, to gain credit with him ; who returned them their own civilities ; having had very particular acquaintance with many of them, whom he as much endeavoured to preserve from being prevailed upon. Within few days after their meeting, he renewed He procures i i -i i ' -i i i i thesuppres- tne motion he had made in the last parliament, sion of the against the marshal's court, (though he knew earl marshal had gotten himself much into their fa- vour, by his application, and some promises he had made them at the meeting at York ; and principally by his declared aversion and prejudice to the earl of Strafford,) and told them what extravagant proceed- ings there had been in that court, since the dissolu- tion of the last parliament ; and that more damages had been given there, by the sole judgment of the lord marshal, for contumelious and reproachful words, of which the law took no notice, in two days, than had been given by all the juries, in all the courts in Westminster hall, in the whole term, and the days for trial after it was ended. Upon which he got a committee to be named, of which himself sat in the chair ; and found that the first precedent they had in all their records for that form of proceeding which they had used, and for giving of damages for words, was but in the year 1633 ; and the very entrance upon this inquisition put an end to that upstart court, which never presumed to sit afterwards ; and so that grievance was thoroughly abolished. And, to manifest how great an impression the alarums of G 3 86 THE LIFE OF PART this kind made upon the highest and the proudest . natures, the very next Sunday after this motion was 1640. ma d e i n the house of commons, the earl marshal seeing Mr. Hyde in the closet at Whitehall during the time of the sermon, he came with great courtesy to him, thanked him for having treated his person so civilly, when upon so just reason he had found fault with some of his actions : said, he believed he had been in the wrong ; but that he had been mis- led by the advice of sir Harry Martin and other ci- vilians, who were held men of great learning, and who assured him that those proceedings were just and lawful. He said, they had gained well by it, but should mislead him no more : and concluded with great professions of kindness and esteem, and offered him all offices in his power ; when, in his heart, he did him the honour to detest and hate him perfectly; as he professed to all whom he trusted, y 7 - His credit grew every day in the house, in spite of all the endeavours which were used to lessen it : and it being evident that he had no dependence upon the court, and insisted wholly upon maintain- ing what the law had established, very many wise men, and of estate and reputation in the kingdom, 7 as he professed to all whom pers of the person whose life is he trusted.] A curious narrative the end of this discourse, that of the conduct and escape of the even unawares many things are lord keeper Finch is here omit- inserted not so immediately ap- ted : it may be seen in the Ap- plicable to his own person ; pendix to the first volume of the which possibly may hereafter, in History of the Rebellion, p. 522. some other method, be cornmu- 8vo. Oxford, 1826. nicated to the world; and there- * Thus in MS. : The memo- fore we shall again resort only rials and extracts are so large to such particulars as more im- and particular of all these pro- mediately relate to him. His ceedings in the notes and pa- credit, &c. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 87 (who observed well the crooked and ambitious de- PART signs of those who desired to be thought to care only for the good of their country,) adhered to him ; and were willing to take advice from him, how to prevent those miseries which were like to be brought upon the kingdom : so that they, who had cut out all the work from the beginning, and seldom met with any notable contradiction, found themselves now frequently disappointed, and different resolu- tions taken to what they had proposed ; which they imputed to his activity. He was very much in the business of the house ; the greatest chairman in the committees of the greatest moment ; and very diligent in attending the service both in the house and at committees : for he had from the beginning of- the parliament laid aside his gown and practice, and wholly given He la y . g aside his himself up to the public business ; which he saw so gown, and much concerned the peace and very being of the f e 'if wholly kingdom. He was in the chair in that committee which considered of the illegality of the court of York : and the other, that examined the miscar- riages of the judges, in the case of ship-money, and in other cases of judicatory, in their several courts ; and prepared charges thereupon against them. He was in the chair against the marshal's court : in that committee which was against the court of York, which was prosecuted with great passion, and took up many weeks debate : in that which concerned the jurisdiction of the lord president and council of the marches of Wales ; which likewise held a long time, and was prosecuted with great bitterness and animosity : in which the inhabitants of the four neighbour counties of Salop, Worcester, Hereford, . G 4 88 THE LIFE OF PART and Gloucester, and consequently the knights and burgesses which served for the same, were passion- 1640. ately concerned to absolve themselves from the bur- den of that jurisdiction ; and all the officers of that court and council, whereof some were very great men, and held offices of great value, laboured with equal passion and concernment to support and main- tain what was in practice and possession ; and their friends appeared accordingly. He was in the chair in many committees made upon private complaints ; insomuch as he was sel- dom in the afternoon free from that service in the committees, as he was never absent in mornings from the house : and he was often heard to mention one private committee, in which he was put acci- dentally into the chair, upon an enclosure which had been made of great wastes, belonging to a the queen's manors, without the consent of the tenants, the be- nefit whereof had been given by the queen to a ser- vant of near trust ; who forthwith sold the lands enclosed to the earl of Manchester, lord privy seal ; who, together with his son Mandevile, were now most concerned to maintain the enclosure ; against which, as well the inhabitants of other manors, who claimed common in those wastes, as the queen's te- nants of the same, made loud complaints, as a great oppression, carried upon them with a very high hand, and supported by power. The erst The committee sat in the queen's court, and Oli- canse of ~, Oliver ver Cromwell, being one of them, appeared much enm?ty e to S concerned to countenance the petitioners, who were numerous, together with, their witnesses; the lord * to] to some EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 89 Mandevile being likewise present as a party, and, PART by the direction of the committee, sitting covered. Cromwell (who had never before been heard to 164 - speak in the house of commons) ordered the wit- nesses and petitioners in the method of the proceed- ing, and seconded and enlarged upon what they said with great passion ; and the witnesses and persons concerned, who were a very rude kind of people, interrupted the council and witnesses on the other side with great clamour, when they said any thing that did not please them ; so that Mr. Hyde (whose office it was to oblige men of all sorts to keep order) was compelled to use some sharp reproofs and some threats to reduce them to such a temper, that the business might be quietly heard. Cromwell in great fury reproached the chairman for being partial, and that he discountenanced the witnesses by threaten- ing them : the other appealed to the committee, which justified him, and declared that he behaved himself as he ought to do ; which more inflamed him, who was already too much angry. When upon any mention of matter of fact, or the proceeding before and at the enclosure, the lord Mandevile de- sired to be heard, and with great modesty related what had been done, or explained what had been said, Mr. Cromwell did answer and reply upon him with so much indecency and rudeness, and in lan- guage so contrary and offensive, that every man would have thought, that as their natures and their manners were as opposite as it is possible, so their interest could never have been the same. In the end, his whole carriage was so tempestuous, and his behaviour so insolent, that the chairman found him- self obliged to reprehend him ; and to tell him, if he 90 THE LIFE OF PART proceeded in the same manner, he would presently *' adjourn the committee, and the next morning com- plain to the house of him ; which he never forgave ; and took all occasions afterwards to pursue him with the utmost malice and revenge, to his death. 1641. When Mr. Hyde sat in the chair, in the grand committee of the house for the extirpation of episco- pacy, all that party made great court to him ; and the house keeping those disorderly hours, and sel- dom rising till after four of the clock in the after- noon, they frequently importuned him to dine with them at Mr. Pym's lodging, which was at sir Ri- chard Manly 's house, in a little court behind West- minster hall ; where he, and Mr. Hambden, sir Ar- thur Haslerig, and two or three more, upon a stock kept a table, where they transacted much business, and invited thither those of whose conversion they had any hope. One day after dinner, Nathaniel Fiennes, who that day likewise dined there, asked Mr. Hyde whe- ther he would ride into the fields, and take a little air, it being a fine evening; which the other con- senting to, they sent for their horses, and riding to- gether in the fields between Westminster and Chel- His con- Se3j MJ-. Fiennes asked him what it was that inclined versation ' . with Nat. him to adhere so passionately to the church, which could not possibly be supported. He answered, that he could have no other obligation than that of his own b conscience, and his reason, that could move with him ; for he had no relation or dependence upon any churchmen that could dispose him to it ; that he could not conceive how religion could be b own] Not in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 91 preserved without bishops, nor how the government PART of the state could well subsist, if the government of. the church were altered; and asked him what go- 1641- vernment they meant to introduce in its place. To which he answered, that there would be time enough to think of that ; but assured him, and wished him to remember what he said, that if the king resolved to defend the bishops, it would cost the kingdom much blood, and would be the occasion of as sharp a war as had ever been in England : for that there was a great number c of good men who resolved to lose their lives before they would ever submit to that government. Which was the first positive de- claration he had ever heard from any particular man of that party, very few of them having at that time that resolution, much less avowing it ; and if they had, the kingdom was in no degree at that time infected with that poison, how much soever it was spread afterwards. Within two days after this discourse from Mr. Fiennes, Mr. Hyde, walking between the parliament house and Westminster, in the churchyard, met with Harrv Martin, with whom he lived very familiarly ; And Wlth J J J Harry Mar- and speaking together about the proceedings of the tin. houses, Martin told him, that he would undo him- self by his adhering to the court ; to which he re- plied, that he had no relation to the court, and was only concerned to maintain the government and preserve the law : and then told him, he could not conceive what he proposed to himself, for he did not think him to be of the opinion or nature with those c a great number] so great a number 92 THE LIFE OF PART men who governed the house; and asked him, what . he thought of such and such men : and he very 1 64 1 . f ran kiy answered, that he thought them knaves ; and that when they had done as much as they in- tended to do, they should be used as they had used others. The other pressed him then to say what he desired; to which, after a little pause, he very who owns roundly answered, " I do not think one man wise republican. " enough to govern us all :" which was the first word he had ever heard any man speak to that pur- pose ; and would without doubt, if it had been then communicated or attempted, been the most abhorred by the whole nation, of any design that could be mentioned ; and yet it appears it had even so early entered into the hearts of some desperate persons, that gentleman being at that time possessed of a very great fortune, and having great credit in his country. Whilst things were thus depending, one morning, when there was a conference with the lords, and so the house adjourned, Mr. Hyde being walking in the house, Mr. Peircy, brother to the earl of North- Mr. Hyde umberland, being a membe^ of the house, came to is sent for. i i i i 11 by the king, him, and told him that the king would speak with him, and would have him that afternoon to come to him. He answered, he believed it was some mis- take, for that he had not the honour to be known to the king ; and that there was another of the same name, of the house. Mr. Peircy assured him he was the man ; and so it was agreed, that at such an hour in the evening he should call on him at his chamber ; which he did, and was by him conducted into the gallery, and so into the square room, where EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 9iJ he stayed till the other went to the king; who in a PART very short time came thither, attended only by Mr ' Peircy, who, as soon as Mr. Hyde had kissed his majesty's hand, withdrew. The king told him, " that he heard from all hands The king's " how much he was beholden to him ; and that when w fth him. " all his servants in the house of commons either " neglected his service, or could not appear usefully " in it, he took all occasions to do him service ; for " which he thought fit to give him his own thanks, " and to assure him that he would remember it to " his advantage." He took notice of his affection to the church, for which, he said, " he thanked him " more than for all the rest ;" which the other ac- knowledged with the duty that became him, and said, " he was very happy that his majesty was pleased " with what he did ; but if he had commanded him " to have withdrawn his affection and reverence for " the church, he would not have obeyed him ;" which ,> his majesty said made him love him the better. Then he discoursed of the passion of the house, and of the bill then brought in against episcopacy ; and asked him, " whether he thought they would be able to " carry it ;" to which he answered, " he believed " they could not, at least that it would be very long " first." " Nay, (replied the king,) if you will look " to it, that they do not carry it before I go for " Scotland, which will be at such a time, when the " armies shall be disbanded, I will undertake for the " church after that time : why then, (said the other,) " by the grace of God, it will not be in much danger :" with which the king was well pleased ; and dismissed him with very gracious expressions. And this was 94 THE LIFE OF PART the first introduction of him to the king's taking no- '. tice of him. 164 1. Afterwards, in that summer, during the time of his majesty's stay in Scotland, Mr. Secretary Nicho- las (who then kept the signet, though he was not sworn secretary till the king's return) being very sick, sent to him, to desire to speak with him ; whereupon he went to him to his house in King's- street, and found him in his bed : and the business was wholly to shew him a letter from the king to him, in which he writ to him, that he understood, by several hands, that he was very much beholden to Mr. Hyde, for the great zeal he shewed to his service; and therefore commanded him to speak with him, and to let him know the sense he had of it; and that when he returned, he would let him know it himself. Having now taken a view of him from his birth, and through his whole youth, and first entrance into the business of the world, in which he had great success and prosperity, (and if the calm, in which he was born, and lasted so long, had continued, no man could with more probability have promised himself better fortune in the profession to which he had dedicated himself;) and having now brought him to be known to the king; and the tempest, that from the present foul weather shortly after broke out, driving him from further applying him- self to, or prosecuting that profession ; and the par- liament making some short recess during the king's being in Scotland ; we will here conclude the first part of his life, and enter upon the second ; which will contain a more important part, and in which EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 95 we will mention no particulars of that active time, PART but such in which he had a signal part ; leaving the ' rest to the history of those great and monstrous actions. Montpelier, March 27, 1669- THE LIFE OF EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON; FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE RESTORATION OF THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE YEAR 1650. PART II. WHEN the remonstrance of the state of the na- PART tion and its particular grievances was (by order of IL the house of commons) printed 3 . Mr. Hyde, only to I641 - . ,. . i , , Mr. Hyde give vent to his own indignation, and without the draws up an answer liament's renion- rattce. least purpose of communicating it, or that any use to the par should be made of it, had drawn such a full answer to it, as the subject would have enabled any man to st have done who had thought of it : and the lord Digby, who had much conversation and friendship with him, coming accidentally and suddenly into the room, where he was alone amongst his books and papers ; conferring together of the extravagant proceedings of the parliament, he, upon the fami- liarity that was between them, and upori the argu- ment that was then between them, read the answer a WHEN the remonstrance of printed,] As soon as the remon- the state of the nation and its strance, so much mentioned be- particular grievances was (by fore, was printed, order of the house of commons) VOL. I. H 98 THE LIFE OF PART to him, which he had prepared to the remonstrance; with which he seemed much pleased, and desired 1 64 ' him, that he would permit it to be made use of by the king, and that he might shew it to his majesty ; who found it absolutely necessary to publish some answer in his own name to that remonstrance, which had so much poisoned the hearts of the people ; and that his majesty was endeavouring to procure such an answer to be drawn. The other expressly and positively refused to give it him, or that any use should be made of it ; and reproached him for pro- posing a thing to him which might prove ruinous to him, if the house should have the least imagination that he exercised himself in such offices ; with which answer he seemed satisfied, and departed : no other person having seen it but the lord Falkland, from whom nothing was ever concealed. Within few days after, the lord Digby, with whom the king advised in the business of the parliament without reserve, came again to him ; and, after some apologies, told him freely, that very many had been with the king, desiring him that he would take care that some answer might be published to that remon- strance, which had already done much harm, and would do much more if it were not answered ; and that the king had spoken to him ; upon which he had confessed that he had seen an answer that pleased him very well, but could not prevail with the author of it to suffer it to be made use of; and told him who it was : whereupon the king seemed to wonder very much, that a person, who had ap- peared so publicly in defence of his service, should be so wary of assisting him in private : and after many expressions of grace towards that gentleman, EDWARD EARL OF- CLARENDON. 99 his majesty had commanded him to come in his P ART name to him; and to conjure him to send that paper to him ; and to give him his royal word, that no person living should know that he had the least hand in it ; so that no danger should accrue to him thereby. Mr. Hyde, though he was very unsatisfied with what the lord Digby had done, (whose affection to him he did not in any degree make question of, but did not like his over activity, to which his restless fancy always disposed him ; and as he doubted not that himself had given the occasion to the king to send those commands, so he had likewise enlarged those commands, as he believed, in such a manner as he thought might most oblige him,) yet, upon the real consideration that it might do the king much service, he did, without delay, deliver the pa- pers; insisting upon the promise of secrecy, and, likewise, that his majesty would not publish without first communicating it to his council, and as done with their advice. And to that purpose he affixed that title to it, before he delivered the papers out of his hands ; believing, that as it would be more for the king's service to carry such an authority in the front of it, as " The king's answer with the advice " of his council ;" so it could not be refused by them, and yet might engage them in some displea- sure with the house of commons, which probably might be offended at it. The king was very punctual in doing what was desired, and caused it to be read at a full council, where many of the lords commended it very much, and none spake against it; and so it which by was published and printed ; and it was very appa- command rent to all men, that the king's service was very" pm H 2 100 THE LIFE OF PART much advanced by it; and it was not more evident .to any than to the house of commons, who knew 1641 - not how to make any expostulation upon it, it being in the king's own name, and published with the ad- vice of his privy-council : so that all they could do was, to endeavour to discover who was the penner of it ; to which discovery they were most intent by all their secret friends in court, who found means to discover most other secrets to them, but in this could do them no service. As soon as the lord Falkland and sir John Cole- pepper were called to the privy-council, the king sent for Mr. Hyde to him, who had not seen his majesty from the time he had been presented by Mr. Peircy. He commanded the lord Digby to bring him when it was night to the queen's back stairs ; and as soon as he was there, both king and queen came into the room ; and when he had kissed their hands, and the lord Digby was withdrawn, the king told him, " he was much beholden to him for many " good services, and that now he had preferred two " of his friends, it was time to give him some testi- " mony of his favour ; and therefore he had sent to " him to tell him that he intended to make him his " solicitor general, in the place of him who had Mr. Hyde " served him so ill." Mr. Hyde suddenly answered, offic!Tof S so- e " God forbid!" With which the king seeming sur- IS. rge " P rised > said > "Why God forbid?" The other replied, " It was in no degree fit at this time that he should " remove the other ; and if he were removed, him- " self was in no degree fit for it." The queen said, " he ought not to suffer for his modesty : she had " heard men, who could judge well, say, that he " was as fit for it as the other." Mr. Hyde said, EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 101 " that was an argument that gentleman thought the PART " other not fit for it, not that he believed him fit ; ' " which in truth, he said, he was not. That it 1641> " might be, that when the place was actually void, " the king might have filled it better with another " man than with Mr. Saint- John, whose parts were " not above many others, and his affections were " below most men's : but now that he was invested " in that office, it was not a good conjuncture to re- " move him ; and when it should be, he did humbly " advise his majesty to make choice of the ablest " man of the profession, whose affections were clear, " by whom he might indeed have great benefit; " whereas himself was" young, and without any of " that learning or experience which might make " him capable of that great trust." The queen say- ing again this was his modesty, he replied, " Madam, " when you know me better, you will not find me " so modest a man, but that I hope by your ma- " jesty's favour, in due time, to be made a better " man than I am at present : but, if you believe " that I know any thing of the disposition of .the " present time, or of what may conduce to the king's " service, I pray believe, that, though the solicitor " will never do much service, he will be able to do " much more mischief if he be removed." The king at the same time resolved to remove another officer, who did disserve him notoriously, and to prefer Mr. Hyde to that place ; with which their gracious in- tention both their majesties acquainted him : but he positively refused it ; and assured both their majes- ties, that he should be able to do much more service in the condition he was in. Before the king left Whitehall, he renewed his H 3 102 THE LIFE OF PART commands to the three persons mentioned before, ' the lord viscount Falkland, sir John Colepepper, and Mr. Hyde, to meet constantly together, and He is in- * trusted with consult upon his affairs, and conduct them the best the conduct . . . of the king's way they could in the parbament, and to give him parliament, constant advice what he was to do, without which, he declared again very solemnly, he would make no step in the parliament. Two of them were obb'ged by their offices and relations, and the other by his duty and inclination, to give him all satisfaction ; notwithstanding the discouragement they had so lately received in the king's going to the house to demand the five members, without ever communi- cating his intention to them b , and which had made a deep impression upon them. And so they met every night late together, and communicated their observations and intelligence of the day ; and so agreed what was to be done or attempted the next ; there being very many persons of condition and in- terest in the house who would follow their advice, and assist in any thing they desired. And because Mr. Hyde had larger accommodation in the house where he lived in Westminster than either of the other had, the meetings at night were for the most part with him ; and after their deliberation together, what was to be put in writing was always commit- ted to Mr. Hyde ; and when the king had left the town, he writ as freely to the king as either of the other did ; and sometimes, when they would be ex- cused, he went to him in great secret. He had been from the beginning very unbeloved b in the king's going to the ing his intention to them] Not house to demand the five mem- in MS. bers, without ever communicat- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 103 by all the governing party; and though they took PART some pains at first to win him, yet their hope of- that was quickly desperate; and from the night of 1642> the protestation, he was as much in their detesta- tion as any man ; and the more, that they could take no advantage against him : and though they had a better opinion of his discretion than to believe he had any share in the advice of the late proceed- ings, yet they were very willing that others should believe it ; and made all the infusions they could to that purpose amongst those who took their opinions from them ; towards which his known friendship with the lord Digby was an argument very preva- lent : and then his opposing the votes upon their privilege had inflamed them beyond their temper; insomuch as Mr. Hambden told him one day, that the trouble that had lately befallen them had been attended with that benefit, that they knew who were their friends : and the other offering to speak upon the point of privilege, and how monstrous a thing it was to make a vote so contrary to the known law; he replied very snappishly, "that he " well knew he had a mind they should be all in " prison ;" and so departed without staying for an answer. Then they imputed to him the disposing the lord Falkland to serve the court, and the court to receive his service; and from the time that he and Colepepper were called to the council, they equally were enraged against both ; and now, when they had discovered the place of the nightly meet- ings, that a secretary of state and a chancellor of the exchequer every day went to the lodging of a private person, who ought to attend them, they be- lieved it a condescension that had some other foun- H 4 104 THE LIFE OF PART dation than mere civility; yet they could not dis- cover any thing against them which they thought 1642 ' fit to offer in public. It is not amiss in this place to say somewhat of those three persons, who had from that time so great a part in the business that was upon the stage, and did in a short time raise the reputation of the king, and of his cause, to a very great degree ; and who, though they were well united in the opposi- tion of all the ill designs against the crown, and concurred in the public service with necessary and mutual civilities towards each other, yet their prin- ciples and constitutions were very different ; and the lord Falkland and Mr. Hyde (between whom, as is said before, the friendship was most entire) had never had the least acquaintance with sir John Colepepper before the parliament ; and finding them- selves often of one opinion, grew into some conver- sation; and being after united in the king's trust, they rarely conferred but in the agitation of busi- ness ; their natures being in nothing like. some ac- The lord Falkland, though he was a man of a count of the temper and cheerful conversation, was of a severe nature, and a onord CS lover of virtue ; yet he had great esteem for all men Falkland. o f g reat p ar t s> though they applied them to ill pur- poses. He was so great an enemy to all dissimula- tion, that he chose sometimes the other extreme when it was not requisite. He had not the court in great reverence, and had a presaging spirit that the king would fall into great misfortune : and often said to his friend, that he chose to serve the king, because honesty obliged him to it ; but that he fore- saw his own ruin by doing it. He had a better opinion of the church of England, and the religion EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 105 of it, than of any other church and religion; and PART had extraordinary kindness for very many church- men ; and if he could have helped or prevented it, there should have been no attempts against it. But he had in his own judgment such a latitude in opin- ion, that he did not helieve any part of the order or government of it to be so essentially necessary to religion, but that it might be parted with, and al- tered, for a notable public benefit or convenience ; and that the crown itself ought to gratify the people, in yielding to many things ; and to part with some power, rather than to run the hazards which would attend the refusal. But he was swayed in this by a belief that the king would in the end be prevailed with to yield to what was pressed ; and this opinion wrought too much upon too many. Albeit he had the greatest compliance with the weakness, and even the humour of other men, when there could be no suspicion of flattery ; and the greatest address to inform and reform them : yet towards the king, who many times obstinately ad- hered to many conclusions which did not naturally result from good premises, and did love to argue many things to which he would not so positively ad- here, he did not practise that condescension ; but contradicted him with more bluntness, and by sharp sentences ; and in some particulars (as of the church) to which the king was in conscience most devoted : and of this his majesty often complained ; and cared less to confer with him in private, and was less per- suaded by him, than his affairs, and the other's great parts and wisdom, would have required : though he had not a better opinion of any man's sincerity or fidelity towards him. 106 THE LIFE OF PART Sir John Colepepper had spent some years of his youth in foreign parts, and especially in armies ; 1642. wnere he had seen good service, and very well ob- r. served it ; and might have made a very good officer if he had intended it. He was of a rough nature, a hot head, and of great courage ; which had engaged him in many quarrels and duels ; wherein he still behaved himself very signally. He had in a very good season, and after a small waste of his fortune, retired from that course of life, and married, and betook himself to a country life ; and studied the business of the country, and the concernments of it, in which he was very well versed ; and being a man of sharpness .of parts, and volubility of language, he was frequently made choice of to appear at the council-board, in those matters which related to the country : in the managing whereof, his abilities were well taken notice of. His estate was very mo- derate, and his usual expense exceeded it not ; not being delighted with delicacies of any nature, or in- deed ever acquainted with them. He had infirmi- ties which sometimes made a noise ; but his parts and abilities made him very acceptable to his neigh- bours, and to those who were most considerable in their estates, and most popular ; so that with very little opposition, he had been chosen to be knight of that great county Kent, for the parliament ; where he quickly made himself to be taken notice of. He was proud and ambitious, and very much disposed to improve his fortune ; which he knew well how to do, by industry and thrift, without stooping to any corrupt ways, to which he was not inclined. He did not love the persons of many of those who were the violent managers, and less their designs ; EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 107 and therefore he no sooner knew that he was well PART spoken of at court, but he exposed himself to the invitation, and heartily embraced that interest: 164 ' 2 - and when he came thither, he might very well be thought a man of no very good breeding ; having never sacrificed to the muses, or conversed in any polite company. He was warm and positive in de- bates, and of present fancy to object and find fault with what was proposed ; and indeed would take any argument in pieces, and expose it excellently to a full view ; and leave nothing to chance, or acci- dent, without making it foreseen ; but after that, knew not so well what to judge and determine ; and was so irresolute, and had a fancy so perpetually working, that, after a conclusion made, he would the next day, in the execution of it, and sometimes after, raise new doubts, and make new objections ; which always occasioned trouble, and sometimes produced inconvenience. In matters of religion he was, in his judgment, very indifferent ; but more inclined to what was established, to avoid the accidents which commonly attend a change, without any motives from his con- science; which yet he kept to himself; and was well content to have it believed that the activity proceeded from thence. He had, with all this un- courtliness (for sure no man less appeared a cour- tier) and ungracefulness in his mien and motion, a wonderful insinuation and address into the accepta- tion and confidence of the king and queen ; and flattery being a weed not so natural to the air and soil of the country where he had wholly lived, he was believed to speak with all plainness and sin- cerity; when no man more complied with those in- 108 THE LIFE OF PART firmities they both had, and by that compliance pre- - vailed often over them. He had a very tragical way in expressing him- self, to raise the fears and apprehensions of those who were naturally apprehensive of dangers ; and by this means he prevailed marvellously with the queen in those matters to which she was most averse ; by representing things as dismally to her as he could well do; and on the other hand, to the king (who was naturally very sanguine) he was full of compliance ; cherished all his hopes and imagina- tions, and raised and improved those hopes very fre- quently by expedients very unagreeable to the end proposed. He was then (as was said before) very positive in his conclusions ; as if he did not pro- pose a thing that might come to pass, but what in- fallibly must be so : which was a temper the king could not contend with ; and did so much suspect himself, (which was his greatest infirmity, and the chief ground of all his sufferings,) that he did believe a man, of whom he thought very well, did know every thing that he confidently insisted upon. But his greatest advantage was, (besides his diligence in speaking as often as he could with the king and queen, and always with the queen upon any import- ant counsel,) that he had an entire confidence and friendship with Mr. John Ashburnham, whom the king loved, and trusted very much ; and who al- ways imprinted that advice in the king's mind, which the other had infused ; and being a member of the house, was always ready to report the service he did his majesty there, as advantageously as the business would bear, or Mr. ^ r Hyde was, in his nature and disposition, dif- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 109 ferent from both the other; which never begot the PART least disagreement between the lord Falkland and !__ him. He was of a very cheerful and open nature, 164 '^- without any dissimulation ; and delivered his opin- ion of things or persons, where it was convenient, without reserve or disguise ; and was at least tena- cious enough of his opinion, and never departed from it out of compliance with any man. He had a very particular devotion and passion for the per- son of the king ; and did believe him the most, and the best Christian in the world. He had a most zealous esteem and reverence for the constitution of the government ; and believed it so equally poised, that if the least branch of the prerogative was torn off, or parted with, the subject suffered by it, and that his right was impaired : and he was as much troubled when the crown exceeded its just limits, and thought its prerogative hurt by it : and there- fore not only never consented to any diminution of the king's authority, but always wished that the king would not consent to it, with what importunity or impetuosity soever it was desired and pressed. He had taken more pains than such men use to do, in the examination of religion ; having always conversed with those of different opinions with all freedom and affection, and had very much kindness and esteem for many, who were in no degree of his own judgment ; and upon all this, he did really be- lieve the church of England the most exactly formed and framed for the encouragement and advance- ment of learning and piety, and for the preservation of peace, of any church in the world : that the tak- ing away any of its revenue, and applying it to se- cular uses, was robbery, and notorious sacrilege ; 110 THE LIFE OF PART and that the diminishing the lustre it had, and had always had in the government, by removing the bi- 1642. s h O p S out O f the house of peers, was a violation of justice ; the removing a landmark, and the shaking the very foundation of government ; and therefore he always opposed, upon the impulsion of conscience, all mutations in the church ; and did always believe, let the season or the circumstance be what it would, that any compliance was pernicious ; and that a peremptory and obstinate refusal, that might put men in despair of what they laboured for, and take away all hope of obtaining what they desired, would reconcile more persons to the government than the gratifying them in part ; which only whetted their appetite to desire more, and their confidence in de- manding it. Though he was of a complexion and humour very far from despair, yet he did believe the king would be oppressed by that party which then governed, and that they who followed and served him would be destroyed ; so that it was not ambition of power, or wealth, that engaged him to embark in so very ha- zardous an employment, but abstractly the consi- deration of his duty ; and he often used to apply those words of Cicero to himself, Meet cetas incidit in idbellum, cujus altera pars sceleris nimiumhabuit, alterafelicitatis parum. It is very probable, that if his access at that time had been as frequent to the king as sir John Colepepper's was, or the lord Falkland's might have been, some things might have been left undone, the doing whereof brought much prejudice to the king ; for all his principles were much more agreeable to his majesty's own judgment, than those of either of the other ; and what he said was of equal EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. Ill authority with him ; and when any advice was given PART by either of the other, the king usually asked, " whe- n ' " ther Ned Hyde were of that opinion ;" and they 1642 - always very ingenuously confessed, that he was not : but his having no relation of service, and so no pre- tence to be seen often at court, and the great jea- lousy that was entertained towards him, made it ne- cessary to him to repair only in the dark to the king upon emergent occasions, and leave the rest to be imparted by the other two : and the differences in their natures and opinions never produced any dis- union between them in those councils which con- cerned the conduct of the king's service ; but they proceeded with great unanimity, and very manifestly much advanced the king's business from the very low state it was in when they were first trusted ; the other two having always much deference to the lord Falkland, who allayed their passions ; to which they were both enough inclined . c to which they were both of so many bishops to the enough inclined.] Thus continued Tower, having made many of in the MS. : The parliament the lords neglect coming to the continued its fury, and every house, and disheartened many day sent some new" expostula- of those who did continue their tions to the king, and did all attendance : so that the king they could to kindle the fire and queen were weary of Wind- throughout the kingdom, upon sor ; and her majesty's fears the breach of privilege. They grew everyday so much strong- had already passed the bill to er, that it was resolved, that she remove the bishops out of the should herself remove beyond house of peers, and deferred the the seas ; and that then the sending it to the king, only that king should retire into the it might be accompanied with northern parts, with a resolution the other bill concerning the that he would get Hull into his militia, which, being passed the hands. But this and all other re- co'mmons, was not like to meet solutions were kept very secret; with much obstruction in the the design upon Hull, which house of peers ; the late tumults, would require his remove into and the committing the persons the northern parts, being the 112 THE LIFE OF PART II. When the two bills were sent to the king, for the .granting the militia, and the removing the bishops I642< out of the house of peers > most men did believe that sole advice of sir John Colepep- per, which he owned not to his two companions, well knowing that their opinion was, that the queen being once gone, the king should either return to London, or rernain at Hamp- ton-court, or at such a distance, and positively refuse to consent to any other unreasonable de- mands. The king sent word to the parliament, that he was obliged by the treaty with the States upon the marriage of his daughter, the princess Mary, to the prince of Orange, that he would about this time send his daughter to her husband, which he was resolved forthwith to do ; and that the queen his wife, being indisposed in her health, and being advised that change of air would do her much good, resolved to make use of the same opportunity, and to accompany her daughter to the Hague, of which he thought fit to give them notice. The leading men were much divided among themselves upon this message. They, who had been formerly engaged in treaties of preferment, were not willing to give over all hopes of reas- suming that matter, which they could never think could be done, if her majesty were gone beyond the seas. Others, who were well acquainted with her constitution and her fears, believed, if she were absent, they should no more prevail with the king (who was naturally positive enough) to consent to their demands ; and there were some who out of pure generosity, and a sense that all the world would believe that she was driven away by the uncivil behaviour of the parlia- ment : and all these desired that she might be persuaded to stay; and prevailed so far, that both houses sent a message to her to that purpose, with some more courtly expressions tban they had been of late accustomed to ; and taking notice that her physician had declared that her health was impaired by the trouble of her mind, made pro- fessions of duty, and a desire to give her all content, if they might know what would do it. But the rest, who cared not whether she went or stayed, and rather wished her away, pressed on all those proceedings in the houses which they knew would give her most offence, and the bill for the militia was now likewise passed both houses, as well as that concerning the bi- shops, and they sent to the king to appoint a day for the passing and enacting them, together with some other bill for the re- lief of Ireland, according to their usual method, which was to send some necessary act, which could not be refused, when they sent others which would be more ungrateful. Most men did believe that the king would never give his con- sent to either of these two, &c. page 113. line I. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 113 the king would never give his assent to either of PART these two ; though very many had concurred in them for no other reason, than because they were assured he would not refuse ; and others upon confi- dence that he would ; and therefore would not ren- der themselves obnoxious by opposing them. Upon all which the queen continued her resolution, and hastened her journey, that she might be out of the way, and thereby the king might the more reso- lutely reject those bills, which he intended to do ; and the houses the more importunately pressed the despatch of the bills, as soon as the day was ap- pointed for the queen's beginning her journey from Windsor towards Dover d . In this perplexity, when nothing was so necessary as the most obstinate resolution, sir John Colepepper, who was naturally inclined to expedients, and in difficult cases, that is, cases made difficult by the perverseness of supercilious contenders, to composi- tion, much desired that the king would pass that against the bishops, and absolutely reject the other ; which he did in truth believe would satisfy so many, that those that remained unsatisfied would not have a journey from Windsor to- thought of sending a commission wards Dover] Thus continued in to despatch those and suspend MS. : And the bill concerning the other, till he had further con- Ireland could not be despatched sidered them ; for he thought it too soon for the necessity of the not fit to give an absolute denial, service ; besides that any delay till he were retired to a greater therein was presently taken no- distance from London ; but then tice of and published as a fa- the doing one and not the other vour to that rebellion and hin- would be looked upon as an ab- dering the suppression thereof, solute denial by those imperious which now grew to be an impu- conductors. In this perplexity, dent imputation, especially upon &c. the queen ; so that the king VOL. I. I 114 THE LIFE OF PART credit enough to give any further disturbance ; and in his own judgment, as hath been said before, he 1642 ' thought the matter of little importance; but he knew that argument would make no other impres- sion upon the king, than to the disadvantage of the arguer; and if he had thought himself obliged to have enacted one, he would have chosen to have sir John passed that for the militia, rather than the other : he ad ves P the r urged therefore to the king, no other person present, thelin paSS the necessity of giving the parliament satisfaction in against the one o f those bills ; and that there were more who bishops. would be satisfied with that concerning the bishops, than with the other concerning the militia ; and therefore it would be best to gratify the major part. Then he exposed the dreadful consequences which would attend the yielding in the point of the militia ; as if it would be the next day in their power to de- pose him ; and all the tragical effects of granting that authority. He seemed in no degree to under- value the mischief of consenting to the bill against the bishops ; yet that it would be attended with that present benefit, that the church would be free from further apprehension ; and that this degrada- tion would secure the function and the revenue ; and that when these jealousies and misunderstandings should be once composed, that bill would be easily repealed by the experience how much the govern- ment was hurt by it ; and whilst the sword remained in the king's own hands, there would be no attempt to make further alterations. The king asked him, whether Ned Hyde was of that mind ; to which he answered, he was not ; nor did wish that either of the bills should be passed ; which he thought, as the EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 115 time was, could not be a reasonable judgment : the PART king said, " it was his ; and that he would run the . "hazard." 1642 - When he found he could not prevail there, he went to the queen, and repeated all the arguments he had used to the king, with his usual vehemence ; and added, that he exceedingly apprehended, that, by some means or other, upon this refusal of the king's, her majesty's journey would be stopped, and that she would not be suffered to transport herself out of the kingdom ; and therefore he heartily wished that she would so use her credit with the king, that he might pass that act concerning the bi- shops, which he said would lay such an obligation upon both houses, as would redound to her majesty's advantage. The queen was so terrified with the ap- who is P re- prehension of her being hindered from pursuing her the queen y purpose, that she gave not over her importunity 10 with the king, till she had prevailed with him ; and so that bill for removing the bishops out of the house of peers passed by commission, when both their majesties were upon their way, and in their journey to Dover. Nothing that is here said must reflect upon the memory of sir John Colepepper, as if he were cor- rupted in his affections to the church, or gave this advice to gratify and please other men, or for any particular advantage to himself, of all 6 which he was very innocent. It is said before, that in his judgment he looked upon the thing as what might be conscientiously consented to ; and then his real apprehension of danger and mischief to the king (to c of all] in all I 2 116 THE LIFE OF PART whom he bore all possible fidelity) by refusing it, so far wrought upon his warm constitution, that he 1 642. ^jj rea iiy believe it to be his duty to be solicitous to the vehement degree he was. But he quickly found he had been deceived, at least in the imagination, that the consenting to that one bill would at all allay their passion. They were, on the contrary, so far from being pleased with it, that they immediately betook themselves to inquire, " who the evil coun- " sellers were, who dissuaded his majesty from con- " senting to the other concerning the militia ;" which was so necessary to all their purposes : and forth- with sent some of their messengers to the king, whilst he stayed at Dover, to complain of such evil counsel, and to use all importunity that he would pass it as a matter of absolute necessity for the peace and security of the kingdom, and for the carrying on the service for suppressing the rebellion in Ireland ; with many new expressions " of the presumption of those " malignant persons who gave his majesty such ad- " vice," and with boldness enough, that the king should prefer such advice before the wisdom of the parliament. The effect They who hated the bishops most, and were glad of this con- * that they were rid of the opposition they grave them ontheseve-. . rai parties, in all their demands, seemed not at all contented ; but enlarged exceedingly upon the mischief in not granting the militia. And no doubt there were many the less pleased with the passing the other, in doubt, that they should thereby lose the assistance of very many towards the utter extirpation of episco- pacy, and the disposal of all church lands, upon which their hearts were set ; and who would with the more choler have concurred with them, if that EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 117 bill, as well as the other, had been rejected; and PART therefore they rather wished they had the other, which they knew would bring all their ends to pass. 1642> They who loved the church, and were afraid of so great an alteration in the frame and constitution of parliament, as the utter taking away of one of the three estates., of which the parliament is com- pounded, were infinitely provoked; and lamented the passing that act, as an introduction to the en- tire destruction of the government of the church, and to the alteration of the religion of the king- dom : and very many, who more considered the po- licy than the justice and piety of the state, did ever after believe, that being f removed out of the parlia- ment, the preserving them in the kingdom was not worth any notable contention. Then they looked upon the king's condescension in this particular, in a subject that all men knew had a wonderful influ- ence upon his conscience, as he often took occasion to profess, as a manifestation that he would not be constant in retaining and denying any thing that should be impetuously and fiercely demanded ; which, as it exceedingly confirmed those who were engaged in that party, so it abated the courage of too many who had always opposed them, and heartily detested their proceedings ; and made them more remiss in their attendance at the house, and kss solicitous for any thing that was done there ; who by degrees first became a neutral party, believing they should be safe in angering nobody : and when they afterwards found no security in that indif- ferency, they adhered to those who they saw had the best success ; and so went sharers with them in f that being] that by being I 3 118 THE LIFE OF PART their future attempts, according to their several tem- ! pers and inclinations. The benefit that would redound to the king from not passing the other bill of the militia, more than avoiding the infamy of consenting to it, was not evident to discerning men ; for they foresaw, that they would quickly wrest it out of his hands with- out his consent ; and that the reputation of the par- liament was so great, that whatsoever the two houses (which the people looked upon as the parlia- ment) should concur in, and enjoin to be done, the people would look upon as law, and observe it ac- cordingly :' so that when, by the removal of so many voices out of the house of peers as the bishops made, who were always firm to the crown and govern- ment, the house of commons found a concurrence from the lords in all they proposed, their joint de- termination would find obedience, for the most part, from the people ; whom there were all endeavours used to corrupt and possess, by presently printing, and causing to be read in churches, all their mes- sages and petitions to the king ; that they might see all their concernments were for the good of the kingdom, and preservation of the people. When the king accompanied the queen to Dover, where they expected a wind many days, he sent the prince, under his new governor, the marquis of Hertford, to Richmond; that there might be no room for the jealousy that the prince should be transported beyond the seas; which had been in- fused into the minds of many; and would have made a great noise, if he had waited upon his mo- ther to Dover: but as soon as the wind appeared hopeful for her majesty's embarkation, the king sent EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 119 an express to Richmond, that the prince should PART attend his majesty at Greenwich the Saturday fol-. lowing: the marquis being at that time very much , . The king indisposed by a defluxion upon his eyes, and a ca- sends for tarrh. The parliament, being presently informed as they had spies in all places, of this direction, and wich - there being yet no certainty of the queen's being embarked, was much troubled ; and resolved to send to his majesty, by members of both houses, to desire that the prince might not remove from Richmond, at least till the marquis recovered health enough to be able to attend him ; and at the same time sent an express order to the marquis, that he should not suffer the prince to go from thence, till he himself should be able to go with him. They appointed one lord and two commoners to Mr. Hyde carry the message to the king, whom they believed thek!ngon to be still at Dover; and Mr. Hyde coming acci-* i h a n t t occa ' dentally into the house, when the matter was in de- bate, they appointed him to be one of the messen- gers ; which no excuses could free him from, for they did not intend it as a favour to him ; so that they were obliged presently to begin their journey ; and that night they went to Gravesend. The next day they were fully informed of the queen's being gone to sea, and that the king would be that night at Canterbury ; whither the messengers made what haste they could > and found his majesty there, with a very little court, most of his servants having leave to go before to London, the better to provide them- selves for a further journey. When they read their message to the king, in the hearing whereof he shewed no satisfaction, he appointed them to attend him after he had supped, and they should receive i 4 120 THE LIFE OF TART their answer: and accordingly, about nine of the __ clock, he caused it to be read, and delivered it to 1 642 - them ; taking no notice of Mr. Hyde, as if he had been known to him. That messenger, who was a member of the house of peers, received it from his majesty, as of right he ought to do, that it might be first reported to that house. Mr. Hyde was very much troubled when he heard the answer read ; for it had much sharpness in it, which at that time could only provoke them : so without taking any notice of it to his companions, he pretended to them only to be very weary, and desirous to go to bed, and bade them good night; having the conveniency offered him by the lord Grandison (his familiar friend) to lodge with him in a house next the court : and so the other two mes- sengers making haste to find some lodging in an inn, he sent the lord Grandison to the duke of Rich- mond, to desire the king that he might speak with him before he went, into his bed. The king was half undressed, yet said he would stay for him, and bade that he should make haste to the back stairs ; and as soon as he came thither, the duke went into the king, who immediately came out in his night- dress; and the duke having before sent all other servants from thence, retired likewise himself. He told the king, that " he was sorry that his " majesty had expressed so much displeasure in his " answer ; which could produce no good, and might " do hurt ; and therefore he desired he would call " for it, and alter some expressions ;" which his ma- jesty was not inclined to do ; enlarging himself with much sharpness upon the insolence of the message, and of the order they had sent to the marquis of EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 121 Hertford; and seemed to apprehend that the prince PART would not be suffered to attend him at Greenwich ; the thought whereof had caused that warmth in him. It was now Friday night, and his majesty resolved the next night to be at Greenwich, and to stay there all Sunday ; and then to pursue his former resolu- tions : upon which, Mr. Hyde told him, " that he " hoped the prince would be at Greenwich as soon " as he, and then that point would be cleared ; that " they could not report his message to the parlia- " ment till Monday morning ; and that they might " well attend upon his majesty again on Sunday, " and receive his pleasure ; and at that time the " lord Falkland and sir John Colepepper would be "likewise present; when his majesty might take " what resolution he pleased in that matter ; and " therefore he besought his majesty that he would " presently send a servant to the other two messen- " gers, at such an inn, for the answer he had de- " livered to them, of which he would further con- " sider when he came to Greenwich ; where he on whom " commanded them to attend him on Sunday, " that he would despatch them soon enough for Jh " them to be at London that night." All which his ment - majesty was pleased to consent to, and immediately sent a gentleman to them for the paper, with that injunction ; and then sent it by the lord Grandison the same night to Mr. Hyde, whom he had com- manded to attend him on Sunday morning, saying he had very much to say to him. When his majesty came to Greenwich, he found the prince there with his governor, who, though in- disposed in his health, without returning any an- swer to the parliament, brought the prince very 122 THE LIFE OF PART early from Richmond to Greenwich ; with which the king was very much pleased, and in very good hu- 1 642. mour . And the next morning, when Mr. Hyde came to court, (to whom his companions had told that the king had sent for his answer to them again, and ap- pointed them to attend him for it at Greenwich that afternoon ; which they had agreed together to do,) the king being come into the privy chamber, and seeing him there, asked him aloud, where the others who came in the message with him were ; and said, he would expect them in the afternoon ; and so dis- coursing somewhat of the weather, that all men heard, he came near him, and, as it were passing by, (which nobody took notice of, the room not being full,) he bade him dine with Porter, at the back stairs, that he might be in the privy chamber when he rose from dinner; and after he had dined he found him there ; and at that hour most people looking after their own dinner, his majesty did, without any body's taking notice of it, bid him fol- low him into the privy gallery ; where he was no sooner entered, than the king locked the door with his own key, saying, " We will not now be dis- " turbed, for there is no man in the house now who " hath a key to this door." Then he said, " I will " say nothing of the answer, for I am sure Falkland " and Colepepper will be here anon ; and then pre- " pare one, and I will not differ with you ; for now " I have gotten Charles, I care not what answer I " send to them." The king's Then he spake of many particulars of the parlia- discourse to . , , , , , , him at ment with warmth enough ; and lamented his hav- b ing consented to the bill concerning the bishops, which he said he was prevailed upon to do for his EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 123 wife's security; but he should now be without any PART fear to displease them. He said, he would lay the next night at Theobalds; where he would stay a 1642> day or two, that his servants might provide them- selves to attend him northward : that he should not see him any more before he took that journey, and therefore he required him upon all occasions to write to him, and advertise him of such matters as were fit for him to know ; and to prepare and send him answers to such declarations or messages as the par- liament should send to him. He said, he knew well the danger he underwent, if it were discovered ; but his majesty assured him, and bade him be confident of it, that no person alive, but himself and his two friends, should know that he corresponded with his majesty ; and that he would himself transcribe every paper in his own hand before he would shew it to any man, and before his secretary should write it out. Mr. Hyde told him, that he writ a very ill hand, which would give his majesty too much trou- ble to transcribe himself; and that he had so much friendship with secretary Nicholas, that he was well contented he should be trusted : to which the king said, Nicholas was a very honest man, and he would trust him in any thing that concerned himself; but in this particular, which would be so penal to the other, if it should be known, it was not necessary ; for he would quickly learn to read the hand, if it were writ at first with a little the more care ; and nobody should see it but himself. And his majesty continued so firm to this resolution, that though the declarations from the houses shortly after grew so voluminous, that the answers frequently contained 124 THE LIFE OF PART five or six sheets of paper very closely writ, his ma- ! jesty always transcribed them with his own hand ; 1642. wm ' cn sometimes took him up two or three days, and a good part of the night, before he produced them to the council, where they were first read; and then he burned the originals. And he gave himself no ease in this particular, till Mr. Hyde left the parliament, and by his majesty's command at- tended upon him at York : which will be mentioned in its time. Whilst the king held this discourse with him in the privy gallery, many of the lords were come from London ; and not finding him, the earls of Essex and Holland, who by their offices had keys to the gallery, opened that door, and went in ; and seeing nobody there, walked to the further end ; where in a turning walk the king and Mr. Hyde were : and though they presently drew back, the king himself, as well as Mr. Hyde, was a little discomposed ; and said, " I am very sorry for this accident ; I meant " to have said somewhat to you of those gentlemen, " but we must not stay longer together : forget not " what I have said ; and send me presently the an- " swer for your message, and then attend with your " companions in the privy chamber, and I will come " out and deliver it to them :" and so he withdrew ; the two earls smiling, and saluting Mr. Hyde civilly. He quickly found the lord Falkland and Colepepper, and they as quickly agreed upon the answer, which where he the lord Falkland carried to the king : and his ma- theTing-s J es ty approving and signing it, he came out and de- nnswer. Hvered it, after he had caused it to be read, to the messengers who attended to receive it ; and who EDWARI> EARL OF CLARENDON. 125 went that night to London ; and the next morning, PART at the first sitting of the houses, reported and deli-. vered it. It was expected and believed, that as soon as the queen was gone for Holland, the king would return to Whitehall, and reside there. And many wise men were of opinion, that if he had done so, he would have been treated with more duty and re- spect ; and that he would be able to bring his busi- ness to a fair end by very moderate condescensions ; for the universal prejudice and aversion was to the queen, how unjustly and unreasonably soever; and to the king only as it was generally believed, that he governed himself entirely by her dictates : and many of those, whose countenance had most sup- ported the violent party, by their concurrence with them, were grown weary of those excesses ; and as they had been seduced, and craftily drawn further than they meant to have gone, so they plainly dis- cerned that there would be further attempts made than were agreeable to their wishes or their in- terests, and therefore resolved to second them no further. The earl of Essex himself was in his nature an honest man, and a man of honour ; and though he did not think the king had any gracious purposes towards him, or great confidence in him, yet he was willing to retire from that angry company ; and did neither desire the dignity of the king should be af- fronted, or the government receive an alteration or diminution ; and did hope nothing more than to make himself the instrument to reconcile the parlia- ment to the king, by some moderate and plausible expedient. But it was no sooner known in the 126 THE LIFE OF PART houses that his majesty was gone to Theobalds, and had taken the prince with him, with a purpose of 1642. nuking a progress further northward, but they fell into all their usual heat and debate, of their just causes of jealousy and distrust, and the wickedness of those persons who misled him; and the next morning, being well informed that the king stayed all day at Theobalds, they resolved to send a com- mittee of four lords and eight commoners to him, to put him in mind of his violating their privileges, for which they had yet no reparation or satisfaction ; his refusal to settle the militia, whereby he left his kingdom and people exposed to the violence of a foreign enemy, or a domestic insurrection ; the great jealousies and fears which possessed the minds of all his subjects, which would be now exceedingly in- creased by his removal in this conjuncture from his parliament ; and thereupon concluded, that he would return to London, or reside at such a distance that they might easily repair to him. When the persons designed for the message with- drew to prepare themselves for their journey, the message being read and agreed upon, Mr. Hyde went likewise out of the house ; and that the king might not be surprised with the sight of the mes- sage before he heard of it, he sent instantly to the lord Grandison (in whom he had entire confidence) to speak with him ; and desired him to cause his horse to be made ready, that he might with all pos- sible expedition carry a letter to the king, which he would prepare by the time he could be ready for His advice ^g jouiuey. He writ to the king, that such per- to the king ^ ^ *>' upon a mes- sons would be presently with him, and the substance the two of the message they would bring to him ; which in houses. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 127 respect of the length of it, and of many particulars PART in it, would require some time to answer, which he '. should receive soon enough ; and for the present, he might upon the delivery make some short resent- ment of the houses' proceeding with him ; and con- clude, that he would send an answer to their mes- sage in due time. The lord Grandison came to Theobalds when the king had newly dined, so that he was alone in his bedchamber ; and as soon as he had delivered the letter, he returned to London, and met the messengers within a mile or two of Theobalds. As soon as they had delivered their message, which one of them read, the king, with a displeased countenance, and in a warmer and more sprightly tone than was natural to him, told them, "that he " was amazed at their message, and could not con- " ceive what they would have, nor what they meant " to do : that they made a great noise with their " privileges, but forgot that he had privileges too, " which they made no conscience to violate : that " they talked of their fears and jealousies, for which " they had not the least ground ; but if they would " well consider, they would find that they gave him " cause enough for jealousy :" and concluded, " that " he would think of their message, and send an an- " swer to the houses in convenient time :" without saying any thing of his journey, when or whither he meant to go ; nor held any further discourse with them. The manner and the matter of the king's short discourse to them wonderfully surprised the messengers, who were all persons of the best quality in both houses, the earl of Pembroke being the chief, and some of them were of known affections to his 128 THE LIFE OF PART majesty's service; who were wonderfully delighted ! with the king's quick and sharp treatment, with which the rest were as much troubled : and so they all returned the same night to London. The king resolved to pursue the course agreed upon with the queen at her departure, and would no more resume the consideration of staying nearer the parliament ; very reasonably apprehending that he should render himself liable every day to new affronts. And the practice both houses had gotten, to send for persons by a sergeant at arms upon any suggestions of light discourse, or upon general and ungrounded suspicions, by which they were com- pelled to give long attendance, if they were not committed to prison, had so terrified all conditions of men, that very few resorted to the court. And they who did most diligently seem to attend their duty there, did in truth perform that service, that they might with the more ease betray their master, and gratify those who they thought would at last bring themselves into those places and offices, upon which they were to depend. So that he thought it most absolutely necessary to be at such a distance from Westminster, that people might be less appre- hensive of their power : resolving likewise, that no person who attended him, or resorted to the place where he was, should yield any obedience to their summons upon those general suggestions, or any ap- plications they should make to his majesty. And though it might have met with better success, if he had taken the contrary resolution, and stayed in or near Whitehall ; yet the hazards or inconveniences which might very probably have attended that coun- sel, were too much in view for wise meji to engage EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 129 positively in the advice. Besides, the concert that had been made with the queen shut out all opposite consultations : and the king with a small court, after two days stay at Theobalds, began his progress to- j TVT i wards Newmarket; and sometimes resting a day in a place, he advanced by easy journeys northward. He took the prince with him, the marquis like- wise attending him ; but left the duke of York still at Richmond, till he came to York : and then like- wise he sent for his highness, who came thither to him : and the morning he left Theobalds he sent his answer to the two houses to their message they had sent to him thither g . PART ' , The king be s ins his progress northward. s the morning he left Theo- balds he sent his answer to the two houses to their message they had sent to him thither.] Thus continued in MS.: When the messengers who had pre- sented the message to the king at Theobalds made their report to the houses of their reception there, and of what his majesty had said to them, in which they helped and assisted each other, so that there was not only every word he said related, but his manner of speaking and his looks described, which gave them infinite trouble, and much the more, because they saw joy and delight in the countenance of all those who they knew were not their friends, and a kind of dejection in many who used to concur with them ; on the same day, or the next, they received fin answer from his majesty to their last message, which took notice of every particular in it ; answered all the reproaches they had cast upon him, and the VOL. I. unwarrantable manner in doing it ; enlarged upon the large concessions he had granted upon their desires ; and that all which the people could de- sire for their benefit and ad- vantage was provided for by his grace, and that it would be acknowledged by them, if they had not fears and jealousies in- fused into their heads by them. He put them in mind of many indignities offered to him in the pulpits by seditious sermons, and by the press in publishing and printing those sermons, and many other scandalous pamphlets, and that all this found no discountenance from them. He said, he would deny nothing to them which by law they could require, and that the preservation of his own prero- gative was necessary, that his subjects might enjoy the bene- fit of those laws ; and after some sharp reflections upon some 1 1 IK lu t if'n 1 actions of theirs, and some unusual expressions 130 THE LIFE OF PART II. 1G42. They had long detested from the time of their first in the addresses they had made to him, he concluded that, since they had appealed to the people, by printing all their unwarrant- able votes and other proceed- ings, which they had no lawful authority to publish in that manner, his majesty was well contented that the people should judge between them, and dis- cern who was most tender of their happiness, and most de- sired that it might be conti- nued to them ; and so ordered that his answer should be print- ed, as their message had been. This new spirit in the king's actions, and steadiness in his proceedings, and his new dia- lect in his words and answers to them, so contrary to the softness they expected, infinite- ly discomposed them, and raised the spirits of others, who had sunk under their insolence. In the house of peers they found more opposition than of late they had done, and many in the house of commons reco- vered new mettle. Alderman Gourny, who was lord mayor of London, was a man of cou- rage and discretion, very well affected to the king, and to the government in church and state, and perfectly abhorred the pro- ceedings of the parliament; gave not that obedience to the orders they expected; did all he could to discountenance and suppress the riotous assemblies in the city, and especially the in- solencies committed in churches; and expressly refused to call common- halls, and sometimes and suspected Mr. Hyde, remonstrance, for framing common-councils, when the house of commons desired it, which was the only way they had to scatter their fire about the city ; and the refractoriness of this lord mayor discouraged them much by making it evi- dent, that it was only the rab- ble and inferior sort of the city which was in truth devoted to them. But they were now gone too far to retire with their ho- nour, or indeed with their safe- ty ; and they easily discerned, that if their spirits seemed to sink, their friends would leave them as fast as they had re- sorted to them ; and if they now appeared more moderate in their demands from the king, they should but censure and condemn their own former fer- vour and importunity, and therefore they made all haste to make it appear that they had no such temper and incli- nation. They made commit- tees to prepare new messages to the king, and to prepare new declarations ; and sent their agents into the country to stir up the people in those counties and places through which the king was to pass ; so that, wherever he made any stay, he was sure to be encountered with a petition from the county, that is, in the name of it, or of some eminent town in it where he lodged, that he would re- turn to his parliament ; but at the very time appeared to be the work of a few factious peo- ple, by the repair of the best persons of quality and interest EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 131 the king's messages and answers, which they now PART every day received, to their intolerable vexation ; ii. 1642. to his majesty with all profes- sions of affections and duty to him. They declared more har- diness and resolution than be- fore for the settling the militia of the kingdom ; and since the king had refused to consent to the bill they had sent to him, they appointed a committee to prepare an ordinance for the government and settling of it, which, being passed both houses, they voted had in it the autho- rity of a law, and that all per- sons were bound to obey it. They had before the king's leaving Windsor, or about that time, sent to the king, that in regard of the sickness and in- disposition of the earl of North- umberland, the high admiral of England, so that he could not be able in person to command the fleets which his majesty had ordered to be ready for the guard of the seas, they desired that the earl of Warwick might, with his majesty's approbation, have a commission to execute that charge, (the earl of North- umberland having refused to grant any such commission without the king's consent,) which they said would much compose the minds of the peo- ple, in a conjuncture of so much jealousy ; and the king answer- ed them, that in the absence of the admiral, sir John Penning- ton, a person of good experi- ence in command, well known, and of a fair reputation, had used to have that command, which his majesty resolved he should execute that year. They now resolved that the earl of Warwick should be admiral of that fleet,, by an ordinance of both houses, which the earl accepted, and undertook the charge accordingly ; the admi- ral having put in some officers and commanders of ships who would be forward to obey all his commands ; and the king unhappily restraining some who had good interest in the navy from taking command then, though he permitted some others to go, who had less cre- dit and reputation to serve him, though they were not without good affections. The king in his journey sent an answer from Huntingdon to some proposi- tions they had sent to him, which contained not only a po- sitive refusal of what they had desired, but making some sharp reflections upon somewhat they had said or done, put them into wonderful passion. They would not believe that it came from the king, but that it was forged in the town, for that it took notice of what had been done the night before, which could not be communicated to the king before the date of that despatch ; and therefore they would make inquiry how it came to the speaker, to whom it had been delivered under the king's signet. The lord Falk- land owning the having received it that morning from the king, and that he sent it by a mes- senger to the speaker, and put- ting them in mind that the matter they reflected upon as K 2 132 THE LIFE OF PART yet knew not how to accuse him. But now that If ' the earls of Essex and Holland had discovered his 1 642. b e i n g s hut up with the king at Greenwich, and the marquis of Hamilton had once before found him very early in private with the king at Windsor, at a time when the king thought all passages had been stopped ; together with his being of late more absent from the house than he had used to be ; and the re- sort of the other two every night to his lodging, as is mentioned before, satisfied them that he was the person ; and they resolved to disenable him to ma- nage that office long. Sir John Colepepper had as many eyes upon them as they had upon the other, and an equal animosity against them ; and had fa- miliarity and friendship with some persons, who from the second or third hand came to know many of the greatest designs, before they were brought upon the stage. For though they managed those councils with the greatest secrecy, and by few per- sons, which amounted to no more than pure designs in speculation ; yet when any thing was to be done the night before, had likewise been done three or tour days before that, which, being manifest, they suppressed their choler as to the forgery, and took revenge upon the message itself, and voted, " that ' whosoever had advised the ' king to send that message, ' was a disaffected person, an ' enemy to the peace of the ' kingdom, and a promoter of ' the rebellion in Ireland ;" which was a new style they took up upon that occasion, and continued afterwards in their most angry votes, to make those they liked not odious, and to make their punishment to pass with the more ease when they should be discovered. And now they tried all ways imaginable to find what new counsellors and secretary the king had found, who supplied him with so much resolution and bitter- ness ; and though they made no doubt of the two new coun- sellors' concurrence in all, yet they did not impute the fram- ing and forming the writing it- self to either of them. They had long detested and suspected Mr. Hyde, &c. as in p. 130. 1. 1. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 133 transacted in public by the house, they were obliged, FART not only to prepare those of whom they were them- _ _!^ selves confident, but to allow those confidents to 1642 - communicate it to others in whom they confided : and so men, who did not concur with them, came to know sometimes their intentions time enough to prevent the success they proposed to themselves. And by this means, sir John Colepepper, meeting at night with the lord Falkland and Mr. Hyde, as- sured them, that it had been resolved that day to A design of have seized upon all three, and sent them to the Sv Tower : of which he having received notice as he Tower was going to the house, returned to his lodging, not being able to give the same information to the other two ; but that his own being absent prevented the mischief. For he knew it was resolved the night before, that, when the three were together in the house, semebody should move the house, " that they " would apply themselves to make some strict in- " quiry after the persons who were most like to give " the king the evil counsel he had lately followed, " and who prepared those answers and messages " they received from his majesty :" upon which, by one and another, those three persons should be named, and particular reasons given for their suspi- cion ; and that they did not doubt, but, if their friends were well prepared beforehand, they should be able to cause them to be all sent to the Tower ; and then they doubted not they should be able to keep them there. But it was then likewise agreed, that they would not make the attempt but at a time when they were all three in the house ; upon hearing whereof, and finding that they two were K 3 134 THE LIFE OF PART there, he went back to his lodging; knowing that thereupon there would be nothing done. Upon this communication, though they were all of opinion that the design was so extravagant, and exceeding all the rules of common justice, that they would not be able to procure the consent of the ma- jor part of the house in it, if there were any con- siderable number present; yet because very many usually absented themselves, and they were not go- verned by any rules which had been formerly ob- served, they thought fit to resolve, that one of them would be always present in the house, that they might know all that was done ; but that they would never be there all together, and seldom two of them ; and when they were, they would only hear, and speak no more than was of absolute necessity. For it was now grown a very difficult thing for a man who was in their disfavour to speak against what they proposed, but that they would find some exception to some word or expression ; upon which, after he had been called upon to explain, he was obliged to withdraw ; and then they had commonly a major part to send him to the Tower, or to expel him the house ; or at least to oblige him to receive a reprehension at the bar upon his knees. And so they had used sir Ralph Hopton at that time ; who excepting to some expression that was used in a de- claration prepared by a committee, and presented to the house, which he said was dishonourable to the king, they said, it was a tax upon the committee ; caused him to withdraw, and committed him to the Tower ; which terrified many from speaking at all, and caused more to absent themselves from the EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 135 house ; where too small numbers appeared any day. PART These three gentlemen kept the resolution agreed upon, till they all found it necessary to forbear any further attendance upon the house. About the end of April, which was in the year . Mr - H )' du is sent for 1642, Mr. Hyde received a letter from the king, by the king wherein he required him, that, as soon as he could be spared from his business there, he should repair to his majesty at York, where he had occasion for his service : which when he had communicated to his two friends, they were all of opinion that it was necessary he should defer that journey for some time ; there being every day great occasion of con- sulting together, and of sending despatches to the king. And it was a wonderful expedition that was then used between York and London, when gentle- men undertook the service, as enough were willing to do : insomuch, as when they despatched a letter on Saturday night, at that time of the year, about twelve at night, they received always the king's an- swer, Monday by ten of the clock in the morning. His majesty was content that he should stay as long as the necessity required; but that as soon as he might be dispensed with, he would expect him. And it was happy h that he did stay ; for there was an occasion then fell out, in which his presence was very useful, ' towards disposing the lord keeper Littleton to send the great seal to the king at York, and to resolve upon going thither himself as soon as possible to attend his majesty ; which resolution being taken, it was agreed between him and his two friends, that it was now time that he h happy] very happy ' History of the Rebellion, &c. K 4 136 THE LIFE OF PART should be gone (the king having sent for him some u ' .time before) after a day or two; in which time the 1642. declaration of the nineteenth of May would be passed, which being very long, he might carry with him, and prepare the answer upon the way, or after he came to York. Towards It was upon a Wednesday that he resolved to be- which be begins his gin his journey, having told the speaker, that it was very necessary, by the advice of his physician, that he should take the air of the country for his health ; and his physician certified the same ; which caution was necessary : for he had a week or two before made a journey into the country to his own house, and his absence being taken notice of, a messenger was immediately sent to him, to require him imme- diately to attend the house ; upon which he found it necessary to return without delay ; and was will- ing to prevent the like sudden inquiry, and so pre- pared the speaker to answer for him. He resolved with the lord Falkland to stay at a friend's house near Oxford, and little out of the road he meant to take for York, till he should hear of the keeper's motion, of which he promised to give him timely notice ; not giving in the mean time any credit to his purpose of moving; but he was quickly con- vinced. Much notice had been taken of Mr. Hyde's fre- quent resort to him, and of his being often shut up with him ; and when he took his leave of him, the night before he left the town, the keeper was walk- ing in his garden with Mr. Hollis and Mr. Glyn, who had, as they said, then observed, that as soon as the keeper's eyes were upon him, at his entrance into the garden, he had shewn some impatience to EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 137 be free from them; and when they were gone, PART others took notice, (for there were many in the gar- den,) as they pretended, that, after they had walked 1642 - some time together, they took their leave of each other in another manner than was usual ; and which was not true. But he had not so good a name, as that any thing of that kind would not easily gain belief: so that Dr. Morley, (who is since bishop of- Winchester,) being in Westminster hall on the Mon- day morning, when the news came of the lord keeper's flight, a person of great authority in the parliament met him, and, with great passion in- veighing against the keeper, told him, that they knew well enough that his friend Mr. Hyde had contrived that mischief, and brought it to pass ; for which he would be that morning, or the next, ac- cused of high treason ; which the doctor (who was ever very much his friend) hearing, went presently to the lord Falkland, and told him of it, and desired to know where he was, that he might give him timely notice of it; knowing a gentleman, a very near friend of his, who would immediately ride to him. The lord Falkland was then writing to him, to inform him of the keeper's having made good his word, of which he had but then notice, and to advise him to prosecute his northern journey with all ex- pedition; and desired the doctor, that he would send for the gentleman, whom he would presently direct where he should find Mr. Hyde ; who did make so good haste, that he delivered the lord Falk- land's letter to him early the same night. He was then at Ditchley with the lady Lee, Ami after* (since countess of Rochester,) and the person who at'T^tcMey, brought the advertisement to him was John Ayliffe, 138 THE LIFE OF PART whom he dearly loved. He no sooner received the ii advertisement, but he thought it time for him to be 1 642. g One and as he was utterly unacquainted with the way, having never been in the northern parts, and apprehended that there would be care taken to in- tercept him, if he went in any common road ; there was with him at that time Mr. Chillingworth, whose company he had desired from Oxford, purposely for that occasion ; and who was well acquainted with those ways which led almost as far as Yorkshire. They sent their horses that night to a village near Coventry, where Mr. Chillingworth's brother had a farm ; and then in the morning they put themselves into the lady's coach ; which, with six horses, car- ried them to that village, thirty miles from Ditch- ley ; where, after they had a little refreshed them- selves, they took their horses ; and that night, out of all roads, reached Lutterworth, a village in Lei- cestershire ; where Mr. Chillingworth had likewise a friend, who was parson of the parish, who received them kindly. And so by unusual ways they got through Derbyshire, until they came to Yorkshire ; Arrives at and then rested at Nostall, the house of sir John Worstenholme ; who, though he and his family were at London, had given order for his very good reception ; it having been before resolved, with his majesty's consent, that he should stay in some pri- vate place near York, till his majesty was informed of it, and till his affairs absolutely required his pre- sence there ; there being many reasons that he should be concealed in those parts as long as might be convenient. Nostall was within twenty miles of York ; and from thence he gave his majesty notice of his being there, and sent him the answer that EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 139 1642. was prepared to the declaration of the nineteenth of PART May. k And the king the next day sent Mr. Ash-, burnham to him, with the declaration of the twenty- sixth of May, and which was the highest they had yet published ; and to which he wished an answer should be prepared as soon as possible it might be, that the poison thereof might not work too long upon the minds of the people \ k declaration of the nine- teenth of May.] declaration of the two houses. 1 that the poison thereof might not work too long upon the minds of the people.] Thus continued in MS. : By this time many persons of quality from the several quarters of the king- dom repaired to the king, and many gentlemen listed them- selves with those of the coun- try in the prince's troop, and usually attended upon his ma- jesty when he rode abroad to take the air ; and it was not possible but in such a number of men of all humours, many would discourse with freedom of the times, and of the pro- ceedings of the parliament ac- cording to their tempers and passions ; and there were spies enough to give quick advertise- ment to London of all that was said or done. Whereupon the houses sent messengers to apprehend some gentlemen, against whom they had re- ceived information of words spoken by them, which trenched upon them and their actions, and to bring them before them; who appeared with the same confidence^ even in the king's presence, as they could have done at Westminster, and shewed their warrants to the persons concerned, and required their submission ; of which his majesty being informed, he for- bade the gentlemen to yield any obedience to those summons, and sent for the messengers, and commanded them to de- part the town, and to appear no more there on those er- rands at their utmost perils. The news of this protection, which his majesty knew well if he did not give, he should be quickly stripped of all his attendants, and that nobody should remain about him, but such who would betray him, was no sooner known, but per- sons of all conditions and from all places flocked to York, and many members of both houses of parliament left their attend- ance at Westminster, and re- paired to his majesty, it being in truth not safe to continue longer there, they having now made their general, and so- lemnly engaged themselves to live and die with the earl of Essex; and shortly after sir Sydney Mountague was ex- pelled the house of commons for refusing to take that en- gagement, and giving his rea- 140 THE LIFE OF PART As soon as it was taken notice of in the parlia- ment that Mr. Hyde was absent, inquiry was made 1642. son, because, he said, he had a proclamation in his pocket by which the king had proclaimed the earl of Essex a traitor, and produced the proclamation, for which he was so treated as aforesaid. In the house of com- mons the members had pub- licly declared, and made sub- scriptions what horse and arms they would contribute or bring in to serve under the earl of Essex. It is true, though al! the members were called upon by name to declare themselves, there was not yet any man pu- nished for refusing ; the case of sir Sydney Mountague fell out afterwards ; and Harry Kil- ligrew, of Cornwall, (a gal- lant gentleman, and generally known,) being asked in the house what he would subscribe, stood up and answered, that he would provide a good horse, and a good sword, and a good buff coat, and then he would find a good cause ; which, for that time, only raised laughter, though they knew well what cause he thought good, which he had never dissembled. How- ever men easily discerned, that in a short time there could very few remain there, but of one party ; and so very many re- paired into their countries, there to expect what would fol- low ; and very many resorted to the king, to offer him their service, and to receive his com- mands. Upon the return of the messengers to London, who were forbade by his majesty to come any more thither, after he forbade the gentlemen who had been sent for to obey the summons, the houses had a new reproach to cast upon the king, that he protected de- linquents from justice; upon which they made new votes and declarations ; and that the spirits of their friends in those parts might not sink, they sent a committee of both houses to deliver one of their usual mes- sages to his majesty, and or- dered them to reside at York, or wheresoever his majesty should be, for the more conve- nient representing their de- sires and propositions, which would otherwise require parti- cular messengers every [time] ; whereas that committee, resid- ing still there, would receive his majesty's answers upon all oc- casions, and transmit them to the parliament. The king well knew that the persons were chosen to be spies upon him, and to raise factions in the country against him ; yet thought it not yet time to break off all corre- spondence with the parliament, and so to dismiss that commit- tee. That committee consisted of the lord Edward Howard, who hath been mentioned be- fore so fully that there needs no enlargement upon him in this place ; the lord Fairfax, sir Hugh Cholmondely, and sir John Stapleton ; the three last being gentlemen of that county; who, in a short time, had so great an influence upon that people, that they made it EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 141 what was become of him, and a motion made in the house, that he might be sent for. The. speaker said, that he had acquainted him with his going into the country to recover his indisposition, which troubled him, by fresh air ; and that Dr. Winston his physician was with him, and informed him that he was troubled with the stone ; and that his having sat so much in the house in that very hot weather had done him much harm, and there- fore that he had advised him to refresh himself in the country air ; with which testimony they were for the present satisfied; though Mr. Peard said confidently, " that he was troubled with no other *' stone than the stone in his heart, and therefore he " would have him sent for wherever he was ; for he PART u. 1642. appear to the king that he was not so entirely possessed of the hearts and affections of that great county, as by the conflux of the chief gentry to him he was willing to believe : for at a general appearance of that country in a great field or moor near York, his majesty riding thither to receive the acclama- tions of the people, who, he was told, were ready to receive any commands from him, sir Thomas Fairfax, the son of the lord Fairfax, and the same man who was afterwards general for the parliament, with some few other gentlemen of less ac- count, in the head of a great number of substantial country people, presented the king with a petition that he would return to his parliament, and not vio- late their privileges by giving protection to delinquents ; tak- ing notice that he had, many papists who attended about him, and had listed themselves in his troops of guards, and some particulars of the like na- ture ; which petition, delivered confidently, in such a manner and at such a time, much sur- prised the king ; and though most of the persons of condi- tion expressed a public dislike and disapprobation of the peti- tion, and the number of the common people, who knew no- thing of it, was much superior to the other, which appeared many ways, and in particular by the affronts which were given to many of those who ap- peared with the petition ; yet it made a great noise, and gave the parliament new courage, and persuaded them that they had many friends in that place, where it was believed that the king had most. As soon as it was, &c. cr.v in p. HO. /. 1. 142 THE LIFE OF PART " was most confident that he was doing them mis- ii ___' " chief wherever he was." But he prevailed not, 1 642 - till their committee from York sent them word that he was come thither, and almost always with the king. It is said before, that he stayed at Nostall, at the house of sir John Worstenholme, from whence he sent every day to the king, and received his ma- jesty's commands ; and he intended to have stayed longer there, where he could better intend and des- patch any business he was to do ; and he was will- ing for some time not to be seen at York, which he knew would quickly be taken notice of at West- minster. When he came first thither, he found that the king was not satisfied with the lord keeper, which gave him much trouble ; his majesty having sent him word, that he did not like his humours, nor know what to make of him. Mr. Elliot, who had brought the seal to the king, to magnify his own service, and not imagining that the keeper intended to follow him, had told many stories ; as if the keeper had refused to deliver the seal, and that he got it by force, by having locked the door upon him, and threatened to kill him, if he would not give it to him, which, upon such his manhood, he did for pure fear consent unto. And this tale got so much credit with the king, that he hardly dis- believed it when he came himself; though it was in the nature of it very improbable, that a single man, by another" 1 man as strong as himself, (who was attended by many servants in the next room,) should be suffered to shut the door upon him, and 01 by another] from another EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 143 to extort that from him n which he had no mind to PART part with ; and afterwards to go out of his house, _ when there were persons enough in every room to have laid hands upon him, and to have taken that again by force, which he had ravished away. Be- sides that, his majesty knew he expected to be sent for at that time ; and that if he had repented the promise he had made, and resolved not to perform it, he could have found several ways to have evaded it ; and refused to have admitted Mr. Elliot to speak with him : but the prejudice his majesty had before contraeted against him, and the great confidence Elliot had in the relation, which was natural in him, had shut out all those reflections. Yet when his majesty saw him, he received him graciously ; and caused him to be lodged in the court, in a room very near his majesty ; which many believed to be rather out of jealousy and care that he should not again return, than out of respect to him; his ma- jesty keeping still the seal himself, and not restoring it to his custody ; which could not but make some impression on him, and more on others, who from thence concluded that he would have no more to do with the seal ; and carried themselves towards him accordingly. The lords who were come from the house of peers, and had been* offended at his behaviour there, gave him little respect now ; but rather gave credit to Mr. Elliot's relation ; and were forward to make relation of his carriage in the house to his disadvan- n should be suffered to shut him, and suffer that to be ex- the door upon him, and to ex- torted from him tort that from him] should suf- and afterwards to go out] fer the door to be shut upon and suffer him to go out 144 THE LIFE OF FART tage, to the king himself; so that it was no wonder ' that the poor gentleman grew very melancholic. 1(542. And when he was sent for to attend the king, (who was himself present when the great seal was to be used, nor did ever suffer it to be used but in the presence of the keeper, who signed all things, as he ought to do by his office,) when any proclamation of treason, as that against the earl of Essex, or against the proceedings of the- houses, as in the business of the militia, or the like, was brought to be sealed, he used all delays ; and made many exceptions, and found faults in matters of form, and otherwise, sometimes very reasonably ; yet in such a manner as made it evident he retained many fears about him, as if he was not without apprehension that he might fall again into their hands ; which was the cause that the king had said, that he knew not what to make of him. Mr. Hyde Mr. Hyde, as soon as he heard this, wrote a letter writes from i* i i . . i r> it i Nostaii to to the king, and put him in mind of all that had formerly passed in that affair; how absolutely the keeper had destroyed himself in the account of the parliament, by paying that obedience which he ought to do to his majesty's commands ; and that if he should be deprived of his majesty's favour, he must be of all men the most miserable ; and that himself should be most unfortunate, in having con- tributed so much to his ruin ; which would call his majesty's good nature, and even his justice into question ; and therefore besought him to be gracious to him, and to keep up his spirits with his counte- nance. However, he made it his own humble suit to his majesty, that he would not take any severe resolution against him, before he gave him leave to EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 145 kiss his hand, and to offer him some further con- PART siderations. Upon the receipt of this letter, the king sent him word, that he would gratify him in 1642 ' the last part of his letter, and conclude nothing before he spake with him : in the mean time he wished him to send the keeper some good counsel ; and that as soon as he should have despatched some business he had then upon his hands, that he would come to York, where he would find much to do; and that he thought now there would be less reason every day for his being concealed. And within four or five days after, his majesty sent Mr. Ashburn- ham to him, to let him know, that he had every , day so much to do with the keeper, and found him so refractory and obstinate, that he should not be able to keep the promise he had made to him, if he did not make haste to York ; and therefore bade And goes him to be with him with all convenience: where- to upon, within two days after, for he had somewhat to despatch that required haste, and sooner than he intended, he waited upon his majesty at York. When he came to the court P, being about four of the clock in the afternoon, the king was at council, upon the publishing his answer to the declaration of the twenty-sixth of May ; which, though it con- tained eight or nine sheets of paper, he brought to the board in his own hand writing ; having kept the promise he had made at Greenwich to that hour, in writing out all the papers himself, which had been sent to him ; which had been a wonderful task he ' When he came to the the petition, mentioned before, court] It was about a day or that Mr. Hyde eame to York, two after the appearance of the and when he came to the people of the country, when sir court, &c. Thomas Fairfax had delivered VOL. I. L 146 THE LIFE OF PART had imposed on himself: so that he always spent more than half the day shut up by himself in his 1 642. chamber, writi-ng ; which was most of the news the houses heard of him at London ; and which per- plexed them very much. His recep. jy[ r< Hyde was in the gallery when the king came tion there ; ' J from council ; and as soon as he saw him, he bade him welcome to York very graciously ; and asked some questions aloud of him, as if he thought he had then come from London ; and then called him into the garden, where -he walked with him above and conver- an hour. He said at the beginning, " that they sation with - , deemed those errors by a signal service, which might well wipe out the memory of the other. The king said with some warmth, " that he was so far from " another opinion, that he would hate himself, if he " did not believe that he had made a full expiation ; " and though he did think that he had been wrought " upon by him to perform that part, yet he thought " the merit of it far above any of his transgres- " sions ; and that he was disposed, from the first " minute of his coming to York, to have renewed " his old kindness to him, and confidence in him ; " and would willingly have given the seal again " into his hands, if he had found he had desired it ; " but that he found no serenity in his countenance, " nor any inclination to do what necessity required : " and whereas the parliament took advantage, that " none of his majesty's acts, which he had caused to " be published, were authentic, nor ought to be " looked upon as his, because the great seal had not " been affixed to them, which could not be done " whilst the great seal was at Westminster ; now " he had the seal by him, and sent proclamations to " be sealed, the keeper was still as unwilling that " they should pass, as if he was still under their " power ; which made him angry, and nothing that " he had done before." Mr. Hyde replied, that " the poor gentleman " could not but think himself disobliged to the " highest extremity, in the presumption of Mr. El- " Hot ; and that his extravagant and insolent dis- " courses should find credit, without his majesty's 148 THE LIFE OF PART " reprehension and vindication, who kne\v the false- _J_L_ " hood of them." And so put his majesty in mind 1642. O f a n t h at k^ p ass ed; and of the other circum- stances, which made all the other's brags impossible to be true. For his fears and apprehensions, he be- sought his majesty to remember, that " he had " newly escaped out of that region where the thun- " der and lightning is made ; and that he could " hardly yet recover the fright he had been often in, " and seen so many others in ; and that his majesty " need not distrust him ; he had passed the Rubi- he . C on, and had no hope but in his majesty." His reconciles o the lord majesty concluded, that he should be sure to receive all necessary countenance and protection from him ; of which he bade him to assure him, and presently to visit him ; which going to do, he met him in the garden, and they there walked together. He found him full of apprehension that he should be put out of his place, and of the ruin and con- tempt that he should be then exposed to, which he had brought upon himself; but when the other an- swered him, that there was no danger of that, and told him all that had passed between the king and him ; and that if he would, he might have the seal in his own custody again within an hour, he was exceed- ingly revived, and desired him to entreat the king to keep the great seal still himself; that he would by no means be answerable for the safety of it, nor would trust any servant of his own to look to it ; which, as it was wisely considered and resolved by him, so it increased the king's confidence in him ; who would have been troubled if the other had ac- cepted the grace that was offered. And from that time, when any thing was to be done that admi- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 149 nistered any argument for doubt, Mr. Hyde always PART prepared him by discourse ; so that there was never , ! after any unkindness from the king towards him: 1642> but the vigour of his mind grew every day less, un- der a great melancholy that oppressed him, from the consideration of the time, and of his own ill condition in his fortune ; which was much worse than any body imagined it could be. Before he went out of the garden, the lord How- ard, sir Hugh Cholmely, and sir Philip Stapleton, (who were the committee from the parliament,) had intelligence that he was walking in the garden with the king ; whereupon they came presently thither, and after they had saluted him with much civility, the,y shewed him an instruction they had from the parliament; by which they were required, if any member of either house came to York, they should let them know, that it was the pleasure of the house He is sum- that they should immediately attend the house, an signify to them what answer they made ; and so they desired he would excuse them for doing their duty. He told them, he was but just then come thither, in obedience to his majesty's commands, and knew not yet what service he was to do ; but that as soon as his majesty would give him leave, he would return to the parliament. There happened an accident, at Mr. Hyde's first coming to York, which he used often to speak of, and to be very merry at. One of the king's servants had provided a lodging for him, so that, when he alighted at the court, he sent his servants thither, and stayed himself at the court till after supper, and till the king went into his chamber ; and then he had a guide, who went with him, and conducted i- 3 150 THE LIFE OF PART him to his chamber; which he liked very well, and began to undress himself. One of his servants ' wished that he had any other lodging, and desired him not to lie there : he asked why, it seemed to him a, good chamber : his servant answered, that the chamber was good, but the people of the house the worst he ever saw, and such as he was confident would do him some mischief : at which wondering, his servant told him, that the persons of the house seemed to be of some condition by their habit that was very good ; and that the servants, when they came thither, found the master and mistress in the lower room, who received them civilly, and shewed them the chamber where their master was to lodge, and wished them to call for any thing they wanted, and so left them : that shortly after, one of them went down, and the mistress of the house being again in the lower room, where it seems she usually sat, she asked him what his master's name was, which he told her : what, said she, that Hyde that is of the house of commons? and he answering yes, she gave a great shriek, and cried out, that he should not lodge in her house ; cursing him with many bitter execrations. Upon the noise, her hus- band came in ; and when she told him who it was that was to lodge in the chamber above, he swore a great oath that he -should not ; and that he would rather set his house on fire, than entertain him in it. The servant stood amazed, knowing that his master had never been in or near that city, and desired to know what offence he had committed against them ; he told them, he was confident his master did not know them, nor could be known to them. The man answered, after two or three curses, that EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 151 he knew him well enough, and that he had undone PART ii him, and his wife, and his children; and so, after 1_ repeating some new hitter curses, he concluded, that 1642 ' he would set his house on fire, as soon as the other should set his foot in it ; and so he and his wife went away in a great rage into an inner room, and clapped the door to them. When his servant had made this relation to him, he was no less surprised ; knew not what to make of it; asked whether the people were drunk; was assured that they were very sober, and a'ppeared before this passion to be well bred. He sent to de- sire the master of the house to come to him, that they might confer together ; and that he would im- mediately depart his house, if he desired it. He received no answer, but that he and his wife were gone to bed : upon which he said no more, but that, if they were gone to bed, he would go to bed too ; and did accordingly. Though he was not disturbed in the night, the morning was not at all calmer; the master and the mistress stormed as much as ever, and would not be persuaded to speak with him ; but he then understood the reason : the man of the house had been an attorney in the court of the president and council of the north, in great re- putation and practice there ; and thereby got a very good livelihood ; with which he had lived in splen- dour ; and Mr. Hyde had sat in the chair of that committee, and had carried up the votes of the com- mons against that court, to the house of peers ; upon which it was dissolved : which he confessed was a better reason for being angry with him than many others had, who were as angry, and perse- cuted him more. * However, he thought himself L 4 152 THE LIFE OF PART obliged to remove the eyesore from them, and to ! quit the lodging that had been assigned to him; 1 642. an( j h e was mu ch better accommodated by the kind- ness of a good prebendary of the church, Dr. Hod- He resides shon, who" sent to invite him to lodge in his house, with Dr. as soon as he heard he was come to town ; where he resided as long as the court stayed there. There was now a great conflux of the members of both houses of parliament to York ; insomuch as there remained not in the house of commons above a fifth part of the whole number ; and of the house of peers so few, that there continued not at West- minster twenty lords. Yet they proceeded with the same spirit and presumption, as when their numbers were full ; published new declarations against the king ; raised soldiers for their army apace ; and exe- cuted their ordinance for the militia in all the coun- ties of England, the northern parts only excepted ; forbade all persons to resort to the king ; and inter- cepted many in their journey towards York, and committed them to prison : notwithstanding which, many persons of quality every day flocked thither ; and it was no longer safe for those members to stay in the houses of parliament, who resolved not to concur with them in their unwarrantable designs ; and therefore the lord Falkland and sir John Cole- pepper shortly after repaired likewise to York. 1 v likewise to York.] Thus given to those summons, they continued in the MS.: The expelled those members of the bouses quickly found the re- house of commons who were proacb of their small numbers with the king, and gave order was some discredit to their that new writs should issue out transactions, and therefore re- for the electing new members newed their summons to their in their places ; but the king absent members to return ; and, prevented that by giving order when they saw no obedience to the lord keeper not to seal EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 153 When the king declared that he would go to Be- PART verley, a place within four miles of Hull, the noise of the king's journey thither r made a great impres- } 642- sion upon the parliament ; where, how great a con- currence soever there was, in those unwarrantable actions which begot the war, yet a small number of those who voted both the raising the army and mak- ing the general, did in truth intend, or believe, that there would be a war : and therefore, when they looked upon it as begun in this march of the king's to Hull, (for they considered their own actions as done only to prevent a war, by making the king unable to make it, who as they thought only desired it,) they moved presently for some overtures of an accommodation : which that angry party that re- solved against it, never durst absolutely reject ; but consenting cheerfully to it, got thereby authority to any writs which should be pre- service of the parliament ; and pared and sent to him for any the house of peers thereupon, new elections. Upon some in- with all formality, and in their formation against the lord Sa- robes, passed a sentence and vile, for some expressions he judgment upon those nine, (the had used against the parlia- number of the judges not much ment, when the petition that exceeding that number,) that is mentioned before was pre- they should be fined, and dis- sented by sir Thomas Fairfax, abled to sit in parliament dur- that lord and eight more were ing the time that parliament summoned by an order from should continue ; which was the house of peers, and v re- looked upon as an act without quired to attend that house, any foundation of law or pre- Upon which they making a cedent, and was slighted ac- joint answer, that they had re- cordingly by those who were ceived an express order to at- most immediately concerned in tend upon his majesty's person, it. the house of commons, taking r When the king declared notice of this answer, in a new that he would go to Beverley, and unheard-of way carried up a place within four miles of a charge and impeachment to Hull, the noise of the king's the house of peers against those journey thither] The noise of nine lords for not attending the the king's journey to Beverley 154 THE LIFE OF PART insert such things in the address, as must inevitably render it ineffectual. So at this time they sent the 1 642. ear j o f Holland, a person whom they knew s to be most unacceptable to the king, with two members of the house of commons, who came to Beverley the day the king arrived there. The subject of their message was, after several specious expressions and professions of their duty, to dissuade his majesty from making war against his parliament, by pro- ceeding in his enterprise against Hull, which the parliament was obliged to defend. And all the ex- pedient they proposed for the avoiding this war was, that he would consent to the nineteen propositions, which they had formerly made to him at York, and to which he had long since returned his answer; and both the one and the other were printed. These nineteen propositions, which contained the disinherison of the crown of all its choice regalities, and left only the shadow and empty name of the king, had been framed by the houses after Mr. Hyde left London. And because he had so much work then upon his hands, as they believed he would not be able to despatch soon enough, the lord Falkland and sir John Colepepper undertook to prepare an answer to them themselves ; and so^divided the pro- positions between them ; and in a short time so finished their answer, that they sent it to the king, and desired that Mr. Hyde might peruse it, and then cause it to be published and printed. The an- swer was full to all particulars, and writ with very much wit and sharpness ; but there were some ex- pressions in it, which he liked not, as prejudicial to 9 they knew] at that time they knew EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 155 the king, and in truth a mistake in point of right, PART in that part which had been prepared by sir John - ! Colepepper ; who had taken it up upon credit, and, ! 642 - without weighing the consequence, did really be- lieve that it had been true ; which was, that in the discourse of the constitution of the kingdom, he had declared, that the king, and the house of peers, and the house of commons made the three estates: and for this reason Mr. Hyde did not advance the print- ing it ; and told the king, that all the particulars in Mr. Hyde those propositions had been enough answered in for- king not to mer answers to other declarations, (which was and therefore that this needed not be published : the P arlia ~ ruent s with which his majesty was satisfied, without know- nineteen . . . proposi- ing the particular true reason ; which he thought tions. not fit to communicate, for both the persons' sakes, of whose affection for the church (which was prin- cipally concerned in that mistake, since in truth the bishops make the third estate, the king being the head and sovereign of the whole) his majesty was always jealous. But they no sooner came to York, than they ap- peared much unsatisfied, that that answer was not printed ; and the lord Falkland finding it remained still in Mr. Hyde's hands, he expostulated warmly with him of the reasons ; and in some passion said, " he therefore disliked it, because he had not writ Lord Faik- " it himself." Upon which, without saying more, postuiation than that " he never expected so unkind a reproach Jhereon" " from him," he delivered the written copy to him, and he immediately procured the king's consent, and sent it to the press that night, with order to lose no time in the impression. Of which the king was afterwards very sensible; and that excellent lord, 156 THE LIFE OF PART who intended not the least unkindness, (nor did it ii. produce the least interruption in their friendship,) was likewise much troubled when he knew the rea- son ; and imputed it to his own inadvertency, and to the infusion of some lawyers, who had misled sir John Colepepper; and to the declarations which many of the prelatical clergy frequently and igno- rantly made, that the bishops did not sit in parlia- ment as the representatives of the clergy, and so could not be the third estate. It happened that the day the earl of Holland came to Beverley, Mr. Hyde had been riding abroad ; and returning to Beverley, happened to be in the same road, when the earl of Holland arid his com- pany prosecuted their journey to the king: when meeting together, there passed the usual salutations which are between persons well known, to each Mr. Hyde's other. " He hoped," the earl said, " that he should tion wi $ th " be welcome to all honest men at the court, be- Hoiiid. of " cause ne came to invite the king to return to his " parliament, and to abolish all jealousies between " them." The other answered, " he would be very " welcome indeed, if he brought proper expedients " to produce either of those effects ; but then his " errand must be of another composition than what " the king understood it to be." Upon which they entered upon a warmer discourse than it may be either of them intended ; and as the earl spake in another style than he had used to do, of the power and authority of the parliament, and how much they were superior to any opposition or contradic- tion ; so the other in the debate was less reserved, and kept a less guard upon himself than he used to do ; so that they seemed nothing pleased with each EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 157 other: nor did Mr. Hyde visit him after his coming PART to Beverley, because he was informed that the earl had, to many persons who resorted to him, repeated with some liberty and sharpness, what had passed between them ; and not without some menaces what the parliament would do. And as soon as he did Ha is ex - eiupted return, there was a new vote passed by name against from par- him, and two or three more, by which he was ex- V o" e of *i. empted from pardon, in any accommodation that llouscs ' should be made between the king and parliament. Mr. Hyde had been absent four or five days from the court, and came into the presence when the . king was washing his hands before dinner ; and as soon as the king saw him, he asked him aloud, " Ned Hyde, when did you play with my band- " strings last ?" upon which he was exceedingly out of countenance, not imagining the cause of the ques- tion, and the room being full of gentlemen, who ap- peared to be merry with what the king had asked. But his majesty observing him to be in disorder, and to blush very much, said pleasantly, " Be not " troubled at it, for I have worn no band-strings " these twenty years :" and then asked him whether he had not seen the diurnal ; of which he had not heard till then ; but shortly after, some of the standers-by shewed him a diurnal, in which there was a letter of intelligence printed, where it was said, that Ned Hyde was grown so familiar with the king, that he used to play with his band-strings. Which was a method of calumniating they began then, and shortly after prosecuted and exercised upon much greater persons. In the afternoon the earl of Holland came to de- liver his message with great formality ; whom the 158 THE LIFE OF PART king received with much coldness and manifestation of neglect : and when the earl approached, and 1642< kneeled to kiss his hand, he turned, or withdrew his hand in such a manner, that the earl kissed his own. When the message was read, the king said little more, than that they should not stay long for an answer ; and so went to his chamber. The earl was not without many friends there ; and some of them moved the king, that he would give him leave to say somewhat to him in private, which they be- lieved would be very much for his service ; but his majesty would by no means yield to it. By this time his majesty had notice of the governor's irreso- lution at Hull ; and so was glad of this opportunity to have a fair excuse for making no attempt upon that place : and sent the next day for the earl of Holland to receive his answer; which being read aloud in the king's presence, and a full room, by the clerk of the council, was very grateful to the au- ditors, who feared some condescension in the king, though very mortifying to the earl. For besides that it was thought very sharp towards the houses, it declared his brother, the earl of Warwick, a trai- tor, for possessing himself of the king's fleet against his consent ; and concluded, that he would forbear any attempt upon Hull for fourteen days ; in which time, if the parliament would enter into a treaty for a happy peace, they should find him very well in- clined to it ; after the expiration of that time, he should pursue those ways which he thought fit. In the mean time, he made a short progress into the adjacent counties of Nottingham and Leicester, to see what countenance they wore, and to encourage those who appeared to have good affections to his EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 159 service: and then returning to Beverley within the PART limited time, and hearing no more from the parlia-. ment, or any thing from Hull that he expected, he 1642 - returned again to York. l Mr. Hyde was wont often to relate a passage in that melancholic time, when the standard was set up at Nottingham, with which he was much af- fected. Sir Edmund Varney, knight-marshal, who was mentioned before as standard-bearer, with whom he had great familiarity, who was a man of great courage, and generally beloved, came one day to him, and told him, " he was very glad to see him, His conver- " in so universal a damp, under which the spirits of sf r Edmund " most men were oppressed, retain still his natural Varney * " vivacity and cheerfulness ; that he knew that the " condition of the king, and the power of the par- " liament, was not better known to 'any man than " to him ; and therefore he hoped that he was able " to administer some comfort to his friends, that " might raise their spirits, as well as it supported " his own." He answered, " that he was, in truth, " beholden to his constitution, which did not incline " him to despair ; otherwise, that he had no plea- " sant prospect before him, but thought as ill of " affairs as most men did ; that the other was as " far from being melancholic as he, and was known " to be a man of great courage, (as indeed he was " of a very cheerful and a generous nature, and con- " fessedly valiant,) and that they could not do the " king better service, than by making it .their busi- " ness to raise the dejected minds of men, and root " out those apprehensions which disturbed them, of 1 to York.] to York, as hath been said before. 160 THE LIFE OF PART " fear and despair, which could do no good, and did ! " really much mischief." He replied smiling, " I will willingly join with " you the best I can, but I shall act it very scurvily. " My condition," said he, " is much worse than yours, " and different, I believe, from any other man's ; and " will very well justify the melancholic that, I con- " fess to you, possesses me. You have satisfaction " in your conscience that you are in the right ; that " the king ought not to grant what is required of " him ; and so you do your duty and your business " together : but for my part, I do not like the quar- " rel, and do heartily wish that the king would " yield and consent to what they desire ; so that " my conscience is only concerned in honour and in " gratitude to follow my master. I have eaten his " bread, and served him near thirty years, and will " not do so base a thing as to forsake him ; and " choose rather to lose my life (which I am sure I " shall do) to preserve and defend those things which " are against my conscience to preserve and defend : " for I will deal freely with you, I have no re- " verence for the bishops, for whom this quarrel " subsists."" It was not a time to dispute ; and his affection to the church had never been suspected. He was as good as his word ; and was killed, in the battle of Edge-hill, within two months after this discourse. And if those who had the same and greater obligations, had observed the same rules of gratitude .and generosity, whatever their other af- fections had been, that battle had never been fought, nor any of that mischief been brought to pass that succeeded it. 11 subsists.] Omitted in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 161 After the king came to Oxford with his army, FART his majesty one day speaking with the lord Falk- ' land very graciously concerning Mr. Hyde, said he had such a peculiar style, that he could know any The ki thing written by him, if it were brought to him by toJSI a stranger, amongst a multitude of writings by other ^"nin men. The lord Falkland answered, he doubted his Hyde's style. majesty could hardly do that, because he himself, who had so long conversation and friendship with him, was often deceived; and often met with things written by him, of which he could never have sus- pected him, upon the variety of arguments. To which the king replied, he would lay him an angel, that, let the argument be what it would, he should never bring him a sheet of paper (for he would not undertake to judge of less) of his writing, but he would discover it to be his. The lord Falkland told him it should be a wager ; but neither the one nor the other ever mentioned it to Mr. Hyde. Some days after, the lord Falkland brought several packets, which he had then received from London, to the king, before he had opened them, as he used to do : and after he had read his several letters of intelli- gence, he took out the prints of diurnals, and speeches, and the like, which were every day printed at London, and as constantly sent to Ox- ford : and amongst the rest there were two speeches, the one made by the lord Pembroke for an accom- modation, and the other by the lord Brooke against it; and for the carrying on the war with more vigour, and utterly to root out the cavaliers, which were the king's party. The king was very much pleased with reading the speeches, and said, he did not think that Pem- VOL. i. M 162 THE LIFE OF PART broke could speak so long together ; though every _ '. word he said was so much his own, that nobody else 542< could make it. And so after he had pleased him- self with reading the speeches over again, and then passed to other papers, the lord Falkland whispered in his ear, (for there were other persons by,) desir- ing him he would pay him the angel; which his majesty in the instant apprehending, blushed, and put his hand in his pocket, and gave him an angel, saying, he had never paid a wager more willingly ; and was very merry upon it, and would often call upon Mr. Hyde for a speech, or a letter, which he very often prepared upon several occasions ; and the king always commanded them to be printed. He laments And he was often wont to say, many years after, the loss of , * . many of his that he would be very glad he could make a collec- writhigs! tion of all those papers, which he had written occa- sionally at that time; which he could never do, though he got many of them. A dispute* There was at that time a pleasant story upon caused by one of them, those speeches. The lord Brooke had met with them in print, and heard that he was much re- proached for so unchristian a speech against peace, though the language was such as he used in all op- portunities : whereupon one morning in the house of peers, and before the house sat, he came to the earl of Portland, (who yet remained there with the king's approbation, and knew well enough from whence the speeches came, having himself caused them to be printed,) and shewing them to him, de- sired he would move the house, that that speech might, by their order, be burned by the hand of the hangman ; by which means the kingdom would be informed, that it had never been spoken by him. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 163 The earl said, he would willingly do him the ser- PART vice ; but he observed, that the speeches were ' printed in that manner, that where the earl of Pern- 1642 ' broke's speech ended on the one side of the leaf, his (the lord Brooke's) speech began on the other side, so that one could not be burned, without burning the other too ; which he knew not how the earl of Pembroke would like ; and therefore he durst not move it without his consent. Whereupon they both went to the earl, who was then likewise in the house ; and Portland told him what the lord Brooke ; desired, and asked him whether he wished it should be done. He, who heard he was very well spoken of, for having spoke so honestly for peace, said, he did not desire it. Upon which Brooke, in great anger, asked, if he had ever made that speech ; he was very sure he had never made the other; and the other with equal choler replied, that he was al- ways for peace ; and though he could not say he had spoken all those things together, he was sure he had spoken them all at several times ; and that he knew as well, that he had always been against peace, and had often used all those expressions which were in the speech, though, it may be, not all together. Upon which they entered into a high combat of reproachful words against each other, to the no small delight of the earl, who had brought them together, and of the rest of the standers-by. x (-:'. -"} f- '*. x rest of the standers-by.] to London, both the parlia- The following account of some ment and the city was so far of the king's movements is omit- provoked, that they laid aside ted: Though upon the king's all thoughts of treaty; and advance from Colebrooke, and upon his retreat, the view of the imagination that he pur- the number and ill condition of posed to have brought his army his army, the furious party was M 2 164 THE LIFE OF PART II. 1643. The king was no sooner settled in his winter quarters, after his retreat from Brentford to Oxford, much exalted, and thought of weary of the service, and dis- nothing but of forming new ar- engaged themselves, and gave mirs, which might subdue the up their commands ; so that the other parts of the kingdom ; motions were again renewed for yet when they had better col- lected themselves, the principal sending to the king for a peace : and at last a message was sent persons of the parliament, and to the king, that he would send those of the city, who had for- a safe conduct for four lords merly very importunately press- and eight commoners to attend ed the message to the king for his majesty with an humble pe- a treaty, returned to the same tition from both houses, which temper. The parliament was they hoped might produce a full of faction, and they who good accommodation ; which had concurred too much in the safe conduct was immediately entering into the war, were granted, with which the mes- now most solicitous to get out senger returned ; and within of it ; they said the expense few days after, the earls of already was already unsupportable ; Northumberland, Pembroke, Sa- their army was wasted, so that lisbury, and Holland, together they were upon the matter to begin again. They had spent very much of the money which had been raised for Ireland, and employed great numbers of those soldiers which were levied for that kingdom, which did not only redound to the great ha- zard of losing that kingdom, but would exceedingly turn to his majesty would permit them their reproach with the people to send a committee of both of England, as soon as it should be taken notice of, and it could with Pierrepoint, lord Wenman, Whitlocke, Waller, and other members of the house of com- mons, came to Oxford with a petition to the king ; which contained no more than a de- sire from the parliament, in terms more modest than they had been accustomed to, that not be long concealed. They houses to attend him, that they might treat about a happy peace, and, in the first place, of a ces- foresaw likewise that the vast sation of all acts of hostility, sum of money, which must be There was a pleasant observa- got for the carrying on the war, must all be raised out of the city, which appeared discon- tented enough. There was like- wise no union in the army ; many officers gave up their commissions ; and those who were members of both houses, and had carried regiments and tion at that time, which made the artifices appear by which they imposed upon their friends at London. The people there did generally believe that the king, and the little army he had with him, were in so great straits for want of provision in Oxford, that they were corn- troops into the field, were pelled to eat horseflesh ; and EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 165 but the parliament sent to him for a safe-conduct, PART for commissioners to be sent from them to treat nf that they would in a short time be forced to return to the par- liament, that they might avoid the being starved ; and either to keep up this imagination, or place, for the better understand- ing the unhappy temper of the court and of the king's affairs, to remember, that, as soon as the commissioners were gone 1643. that they did themselves believe out of the. town, there appeared the scarcity to be very great, a general indisposition in court, these commissioners brought in army, and amongst the per- with them a great quantity of sons of quality which filled the provisions, even of bread and beer, as well as of beef and mutton and fowl, sufficient to feed the whole company that town, to the peace, and a won- derful apprehension that it would be brought to pass, and there- fore there were many cabals came with them, during such and meetings to consult how time as they believed they should the treaty might be prevented, stay there; of which they were or at least made ineffectual, ashamed as soon as they en- Though the king was in plea- tered Oxford, and saw the great sant and plentiful quarters, plenty in the markets, not only where he wanted no provision of the usual common fare, but of those choice fowl, of phea- sants, partridge, cocks, snipes, in that abundance, as they were not so well furnished in Lon- don ; besides the best fish and wild fowl, which was brought in every day, from the western part, in such plenty, that it can hardly be imagined. So that they were quickly converted from giving credit to that ru- mour, and it may be by it judged the better of the want of inte- try would long endure free- grity in many other reports, quarters, and submit likewise The commissioners, after three or four days, returned with a gracious answer from the king, and with a safe conduct for such persons as the two houses should send to treat with the king ; and men began to en- of victuals, and out of which (for he was possessed of most of the countries between Oxford and Chester, and of the greatest part of Wales) he might rea- sonably hope to recruit his ar- my ; yet there was no hope of procuring money to pay them ;. and though the soldiers yet be- haved themselves modestly in their quarters, so that there were no complaints, it could not be imagined that the coun- tertain good hope of a peace, and fair accommodation of all differences. It may not be unfit in this to pay contributions in money, which was assigned to the horse. The battle of Edge-hill, and the supplying the few garrisons which were made with very slender proportions of ammu- nition, had already so exhausted the stores, that there were not left at this time in Oxford above forty barrels of powder, and match and bullet proportion- M 3 166 THE LIFE OF 1643. PART peace; which was sent to them. And at this time there was a change in Mr. Hyde's fortune, by a pre- ferment the king conferred upon him. Every body knew that he was trusted by the king in his most secret transactions ; but he was under no character in his service. When the commissioners who were sent for the safe-conduct came to Oxford, some who came in their company, amongst other matters of intelligence, brought the king a letter of his own to the queen, printed, that had been intercepted, and printed by the license, if not order, of the parlia- able ; and though there was set up there a mill to make pow- der, newly erected, yet the un- dertakers in it would not pro- mise to provide above twenty barrels in a week, which could produce no provision suitable to the necessity. It is true there was a reasonable supply of arms and ammunition ar- rived at Newcastle, the only port in the king's obedience ; but, besides the great use there was to be of it in those parts, where the earl of Newcastle had been left to raise an army, and had now Yorkshire added to his commission, which stood in great need of his protection, the distance was so great be- tween that and Oxford, that there was little hope of getting any of it with a less convoy than an army. Above all this, it was apparent to all men, who could discern at any distance, that the good humour of the lords and persons of quality, which kept up the humour every where else, would decay, and turn into murmuring and dis- content, as soon as that money should be spent which they had brought with them from Lon- don, and which alone had made some show of plenty in the court ; and therefore it was looked upon by wise men as a judgment from Heaven, that now, when that seemed to be in view which men of all con- ditions had prayed for since the setting up the standard at Not- tingham, there should be even a conspiracy amongst those very persons to drive that blessing from them. And it was the more wonderful, that even the king himself was not without apprehension that he might suf- fer by making peace, and coun- tenanced those who spake most against it, and laboured to pre- vent it ; of which there will be occasion anon to speak more at large, and in that place to men- tion the true reason which pro- duced that aversion. At this time there was a change in Mr. Hyde's fortune, &c. as in page 1C6, line 1. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 167 ment. In this letter, of the safe conveyance whereof PART his majesty had no apprehension, the king had la- mented the uneasiness of his own condition, in re- spect of the daily importunity which was made to him by the lords and others, for honours, offices, and preferments ; and named several lords, who were solicitous by themselves, or their friends, for this and that place ; in all which he desired to receive the queen's advice, being resolved to do nothing with reference to those pretences, till he should re- ceive it. But he said there were some places which he must dispose of without staying for her answer, the necessity of his service requiring it ; which were the mastership of the wards ; applications being still made to the lord Say in those affairs, and so that revenue was diverted from him : and therefore, as he had revoked his patent, so he was resolved to make secretary Nicholas master of the wards ; " and " then," (these were his majesty's own words,) " I " must make Ned Hyde secretary of state, for the " truth is, I can trust nobody else." Which was a very envious expression, and extended by the ill in- terpretation of some men, to a more general corn- prehension than could be intended. This was quick- ly made public, for there were several prints of it in many hands ; and some men had reason to be troubled to find their names mentioned in that man- ner, and others were glad that theirs were there, as having the pretence to pursue their importunities the more vehemently, being, as the phrase was, brought upon the stage, and should suffer much in their honour, if they should be now rejected ; which kind of argumentation was very unagreeable and grievous to the king. M 4 168 THE LIFE OF PART One morning, when the king was walking in the ! garden, as he used to do, Mr. Hyde being then in ., '^ 3 ,' his view, his majesty called him, and discoursed of Mr. Hyde J J declines the the trouble he was in at the intercepting that letter ; office of se- i / i i j cretaryof and finding by his countenance that he understood not the meaning, he asked him, " whether he had " not heard a letter of his, which he writ to the " queen, had been intercepted and printed." And he answering, " that he had not heard of it," as in truth he had not, the king gave him the printed letter to read, and then said, that "he wished it " were as much in his power to make every body " else amends as he could him ; for," he said, " he " was resolved that afternoon to swear him secretary " of state, in the place of Nicholas, whom he would " likewise then make master of the wards." Mr. Hyde told him, " he was indeed much surprised " with the sight of the letter ; which he wished had " not been communicated in that manner : but that " he was much more surprised to find his own name " in it, and his majesty's resolution upon it, which " he besought him to change ; for as he never had " the ambition to hope or wish for that place, so he " knew he was very unfit for it, and unable to dis- " charge it." To which the king with a little anger replied, that " he did the greatest part of the busi- " ness now :" and he answered, that " what he did " now would be no part of the business, if the rebel- " lion were ended ; and that his unskilfulness in lan- " guages, and his not understanding foreign affairs, " rendered him very incapable of that trust." The king said, " he would learn as much as was neces- " sary of that kind very quickly." He continued his desire, that his majesty would lay aside that EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 169 thought; and said, "that he had great friendship PART " for secretary Nicholas, who would be undone by. " the change ; for he would find that his majesty J 643 * " would receive very little, and he nothing, by that " office, till the troubles were composed." The king said, " Nicholas was an honest man, and that his " change was by his desire ;" and bade him speak with him of it ; which he went presently to do, leav- ing his majesty unsatisfied with the scruples he had made. When he came to the secretary's lodging, he found him with a cheerful countenance, and em- bracing him, called him his son. Mr. Hyde an- swered him, that " it was not the part of a good son " to undo his father, or to become his son that he " might undo him :" and so they entered upon the discourse; the one telling him what the king had resolved, and how grateful the resolution was to him ; and the other informing him of the conference he had then had with the king, and that for his sake, as well as his own, he would not submit to the king's pleasure in it. And so he debated the whole matter with him, and made it evident to him, that he would be disappointed in any expectation he should entertain of profit from the wards, as the state of affairs then stood : so that he should relin- quish an honourable employment, which he was well acquainted with, for an empty title, with which he would have nothing to do : and so advised him to consider well of it, and of all the consequences of it, before he exposed himself to such an inconvenience. Whilst this was in suspense, sir Charles Caesar, who, with great prejudice to the king, and more re- proach to the archbishop of Canterbury, Laud, had 170 THE LIFE OF PART been made master of the rolls, died: and sir John .Colepepper had long had a promise from the king of that place, when it should become void, and now pressed the performance of it : which was violently opposed by many, partly out of ill-will to him, (for he had not the faculty of getting himself much loved,) and as much out of good husbandry, and to supply the king's necessities with a good sum of money, which Dr. Duck was ready to lay down for the office. And the king was so far wrought upon, that he paid down three thousand pounds in part of what he was to give ; but his majesty caused the money to be repaid, and resolved to make good his promise to sir John Colepepper, who would by no means release him. This was no sooner declared, than the lord Falkland (who was much more soli- citous to have Mr. Hyde of the council, than he was himself for the honour) took an opportunity to tell the king, that he had now a good opportunity to prefer Mr. Hyde, by making him chancellor of the exchequer, in the place of sir John Colepepper; which the king said he had resolved to do, and bid him take no notice of it, until he had told him so' himself: and shortly after sent for him, and said, But accepts that he had now found an office for him, which that of chancellor " he hoped he would not refuse : that the chancel- " " lorship of the exchequer was void by the promo- " tion of Colepepper, and that he resolved to confer " it upon him ;" with many gracious expressions of the satisfaction he had in his service. The other answered, " that though it was an office much above " his merit, yet he did not despair of enabling hiin- " self by industry to execute it, which he would do " with all fidelity." EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 171 As soon as this was known, no man was so much PART troubled at it as sir John Colepepper, who had in truth an intention to have kept both places, until 1643 ' he should get into the quiet possession of the rolls. And though he professed much friendship to the other, he had no mind he should be upon the same level with him ; and believed he would have too much credit in the council. And so delayed, after his patent for the rolls was passed, to surrender that of the chancellorship of the exchequer, until the lord Falkland and the lord Digby expostulated very warmly with him upon it, and until the king took notice of it ; and then, seeming very much troubled that any body should doubt the integrity of his friendship to Mr. Hyde, to whom he made all the professions imaginable, he surrendered his office of chancellor of the exchequer : and the next day Mr. He 5s swom TT J X-.LU -1 J 1 ' 1. J fthe P rh 7- Hyde was sworn 01 the privy-council, and knighted, council, and and had his patents sealed for that office. And the kmg ** king, after he rose from the council, and after many expressions of the content he took himself in the obligation he had laid upon him, with much grace, that was not natural in him upon such occasions, told him, that " he was very fortunate, because he " verily believed nobody was angry at his prefer- " ment; for besides that the earl of Dorset and " others, who he knew loved him, had expressed " much satisfaction in the king's purpose," he said, " the lord Maltrevers, and the lord Dunsmore, who " he did not think had any acquaintance with him, " seemed very much pleased with him ; and there- " fore he thought nobody would envy him ; which " was a rare felicity." But his majesty was therein mistaken ; for he had great enviers, of many who 172 THE LIFE OF PART thought he had run too fast; especially of those of his own profession, who looked upon themselves as 1643. his superiors in all respects, and did not think that his age, (which was not then above thirty-three,) or his other parts, did entitle him to such a preference before them. And the news of it at Westminster exceedingly offended those who governed in the par- liament; to see the man whom they most hated, and whom they had voted to be incapable of pardon, to be now preferred to an office the chief of them looked for. Besides, there was another unusual cir- cumstance accompanied his preferment, that it was without the interposition or privity of the queen, which was not like to make it the more easy and advantageous ; and it was not the more unwelcome to him from that circumstance. Notwithstanding all the discourse of, and inclina- tion to a treaty, the armies were not quiet on either side. The king's quarters were enlarged by the taking of Marlborough in Wiltshire, and of Ciren- cester in Gloucestershire; which, though untenable by their situation and weak fortifications, were gar- risoned by the parliament with great numbers of men ; who were all killed, or taken prisoners. And the parliament forces were not without success too ; and, after the loss of Marlborough, surprised the re- giment of horse, that was commanded by the lord Grandison, a gallant gentleman, who, if not be- trayed, was unhappily invited to Winchester, with promise of forces ready to defend the place ; which being in no degree performed, he was, the next day after he came, enclosed in the castle of Winchester, and compelled to become, all, officers and soldiers, prisoners of war : though he and some other of the EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 173 f principal officers, by the negligence or corruption of PART their guard, made their escape in the night, and re-. turned to Oxford. 1643 - This was the state of the kingdom, of the king, and of the parliament, in the beginning of the year 1643, at the time when Mr. Hyde was made of the privy-council, and chancellor of the exchequer : which was between the return of the commissioners, who had been sent to the king to propose a treaty, and the coming of those commissioners to Oxford, who were afterwards sent from the parliament to treat with the king ; which being about the end of the year 1642, this part shall be closed here, ) the %4ith of July ^ 1669. THE LIFE OF EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON; FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE RESTORATION OF THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE YEAR 1660. PART III. J.T was about the beginning of March (which by PART that account was about the end of the year 1642,. and about the beginning of the year 1643) that the 1643 - commissioners of the parliament came to Oxford, to treat with his majesty; and were received graciously by him ; and by his order lodged conveniently, and well accommodated in all respects. The parliament had bound up their commissioners 11 a The parliament had bound treat with his majesty himself, up their commissioners] Thus and not with any other persons; in the MS.: The persons were whereupon his majesty gave the earl of Northumberland, them admission whenever they (the rest appointed by the house desired it, and received what of peers were dispensed with,) they had to propose in writing, and of the commons the lord and then consulted and debated Wenman, Mr. Pierrepoint, Mr. it at his council, and delivered Whitlocke, and the his answer again in writing, the king intended to have appointed chancellor of the exchequer be- some of his council to have ing always appointed to prepare treated with them ; but they those answers. The commis- discovered at their first audience, sioners had very sincere desires that they had authority only to to have made a peace, none of 176 THE LIFE OF 1643. P nJ lT ^ ^ e IBti " c * est tetter of their propositions ; nor did their instructions at this time (which they presented to the king) admit the least latitude to them, to interpret a word or expression, that admitted a doubtful interpretation. Insomuch as the king told them, " that he was sorry that they had no more " trust reposed in them ; and that the parliament " might as well have sent their demands to him by " the common carrier, as by commissioners so re- " strained." They had only twenty days allowed them having ever had inclina- tion to alter the government, and the short experience they had, made it manifest to them that others were possessed with contrary resolutions ; but their instructions were very strict, and nothing left to their own discre- tions ; they who sent them well knowing how their affections stood, and though they had not power to hinder a treaty, which all the kingdom called for, and to refuse it had been to declare that they would continue the war that was universally abo- minated ; yet they knew well how to elude it, which they were the less suspected to in- cline to, because they were still willing that such persons should be employed to treat who were known to be most solicitous for peace. When the propositions were formed in the house, upon the debate of them, when ob- jections were made of their un- reasonableness : that the king had already refused those very overtures when his condition was much lower, and therefore that it was not probable he would yield to the same when he was in the head of a good army: it was answered by those who resolved it should come to nothing, that it was. the course and rule in all treaties iniquum peter e ut cequum feras ; that they did not expect that the king would yield to all they desired, or indeed that a peace would ever be made upon what they did or could propose ; but that thereupon the king would be wrought upon to make his pro- positions, which must be the ground of the peace; and that theyjnust first know what the king would grant before they abated any thing of their de- mands ; and hereby (which seemed to have somewhat of -eason) they still prevailed to keep up their propositions to the utmost they had insisted upon, in their proudest and most insolent conjuncture, but still implied that they would be glad to depart from any thing of it, when they should see any approach made towards peace by any concessions from the king that would, make it safe and valid: yet they bound up their commissioners, &c. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 177 them to finish the whole treaty: whereof they might PART employ six days 'in adjusting a cessation, if they - found it probable to effect it in that time; other- 1643t wise they were to decline the cessation, and enter upon the conditions of the peace ; which, if not con- cluded before the end of the twenty days, they were to give it over, and to return to the parliament. These propositions and restrictions much abated the hopes of a good issue of the treaty. Yet every body believed, and the commissioners themselves did not doubt, that if such a progress should be made in the treaty, that a peace was like to ensue, there would be no difficulty in the enlargement of the time ; and therefore the articles for a cessation were the sooner declined, that they might proceed in the main business. For though what was pro- posed by them in order to it was agreeable enough to the nature of such an affair; yet the time allowed for it was so short, that it was impossible to make it practicable : nor could notice be timely given to all the quarters on either side to observe it. Besides that, there were many particulars in it, which the officers on the king's side (who had no mind to a cessation) formalized much upon ; and (I know not from what unhappy root, but) there was sprung up a wonderful aversion in the town against a cessation. Insomuch as many persons of quality of several counties, whereof the town was full, ap- plied themselves in a body to the king, not to con- sent to a cessation till a peace might be concluded ; alleging, that they had several agitations in their countries, for his majesty's and their own conveni- ences, which would be interrupted by the cessation ; and if a peace should not afterwards ensue, would VOL. I. N 178 THE LIFE OF PART be very mischievous. Which suggestion, if it had .been well weighed, would not have been found to 1643. k e o f importance. But the truth is, the king him- self had no mind to the cessation, for a reason which shall be mentioned anon, though it was never owned: and so they waved all further mention of the cessa- tion, and betook themselves to the treaty ; it being reasonable enough to believe, that if both sides were heartily disposed to it; a peace might as soon have been agreed upon as a cessation could be. All the transactions of that treaty having been long since published, and being fit only to be digested into the The secret history of that time, are to be omitted here. Only transactions in the treaty what passed in secret, and was never communicated, of Oxford. -I'll nor can otherwise be known, since at this time no man else is living who was privy to that negociation but the chancellor of the exchequer, will have a proper place in this discourse. The propositions brought by the commissioners b in the treaty were so unreasonable, that they well knew that the king would never consent to them : but some persons amongst them, who were known to b The propositions brought by to that, and that guilt was in the commissioners] The follow- truth the foundation of their ing portion is here omitted : the union. On the other side, if commissioners, who had all good the parliament insisted on all fortunes and estates, had all a that they had demanded, all the great desire of peaee, but knew power of the crown and inonar- well that there must be a reced- cby itself would be thrown off ing mutually on both sides from the hinges, which as they could what they demanded ; for if the never imagine the king would king insisted on justice, and on ever consent to, so they saw the satisfaction and reparation well enough their own concern- the law would give him, the ment in it, and that themselves lives and the fortunes of all should be as much involved in who had opposed him would be the confusion as those they call- at his mercy ; and there were ed their enemies, too many concerned to submit EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 179 wish well to the king, endeavoured underhand to PART in bring it to pass. And they did therefore, whilst, they publicly pursued their instructions, and deli- 164 3. vered and received papers upon their propositions, privately use all the means they could, especially in conferences with the lord Falkland and the chancel- lor of the exchequer, that the king might be pre- vailed with in some degree to comply with their unreasonable demands. In all matters which related to the church, they did not only despair of the king's concurrence, but did not ~in their own judgments wish it; and be- lieved, that the strength of the party which desired the continuance of the war, was made up of those who were very indifferent in that point ; and that, if they might return with satisfaction in other parti- culars, they should have power enough in the two houses, to oblige the more violent people to accept or submit to the conditions. They wished therefore that the king would make some condescensions in tne point of the militia ; which they looked upon as the only substantial security they could have, not to be called in question for what they had done amiss. And when they saw nothing could be digested of that kind, which would not reflect both upon the king's authority and his honour, they gave over in- sisting upon the general ; and then Mr. Pierrepoint Mr. (who was of the best parts, and most intimate with posit the earl of Northumberland) rather desired than proposed, that the king would offer to grant his commission to the earl of Northumberland, to be lord high admiral of England. By which conde- scension he would be restored to his office, which he had lost for their sakes ; and so their honour would N 2 180 THE LIFE OF PART be likewise repaired, without any signal prejudice to .the king; since he should hold it only by his ma- 1643. jesty's commission, and not by any ordinance of parliament : and he said, if the king would be in- duced to gratify them in this particular, he could not be confident that they should be able to prevail with both houses to be satisfied therewith, so Jhat a peace might suddenly be concluded ; but, as he did not despair even of that, he did believe, that so many would be satisfied with it, that they would from thence take the occasion to separate themselves from them, as men who would rather destroy their country than restore it to peace. And the earl of Northumberland himself took so much notice of this discourse to secretary Nicholas, (with whom he had as much freedom as his reserved nature was capable of,) as to protest to him, that he desired only to receive that honour and trust from the king, that he might be able to do him service ; and thereby to recover the credit he had unhappily lost with him. In which he used very decent ex- pressions towards his majesty ; not without such re- flections upon his own behaviour, as implied that he was not proud of it : and concluded, that if his ma- jesty would do him that honour, as to make that offer to the houses, upon the proposition of the militia, he would do all he could that it might be effectual towards a peace ; and if it had not success, he would pass his word and honour to the king, that as soon, or whensoever his majesty would please to require it, he would deliver up his commission again into his hands ; he having no other ambition or desire, than by this means to redeliyer up the royal navy to his majesty's as absolute disposal, as EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 181 it was when his majesty first put it into his hands; PART and which he doubted would hardly be done by any _ other expedient, at least not so soon. ]G43. When this proposition (which, from the interest and persons who proposed it, seemed to carry with it some probability of success, if it should be ac- cepted) was communicated with those who were like with most secrecy to consult it ; secretary Ni- cholas having already made some approach towards the king upon the subject, and found his majesty without inclination to hear more of it ; it was agreed and resolved by them, that the chancellor of the ex- chequer should presume to make the proposition plainly to the king, and to persuade his majesty to hear it debated in his presence ; at least, if that might not be, to enlarge upon it himself as much as the argument required : and he was not unwill- ing to embark himself in the affair. When he found a fit opportunity for the repre- Which the sentation, and his majesty at good leisure, in morning's walk, when he was always most willing chequer vises the to be entertained ; the chancellor related ingenu- king to ously to him the whole discourse, which had been^j y made by Mr. Pierrepoint, and to whom ; and what the earl himself had said to secretary Nicholas ; and what conference they, to whom his majesty gave leave to consult together upon his affairs, had be- tween themselves upon the argument, and what occurred to them upon it : in which he mentioned the earl's demerit towards his majesty with severity enough, and what reason he had not to be willing to restore a man to his favour, who had forfeited it so unworthily. Yet he desired him to consider his own ill condition ; and how unlike it was that it N 3 182 THE LIFE OF PART should be improved by the continuance of the war; ! and whether he could ever imagine a possibility of 643 ' getting out of it upon more easy conditions than what was now proposed ; the offer of which to the parliament could do him no signal prejudice, and could -not but bring him very notable advantages : for if the peace did not ensue upon it, such a rup- ' ture infallibly would, as might in a little time facili- tate the other. And then he said as much to lessen the malignity of the earl as he could, by remember- ing, how dutifully he had resigned his commission of admiral upon his majesty's demand, and his re- fusal to accept the commission the parliament would have given him ; and observed some vices in his na- ture, which would stand in the place of virtues, to- wards the support of his fidelity to his majesty, and his animosity against the parliament, if he were once reingratiated to his majesty's trust. The king heard him very quietly without the least interruption, which he used not to do upon subjects which were not grateful to him ; for he knew well that he was not swayed by any affection to the man, to whom he was more a stranger than he was to most of that condition ; and he, upon oc- casions, had often made sharp reflections upon his ingratitude to the king. His majesty seemed at the first to insist upon the improbability that any such concession by him would be attended with any suc- cess ; that not only the earl had not interest in the houses to lead them into a resolution that was only for his particular benefit, but that the parliament itself was not able to make a peace, without such conditions as the army would require ; and then he should suffer exceedingly in his honour, for having EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 183 shewn an inclination to a person who had requited PART his former graces so unworthily : and this led him into more warmth than he used to be affected with. 4t> * He said, " indeed he had been very unfortunate in Thekin s' s answer. " conferring his favours upon many very ungrateful " persons ; but no man was so inexcusable as the '* earl of Northumberland." He said, " he knew that " the earl of Holland was generally looked lipon " as the man of the greatest ingratitude ; but," he said, " he could better excuse him than the other : " that it was true, he owed all he had to his " father's and his bounties, and that himself had " conferred great favours upon him ; but that it was " as true, he had frequently given him many mor- " tifications, which, though he had deserved, he knew " had troubled him very much ; that he had oftener " denied him, than any other man of his condition ; " and that he had but lately refused to gratify him " in a suit he had made to him, of which he had been " very confident ; and so might have some excuse " (how ill soever) for being out of humour, which " led him from one ill to another : but that he had "lived always without intermission with the earl " of Northumberland as his friend, and courted him " as his mistress ; that he had never denied any " thing he had ever asked ; and therefore his carriage " -to him was never to be forgotten." And this discourse he continued with more com- motion, and in a more pathetical style than ever he used upon any other argument. And though at that time it was not fit to press the niatter further, it was afterwards resumed by the same person more than once ; but without any other effect, than that his majesty was contented that the earl should not N 4 184 THE LIFE OF PART despair of being restored to that office, when the peace should be made; or upon any eminent service performed by him, when the peace should be de- spaired of. The king was very willing and desirous that the treaty should be drawn out in length ; to which purpose a proposition was made to the com- missioners for an addition of ten days, which they sent to the parliament, without the least apprehen- sion that it would be denied. But they were de- ceived ; and for answer, received an order upon the last day but one of the time before limited, by which they were expressly required to leave Oxford the next day. From that time all intercourse and com- merce between Oxford and London, which had been permitted before, was absolutely interdicted under the highest penalties by the parliament. If this secret underhand proposition had succeed- ed, and received that encouragement from the king that was desired, and more application of the same remedies had been then made to other persons, (for alone it could never have proved effectual,) it is pro- bable, that those violent and abominable counsels, which were but then in projection between very few men of any interest, and which were afterwards mi- serably put in practice, had been prevented. And it was exceedingly wondered at, by those who were then privy to this overture, and by all who after- wards came to hear of it, that the king should in that conjuncture decline so advantageous a propo- sition ; since he did already discern many ill humours and factions., growing and nourished, both in his court and army, which would every day be uneasy to him; and did with all his soul desire an end of the war. And there was nothing more suitable and agreeable EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 185 to his magnanimous nature, than to forgive those, PART who had in the highest degree offended him : which temper was notorious throughout his whole life. It will not be therefore amiss, in this discourse, to en- large upon this fatal rejection, and the true cause and ground thereof. The king's affection to the queen was of a very The true extraordinary alloy; a composition of conscience, and the king's love, and generosity, and gratitude, and all those re J ectu) s '* noble affections which raise the passion to the great- est height ; insomuch as he saw with her eyes, and determined by her judgment ; and did not only pay her this adoration, but desired that all men should know that he was swayed by her : which was not good for either of them. ,,The queen was a lady of great beauty, excellent wit and humour, and made him a just return of noblest affections ; so that they were the true idea of conjugal affection, in the age in which they lived. When she was admitted to the knowledge and participation of the most secret af- fairs, (from which she had been carefully restrained by the duke of Buckingham whilst he lived,) she took delight in the examining and discussing them, and from thence in making judgment of them; in which her passions were always strong. She had felt so much pain in knowing nothing, and meddling with nothing, during the time of that great favourite, that now she took pleasure in no- thing but knowing all things, and disposing all things ; and thought it but just, that she should dis- pose of all favours and preferments, as he had done ; at least, that nothing of that kind might be done c this discourse,] MS. adds : so can reflect upon nobody's which is never to see light, and character with prejudice, 186 THE LIFE OF PART without her privity: not considering that the uni- . versal prejudice that great man had undergone, was 1643. no t w jth reference to his person, but his power; and that the same power would be equally obnoxious to murmur and complaint, if it resided in any other person than the king himself. And she so far con- curred with the king's inclination, that she did not more desire to be possessed of this unlimited power, than that all the world should take notice that she ' was the entire mistress of it : which in truth (what other unhappy circumstances soever concurred in the mischief) was the foundation upon which the first and the utmost prejudices to the king and his government were raised and prosecuted. And it was her majesty's and the kingdom's misfortune, that she had not any person about her, who had either ability or affection, to inform and advise lir of the temper of the kingdom, or humour of the people ; or who thought either worth the caring for. When the disturbances grew so rude as to inter- rupt this harmony, and the queen's fears, and indis- position, which proceeded from those fears, disposed her to leave the kingdom, which the king, to comply with her, consented to ; (and if that fear had not been predominant in her, her jealousy and appre- hension, that the king would at some time be pre- vailed with to yield to some unreasonable conditions, would have dissuaded her from that voyage ;) to make all things therefore as sure as might be, that her absence should not be attended with any such inconvenience, his majesty made a solemn promise to her at parting, that he would receive no person into any favour or trust, who had disserved him, EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 187 without her privity and consent; and that, as she PART had undergone so many reproaches and calumnies at the entrance into the war, so he would never make any peace, but by her interposition and mediation, that the kingdom might receive that blessing only from her. This promise (of which his majesty was too reli- gious an observer) was the cause of his majesty's re- jection, or not entertaining this last overture ; and this was the reason that he had that aversion to the cessation, which he thought would inevitably oblige him to consent to the peace, as it should be pro- posed; and therefore he had countenanced an ad- dress, that had been made to him against it, by the gentlemen of several counties attending the court : and in truth they were put upon that address by the king's own private direction. Upon which the chancellor of the exchequer told him, when the bu- siness was over, that he had raised a spirit he would not be able to conjure down ; and that those peti- tioners had now appeared in a business that pleased him, but would be as ready to appear, at another time, to cross what he desired ; which proved true. For he was afterwards more troubled with applica- tion and importunity of that kind, and the mur- murs that arose from that liberty, when all men would be counsellors, and censure all that the coun- cil did, than with the power of the enemy. About the time that the treaty began, the queen landed in the north d ; and she resolved, with a good d the queen landed in the after her landing, that she was north] MS. adds: having been glad to resort for shelter to chased by the parliament ships some banks in the field, where into Burlington bay, their ships she spent most part of the discharging all their cannon upon night, and was the next day re- a small village where she lodged ceived by the earl of Newcastle, 188 THE LIFE OF PART quantity of ammunition and arms, to make what .haste she could to the king; having at her first 1643. landing expressed, by a letter to his majesty, her apprehension of an ill peace by that treaty ; and de- clared, that she would never live in England, if she might not have a guard for the security of her per- son : which letter came accidentally afterwards into the hands of the parliament ; of which they made use to the queen's disadvantage. And the expecta- tion of her majesty's arrival at Oxford, was the rea- son that the king so much desired the prolongation of the treaty. And if it had pleased God that she had come thither time enough, as she did shortly after, she would have probably condescended to many propositions for the gratifying particular persons, as appeared afterwards, if thereby a reasonable peace might have been obtained. The Scot- e^y nen ^he Scottish commissioners attended the tish com- missioners king at Oxford, and desired . his leave that there the king might be a parliament called in Scotland, which his quest "for majesty denied them, (well knowing that they i- wou ld, against all the protestations and oaths they na( j made to him at his being in that country, join with those at Westminster,) they presented a long paper to the king 6 , containing a bitter invective with some troops of his army, parliament came to Oxford to and was by him conveyed to treat, that some commissioners York. Her majesty had brought from Scotland came likewise to with her a good supply of arms the king ; and, having taken and ammunition, which was ex- London in their way, had con- ceedingly wanted in the king's certed with their old friends quarters ; and she resolved, &c. how to behave themselves, and e When the Scottish commis- how they might be able, by be- sioners they presented a long ing present there, to advance paper to the king] This is their pretences. They were sent stated more at large in the MS.: by the council and kingdom of It was some few days before Scotland, and they pretended the commissioners from the to desire his majesty to issue EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 189 against bishops, and the whole government of the PART church ; as being contrary to the word of God, and 1643. out his letters of summons for the convening a parliament in that kingdom, which they said the affairs of that nation re- quired ; the rather, because of the present distractions in Eng- land. The earl of Loudon, so often mentioned before, who had been so deeply engaged in the beginning, and throughout the rebellion of Scotland, and had been gratified upon the pacification, (in treaty whereof he had been a principal com- missioner,) at the king's late being in Edinburgh, with being made an earl and chancellor of Scotland, was the principal commissioner now sent to Ox- ford, together with Alexander Henderson, their high priest, who had modelled the church government there, after he had inflamed the people against the bishops there. In that parlia- ment, when his majesty had been lately present, and they had obtained all those conces- sions from his majesty which gave them power to keep all they had got, and left the empty name of king to his ma- jesty, there was an act passed for the dissolving that parlia- ment, with a provision in it, that if the king should not call another parliament within three years after the dissolution of that, that then, upon such day, in such a year, summons should be sent out by the several offi- cers, so that infallibly, on such a Tuesday, in such a year, an- other parliament should meet at Edinburgh according to such a model as they had carried with them from London. Now when these commissioners came to Oxford to demand a parlia- ment, there were above two years to come to the day upon which that act of parliament would authorize them to meet ; but it is true the king might, if he thought fit, convene one sooner. His majesty knew well, that, with reference to Scotland itself, there was no occasion for a parliament to meet, and knew as well, that it was desired only in order the better to support the rebellion in England ; and, without a parliament, he did not believe that the disaffected party in that kingdom would have power enough to do him any notable disservice ; his ma- jesty always unhappily overva- luing the authority of those there, who he believed true to him ; and therefore he gave for answer to those commissioners, that he would send out his sum- mons time enough for a parlia- ment to meet before that time : nor could all the importunity they could use, which was very great, nor the professions and promises which they could make, which were very many, how great benefit and service his majesty should receive by speedily calling a parliament, prevail with him to give them any other answer." \Vhen they despaired of hav- ing his majesty's leave to have a parliament, which would have served their turn, and suspended all other propositions, they dealt more ingenuously and openly ; and taking notice of the present 190 THE LIFE OF PART to the advancement of true religion: and con- iii . eluded with a very passionate desire for the altera- 1643. tj on of that government, as the only means to settle peace throughout his majesty's dominions. In all their other demands, concerning the kingdom of Scotland, and calling a parliament there, the king had only conferred with two or three of those he most trusted, whereof the chancellor of the exche- quer was always one, and drew the answers he gave : but this last paper, which only concerned England, he brought to the council-board, and re- quired their advice, what answer he should give to it. The king himself was very desirous to take this occasion, to shew his affection and zeal for the church ; and that other men's mouths might be hereafter stopped in that argument, and that no- body might ever make the same proposition to him again, he had a great mind to have made an answer to every expression in their paper, and to have set out the divine right of episcopacy ; and how impos- sible it was ever for him in conscience to consent to any thing, to the prejudice of that order and func- tion, or to the alienating their lands ; enlarging himself more in the debate, than he used to do upon any other argument; mentioning those rea- sons which the ablest prelate could do upon that oc- casion ; and wished that all those, and such others as might occur, should be contained in his answer. Many of the lords were of opinion that a short answer would be best, that should contain nothing but -a rejection of the proposition, without giving any reason ; no man seeming to concur with his treaty, and desiring such an nient of the true religion, they end thereof as might establish presented a long paper to the peace and quiet to the nation, king, &c. as in p. 188. I. 25. to the glory of God, and settle- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 191 majesty; with which he was not satisfied; and re- PART plied with some sharpness upon what had been said. . Upon which the lord Falkland replied, having been before of that mind, desiring that no reasons might be given ; and upon that occasion answered many of those reasons the king had urged, as not valid to support the subject, with a little quickness of wit, (as his notions were always sharp, and expressed with notable vivacity,) which made the king warmer than he used to be; reproaching all who were of that mind with, want of affection, for the church ; and declaring, that he would have the substance of what he had said, or of the like nature, digested into his answer : with which reprehension all sat very silent, having never undergone the like before. Whereupon the king recollecting himself, and ob- The king serving that the chancellor of the exchequer had not yet spoke, called upon him to deliver his opinion, iJj adding, that he was sure he was of his majesty's q er to de i f i iii liver his mmd, with reference to religion and the church. opinion The chancellor stood up, and said, that he would have been glad to have said nothing that day, hav- ing observed more warmth than had ever been at that board, since he had the honour to sit here, (which was not many days before ;) that in truth he was not of the opinion of any one who had spoken ; he did not think that the answer ought to be very short, or without any reasons ; and he did as little think that the reasons mentioned by his majesty ought to be applied to the paper, which the Scots had been so bold as to present to the king. He said, all those reasons were fit to be offered in a synod, or in any other place, where that subject could be lawfully ventilated ; and he believed them all to be of that weight, that Mr. Henderson and all 192 THE LIFE OF PART his assembly of divines could never answer; but he ' should be very sorry that his majesty should so far 6 "* 3 - condescend to their presumption, as to give those reasons ; as if he admitted the matter to be dis- puted. He asked his majesty, what answer he would give to the king of France, if he should send to him to alter the government of the city of London, or any other city, and that he would substitute other magistrates in the place of those who are ; which, as a king, he might more reasonably demand, than these gentlemen of Scotland could do what they propose ; whether his majesty would think it more agreeable to his honour, to make a reasonable dis- course of the antiquity of the lord mayor of London, and of the dependence the present magistrates had upon the law, and the frame of the government ; or whether he would only send him word, that he should meddle with what he had to do. He did think, that it was very fit that his majesty's answer to this paper should contain a very severe and sharp reprehension for their presumption ; and take no- tice, how solicitous they were for the preservation of what they called the right and privilege of their country, that his majesty might not bring any thing into debate at his council-board here, that concerned the kingdom of Scotland ; though it had often too much relation to the affairs and government of Eng- land : yet that they would take upon them to de- mand from his majesty, at least to advise him to make, an alteration in the government of England, which would quite alter the frame of it, and make such a confusion in the laws, which they could no more comprehend than they could any f of the same kind that related to any other foreign kingdom ; f any] any thing EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 193 and therefore, that for the future they should not PART practise the like presumption. The king discovered himself to be very well ,J ^ 43 t : , * With which pleased all the time he was speaking ; and when he the king is . x . f well satisfi- had done, his majesty said again, he was sure theed. chancellor was entirely of his mind, with reference to the church ; and that he had satisfied him that this was not the season, nor the occasion, in which those arguments which he had used were to be in- sisted on ; and that he was willing to depart from his own sense; and was in truth so well pleased, that he vouchsafed to make some kind of excuse for the passion he had spoken with : and all the lords were very well satisfied with the expedient proposed; and all commended the chancellor : and the answer was given to the Scottish commissioners accordingly ; who had too good intelligence not to know all that had passed : and upon their long discourses with the king, (who was always forward to enlarge upon that subject, in which he was so well versed,) expected such an answer as might give them opportunity to bring the whole matter of episcopacy upon the stage, and into public disputation. And so they returned to London, with manifest dissatisfaction, before the commissioners of the parliament ; and with avowed detestation of a person, against whom they were known always to have an inveterate and an impla- cable displeasure. B s an implacable displeasure.] day was expired that was as- Thus continued in the MS. : It signed for the treaty. They appeared quickly that the parlia- who intended nothing but the ment had refused to enlarge the carrying on of the war, and be- time of the treaty, and so posi- lieved there could be no security tively commanded the commis- for them but by an entire vic- sioners to return before the List tory of the king, and a total VOL. I. O 194 THE LIFE OF PART The king was much troubled at the disunion be- in. -tween the princes Rupert and Maurice, and the marquis of Hertford h , after the taking of Bristol; which he knew must exceedingly disorder and di- vide that army : for composing whereof, his majesty resolved, the next day after the news, to go himself to Bristol ; which was very necessary in many re- spects. The settlement of the port, which was of infinite importance to the king in point of trade, and his customs, and with reference to Ireland, and the applying the army to some new enterprise, with- out loss of time, could not be done without his ma- jesty's presence. But there was nothing more dis- posed his majesty to that resolution, than to be absent from his council at Oxford, when he should settle the differences between the princes * and the marquis ; for as he was always swayed by his affec- tion to his nephews k , which he did not think par- subduing his party, had not made such wonderful haste in power enough to hinder and recruiting the army, (to which prevent the treaty, and there- the earl of Essex had contri- fore satisfied themselves with buted all his endeavours, be- limiting the commissioners to lieving that he had yet per- such propositions and by such formed less than had been ex- instructions as are mentioned pected from him,) that the very before. But from that time day that the commissioners left they met with little opposition Oxford, the earl of Essex had a in the houses ; they who desir- rendezvous of his whole army, ed peace, and had raised their and marched towards Reading, hopes upon the treaty, thinking which was about the beginning it reasonable that all prepara- of April. tions should be made for the ll at the disunion between "war, and they who abhorred the princes Rupert and Mau- the thought of peace, and all rice, and the marquis of Hert- those who affected it, using all ford] The account of this dis- imaginable diligence in advanc- union is inserted in Appendix D ing those preparations ; inso- of the ^.th volume of the History much as, having by- ordinances of the Rebellion. and seizures drawn in great ' princes] prince supplies of money, they had k nephews] nephew EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 195 1643. tiality; so the lords, towards whom the princes 1 did PART not" live with any condescension, were very solicitous that the marquis might receive no injustice or dis- obligation. And the king, to avoid all counsel in this particular, resolved to declare no resolution till he should come himself to Bristol; and so went from Oxford thither : taking with him, of the coun- cil, the duke of Richmond, the lord Falkland, the master of the rolls, and the chancellor of the exche- quer. The king lodging the first night at Malms- bury; and the lord Falkland, the master of the rolls, and some other gentlemen lodging that night with the chancellor of the exchequer, at his house at Pir- ton, which lay in the way to Bristol ; where they were the next day within an hour after the king. m 1 princes] prince m within an hour after the king.] ThuscontinuedintheMS.: The disorders at Bristol were greater than could have been imagined ; the factions and jea- lousies ran through all kinds and degrees of men, of the ar- my, of the city, of the country; and the loss of many officers and common men upon the as- saults had weakened the army beyond imagination, and the number of the sick and wound- ed was very great. The natural murmurs of the Cornish were now turned into direct mutiny, and they declared positively that they would not march further southward, but would return to their own country to look to their houses, their wives, and their children, which they said were infested by the garrison at Plymouth. There was no mo- ney to give them, nor were there any officers left, who had credit and authority over them ; and now all men saw the infi- nite loss the king had sustained in the death of Greenvil, Slan- ning, and Trevannion, who go- verned that people absolutely. It was evident, that if they were compelled to march further,many of them would run away, and the rest be full of discontent ; and therefore it was resolved, that they, and all the rest who had been officers or soldiers formerly designed for the west- ern services under the marquis and prince Maurice, should re- turn again to the west, upon a presumption that they would be able, with the reputation they would carry back upon the tak- ing of Bristol, in a short time to subdue those maritime places, which were possessed by small garrisorts for the parliament; and being recruited by good winter o 21 196 THE LIFE OF PART III. The chancellor of the exchequer had undergone some mortification during the short abode at Bristol, Ashburn ham 1643. The chan- ... . ceilor of the quarters, an army would be ready exchequer's by the next spring to attend his office invad- majesty; and all the Cornish ed by Mr. ma( i e so lenin promises that, as soon as Plymouth should be reduced, they would with great alacrity return to any service they should be required. The expectation was very reasonable, and the counsel much advanced by prince Rupert, that his bro- ther Maurice might be in the head of an army; for he had prevailed with the king to re- solve that the marquis of Hertz ford should be no more em- ployed as general, though it was not discovered to him, nor his commission taken from him. Besides the king's inclination to his nephew, he found that work not so difficult, nor the marquis so popular, as it ap- peared in the first consultation at Oxford. The marquis's unac- tivity in all things relating to the war, and his too much re- tirement to his ease, had lost all the reverence and devotion of the soldiers ; and prince Maurice's living with them so- ciably and familiarly, and going with them upon all parties and in all actions, in which he had received some hurts, had made both his person and his com- mand very acceptable to them. Then the marquis's leaning too much to the advice of his do- mestic officers and the stewards of his lands,. and people of that condition, (many whereof were thought very disaffected to the king's service, as most of his tenants were,) made the chief persons of the country less so- licitous for his command over them than they had been, where- of the lord Paulet was the chief, who was then at Bristol, and spake with great freedom to the king of the marquis's unfitness to exercise that command; which advice, besides that it was very grateful, made the more im- pression, because he was thought to have good affection for the marquis, and had little know- ledge of the prince. This matter being thus set- tled in the king's own thoughts and resolutions, he discovered it no further than by appoint- ing those troops to be ready for their march, and prince Maurice to conduct them, whilst the marquis of Hertford attended his majesty till the business of Bristol should be settled, and some other affairs of the coun- try; the marquis intending, when those should be settled, (in do- ing whereof he was willing to be present,) to make haste to the army, and his majesty, ac- cording to his natural custom of discovering any disobliging resolution as late as was possi- ble, did not at all impart his purpose to him, and being first to resolve what obligation to confer upon him at the same time, to make the other the better digested ; and to that pur- pose he was pleased to confer with freedom and without re- servation with the chancellor of the exchequer, and bidding him inform himself of the opinion both the army and the country EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 197 which was the only port of trade within the king's PART which was like to yield a considerable quarters ; had of the marquis, and asking him, whether the lord Paulet and others had not spoken to him of the laziness of the mar- quis, and of the credit and power Hirton had with him; and of some actions done by his secre- tary, who was a fellow of an ill reputation; and wished him to think of it, and to dispose the marquis to decline that employ- ment, as less agreeable to his nature and constitution, and to remain about the person of the king, in order to which he would think upon some place, for he knew he was weary of being governor to the prince. The chancellor had great reverence for the marquis, and knew the benefit his fidelity had brought to the king, and the insupport- able damage that would accrue from his declared discontent, and had no other esteem of the prince's parts and conduct and discretion, than good manners obliged him -to ; and yet he had with much trouble heard the little credit the marquis had in the army, and more of his unac- tivity than he believed he could have been guilty of; for though he knew he was naturally lazy, and did so much love his ease, he knew too that he had a clear courage and a very good under- standing ; and if he had a friend by him to put him in mind of any thing that concerned his honour, he would be very coun- sellable. Whereupon he told the king, that though he had heard many discourses which he had not expected, and found 1643. that some persons had changed their opinions of the marquis, yet he was so apprehensive of the ill consequence that might probably attend his majesty's inclination to remove him from the command, and giving the entire trust to his nephew, that he could not give his counsel for the putting it in execution ; but that when his majesty upon full thoughts had fixed himself, he would use the credit he had with the marquis to dispose him to conform himself to his ma- jesty's determination, and that he could with a much better conscience dissuade the marquis from affecting that command, than he could persuade his ma- jesty to take it from him. The other matter concerning the government of Bristol was of as nice a nature, but not like to give the king so much trou- ble; for sir Ralph Hopton had neither set his heart upon the command, nor would embrace any title that might give any umbrage to his majesty, but laid all his pretences at the king's feet, and himself to be disposed of by him. By which unconcernedness and ingenuity the marquis was sensibly dis- obliged, having chosen him as a subject fit to support his au- thority against the pretences of the prince; and therefore this un- warm condescension was look- ed upon as a forsaking the mar- quis, who was never thoroughly reconciled to him afterwards. But that which gave the king trouble was, the clear and un- o 3 198 THE LIFE OF PART benefit to the king, if it were well managed; and . the direction thereof belonged entirely to his office : 1643. questionable credit and reputa- tion of sir Ralph Hopton, who was now the only man left, who had out of nothing, and when the marquis had given over all hopes of the west and abandon- ed it, and fled into Wales, (which was now remembered with many reproaches,) raised that force, and upon the matter reduced that part of the kingdom to his majesty's obedience. He was a person of one of the best families, and one of the fairest fortunes, of all the gentlemen in that large, rich, and populous county of Somerset, and inferior to none in the love and affection of that people. He was of a very generous nature, a pious and devout man, and an exact observer of justice, which made the city infinitely desire that he might be their govemor, who would not suffer them to be made a prey to the soldier. On the other side, by being himself ungrievous to them by any ex- actions, it was very probable he would be able to persuade and induce them cheerfully to sub- mit to such impositions as were necessary for their own defence ; and that such a man should be rejected by the king upon the prince's pretence, who could not reside there himself, and must leave it to a deputy who would never be grateful, seemed unreasonable to the king him- self in reference to his own service, and to the envy which would be increased by it towards his nephew, prince Rupert, who was already become very un- popular ; but on the other side, the granting it to him would be generally looked upon as the triumph of the marquis of Hert- ford over prince Rupert, which his majesty could not think of with any patience. The easy temper and disposition of sir Ralph Hopton, and prince Ru- pert's being willing to come off from this matter with his honour, gave the king an expedient to compose this difficult affair to his own satisfaction : prince Ru- pert should have the name of governor of Bristol, according to his pretence, by a grant from the king, and sir Ralph Hopton should be his lieutenant gover- nor, which he without scruple accepted : but the prince pro- mised to the king that he would never in the least degree meddle in the government, but leave it entirely to sir Ralph Hopton ; which being all concluded, two were only satisfied, the king and sir Ralph Hopton ; the other two, the prince and the marquis, were both offended, the latter thinking himself in- jured by sir Ralph's declining his commission to be governor, and submitting to be lieutenant under prince Rupert, though he had it by commission from the king himself; and prince Ru- pert being as angry that he had only the title, and could not make his own lieutenant ; and that the same man's having the place, who was designed to it by the marquis, as was generally known, would be believed to be put in by his authority; and EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 199 but when he sent to the officers of the customs, to PART be informed of the present state of trade, he found " that some treaty was made, and order given in it by Mr. Ashburnham, a groom of the bedchamber; who, with the assistance and advice of sir John Cole- pepper, had prevailed with the king to assign that province to him, as a means to raise a present sum of money for the supply of the army : which the chancellor took very heavily; and the lord Falkland, out of his friendship to him, more tenderly ; and ex- postulated it with the king with some warmth ; and more passionately with sir John Colepepper and Mr. Ashburnham, as a violation of the friendship they professed to the chancellor, and an invasion of his office; which no man bears easily. They were both ashamed of it, and made some weak excuses, of incogitance and inadvertence ; and the king himself, who discerned the mischief that would ensue, if there should be an apparent schism amongst those he so entirely trusted, was pleased to take notice of it to the chancellor, with many gra- cious expressions ; and said, " that Mr. Ashburnham The king " being treasurer and paymaster of the army, he did " believe some money might have been raised for the " present occasion ; and only intended it for the from that time he never favour- upon several occasions, ed sir Ralph Hopton, but al- When the king had settled ways discountenanced him all these particulars, which had very he could. But the king, to much disquieted him, he consi- publish to all the world the es- dered what he was to do now teem he had of him, made him this success at Bristol gave him at the same time a baron, and great reputation every where ; created him lord Hopton of and the possessing the second Witham, a noble seat of his city of the kingdom for trade own in the county of Somerset, and wealth of the inhabitants of whom there will be more much enlarged his quarters, occasion of discourse hereafter o 4 THE LIFE OF PART " present, without considering it would be an inva- " sion of his right ; and therefore directed, that an 1643. account should be given to him of all that had " been done, and he should do n as he thought fit." But when he understood all that had been done, he would make no alteration in it, that his majesty might be convinced that his service was not looked after in the design. And it was discernible enough, that Mr. Ashburnham, who usually looked very far before him, had not so much intended to disoblige the chancellor, as, by introducing himself this way into the customs, to continue one of the farmers of the customs, when the war should be at an end; of which he got a promise from the king at the same time ; who had great affection for him, and an ex- traordinary opinion of his managery. If there re- mained after this any jealousy or coldness between the chancellor of the exchequer and the other two, as the disparity between their natures and humours made some believe there did, it never brake out or appeared, to the disturbance or prejudice of the king's service ; but all possible concurrence in the carrying it on was observed between them. The march of the earl of Essex from London to n do] do in it. earl of Essex march out of Lon- The march of the earl of don with a much better army, Essex] This part is thus intro- and better provided for, than he duced in the MS.: They who had yet commanded since the had judged only of the impro- beginning of the troubles. The bability of relieving Gloucester, city had supplied him with five by the slow progress that seem- thousand foot of their train- ed to be made in the parliament bands, consisting all of citizens towards it, and the small in- of good account, who were coin- crease that was made in the manded by their own officers ; army by new levies, found them- and made it appear, that their selves deceived ; and, before it city order and discipline very was imagined possible, saw the well prepared and disposed men EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 201 Gloucester, over as large a campania as any in Eng- PART land, when the king had an army of above eight ! thousand horse, reputed victorious, without being 16 ^ 3 * put to strike one stroke ; the circumstances of that siege, and the raising it ; the earl's march after he had performed that great work, and when the king's army watched only to engage him in a battle, and passing over a large and open campania three days before the king had notice that he was come out of Gloucester ; the overtaking the army P, and the battle by Newbury ; and his retreat afterwards to London ; contained so many particular actions of courage and conduct, that they all deserve a very punctual and just relation ; and are much above the level of this plain and foreign discourse. In this battle of Newbury, the chancellor of the exchequer lost the joy and comfort of his life; which he lamented so passionately, that he could not in many days compose himself to any thoughts of bu- siness. His dear friend the lord Falkland, hurried The death i 1_ / "i r> i i i f t' le l r d by nis rate, in the morning of the battle, as he was Falkland. naturally inquisitive after danger, put himself into the head of sir John Byron's regiment, which he be- lieved was like to be in the hottest service, and was then appointed to charge a body of foot ; and in that charge was shot with a musket bullet, so that he fell dead from his horse. The same day that the news came to Oxford of his death, which was the next after he was killed, the chancellor received a letter from him, written at the time when the army rose from Gloucester ; but the messenger had been employed in other service, so that he came not to for the boldest service and en- of Essex, &c. terprise. The march of the earl P the army] his army 202 THE LIFE OF PART Oxford till that day. The letter was an answer to in . one the chancellor had then sent to him ; in which 1643. h e had told him, how much he suffered in his repu- tation with all discreet men, by engaging himself unnecessarily in all places of danger ; and that it was not the office of a privy counsellor, and a secre- tary of state, to visit the trenches, as he usually did ; and conjured~him, out of the conscience of his duty to the king, and to free his friends from those con- tinual uneasy apprehensions, not to engage his per- son to those dangers which were not incumbent to him. His answer was, that the trenches were now at an end ; there would be no more danger there : that his case was different from other men's ; that he was so much taken notice of for an impatient de- sire of peace, that it was necessary that he should likewise make it appear, that it was not out of fear of the utmost hazard of war : he said some melan- cholic things of the time ; and concluded, that in few days they should come to a battle, the issue whereof, he hoped, would put an end to the misery of the kingdom. Much hath been said of this excellent person be- fore ; but not so much, or so well, as his wonderful parts and virtues deserved. He died as much of the time as of the bullet : for, from the very beginning of the war, he contracted so deep a sadness and me- lancholy, that his life was not pleasant to him ; and sure he was too weary of it. Those who did not know him very well imputed, very unjustly, much of it to a violent passion he had for a noble lady ; and it was the more spoken of, because she died the same day, and, as some computed it, in the same hour that he was killed : but they who knew either EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 203 the lord or the lady, knew well that neither of them PART was capable of an ill imagination. She was of the- most unspotted, unblemished virtue ; never married ; of an extraordinary talent of mind, but of no alluring beauty ; nor of a constitution of tolerable health, be- ing in a deep consumption, and not like to have lived so long by many months. It is very true, the lord Falkland had an extraordinary esteem of her, and exceedingly loved her conversation, as most of the persons of eminent parts of that time did ; for she was in her understanding, and discretion, and wit, and modesty, above most women ; the best of which had always a friendship with her. But he was withal so kind to his wife, whom he knew to be an excellent person, that, though he loved his children with more affection and fondness than most fathers used to do, he left by his will all he had to his wife ; and committed his three sons, who were all the chil- dren he had, to her sole care and bounty. He was little more than thirty years of age when he was killed ; in which time he was very accom- plished in all those parts of learning and knowledge, which most men labour to attain till they are very old ; and in wisdom, and the practice of virtue, to a wonderful perfection. From his age of twenty years, he had lived in an entire friendship with the chan- cellor, who was about six months elder; and who never spake of him afterwards, but with a love, and a grief, which still raised some commotion in him. And he very often used to lament him in the words of Cicero concerning Hortensius, " Quod magna sa- " pientium et civium bonorum penuria, vir egregius, " conjunctissimusque mecum consiliorum omnium " societate, alienissimo reipublicae tempore extinctus, FART " et auctoritatis, et prudentia? suae, triste nobis desi- derium reliquerat." And without doubt, it was in 1 643. a conjuncture of time, when the death of every honest and discreet person was a very sensible and terrible loss in the judgment of all good men. After the unhappy death of the lord Falkland, the king much desired that the chancellor of the exchequer should be secretary of state in his place ; which the queen did not oppose, though she rather wished that the lord Digby might have it ; who had so much kindness and friendship for the chancellor, (which was at that time, and long after, as sincere as could receive harbour in his breast,) that he pro- fessed, he would not have it, if the other would re- Tbeciian- ceive it: but the chancellor gratified his civilitv, cellorofthe exchequer and refused the office the second time, as he had refuses the in AI-III i office of once before. And he had so much more reason now, stat?* f ^ v tne coming of a very specious embassy from time. France, in the person of the count of Harcourt, who was already arrived in London ; in which the chan- cellor knew his own want of ability to act that part the office of secretary would have obliged him to ; and for which, as far as the perfection of the French tongue could qualify him, the Lord Digby was very proper ; and so he was made secretary of state ; pro- fessing to every body, that, as he had the office by the chancellor's refusal of it, so he would wholly ad- vise with him in all things pertaining to it, which he always did ; and the confidence and friendship between them was mutual, and very notorious, until that lord changed his religion. And he was no sooner admitted and sworn secretary of state, and privy counsellor, and consequently made of the junto, which the king at that time created, consisting of EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 205 the duke of Richmond, the lord Cottington, the two PART secretaries of state, and sir John Colepepper, but ' the chancellor of the exchequer was likewise added; 1463 - He is add- tO the trouble, at least the surprise, of the master of d to the the rolls; who could have been contented that he should have been excluded from that near trust, where all matters were to be consulted before they should be brought to the council-board. And this committee was appointed to treat with the count of Harcourt ; whom the king believed to be sent from France, to demand any thing from the parliament in that king's name, as his majesty should direct ; and therefore they were appointed to consider well what he should be directed to propose. But the ambassador no sooner came to the town in great state and lustre, but he quickly saved them any further labour, by declaring, that he would treat with nobody but the king himself; his business be- ing only to serve the king, with reference to the dif- ferences between his majesty and the parliament ; and pretended, that, in his short stay at London, he had already discovered that his majesty was betray- ed; and that his most secret counsels were disco- vered : and so there was never any communication between him and the king's council ; but all matters were transacted with the king himself, and queen, and lord Jermyn, who was not of the council, and the lord Digby ; the queen promising herself very much from his negociation ; the ambassador being then of great reputation, having been general of the French army in two or three great actions, in which his success had been very notable ; and the queen looked upon him as a person particularly devoted to her service ; and being of the house of Lorrain, (the 206 THE LIFE OF PART younger son of the duke d'Elboeuf,) he was not without some alliance to the king : and so he re- * turned to London with such instructions and advice as they thought fit to intrust him with, which were too particular ; and with the privity only of the two other persons mentioned before. But it quickly appeared after, that he was not sent with any purpose to do the king service ; but that cardinal Mazarin (who was newly entered upon the ministry, after the death of cardinal Richelieu) might take such a view of the affairs of England, as the better to judge what he was to do ; and that an accommodation there might not break his mea- sures, with reference to his other designs ; which the ambassador was easily satisfied it was not like to do. And so, after three or four months spent be- tween Oxford and London, he returned to France ; leaving the king's affairs so much worse than he found them, by having communicated some instruc- tions which had been given him at Oxford, with overmuch confidence, and which less disposed some persons to peace than they had been at London. The king The king called the chancellor one day to him, Suitor and told him, that he thought there was too much of the ex- honour done to those rebels at Westminster in all chequer to prepare a hi s declarations, by his mentioning them as part of proclama- tion for d.s- " the parliament ; which as long as they should be parliament 8 " thought to be, they would have more authority, SiMtST " by their continuing their sitting in the place whi- " ther they were first called, than all the other mem- " bers, though so much more numerous, would have, " when they should be convened any where else ; " (there being a thought of convening them to Ox- " ford :) therefore he knew no reason why he should EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 207 " not positively declare them to be dissolved ; and PART " so forbid them to sit or meet any more there." ' He said, " that he knew learned men of an opinion, " that that act for the continuance of the parliament " was void from the beginning ; and that it is not " in the power of the king to bar himself from the " power of dissolving it ; which is to be deprived of " an essential part of his sovereignty : but if the act " were good and valid in law, they had dissolved " themselves by their force, in driving so many " members, and even his majesty himself, who was " their head, from the parliament ; and had forfeited " their right of sitting there, and all that the act " had given them, by their treason and rebellion ; " which the very being a parliament could not sup- " port : and therefore he wished, that a proclamation " might be prepared, to declare them actually dis- " solved ; and expressly forbidding them to meet, or " any body to own them, or submit to them as a " parliament." The chancellor told him, that " he perceived by His advice * to the king " his majesty's discourse, that he had very much n that " considered the argument, and was well prepared * " in it ; which for his part he was not. But he be- " sought him to think it worth a very strict reflec- " tion ; and to hear the opinion of learned men be- " fore he resolved upon it. That it was of a very " nice and delicate nature, at which ^ not only the " people in general, but those of his own party, " and even of his council, would take more umbrage, " than upon any one particular that had happened " since the beginning of the war. That he could i at which] in which 208 THE LIFE OF PART " not imagine that his forbidding them to meet any _ " more at Westminster would make one man the less 1 G43. to mee t there ; but he might forbid them upon such " grounds and reasons as might bring more to them : " and that they who had severed themselves from " them, upon the guilt of their actions, might return " and be reconciled to them, upon their unity of " opinion. That it had been the first powerful re- " proach they had corrupted the people with to- " wards his majesty, that he intended to dissolve " this parliament, notwithstanding the act for con- " tinuance thereof; and if he had power to do that, " he might likewise, by the same power, repeal all " the other acts made this parliament, whereof some " were very precious to the people : and as his " majesty had always disclaimed any such thought, " so such a proclamation, as he now mentioned, " would confirm all the fears and jealousies which " had been infused into them, and would trouble " many of his own true subjects. " That for the invalidity of the act from the be- " ginning, he was in his own opinion inclined to hope " that it might be originally void, for the reasons " and grounds his majesty had mentioned ; and '* that the parliament itself, if this rebellion was " suppressed, might be of the same judgment, and " declare it accordingly ; which would enable him " quickly to dissolve it. But till then, he thought " all the judges together, even those who were in " his own quarters, and of unquestionable affection " to his majesty, would not declare any such inva- " lidity ; and much less, that any private man, how " learned soever, would avow that judgment : in " which his majesty might easily satisfy himself, hav- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 209 " ing so many of the judges, and many other excel- PART " lent men of the robe then at Oxford. For their ' " having dissolved themselves, or forfeited their right 16 ^ 3 - " of sitting there, by their treason and rebellion," he said, " he could less understand it than the other " argument of invalidity ; for that the treason and " rebellion could only concern and be penal to the " persons who committed them : it was possible " many might sit there, he was sure many had a " right to sit there, who had always opposed every " illegal, and every rebellious act ; and therefore the " faults of the others could never forfeit any right of " theirs, who had committed no fault : and, upon the " whole matter, concluded as he had begun, that his " majesty would very throughly consult it, before " he did so much as incline in his own wishes." His majesty said, he had spoken more reason against it, than he had thought could have been alleged : however, he bade him confer with his at- torney general, who, he believed, was of another opinion. The chancellor moved his majesty, that since the ground of what should be resolved on in this point must be expressed in the proclamation, the attorney might put his own conceptions in writ- ing, and then his majesty would the better judge of them. The king said, it seemed reasonable to him, and he had proposed it to him, but he had declined it, and commended the pen his majesty had used to employ, as very clear and significant; and said, if he had an hour's conference with that person, the business would be done. Whereupon the chancellor went immediately to his lodging, choosing rather to use that civility towards him, than to send for him ; VOL. i. p 210 THE LIFE OF PART who did not love him so well as he had done before he was his superior officer. After a long conference together, and many cir- rcnces with cumlocutions, (which was his natural way of dis- ncy g"nerai course ) an< l asking questions, Why not this? and, thereon. \Vhy no t that ? without expressing his own opinion ; at last he confessed, that there must be no attempt to dissolve them, " though it might be even that might " be lawful in many respects," but that it would be sufficient to declare the force which had been, and still was upon them, that rendered them not free ; arid so they ought not to be looked upon as a parlia- ment ; and that they might be required to adjourn from time to time, till all the members might with safety repair to, and sit with them : in all which the other agreed with him, and so they parted ; the chancellor promising, that, against the next morn- ing, he would prepare a proclamation agreeable to that, which he thought to be their joint meaning ; for he did not observe any difference to be between them. The next morning the attorney came to his lodging, where he found the draught prepared ; which, as soon as he had read, he said did in no de- gree express or comprehend the sense that had been agreed between them : and thereupon he entered again into the same discourse he had made before, and more perplexed than before ; being most offend- ed with the preamble, wherein it was declared, that the king neither could or .intended to break the par- liament : which was so contrary to what he had in- fused into the king, and which the chancellor thought most necessary, to contradict that reproach which naturally would be cast upon his majesty. In the EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 211 end, when he had wearied himself with the debate, PART they came both again to mean the same thing ; which was no other than was agreed before, though, 1643 as the attorney said, it was not expressed in the draught before them : whereupon it was agreed be- tween them, that, against the next morning, either of them should make a draught apart; and then, when they came together, it would easily be ad- justed. But the next morning they were as far asunder as before, and the attorney had prepared no paper, and said, it needed not, the difference being very small, and would be rectified with changing or leav- ing out a word or two ; which the chancellor desired him to do, and to leave out or put in what he pleased : which when he went about to do, twenty other things occurred to him ; and so he entered upon new discourses, without concluding any thing ; and every day entertained the king with an account, as if all were agreed ; but upon conference with the chancellor, his majesty wondered at the delay, and told him, he wondered at it, for the attorney spake still as clearly to him as it was possible for any man to do, and therefore the putting it in writing could not be hard. The other answered him, that it would never be done any other way, than that which he had first proposed to him ; and therefore besought his majesty, that he would oblige the attorney to put his own conceptions, which he made so clear to him, into writing; and then, his majesty having likewise what the chancellor prepared in his hands, he would easily conclude which should stand ; and otherwise there would never be any conclusion. About two days after, the chancellor came into ?2 212 THE LIFE OF PART the garden where the king was walking; and call- .ing him shortly to him, in some disorder, his majesty 1643. told him, " he was never in that amazement in his draught of " life ; that he had at last, not without a very posi- tiontbe ma " ti ve command, obliged the attorney to bring him king shews tt such a draught in writing, as was agreeable to his to the chan- cellor ot the" own sense; and that he had now done it ; but in exchequer. " such a manner, that he no more understood what " the meaning of it was, than if it were in Welch, " which was the language of the attorney's coun- " try ; only," he said, " he was very sure it con- " tained nothing of the sense he had ever expressed to " him :" and so bade him follow him into a little room at the end of the garden ; where, as soon as he was entered, he shut the door, because there were many people in the garden ; and then pulled a paper out of his pocket, and bade him read it; which when he had done, it being all in the attorney's own hand, he said, " it deserved wonder indeed ;" and it was so rough, perplexed, and insignificant, that no man could judge by it, or out of it, what the writer pro- posed to himself. And it made so great an impres- sion upon the king, (who had before thought him a man of a master reason, and that no man had so clear notions,) that he never after had any esteem of him. character The truth is, he was a man very unlike any other tomey^e- man ' f a verv good natural wit, improved by con- versation with learned men, but not at all by study and industry : and then his conversation was most with men, though much superior to him in parts, who rather admired than informed him ; of which his nature (being the proudest man living) made him not capable, because not desirous. His greatest EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 213 faculty was, and in which he was a master, to make PART difficult matters more intricate and perplexed ; and very easy things to seem more hard than they were. I643 - The king considered the matter and subject of that proclamation at the council ; where that draught the chancellor had provided was agreed to ; and the at- torney seemed to be satisfied in it, and was content to have it believed that it had been consulted with him ; though he never forgave the chancellor for exposing him in that manner ; by which he found he had lost much ground. After the treaty of Uxbridge, most of the com- 1645. missioners had given so good a testimony of the chancellor's diligence and industry, that the fcing, shortly after his return, very graciously took notice exchequer's of it to him; and, above all, of his affection to the in the treaty church, of which, he said, Dr. Steward had so fully of Uxbridge ' informed him, that he looked upon him as one of the few who was to be relied upon in that particular : at which, he said, himself was not at all surprised, having long known his affection and judgment in that point ; but confessed he was surprised with the carriage of some others, from whom he had expected another kind of behaviour in matters of the church ; and named sir Orlando Bridgman, upon whom, he said, he had always looked, being the son of a bishop, as so firm, that he could not be shaken ; and there- fore he was the more amazed, to hear what conde- scensions he had been willing to have made, in what concerned religion ; and pressed the chancellor to answer some questions he asked him about that transaction : to the particulars whereof he excused himself from answering, by the protestation they had all taken before the treaty, wfth his majesty's appro- P 3 214 THE LIFE OF PART bation : though indeed himself had been very much surprised with the first discovery of that temper in 1645 * that gentleman, which he had never before suspect- ed : and ever after said, that " he was a man of ex- " cellent parts, and honestly inclined ; and would " choose much rather to do well than ill ; but if it " were not safe for him to be steady in those reso- " lutions, he was so much given to find out expedi- " ents to satisfy unreasonable men, that he would . " at last be drawn to yield to any thing he should " be powerfully pressed to do." The king at that time having resolved to separate the prince his son from himself, by sending him into the west, the chancellor had a great desire to excuse himself from attending upon the prince in that jour- ney ; and represented to his majesty, that his office made it more proper for him to be near his majesty's person ; and therefore renewed his suit again to him, that his service might be spared in that employment; which he was the less inclined to, because he had discovered, that neither the duke of Richmond or the earl of Southampton did intend to wait upon his highness in that expedition : but the king told him positively, and with some warmth, that if he would not go, he would not send his son : where- upon he submitted to do any thing which his majesty should judge fit for his service. The chancellor speaking one day with the duke of Richmond, who was exceedingly kind to him, of the ill state of the king's affairs, and of the prince's journey into the west ; the duke asked him, whether he was well resolved to carry the prince into France, when he should be required. He answered, that there had been no such thing mentioned to him, nor EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 215 could he ever be made instrumental in it, but in one PART case, which was, to prevent his falling into the hands of the parliament ; and in that case, he did be- lieve every honest man would rather advise his going any whither, than being taken r by them : yet even in that case, he should prefer many places before France. The duke wished he might stay till then, implying, that he doubted it was the present design ; but there was never any thing discovered to make it believed, that there was a design at that time formed to such a purpose : yet the lord Digby, who had all familiarity and confidence with the chan- cellor, shortly after gave him occasion to apprehend that there might even then be some such intention. After a long discourse of the great satisfaction Lord pig- the king had in his (the chancellor's) service, and coJrse^wit how much he was pleased with his behaviour in the ce treaty at Uxbridge. and that he had not a greater ce in F the prince s confidence in any man's affection and fidelity : he & oin g to . . France. said, his majesty had a great mind to confer with him upon a point of the last importance ; but that he was kept from it by an apprehension that he was of a different judgment from his majesty in that particular. The other answered, that he was very sorry .that the king was reserved for such a reason ; for though he knew the chancellor did never pretend to think one thing when he did think another, and so might take the boldness to differ from his majesty in his judgment ; yet the king could not believe that he would discover the secret, or refuse to do any thing that became an honest man, upon his com- mand, though he did not believe it counsellable. r being taken] to be taken p 4 16 THE LIFE OF PART Whereupon he entered upon a very reasonable con- sideration of the low condition of the king ; of the 1645. discontent and murmur of the court, and of the camp ; how very difficult a thing it was like to be, to raise such an army as would be fit to take the field ; and how much more unfit it would be for the king to suffer himself to be enclosed in any garrison ; which he must be, if there were no army for him to be in. If the first difficulty should be mastered, and an army made ready to march, there could be little doubt, how great soever their distractions were at London, but that the parliament would be able to send another more numerous, and much better supplied than the king's could be ; and then, if the king's army was beaten, he could have no hope ever to raise another, his quarters already being very strait ; and after a defeat, the victorious army would find no opposition ; nor was there any garrison that could oppose them any considerable time ; London would pour out more forces ; that all the west would be swallowed up in an instant ; and in such a case he asked him, whether he would not think it fit, and assist to the carrying the prince out of the kingdom. The chan- The chancellor told him, he would deliver his cellor's reply. opinion freely to him, and was willing he should let the king know it. That such a prospect as he had supposed, might and ought to be prudently con- sidered ; but that it must be with great secrecy, for that there were already, to his knowledge, some whispers of such a purpose ; and that it was the true end of sending the prince into the west ; which, if it should be believed, it would never be in their power to execute, though the occasion should be most EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 217 pressing: therefore desired there might not be the PART least whisper of any contingency that might make 1_ it fit. For the matter itself, it must never be done 1 645 - upon any supposition of a necessity; but when the necessity should be real, and in view, it ought to be resolved and executed at once ; and he would make no scruple of carrying him rather into Turkey, than suffering him to be made a prisoner to the par- liament. The lord Digby replied, that though the king would be very well pleased with this opinion of his, yet he would not be surprised with it ; since he knew his affection and wisdom to be such, that in such an extremity he could not but have that resolution : therefore that was not the point that the king doubted he would differ with him in. Then he con- tinued the discourse, that he hoped there would not such an occasion fall out, and that the divisions at London would yet open some door for a good peace to enter at ; but if they should unite, and should send out a strong army, and likewise appoint the Scots to march towards them ; how the king would do between two such armies, was a terrible prospect : and then the least blow would raise so general a consternation, that the king would be more dis- quieted by his friends and servants, than by the enemy; that his council was so constituted, that they would look upon the prince's leaving the kingdom, as less advisable than giving himself up to the par- liament ; and that many men were yet so weak a to believe, that the best way the king could take for his security, and preservation of his posterity, was to deliver up both himself and all his children into the hands of the parliament ; and that they 218 THE LIFE OF PART would then give him better conditions than they .had offered in their treaties, having it then in their 1645. power to keep all such persons from him as they were dissatisfied with. If this opinion should once spread itself, as upon any signal defeat it would undoubtedly do, it must be expected, that the council, and most of the lords, who looked upon themselves as ruined for their loy- alty, out of their natural apprehension, would ima- gine, that the prince being then in the west, and at liberty to do what should be thought fit, would be directed by the king to transport himself into parts beyond the sea ; and the queen his mother being then in France, most probably thither ; which was a circumstance that would likewise make his trans- portation more universally odious. So that upon this reflection and erroneous animadversion, the king would be, in the first unfortunate conjuncture, importuned by all about him to send for the prince ; or at least to send such orders to those to whose care he was intrusted, that they should not presume to transport him beyond the seas, in what exigent soever. Most men would believe, that they should merit of the parliament by this advice, and would prosecute it with the more earnestness and impor- tunity ; whilst those few who discerned the mischief and ruin that must flow from it, would not have the courage to deliver their opinions in public, for fear of being accused of the counsel ; and by this means the king might be so wearied and tired with importunity, that, against his judgment, he might be prevailed with to sign such a direction and order as is before mentioned; though his majesty was clearly satisfied in his understanding, that if both EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 219 himself and the prince were in their hands together, PART the best that could happen would be murdering him and crowning his son ; whereas if his son were at liberty, and out of their reach, they would get no- thing by his death, and consequently would not at- tempt it. This, he said, was the fatal conjuncture the king apprehended ; and he then asked the chancellor, what he would do. To which he answered, without pausing, that he hoped the king had made up a firm resolution never to depart from his own virtue, upon which his fate depended; and that if he forsook himself, he had no reason to depend upon the con- stancy of any other man, who had nothing to sup- port that confidence but the conscience of doing what was just : that no man could doubt the law- fulness of obeying him, in carrying the prince out of the kingdom, to avoid his being taken by the re- bels ; and he was not only ready to obey in that case, but would confidently advise it, as a thing in policy and prudence necessary to be done. But if the king, being at liberty, and with his own coun- sellors and servants, should under his hand forbid the prince to transport himself, and forbid all about him to suffer it to be done, he would never be guilty of disobeying that express command; though he should be very sorry to receive it. He wished the king would speak with him of it, that he might take the boldness to conjure him never to put an honest and a faithful servant to that unjust strait, to do any thing expressly contrary to his plain and posi- tive command, upon pretence of knowing his secret pleasure; which is exposing him to public justice and reproach, which can never be wiped out by the 220 THE LIFE OF PART conscience of the other; and that the artifice was not worthy the royal breast of a great monarch. 1645. This, he said, was still Upon the supposition of the king's liberty; but if he were a prisoner in the hands of his enemies, (though that should not shake his resolution, or make him say things he doth not intend, upon imagination that others will know his - meaning,) the case would be different; and honest men would pursue former resolutions, though they should be countermanded, according to circum- stances. The conference ended ; and was never after re- sumed : nor did the king ever, in the least degree, enter upon the argument with the chancellor, though he had many private conferences with him upon all that occurred to him, with reference to what the prince should do in the west ; and of all the melan- cholic contingencies which might fall out in his own fortune. And it was generally believed, that his ma- jesty had a much greater confidence in the chancel- lor than in the other, whose judgment he had no reverence for ; and this made the chancellor after- wards believe, that all the other discourse from the lord Digby proceeded rather from some communi- cation of counsels he had with the queen, than any directions from the king. And he did upon concur- rent circumstances ever think, that the queen did, from the first minute of the separation of the prince from the king, intend to draw his highness into France, that he might be near her, and under her tuition, before any thing in the declension of the king's fortune required it, or made it counsellable ; and therefore had appointed the lord Digby, her creature, who she knew had great friendship with EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. the chancellor, to feel his pulse, and discover, whe- PART Hi- ther he (in whom she had never confidence) might be applicable to her purposes. But he often declared, l645 * that the king himself never intimated the least thought of the prince's leaving the kingdom, till after the battle of Naseby ; and when Fairfax was marched with his army into the west, and himself was in despair of being able to raise another army ; and even then, when he signified his pleasure to that purpose, he left the time, and the manner, and the place to them, who were especially trusted by him about the prince ; as will appear by the particular papers which are preserved of that affair; and wherein it will likewise appear, that his majesty re- ceived infinite satisfaction and content in the whole management of that affair, and the happy and se- cure transportation of the prince, in the just and proper season, and when all the kingdom was right glad that it was done. As his majesty was more particularly gracious to the chancellor from the time of the treaty at Ux- bridge ; so there was no day passed without his con- ferring with him in private upon his most secret considerations and apprehensions, before his depar- ture with the prince for the west. One day he told him, he was very glad of what the duke of Rich- mond had done the day before ; and indeed he had done somewhat the day before which very much surprised the chancellor. When his majesty arose from council, the duke of Richmond whispered somewhat privately to him, upon which the king went into his bedchamber ; and the duke called the chancellor, and told him, the king would speak with him, and so took him by the hand, and led him into 222 THE LIFE OF PART the bedchamber ; the privilege and dignity of which .room was then so punctually preserved, that the 16-45. ting very rarely called any privy counsellor to con- fer with him there, who was not of the bedcham- ber : which maintained a just reverence to the place, and an esteem of those who were admitted to attend there. ^ The cimn- As soon as he came into the room, before he said the king's any thing to the king, who was there alone, the duke spake to the chancellor, and told him, that he p had been brought up from his childhood by the duke of crown, and had always paid it the obedience of a Richmond. child ; that as he had taken a wife with the appro- bation and advice of the crown, so he had never made a friendship, which he took to be a kind of marriage, without the king's privity and particular approbation ; that he had long had a kindness for him, but had taken time to know him well, which he thought he now did; and therefore had asked his majesty's consent, that he might make a friend- ship with him : and then said to the king, " Sir, " have I not your approbation to this conjunction ?" to which his majesty said, " Yes, my lord, I am " very glad of it ; and I will pass my word to you " for the chancellor, that you will not repent it ;" with many gracious expressions to them both : and so the duke led him out of the room again, saying, f ' Now, Mr. Chancellor, it is in your power to de- " ceive me." And to this it was, that his majesty's discourse related the next day, when he told him he was glad of what had passed, &c. and said, he hoped he would give him good counsel ; for he had not of late lived towards him in the manner he was used to do ; that he knew well the duke was a very ho- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 223 nest and worthy man, and had all the kindness, as PART well as duty for his majesty ; but that he was grown ' sullen, or discontented, and had not the same coun- tenance he used to have ; for which he could ima- gine no other reason, but that his man Webb gave him ill counsel : he said, he was well contented that he should take notice, that his majesty was not well satisfied ; and asked him suddenly, when the duke was at Oriel college with them ; (Oriel college was the lodging of the lord treasurer, where that com- mittee for secret affairs, of which the duke was one, used to meet.) The chancellor answered, that in- deed the duke had not been there lately, which he thought had proceeded from his attendance upon his majesty, or some other necessary divertisement. The king said, it proceeded not from thence ; and that he might take occasion from his absence from thence, to let himself into that discourse, and after- wards proceed as he thought fit. The duke was a person of a very good under- character of standing ; and of so great perfection and punctuality in all matters of honesty and honour, that he was infinitely superior to any kind of temptation. He had all the warmth and passions of a subject, and a servant, and a friend for the king, and for his per- son ; but he was then a man of a high spirit, and valued his very fidelity at the rate it was worth ; and not the less, for that it had almost stood single for some time. The chancellor was very sorry for this discovery ; and chose to wait upon the duke the same day, near the hour when the meeting used to be at Oriel college : and when he had spent a short time with him, he said, he thought it was time to go to Oriel college, and asked his grace, whether 224 THE LIFE OF PART he would please to go thither ; for which he making IIL some excuse, the other pressed him with some ear- 1645. nestness, and said, it was observed that he had a good time declined that meeting, and if he should not now go thither, he should be doubtful there was some reason for it. The duke replied, that he had indeed been absent from thence for some time, and that he would deal clearly with him as his friend, but desired it should not be known ; that he was resolved to be there no more. Then complained, that the king was not kind to him ; at least, had not that confidence in him which he had used to have : and then spake of many particulars loosely ; and especially, that before the treaty, he had advised the king to use all the means he could to draw them to a treaty, for many advan- tages which were like to be gotten by it ; and to that purpose produced a letter that he had newly re- ceived from the countess of Carlisle, and read it to his majesty, who then seemed not to be moved with the contents ; but afterwards, in several discourses, reflected upon it in such a manner, as if he were jealous that the duke held too much correspondence with that people : which he looked upon .as such a point of diffidence, that it was no longer fit for him to be present when s the secret part of his affairs was transacted ; and so he had and would forbear to meet in that place, till iris majesty should entertain a better opinion of him : yet he concealed the trouble of rtiind which he sustained ; and wished that no notice might be taken of it. The chancellor told him, it was too late for that * when] where EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. caution ; that the lords themselves could not but ob- PART in. serve his long absence, who before used to be the most punctual ; and confessed to him, that the king Whom h ' e himself had spoken to him of it with a sense of won- endeavour* to reconcile der and dislike; which, he said, he was to blame to the king; himself for; since the honour he had done him to the king, had likewise disposed his majesty to trust him so far, as to express some dissatisfaction he had in his grace's late carriage and behaviour. The duke seemed not displeased with the communication, but thereupon entered into a fuller and warmer dis- course than before ; how much the king had with- drawn his confidence from him, and trusted others much more than him. In sum, it was easy to dis- cern, that the thing that troubled him was the power and credit that John Ashburnham had with the king ; which his vanity made him own to that degree, that he was not content to enjoy the benefit of it, except he made it public, and to be taken notice of by all men ; which could not but reflect upon his honour : and when the chancellor seemed to think it impossible, that himself could believe that the king could prefer a man of Mr. Ashburn- ham's talent before his grace, he proceeded with many instances, and insisted with most indignation upon one. That about a year before, sir John Lucas, who was well known to his grace, having met him abroad in his travels, and ever after paid a particular re- spect to him, had applied himself to him, and de- sired his favour ; that when there should be any opportunity offered, he would recommend him to the king, to whom he was not unknown : that his affection to his majesty's service was notorious VOL. i. a THE LIFE OF PART enough, and that his sufferings were so likewise, his house being the first that was plundered in the be- 1 645. ginning of the war ; by which, the loss he sustained in furniture, plate, money, and stock, was very consider- able ; so that he might modestly hope, that when his majesty scattered his favours upon others of his own rank, his poor service might likewise be remembered : but he had seen men raised to dignities, who he was sure had not the advantage over him in their suffer- ings, whatever they might have in their actings ; and he desired no more, but (since it was too ^evident that his majesty's wants were great, and that money would do him some service) that he might receive that degree of honour which others had, and he would make such a present to him as should mani- fest his gratitude ; and he desired to owe the obli- gation to his grace, and to receive it only by his me- diation. He said, he had moved this matter, with the relation of all the circumstances, to his majesty, who spake very graciously of the gentleman, as a person of merit, but said, he was resolved to make no more lords ; which he received as a very good an- swer, and looked upon as a good resolution, and commended it; desiring only, that if at any time his majesty found it necessary to vary from that re- solution, he would remember his proposition, and gratify that gentleman ; which he promised to do ; and with all which he acquainted the person con- cerned ; thinking it could not but well satisfy him. But he told him, that he was sorry that he could not receive the honour by his grace's recommenda- tion ; but for the thing itself, he could have it when he would ; and shortly after it was despatched by EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 227 Mr. Ashburnham : he asked, whether this was not PART preferring Mr. Ashburnham very much before him. 1 f* A t\ The chancellor told him, he was preferred as the better market man ; and that he ought not to be- lieve that the king's affection swayed him to that preference, but an opinion that the other would make the better bargain. He replied, his majesty was deceived in that, for he had told him what the other meant to give, without the least thought of re- serving any thing for himself; whereas his majesty had now received five hundred pounds less, and his market man had gotten so much for his pains. In conclusion, he prevailed so far with him, that they went that afternoon together to the committee to Oriel college ; and the next day the chancellor spake with the king again, and told him, that the duke had been in the afternoon with the committee, where many things had been consulted ; and that he And the found all his trouble proceeded from an apprehen- duke of sion, that his majesty had withdrawn his affection from him ; at least, that he, the duke, had not the same credit with his majesty which he had formerly had ; and that the sense and fear of that, could not but make an impression upon a good servant, who loved his master as well as he did. His majesty said, they two should not live as well together as they had done, as long as the duke kept his man Webb ; who made him believe that the king was wholly governed by Ashburnham, and cared not for any body else. He said, nobody who knew him could believe he could be governed by Ashburnham ; who, though an honest man, and one that he believed loved him well, no man thought was of an understanding superior to his ma- jesty ; and enlarged himself upon this argument so Q 2 228 THE LIFE OF PART much, that he seemed as it were glad of the oppor- tunity to clear himself from that aspersion or impu- 1645 - tation. It is a very great misfortune for any prince to be suspected to be governed by any man ; for as the reproach is of all others the most grievous, so they think the trusting weak men, who are much short of their own vigour of wit and understanding, is a sufficient vindication from that calumny ; and so, before they are aware of it, they decline wiser men, who are fit to advise them, and give themselves to weaker, upon an imagination, that nobody will ever But with- suspect they can be governed by them. In fine, he 5S> found the work too hard for him ; the king being so much incensed against Webb, that he expected the duke should turn him away : and the duke him- self looked upon the king's prejudice as infused into him by Ashburnham, upon particular malice ; hav- ing often desired, that some accuser might charge Webb, and he be heard to answer for himself; which the king not being willing to admit, the other was unwilling to dismiss a servant, his secre- tary, who had served him long, and was very useful to him ; and who indeed was never suspected for any infidelity or want of affection to his master : and so the chancellor, to his great trouble, was not able to remove that cloudiness that remained in both their countenances ; which never produced the least ill effect in the view or observation of any ; the duke's duty being never in any degree diminished ; and the king's kindness to him continuing with many gra- cious evidences to his death. The king's The last conference his majesty had with the last confer- ence with chancellor was the very day the prince began his EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 229 journey towards the west, and indeed after he had PART received his blessing ; when his majesty sent for HI. him into his bedchamber, and repeated some things I6 i 4o< v the chan- he had mentioned before. He told him, " there had ceiior of the " been many things which had troubled him, with " reference to his son's absence from him ; for all " which, but one, he had satisfied himself: the one " was, the inconvenience which might arise from " the weakness and folly of his governor ; against " which he had provided, as well as he could, by " obliging the prince to follow the advice of his " council in all things ; which he was well assured " he would do ; and he had given them as much au- " thority as they could wish : another was, that " there was one servant about the prince, who he " thought had too much credit with him, which was " Elliot ; who he did not intend should be with him " in the journey ; and had therefore sent him into " France to the queen, with direction to her majesty, " to keep him there ; and if he should return whilst " the prince remained in the west, that he should be " sent to his majesty, and not suffered to stay with " his highness ; and that was all the care he could " take in those two particulars : but there was a " third, in which he knew not what to do, and that " troubled him much more than the other two." When the chancellor seemed full of expectation to know what that might be, the king said, " I have " observed of late some kind of sharpness, upon " many occasions, between Colepepper and you ; and " though you are joined with other honest men, yet " my great confidence is upon you two : I know not " that the fault is in you ; nay, I must confess, that " it is very often in him ; but let it be where it will, Q3 230 THE LIFE OF PART " any difference and unkindness between you two " must be at my charge ; and I must tell you, the 1645. t ( f ear j have o f ft gi ves me much trouble: I have " spoken very plainly to him my apprehension in " this point, within this hour ; and he hath made as " fair promises to me as I can wish ; and upon my " conscience I think he loves you, though he may " sometimes provoke you to be angry." The king here making a pause, the chancellor, out of countenance, said, " he was very sorry that he " had ever given his majesty any occasion for such " an apprehension, but very glad that he had vouch- " safed to inform him of it ; because he believed he " should give his majesty such assurance in that " particular as would fully satisfy him : he assured " his majesty, that he had a great esteem of the lord " Colepepper; and though he might have at some " times passions which were inconvenient, he was " so confident of himself, that they should not pro- " voke or disturb him, that he was well content that " his majesty should condemn, and think him in the " fault, if any thing should fall out, of prejudice to " his service, from a difference between them two." With which his majesty appeared abundantly satis- fied and pleased ; and embracing him, gave him his hand to kiss ; and he immediately went to horse, and followed the prince : and this was the last time the chancellor ever saw that gracious and excellent king. The cban- It was upon the fourth of March, in the year cellor at- - /> . , > . -, 11* i / tends the lt>44, that the prince parted from the king his ta- thTwest 1 ; ther. He lodged that night at Farringdon, having first aLauit- mac ' e ^ s j ournev thither in one continued storm of ed by the ra j n from the minute he left Oxford ; and from gout. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 231 thence went the next day to the garrison of the De- FART vizes ; and the third to the city of Bath ; which be- ing a safe place, and within seven or eight miles of 1645 - Bristol, he stayed there two or three days. And in this journey the chancellor was first assaulted with the gout, having never had the least apprehension of it before ; but from his coming to Bath, he was not able to stand, and so went by coach to Bristol ; where in few days he recovered that first lameness, which ever after afflicted him too often. And so the year 1644 ended, which shall conclude this part. ^ November 6, 1669- Q 4 THE LIFE OF EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON; FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE RESTORATION OF THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE YEAR 1660. PART IV. A VERY particular memorial 'of all material af- PART IV fairs in the west, during the subsequent year of. 1645, during the prince's residence in the west 1645 - The state and temper of that country, after the de- feat of his majesty's army at Naseby The several plots and devices of the lord Goring, to get the prince into his power The debauchery of that army and amongst the officers of it, and the defeats it suffered from the enemy through that debauchery Goring's departure out of the kingdom, and the pos- ture he left his army in The beating up of their quarters afterwards- The entering of Fairfax into the west with his army ; and his sudden taking the towns there The mutinous behaviour of sir Richard Greenvil, and the quarrels and conflicts between the troops under his command with those under the lord Goring The prince's retreat by degrees back- ward into Cornwall, as Fairfax advanced The seve- ral messages and orders from the king, for the trans- 234, THE LIFE OF PART porting the prince out of England, and all the di- rections and resolutions thereupon; and the several messages from the queen and the earl of St. Alban's; with the assurance of a supply of six thousand foot, under the command of Ruvignie, promised confi- dently to be landed in Cornwall within- one month, when there was not any such thing in nature, nor one company raised, or ship in readiness, or in view 1646. for such an expedition, &c. The king's obliging the lord Hopton to take charge of those broken and dissolute troops The commitment of sir Richard Greenvil, for not submitting to be commanded by him, and for endeavouring to raise a party in the country to treat with the enemy for the security and neutrality of Cornwall, and the routing the lord Hopton's troops at Torrington The prince's retreat thereupon to Pendennis; and the factions and con- spiracies between some of his own servants, and some gentlemen of the country, to hinder the prince from going out of the kingdom ; and the departure of his highness from Pendennis, in the end of that year 1645 % and his arrival in the island of Scilly, is contained in papers, orderly and methodically set down ; which papers and relation are not now at hand, but are safe, and will be easily found; together with his highness's stay in the island of Scilly: from whence, the next day, the lord Cole- pepper was despatched with letters to the queen to Paris, to give notice of his highness's being in that island ; and to desire money, arms, and ammunition for the defence thereof: and at the same time an- other vessel was sent into Ireland, to give the mar- a in the end of that year 1645] Namely, Old Style. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 235 quis of Ormond likewise information of it, and to PART desire that two companies of foot might be sent thi- ' ther, to increase that garrison, and to defend it, in case the enemy should attack it His highness's stay in Scilly near six weeks, until the lords Capel and Hopton came thither, after they had made condi- tions for the disbanding their troops with Fairfax ; which Goring's troops made it necessary to do ; they not only refusing to obey all orders, but mingling every day with the troops of the enemy, and re- maining quietly together in the same quarters, drinking and making merry with each other The report of a fleet designed from the parliament for Scilly, and those lords viewing the island, and not looking upon it as tenable, caused a new consulta- tion to be held, whether it were fit for his highness to remain there, till the return of the lord Colepep- per, or to remove sooner ; and whither he should remove ; the frigate which brought the prince from Pendennis being still kept in readiness at Scilly, upon the foresight that his remove might come to be necessary That upon this consultation it was resolved, that it would not be safe for his highness to remain there, but that he should transport him- self from thence into the island of Jersey ; which was done accordingly And his highness's arrival there about the beginning of April, 1645 The prince's reception in Jersey, by sir George Carteret ; and the universal joy of the island for his arrival ; with the situation and strength of the island The lord Digby's arrival in Jersey, with two frigates from Ireland, and with two hundred soldiers ; hav- ing been at Scilly, and there heard of his highness's departure for Jersey His earnest advice for the 236 THE LIFE OF PART prince's going for Ireland; and when he could not ! obtain his highness's consent, till the return of the C46 ' lord Colepepper, his going to Paris, to persuade the queen, and to protest against the prince's going for France ; against which he inveighed with more pas- sion than any man The arrival of Mr. Thomas Jermyn from Paris, with very positive orders for the prince's repair thither, from the queen And shortly after, the lord Colepepper's arrival, who had been despatched from her majesty -to return to Scilly, before she knew of his highness's remove from thence; which advertisement overtook the lord Colepepper at Havre de Grace, after he was embarked; and so he bent his course thither, and had the same orders for the prince's going to Paris, as Mr. Jermyn had likewise brought. There was none of the council inclined that his highness, being in a place of unquestionable safety, should suddenly depart from thence, till the state and condition in which his majesty was, and his pleasure might be known : it was then understood that his majesty had left Oxford, and was with the Scottish army before Newark ; which he had caused to be rendered, that the army might retire ; which it presently did, and the king in it, to Newcastle : the prince was yet in his father's -dominions ; some places in England still holding out, as Oxford, Wor- cester, Pendennis, and other places ; that it would be easy, in a short time, to understand the king's pleasure, and that there could be no inconvenience in expecting it, the prince's person being in no pos- sible danger; but that the mischief might be very great, if, without the king's direction, it were done, whether his majesty should be well or ill treated by EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 237 the Scots; and that the parliament might make it PART a new matter of reproach against the king, that iie had sent the heir apparent of the crown out of the kingdom ; which could be no otherwise excused, at least by those who attended him, than by evident and apparent necessity : those reasons appeared of so much weight to the prince himself, (who had not a natural inclination to go into France,) and to all the council, that the lord Capel and the lord Cole- pepper were desired to go to Paris, to satisfy the queen why the prince had deferred yielding a pre- sent obedience to her command. The treatment they received at Paris, and their return again to Jersey, together with the lord Jer- myn and lord Digby, and some other persons of quality: the lord Digby being to return to Ireland with eight thousand pistoles, which the cardinal sent towards the supply of the king's service there ; and being by it and the cardinal so throughly convinced of the necessity of the prince's going for France, that he was more positive for it than any of the rest ; and had promised the queen that he would convert the chancellor, and make him consent to it ; with whom he had a great friendship The debate at Jersey upon their coming back The lord Capel adhering to his former opinion, that we might first know the king's opinion ; towards the receiving of which he had offered the queen, and now offered again, to go himself to Newcastle, where the king still was ; no- body knowing what would be the issue of the con- troversy between the Scots and the parliament ; and if the king should direct it, every man would will- ingly attend his highness, and punctually observe whatsoever the king commanded ; and because the 238 THE LIFE OF EDWARD &c. PART objection might be removed, of his being taken pri- .soner by the parliament, or his being not suffered 1646. by the Scots to speak with the king, he" did offer, and all who were of his opinion consented to it, that if he did not return to Jersey within one month, the prince should pursue the queen's orders, and every man would attend his highness into France ; and a month's delay could be of no ill consequence The prince's resolution to go presently for Paris and the reasons which moved the lords Capel and Hopton, and the chancellor, to excuse themselves and his highness's permission to remain in Jersey ; from whence they would attend his commands, when he had any service for them And the sudden re- servedness and strangeness that grew between those who advised the going, and those who were for stay- ing and the prince's embarking himself for France about July, in the year 1646 All these particulars are so exactly remembered in those papers, remaining in a cabinet easy to be found, that they will quickly be put into a method ; and contain enough to be inserted in the fourth part of this relation. Montpelier, November 9, 1669- N. B. These materials were afterwards made use of by the author, when he completed the History of the Rebellion, where these occur- rences are treated of more at large. THE LIFE OF EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON ; FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE RESTORATION OF THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE YEAR 160. PART V. AHE prince having left Jersey about July in the PART year 1646, the chancellor of the exchequer remained there about two years after; where he presently be- 164 6. * . J The chan- took himself to his study; and enjoyed, as he wasceiiorofthe wont to say, the greatest tranquillity of mind imagin- residence' at able. Whilst the lords Capel and Hopton stayed jersey ' there, they lived and kept house together in St. Hilary's ; which is the chief town of the island : where, having a chaplain of their own, they had prayers every day in the church, at eleven of the clock in the morning ; till which hour they enjoyed themselves in their chambers, according as they thought fit ; the chancellor betaking himself to the continuance of the History, which he had begun at Scilly, and spending most of his time at that exercise. The other two walked, or rode abroad, or read, as they were disposed ; but at the hour of prayers they always met; and then dined together at the lord Hopton's lodging, which was the best house ; they 240 THE LIFE OF being lodged at several houses, with convenience enough. Their table was maintained at their joint expense only for dinners ; they never using to sup ; but met always upon the sands in the evening to walk, often going to the castle to sir George Carte- ret ; who treated them with extraordinary kindness and civility, and spent much time with them ; and, in truth, the whole island shewed great affection to them, and all the persons of quality invited them to their houses, to very good entertainments ; and all other ways expressed great esteem towards them 3 . He writes ^ n( jf f rom Ji enc e theu writ a joint letter to the from thence 9 to the king. & fl^, which they sent to him by Mr. Fanshaw; in which they made great profession of their duty to his majesty, and their readiness to proceed in his service, and to wait upon the prince upon the first occasion; with such reasons for their not attending him into France, as they thought could not but be satisfactory to his majesty; declaring, that they had only desired that he would stay so long in a place of his own, of unquestionable security, as that they might receive the signification of his ma- jesty's pleasure for his remove ; upon which they were all resolved to have waited upon him : though it was evident enough to them, that their advice would be no longer hearkened unto, after his high- ness should arrive with the queen. 1647. In England, men's hopes and fears were raised according to their tempers ; for there was argument for both affections in the transactions and occur- rences of every day; it being no easy matter to make a towards them] MS. adds: against any attempt the parlia- and appeared very .unanimous ment should make against it and resolute to defend the island EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 241 a judgment which party would prevail, nor what PART they would do if they did. The lord Capel received ' advice from his friends in England, to remove from 164 ^- Jersey into some part of the United Provinces ; that so, being in a place to which there could be no pre- judice, his friends might the more hopefully solicit for liberty for him to return into his own country, and that he might live in his own house; which they had reason to hope would not be denied to a person who had many friends, and could not be con- ceived to have any enemies, his person being wor- thily esteemed by all. Whereupon, with the full concurrence and advice of his two friends, from whom he had great tenderness to part, and with whom he renewed his contract of friendship at part- ing in a particular manner, upon foresight of what might happen; he went from thence, and first waited upon the prince at Paris, that he might have his royal highness's approbation for his return into England, if he might do it upon honourable condi- tions : and from thence, with all possible demonstra- tion of grace from the prince, he transported him- self to Middleburgh in Zealand ; where he remained till his friends procured liberty for him to return, and remain at his own house. The worthy and noble things he did after, deserve b to be transmitted to posterity in some more illustrious testimony, that may be worthy to be recorded. The lord Capel thus leaving Jersey, the lord Hopton and the chancellor remained still there, in the same conjunction, until, some few months after, the lord Hopton received the news of the death of b deserve] will be mentioned in order, and deserve VOL. I. R 242 THE LIFE OF PART his wife, and of the arrival in France of his uncle, v ' sir Arthur Hopton ; who, having been ambassador 1647. from the king in Spain, had left that court, and retired to Paris ; from whence he shortly after re- moved to Rouen, with a purpose, as soon as he had at large conferred with his nephew, to go into Eng- land, for the good and benefit of both their fortunes: and upon this occasion the lord Hopton likewise left Jersey, with all possible professions of an entire friendship to the chancellor, which was never vio- lated in the least degree to his death. And the chancellor being thus left alone, he was with great And re- civility and friendship invited by sir George Carteret moves to sir /i*iiiiii George car- to remove from the town, (where he had lived with his friends till then,) and to live with him in the castle Elizabeth; whither he went the next day after the departure of the lord Hopton, and remain- ed there, to his wonderful contentment, in the very cheerful society of sir George Carteret and his lady ; in whose house he received all the liberty and enter- tainment he could have expected in his own family ; of which he always retained so just a memory, that there was never any intermission or decay of that friendship he then made : and he remained there till he was sent for again to attend the prince, which will be mentioned in its time. He built a lodging in the castle, of two or three convenient rooms, to the wall of the church, which sir George Carteret had repaired and beautified ; and over the door of his lodging he set up his arms, with this inscription, JSene vixit, qui bene latuit: and he always took pleasure in relating, with what great tranquillity of spirit (though deprived of the joy he took in his wife and children) he spent his EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 243 time here, amongst his books (which he got from PART Paris) and his papers ; between which he seldom ! spent less than ten hours in the day: and it * Where he hardly be believed how much he read and writ wriles the i . ,. History of there ; insomuch as he did usually compute, that the Tnm- during his whole stay in Jersey, which was some months above two years, he writ daily little less than one sheet of large paper with his own hand; most of which are still to be seen amongst his papers. From Hampton Court, his majesty writ to the chancellor of the exchequer with his own hand ; in which he took notice, that he was writing the His- tory of the late Troubles; for which he thanked him, saying, that he knew no man could do it so well; and that he would not do it the worse, by the Towards helps that he would very speedily send him : (as his king im- majesty shortly after did, in two manuscripts very "1" fairly written, containing all matters of importance ^ s ^^ o that had passed from the time that the prince of )645and 1646. Wales went from his majesty into the west, to the very time that his majesty himself went from Ox- ford to the Scottish army ; which were all the pas- sages in the years 1645 and 1646.) He used many gracious expressions in that letter to him ; and said, he looked upon him as one of those who had served him with most fidelity, and therefore he might be confident of his kindness ; and that he would bring him to him with the first ; though, he said, he did not hold him to be infallible, as he might discern by what he had commanded Dr. Sheldon, who was then clerk of his closet, to write to him ; and at the same c daily] Omitted in MS. R 2 244 THE LIFE OF PART time the doctor writ him word, that the king was sorry that he, the chancellor, stayed at Jersey, and 647 ' did not attend the prince into France ; and that if he had been there, he would have been able to have prevented the vexation his majesty had endured at Newcastle, by messages from Paris. The doctor likewise sent him word, that great pains had been taken from Paris to incense the king against him ; but that it had so little prevailed, that his majesty had with some sharpness reprehended those who blamed him, and had justified the chan- cellor. He made haste to answer his majesty's letter, and gave him so much satisfaction, that his majesty said, he was too hard for him. And about the same time the lord Capel came into England ; and though he was under security to the parliament for behaving himself peaceably, he was not -restrained from seeing the king ; and so gave him a very particular infor- mation of all that had passed at Jersey ; and many other things, of which his majesty had never been informed before ; which put it out of any body's power to make any ill impressions in him towards the chancellor. Upon the king's refusing to give his assent to the four acts sent to him from the parliament when he was in the Isle of Wight, they voted, " that no " more addresses should be made to the king;" and jmblisked a declaration to that effect, which contained severe charges against his majesty. Vid. Hist. Reb. 8vo. vol. v. p. 512. &c. cnance ll r f tne exchequer no sooner re- ceiior of ceived a copy of it in Jersey, than he prepared a very the exche- . quer writes large and full answer to it ; in which he made the iShes U an malice and the treason of that libellous declaration EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 245 to appear; and his majesty's innocence in all the PART particulars charged upon him, with such pathetical _____ applications and insinuations, as were most like to answer to work upon the affections of the people : all which the pariia- i r ** n ment's de- transmitted (by the care of Mr. Secretary ciaration of Nicholas, who resided at Caen in Normandy, held a constant correspondence with the chancellor) to a trusty hand in London ; who caused it to be well printed and divulged, and found means to send it to the king : who, after he had read it, said he durst swear it was writ by the chancellor, if it were not that there was more divinity in it than he expected from him, which made him believe he had conferred with Dr. Steward. But some months after, being informed by secretary Nicholas, he sent the chancellor thanks for it ; and expressed upon all occasions, that he was much pleased with that vindi- cation. The lord Capel had written to the chancellor of the exchequer, who remained still in Jersey, sig- nifying the king's commands, that as soon as the chancellor 'should be required to wait upon the prince, he should without delay obey the summons. The king had writ to the queen, that when it should be necessary for the prince to remove out of France, the chancellor should have notice oj it, and be re- quired to attend him. About the beginning of April, in the year 1648, the lord Capel writ again to the chancellor, giving him notice, that he would probably be sent for soon, and desiring him to be ready. About the middle of May, the queen sent to the chancellor of the exchequer to Jersey, com- manding, that he would , wait upon the prince at Pdris, upon a day that was past before the letter R 3 246 THE LIFE OF PART came to his hands ; but as soon as he received the summons, he immediately transported himself into 1 648. Normandy, and went to Caen ; from thence he hast- ened to Rouen, where he found the lord Cottington, the earl of Bristol, and secretary Nicholas, who had received the same commands. They were in- formed that the prince was passed by towards Calais ; and direction was sent, that the chancellor and the rest should stay at Rouen till they should receive new orders from Calais. Within few days they received advice, that the prince had put himself on board a ship that he found at Calais bound for Holland, where they were to hear from him; whereupon they removed from Rouen to Dieppe ; from whence they might embark for Hol- land when required. Vid. Hist. Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 20. &c. After the lord Cottington, the earl of Bristol, and the chancellor of the exchequer had stayed at Dieppe some days, and were confirmed by reports every day that the prince was in Holland, and that the fleet wanted some provisions, without which it could not put out to sea ; they resolved to make use of the first vessel, of which there were many then in the harbour, that should be bound for Hol- land, and to transport themselves thither ; and there was one which within two or three days would set out for Flushing. The earl of Bristol had no mind to venture himself in such a vessel ; and since the fleet that had declared for the king was then in Holland, he apprehended that the parlia- ment might have other vessels abroad, that might easily seize upon that small bark ; and so, after some debate with the lord Cottington, (they two being EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 247 seldom of one mind,) the earl resolved to return PART v. to his old habitation at Caen, and expect another. occasion. ] fi48 ' The chancellor, who knew nothing of the sea, nor understood the hazards thereof, (being always so 'af- flicted upon that element with sickness, that he con- sidered nothing about it ; and holding himself obliged to make what haste he could to the prince,) com- mitted himself entirely to the lord Cottington : and when they resolved to embark themselves in the ves- sel bound for Flushing, a French man of war, which was called the king's ship, came into the road of Dieppe, and offered to carry them the next day to Dunkirk ; which they took to be the safer passage : and so giving the captain as much money as he de-TFiechan- manded, they put themselves upon his miserable fri- exchequer e gate, where they had no accommodations but the open deck ; and were safely set on shore at Dunkirk, where marshal Ranzaw was then governor. And they no sooner landed in the evening, but Carteret, a servant of the prince's, came to them, and in- formed them, that the prince was entered the river of Thames with the fleet; and that he was sent by his highness to the marshal for a frigate, which he had offered to lend the prince : and that he had delivered the letter, and the marshal (who had been out all the night before upon a design upon the enemy, and was newly arrived, and gone to bed) had promised him that the frigate should be ready the next day. This seemed an extraordinary good fortune to them, that they might now embark directly for the fleet without going into Holland, which they were willing to avoid ; and so resolved to speak with the marshal as soon as they could, ll 4 248 THE LIFE OF PART that they might be confirmed by him, that his fri- .gate should be ready the next day ; and thereupon 1648. sent a serv ant to wait at the marshal's lodging, that they might know when he waked, and was to be spoken with. The marshal had notice of their arrival before the servant came to him, and of their desire to go to the prince ; and sent one of his officers to welcome them to the town, and to see them well accommodated with lodging; and to excuse him, that he did not wait upon them that night, by reason of the fatigue he had undergone the night before, and that day ; and to oblige them to dine with him the next day, against which time the vessel would be made ready to re- ceive them, and transport them to the prince's fleet ; with which they were abundantly satisfied ; and be- took themselves to their rest for that night : and were early up the next morning to see the marshal ; but it was late before he rose. He received them with great civility, being a very proper man, of a most extraordinary presence and aspect, and might well be reckoned a very hand- some man, though he had but one leg, one hand, one eye, and one ear, the other being cut off with that side of his face ; besides many other cuts on the other cheek, and upon his head, with many wounds in the body ; notwithstanding all which, he stood very upright, and had a very graceful motion, a clear voice, and a charming delivery ; and if he had not, according to the custom of his nation, (for he was a German,) too much indulged to the excess of wine, he had been one of the most excellent captains of that age. He professed great affection to the prince, and much commended the frigate he in- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 249 tended to send to him ; which, for the swiftness of it, PART was called the Hare, and outsailed, as he said, all ! the vessels of that coast: and after he had treated 1648 * them with a very excellent and a jovial dinner, about four of the clock in the afternoon he brought them And from . , i i n thence for to their boat, that put them on board their frigate ; the prince's which was but a small vessel of twenty guns, much inferior to what they expected, by the description the marshal had made of it. However, it was very proper for the use they were to make of it, to be de- livered at the fleet ; and so, the moon shining very fair, they weighed anchor about sunset, with a very small gale of wind. The prince being master at sea, they had no man- ner of apprehension of an enemy; not knowing or con- sidering that they were very near Ostend, and so, in respect of the vessel they were in, liable to be made a prize by those men of war ; as it fell out : for about break of day, in a dead calm, they found themselves pursued by six or seven ships, which, as they drew nearer, were known by the seamen to be the frigates of Ostend. There was no hope to escape by the swiftness of -the vessel, for there was not the least breath of wind ; and it was to no purpose to resist ; for, besides that the vessel was not half manned, four or five of the pursuers were stronger ships ; so that it was thought best to let the sails fall, that they might see there was no purpose of resistance ; and to send Carteret in the boat, to inform the ships who the persons were that were on board, and that they had a pass from the archduke : for an authentic copy of a pass the archduke had sent to the prince, had been sent to them. All the ships, though they had the king of Spain's commission, were freebooters, 250 THE LIFE OF PART belonging to private owners, who observed no rules ! or laws of nations ; but they boarded the vessel with 1 / their swords drawn and pistols cocked, and without But is taken by some fri- any distinction plundered all the passengers with gates of ostend ; equal rudeness ; save that they stripped some of the servants to their very shirts : they used not the rest with that barbarity, being satisfied with taking all they had in their pockets, and carefully examined all their valises and trunks, in which they found good booty. The lord Cottington lost in money and jewels above one thousand pounds ; the chancellor, in mo- ney about two hundred pounds, and all his clothes and linen ; and sir George Ratcliff and Mr. Wans- ford, who were in the company, above five hundred and carried pounds in money and jewels. And having pillaged iatport 'them in this manner, they carried them all, with the frigate they had been in, prisoners to Ostend ; where they arrived about two of the clock in the afternoon ; all the men and women of the town being gathered together to behold the prize that was brought in within so few hours : for intelligence had been sent from Dunkirk the night before, (according to the custom and good intelligence observed in those places,) of the going out of this vessel, which had such persons on board. When they were on shore, they were carried through all the spectators to a common inn ; from whence they sent to the ma- gistrates, to inform them of what condition they were, and of the injuries they had received, by hav- ing been treated as enemies ; and demanded resti- tution of ship and goods. The magistrates, who were called the lords of the admiralty, came presently to them ; and when they EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 251 were fully informed of the whole matter, and had PART seen the archduke's pass, they seemed very much ' troubled; and with much civility assured them, that they should not only receive all that had been taken from them, but that the men should be severely pu- nished for their transgression. They immediately He is set at discharged those guards that kept them as prisoners, promised" and provided the best lodgings in the town for them : satisfaction - and because it was growing towards the evening, and the frigates were not yet come in, they excused themselves that they could do no more that night, but promised to go themselves on board the ships the next morning early ; and desired that some of the gentlemen of their company might go with them, to the end that they might discover at least some of those who had been most rude towards them ; who should be sure to be imprisoned till full satisfaction were made by the rest. As soon as the lords of the admiralty were gone, the governor, an old Spaniard, came to visit them, with all professions of civility and service, and seemed to abhor the barbarity with which they had been treated ; asked very particularly of the manner of them, and of every particular that had been taken from them ; and told them, they should be sure to have it all returned ; for that they did not trouble themselves in such cases to find out the seamen who were the plunderers, but resorted always to the owners of the ships, who lived in the town, and were substantial men, and bound to answer and sa- tisfy for all misdemeanours committed by the com- pany ; and said, he would be with them the next day, and take care that all should be done that was just. These professions and assurances made them 252 THE LIFE OF PART believe that they should receive full reparation for the damages they had received; and the lord Cot- 1648. tington began to commend the good order and dis- cipline that was observed under the Spanish govern- ment, much different from that in other places ; and in how much better condition they were, after such usage, to be brought into Ostend, than if they had been so used by the French, and carried into any of their ports. The next morning two of the lords of the admi- ralty called upon them in their way to the ships, retaining the same professions they had made the night before ; and sir George Ratcliff, Mr. Wans- ford, and some of their servants accompanied them according to their desire ; and as soon as they were on board the admiral's vessel, that had brought them in, and had taken them out of their own, they knew some of those seamen who had been most busy about them ; which were immediately seized on and searched ; and about some of them some pieces of chains of gold, and other things of value belonging to the lord Cottington were found ; and some mails, in which were linen and clothes ; all which were pre- sently restored and delivered to some of the servants who were present, and brought them to their mas- ters. The chancellor was more solicitous for some papers he had lost, than for his money ; and he was used to say, that he looked upon it as a singular act of Providence, that those officers prevailed with a seaman, who had taken it out of his pocket, to re- store a little letter which he had lately received from the king whilst he was in the hands of the army ; which, for the grace and kindness contained in it, he did ever exceedingly value. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 253 Those of the admiralty, though they had not yet PART found out either any. of the jewels or money of which they had been robbed, thought they had done enough for the morning, and so returned to dinner ; declar- ing that they would return in the afternoon ; and directed the ships to be drawn nearer together, to the end they might visit them together : and they did return in the afternoon, accompanied as before, but their reception by the seamen was not as in the morning. The captains answered those questions which were asked of them negligently and scorn- fully ; and those seamen who had been searched in the morning, and were appointed to be produced in the afternoon to be further examined, could not be found ; and instead of bringing the ships nearer to- gether, some of them were gone more out to sea; and the rest declared, that they would go all out to sea that night : and when the magistrates seemed to threaten them, they swore they would throw both them and all who came with them overboard ; and offered to lay hands upon them in order to it ; so that they were all glad to get off; and returned to the town, talking loud what vengeance they would take upon the captains and seamen when they re- turned again into port, (for they already stood out to sea in their sight ;) and in the mean time they would prosecute the owners of the vessels, who should satisfy for the damage received: but from this time the governor nor the lords of the admiralty cared to come near them ; and they quickly found that the reason of all the governor's civility the first night, and the many questions he had asked con- cerning all the particulars they had lost of any kind, was only to be the better informed, to demand his 254 THE LIFE OF PART share from the seamen ; and that the lords of the v. admiralty were the owners of the several vessels, or C48< had shares in them, and in the victualling, and so were to divide the spoil, which they pretended But cannot should be restored. So that after they had remained obtain it. there four or five days, they were contented to receive one hundred pistoles for discharging the debts they had contracted in the town, (for there was not any money left amongst them,) and to carry them to the prince ; which those of the admiralty pretended to have received from some of the own- ers, and to wait for further justice when the ships should return, which they doubted not should be effectually called for by the commands of the arch- duke, when he should be informed: and so they prosecuted their journey to the prince, making their way by Bruges, and from thence by the way of Sluys to Flushing : and those hundred pistoles were the only recompense that they ever received for that affront and damage they had sustained, which in the whole amounted to two thousand pounds at the least ; though the king's resident, De Vic, at Brus- sels prosecuted the pretence with the archduke as long as there was any hope. The chancellor was often used to relate an obser- vation that was generally made and discoursed at Ostend at that time, that never any man who ad- ventured in setting out those frigates of rapine, which are called men of war, or in victualling or bearing any share in them, died rich, or possessed of any valuable estate : and that as he walked one morning about the town and upon the quay with an English officer, who was a lieutenant in that garri- son, they saw a poor old man walk by them, whom EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 255 the lieutenant desired the chancellor to observe; PART and when he was passed by, he told him, that he had known that man the richest of any man in the 1648 * town ; that he had been the owner of above ten ships of war at one time, without any partner or sharer with him ; that he had had in his ware- houses in the town as much goods and merchandise together as amounted to the value of one hundred thousand pounds, within seven years before the time he was then speaking ; and after the loss of two or three frigates, he insensibly decayed so fast, that having begun to build another frigate, which he shewed him as they walked, and which lay then not half finished, he was not able to go through with it ; and that he was at that time so poor, that he had not wherewith to maintain him, but received the charity of those who had known him in a plentiful estate : and this relation he made in confirmation of that discourse and observation ; and it made so deep an impression upon the chancellor, that afterwards, when the war was between England, and Holland, and France, and when many gentlemen thought it good husbandry to adventure in the setting out such ships of war, he always dissuaded his friends from that traffic, relating to them this story, of the truth whereof he had such evidence ; and did in truth moreover in his own judgment believe, that all engagements of that kind were contrary to the rules of justice and a good conscience, When they came to Flushing, they thought it He goes to best to stay there, as the most' likely place to have commerce with the fleet ; and they found there co- lonel William Vavasour, who had, by the prince's commission, drawn some companies of foot together, 256 THE LIFE OF PART and expected some vessel to be sent from the fleet for their transportation ; and Carteret was already 1648. despatched, to inform the prince of what had be- fallen the treasurer and chancellor, and that they waited his commands at Flushing : and because Mid- dleburgh would be as convenient to receive intelli- gence, and more convenient for their accommoda- m thence tion, they removed thither, and took a private lodg- to Middle- t J burgh. ing ; where, by having a cook, and other servants, they might make their own provisions. They had been at Middleburgh very few days, before the Hind frigate was sent by the prince to bring them to the fleet, with direction that they should make as much haste as was possible ; and they had no occasion to delay, but the wind was so directly against them for two or three days, that they could not put them- selves on board. It was now about the middle of attend the T . , -i / 11 prince in July, when the wind appeared fair, and they pre- sently embarked, and weighed anchor, and sailed all s driven the night; but in the morning the wind changed, and blew so hard a gale, that they were compelled to turn about, and came before night again to Flush- ing; whence they endeavoured three times more to get into the Downs, from whence they might easily have got to the fleet; but as often as they put to sea, so often they were driven back, and once with so violent a storm that their ship was in danger, and was driven in under the Ramekins, a fort near the mouth of the river that goes to Middleburgh ; whither they again repaired : and the winds were so long contrary, that they received order from the prince to repair into Holland ; for that his highness resolved within very few days, it being now tow'ards the end of August, to carry the fleet thither ; as he EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 257 shortly after did. And by this means the lord Cot- PART tington and the chancellor were not able to attend ! the prince whilst he remained with the fleet within IC 48. the river of Thames ; but were well informed, when they came to him, of all that had passed there. The lord Cottington and the chancellor of 'the ex- chequer, as soon as they received advertisement at Middleburgh that the prince resolved to return with the fleet into Holland, made all the haste they could Arrives at the Hague. to the Hague ; it being then about the end of Au- gust; and came thither within one day after the prince's arrival there. The next morning after the lord Cottington and the chancellor of the exchequer came to the Hague, the prince appointed his council, to meet together, to receive and deliberate upon a message the lord Lautherdale had brought from the parliament of Scotland, earnestly pressing him to repair forth- with to their army; which was already entered into England, under the command of the duke of Hamilton the chancellor reproves the lord Lau- therdale for his insolent behaviour before the coun- cil. Vid. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 83. &c. The factions in the prince's family, and the great animosity which prince Rupert had against the lord Colepepper, infinitely disturbed the coun- sels, and perplexed the lord Cottington and the chancellor of the exchequer Colepepper had pas- sions and infirmities which no friends could re- strain ; and prince Rupert, though very well in- clined to the chancellor, >was absolutely governed by Herbert the attorney general, who industri- ously cultivated his prejudice to Colepepper. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 126. &c. VOL, I. s 258 THE LIFE OF PART Whilst the prince was at the Hague, he received the shocking account of the murder of the king his father ; and soon after, the queen wrote to him from Paris, advising him to repair into France as soon as possible, and desiring him not to swear any persons to be of his council, till she could speak with him: but before he received her letter, he had already caused those of his father's council who had attended him to be sworn of his privy council; adding only Mr. Long his secretary. He had no mind to go into France ; and it was evident that he could not be long able to reside at the Hague, an agent from the parliament being there at that very time: so that it was time to think of some other re- treat. Ireland was then thought most advisable ; some favourable accounts having 1 been received from thence of the transactions of the marquis of Ormond and lord Inchiquin, arid of the arrival of prince Rupert at Kinsale with the Jleet. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 277- &c. The chancellor of the exchequer was sent to con- fer with the marquis of Mountrose in a village near the Hague upon the state of affairs in Scot- land. The marquis came now into Holland to offer his service to his majesty ; expecting that he would presently send him to Scotland with some forces, to prepare the way for his majesty to follow after. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 286. &c. The king declared his resolution of going into Ireland, and preparations were made for that ex- pedition; which however, from accidents that af- terwards fett out, did not take effect. The lord Cottington, wishing to avoid the fatigue of such expeditions, took that occasion to confer with the EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 259 chancellor of the exchequer upon the expediency of PART the king's sending an embassy into Spain ; and. proposed, that himself and the chancellor should ] 649> be appointed ambassadors to that court ; to which the chancellor consented: and upon the lord Cot- tingtori's representation of the matter to the king, his majesty soon after publicly declared his resolu- tion to send those two, ambassadors extraordinary into Spain. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 309. &c. This was no sooner known, but all kind of people, The mur- . i i i 11 mursofthe who agreed in nothing else, murmured and com- court on his plained of this counsel; and the more, because it p oinfed P a"m- had never been mentioned or debated in council. Only the Scots were very glad of it, (Mountrose excepted,) believing that when the chancellor was gone, their beloved covenant would not be so irre- verently mentioned; and that the king would be wrought upon to withdraw all countenance and fa- vour from the marquis of Mountrose ; and the mar- quis himself looked upon it as a deserting him, and complying with the other party : and from that time, though they lived with civility towards each other, he withdrew very much of his confidence, which he had formerly reposed in him. They who loved him were sorry for him and themselves ; they thought he deserted a path he had long trod, and was well acquainted with ; and was henceforward to move " extra sphaeram activitatis," in an office he had not been acquainted with ; and then they should want his credit to support and confirm them in the king's favour and grace : and there were many who were very sorry when they heard it, out of par- ticular duty to the king; who, being young, they s 2 260 THE LIFE OF PART thought might be without that counsel and advertise- ment, which they knew well he would still admin- 1649> istertohim. No man was more angry and offended with the counsel than the lord Colepepper, who would have been very glad to have gone himself in the employ- ment, if he could have persuaded the lord Cotting- ton to have accepted his company ; which he would by no means do ; and though he and the chancellor were not thought to have the greatest kindness for each other, yet he knew he could agree with no other man so well in business ; and was very unwilling he His own should be from the person of the king. But the content in that office, chancellor himself, from the time that the king had signified his own pleasure to him, was exceedingly pleased with the commission ; and did believe that he should in some degree improve his understand- ing, and very much refresh his spirits, by what he should learn by the one, and by his absence from being continually conversant with those wants which could never be severed from that court, and that company which would be always corrupted by those wants. And so he sent for his wife and children to meet him at Antwerp, where he intended they should reside whilst he continued in Spain, and where they were like to find some civilities in respect of his em- ployment. The ambassadors took leave of the king before the middle of May., and went to Antwerp, where the chancellor's wife and family were arrived,, who were to remain there during his embassy After staying two or three days at Antwerp, they went to Brussels, to deliver their credentials to the arch- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 261 duke and to the duke of Lor rain, and to visit the PART Spanish ministers there, &c. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 325. ]649 - When the ambassadors had despatched all their business at Brussels, they returned to Antwerp, to negociate the remittance of their money to Madrid, Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 328. The queen is much displeased that the king had taken any resolutions before she was consulted, and imputed all that had been done principally to the chancellor of the exchequer; suspecting he meant to exclude her from meddling in the affairs. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 329. Lord Cottington and the chancellor, hearing that the king was on his way to France, resolve to defer going to St. Germain's till the king's first interview with the queen should be over. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 331. About a week after the king left Brussels, the two ambassadors prosecuted their journey to Paris; stayed only one day there, and then went to St. Germain's; where the king, and the queen his mother, with both their families, and the duke of York then were They found that court full of jealousy and disorder The queen much troubled at the king's behaviour to her, as if he had no mind that she should interfere in his affairs She now attributes this reservedness of the king towards her, more to the influence of somebody else than to the chancellor of the exchequer He had a pri- vate audience of the queen She complained of the king's unkindness to her, and of the great credit Mr. Elliot (one of his majesty's grooms of the s 3 THE LIFE OF PART bedchamber) had with the king. Hist, of the Reb. V ' 8vo. vol. vi. p. 333. 1649. About the middle of September, the king left St. Germain's, and began his journey towards Jersey, and the queen removed to Paris The two am- bassadors attended her majesty thither, and pre<- pared for their journey into Spain. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 354. The queen During the time of their short stay at Paris, the at bis* going queen used the chancellor very graciously; but still ) Spam. ex p resse( j trouble that he was sent on that embassy, which, she said, would be fruitless, as to any ad- vantage' the king would receive from it ; and, she said, she must confess, that though she was not con- fident of his affection and kindness towards her, yet she believed that he did wish that the king's car- riage towards her should be always fair and respect- ful ; and that she did desire that he might be al- ways about his majesty's person ; not only because she thought he understood the business of England better than any body else, but because she knew that he loved the king, and would always give him good counsel towards his living virtuously ; and that she thought he had more credit with him than any other, who would deal plainly and honestly with him. There was a passage at that time, of which he used to speak often, and looked upon as a great ho- nour to him. The queen one day, amongst some of her ladies in whom she had most confidence, ex- pressed some sharpness towards a lord of the king's council, whom she named not ; who, she said, al- ways gave her the fairest words, and promised her EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 263 every thing she desired, and had persuaded her to PART affect somewhat that she had before no mind to; ! and yet she was well assured, that when the same was proposed to the king on her behalf, he was the only man who dissuaded the king from granting it. Some of the ladies seemed to have the curiosity to know who it was ; which the queen would not tell : one of them, who was known to have a friendship for him, said, she hoped it was not the chancellor ; to which her majesty replied with some quickness, The queen's ,, . , , ., , , opinion of that she might be sure it was not he, who was so his sin- far from making promises, or giving fair words, and centy ' flattering her, that she did verily believe, that " if " he thought her to be a whore, he would tell her of " it ;" which when that lady told him, he was not displeased with the testimony. The two ambassadors began their journey from Paris on Michaelmas day, and continued it with- out one day's rest to Bourdeaux. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. v. p. 357. V They continued their journey to Bayonne ; and from thence to St. Sebastian's; where they were told by the corregidor that he had received direc- tions from the secretary of state, to persuade them to remain there till the king's further pleasure might be known ; and they received a packet from sir Benjamin Wright at Madrid, enclosing a pass for them, under the title of ambassadors from the prince of Wales. They immediately sent an ex- press to the court, complaining of their treatment, and desiring to know whether their persons were unacceptable to his catholic majesty; and if other- wise, they desired they might be treated in the manner due to the honour and dignity of the king s 4 264 THE LIFE OF PART their master. They received an answer full of ci- vility, imputing the error in the style of their pass 1 649 - to the negligence or ignorance of the secretary; and new passes were sent to them in the proper style; with assurance, that they should find a very good welcome from his majesty They left St. Sebas- tian's about the middle of November. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 358. &c. When they came to Alcavendas, within three leagues of Madrid, sir Benjamin Wright came to them, and informed them that all things were in the state they were when he writ to them at St. Se- bastian's; that no house was yet prepared for their reception ; and that there was an evident want of attention for them in the court ; the Spanish am- bassador in England having done them ill offices, lest their good, reception in Spain might incense the parliament After a week's stay in that little town, they accepted of sir Benjamin Wrighfs in- vitation to his house at Madrid; they went pri- vately thither, to reside incognito The court knew of their arrival, but took no notice of it Lord Cottington desired and obtained a private audi- ence of don Lewis de Haro Don Lewis excused the omissions towards the ambassadors, on pre- tence that the fiestas for their new queen's arrival had engrossed the whole attention of all the officers about the court ; and promised immediate repara- tion Lord Cottington returned home well satis- fied The ambassadors are invited to see the exer- cises of the fiestas ; and the chancellor accordingly went to the place assigned. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 363. &c. The masquerade is an exercise they learned from EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 265 the Moors, performed by squadrons of horse, seem- PART ing to charge each other with great fierceness, with ' bucklers in their left hands, and a kind of cane in 1649 - Description their right; which, when they come within little of the mas- more than a horse's length, they throw with all the q " strength they can ; and against them they defend themselves with very broad bucklers ; and as soon as they have thrown their darts, they wheel about in a full gallop, till they can turn to receive the like as- sault from those whom they had charged ; and so several squadrons of twenty or five and twenty horse run round and charge each other. It hath at first the appearance of a martial exercise ; the horses are very beautiful, and well adorned ; the men richly clad, and must be good horsemen, otherwise they could not conduct d the quick motions and turns of their horses ; all the rest is too childish, the darts being nothing else but plain bulrushes of the biggest growth. After this, they run the course ; which is like our running at the ring ; save that two run still together, and the swifter hath the prize ; a post di- viding them at the end : from the start they run their horses full speed about fifty paces, and the judges are at that post to determine who is first at the end. c d conduct] obey itself had nothing wonderful. e who is first at the end.] Here there happened to be some Thus continued in MS. : There sudden sharp words between the the king and don Lewis ran se- admirante of Castile, a haughty veral courses, in all which don young man, and the marquis de Lewis was too good a cour- Liche, the eldest son of don tier to win any prize; though Lewis de Haro ; the which being he always lost it by very little, taken notice of, they were both The appearance of the people dismissed the squadrons where- was very great, and the ladies in they were, and committed to in all the windows made a very their chambers. See pp. 369, rich show, otherwise the show 370. vol. vi. of the History. 266 THE LIFE OF PART The next day, and so for two or three days toge- ! ther, both the ambassadors had a box prepared for ^.. them to see the toros ; which is a spectacle very Description of the toros. wonderful/ Here the place was very noble, being the market-place, a very large square, built with handsome brick houses, which had all balconies, which were adorned with tapestry and very beau- tiful ladies. Scaffolds were built round to the first story ; the lower rooms being shops, and for ordi- nary use ; and in the division of those scaffolds, all the magistrates and officers of the town knew their places. The pavement of the place was all covered with gravel, which in summer time was upon those occasions watered by carts charged with hogsheads of water. As soon as the king comes, some officers clear the whole ground from the common people ; so that there is no man seen upon the plain, but two or three alguazils, magistrates with their small white wands. Then one of the four gates which lead into the streets is opened; at which the tor- readors enter, all persons of quality richly clad, and upon the best horses in Spain ; every one attended . by eight, or ten, or more lackeys, all clinquant with gold and silver lace ; who carry the spears which their masters are to use against the bulls ; and with this entry many of the common people break in, for which sometimes they pay very dear. The persons on horseback have all cloaks folded up upon their left shoulder ; the least disorder of which, much more the letting it fall, is a very great disgrace ; and f very wonderful.] Originally and where they were not charged added in MS. : different from by men on horseback, and little what they had seen at Burgos, harm done, where the bulls were much tamer, EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 267 in that grave order they march to the place where PART the king sits, and after they have made the reve-. rences, they place themselves at a good distance 1649< from one another, and expect the bull. The bulls are brought in the night before from the mountains, by people used to that work ; who drive them into the town when nobody is in the streets, into a pen made for them, which hath a door that opens into that large space, the key whereof is sent to the king; which the king, when he sees every thing ready, throws to an alguazil, who car- ries it to the officer that keeps the door; and he causes it to be opened when a single bull is ready to come out. When the bull enters, the common people who sit over the door, or near it, strike him, or throw short darts with sharp points of steel, to provoke him to rage : he commonly runs with all his fury against the first man he sees on horseback ; who watches him so carefully, and avoids him so dexterously, that when the spectators believe him to be even between the horns of the bull, he avoids him by the quick turn of his horse ; and with his lance strikes the bull upon a vein that runs through his pole, with which in a moment he falls down dead. But this fatal stroke can never be struck, but when the bull conies so near upon the turn of the horse, that his horn even touches the rider's leg ; and so is at such a distance, that he can shorten his lance, and use the full strength of his arm in the blow ; and they who are the most skilful in the exercise, do frequently kill the beast with such an exact stroke ; insomuch as in a day, two or three fall in that manner : but if they miss the vein, it only gives a wound that the more enrages him. 268 THE LIFE OF PART Sometimes the bull runs with so much fierceness, v (for if he escapes the first man, he runs upon the 1649. res t as t^y are j n hj s wa y^ that he gores the horse with his horns, so that his guts come out, and he falls before the rider can get from his back. Some- times, by the strength of his neck, he raises horse and man from the ground, and throws both down ; and then the greatest danger is another gore upon the ground. In any of these disgraces, or any other by which the rider comes to be dismounted, he is obliged in honour to take his revenge upon the bull by his sword, and upon his head ; towards which the standers-by assist him, by running after the bull, and hocking him, by which he falls upon his hinder legs ; but before that execution can be done, a good bull hath his revenge upon many poor fellows. Sometimes he is so unruly that nobody dares to at- tack him ; and then the king calls for the mastiffs, whereof two are let out at a time ; and if they can- not master him, but are themselves killed, as fre- quently they are, the king then, as the last refuge, calls for the English mastiffs ; of which they seldom turn out above one at a time, and he rarely misses taking the bull, and holding him by the nose till the men run in ; and after they have hocked him, they quickly kill him. In one of those days there were no fewer than sixteen horses, as good as any in Spain, the worst of which would that very morning have yielded three hundred pistoles, killed, and four or five men ; besides many more of both hurt, and some men re- mained perpetually maimed : for after the horsemen have done as much as they can, they withdraw themselves, and then some accustomed nimble fel- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 269 lows, to whom money is thrown, when they perform PART their feats with skill, stand to receive the bulls, whereof the worst are reserved till the last; and it IC49 * is a wonderful thing to see with what steadiness those fellows will stand a full career of the bull, and by a little quick motion upon one foot, avoid him, and lay a hand upon his horn, as if they guided him from them ; but then the next standers-by, who have not the same activity, commonly pay for it ; and there is no day without much mischief. It is a very barbarous exercise and triumph, in which so many men's lives are lost, and always ventured; but so rooted in the affections of that nation, that it is not in the king's power, they say, to suppress it ; though if he disliked it enough, he might forbear to be pre- sent at it. There are three festivals? in the year, whereof midsummer is one, on which the people hold it to be their right to be treated with these spectacles; not only in great cities, where they are never dis- appointed, but in very ordinary towns, where there are places provided for it. Besides those ordinary annual days, upon any extraordinary accidents of joy, as at this time for the arrival of the queen, upon the birth of the king's children, or any signal vic- tory, these triumphs are repeated ; which no eccle- siastical censures or authority can suppress or dis- countenance : for pope Pius the Fifth, in the time of Philip the Second, and very probably with his ap- probation, if not upon his desire, published a bull against the toros in Spain, which is still in force ; in which he declared, that nobody should be capable of g "festivals] festival days 70 THE LIFE OF PART Christian burial who lost his life at those spectacles; and that every clergyman who should be present at 9> them stood excommunicated ipso facto : and yet there is always one of the largest galleries assigned to the office of the inquisition, and the chief of the clergy, which is always filled ; besides that many religious men in their habits get other places ; only the Jesuits, out of their submission to the supreme authority of the pope, are never present there ; but on those days do always appoint some such solemn exercise to be performed that obliges their whole body to be together. is visited by Though it is not the course for the ambassadors the other ' ambassadors to make their visits to those who come last, before before his' they receive their first audience from the king ; yet audience. . came to the town, the Venetian ambassador sent to congratulate their arrival, and to know what hour they would assign of the next day te receive a visit from him : to which they returned their acknowledgments ; and that when they had obtained their audience of the king, they would be ready to receive that honour from him. However, the very next day he came to visit them ; and he was no sooner gone, but the German ambassador, not sending notice till he was at the bottom of the stairs, likewise came to them ; and then the other ambassadors and public ministers took their times to make their visits, without attending the audience. ntofthe There was one thing very notable, that all the ambassa- foreign ministers residing then in Madrid (the Eng- lish ambassadors and the resident of Denmark only excepted) were Italians ; and all, but the Venetian, of Julio subjects of the great duke. Julio Rospigliosi, nuncio pope, was of Pistoja, and so a subject to the EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 271 duke of Florence; a grave man, and at that time, PART save that his health was not good, like to come to v> be, what he was afterwards, pope, as he was Clement 1 649. the Ninth. The emperor's ambassador, the marquis of the mar- of Grana, was likewise an Italian, and a subject of Grana. Florence ; he had been general of one of the em- peror's armies, and was sent afterwards ambassador to Madrid ; he was a man of great parts ; and the removing the conde-duke Olivarez from court was imputed to his artifice. He made the match be- tween the king and the present queen, for which he ' expected to have the cap of a cardinal; and had received it, if he had not died before the following creation ; the cardinal of Hesse being nominated by the emperor upon his death. He was a man of an imperious and insolent nature, and capable of any temptation ; and nobody was more glad of his death than his own servants, over whom he was a great tyrant. The ambassador of Venice, Pietro Basadonna h , a of the Ve- noble Venetian, was a man, as all that nation is, of |^* great civility, and much profession ; he was the first who told the ambassadors that the king their master had a resident at Venice ; which was Mr. Killigrew; which they did not at first believe, having before they left St. Germain's dissuaded the king from that purpose ; but afterwards his majesty was prevailed upon, only to gratify him, that in that capacity he might borrow money of English merchants for his own subsistence ; which he did, and nothing to the honour of his master ; but was at last compelled to leave the republic for his vicious behaviour; of h Pietro Basadonna,] Omitted in MS. 272 THE LIFE OF PART which the Venetian ambassador complained to the king, when he came afterwards to Paris. The ambassador of the king of Poland was like- Of the Po- lish anibas- w i se a Florentine, who was much in favour with sador. the king Uladislaus, from whom he was sent ; and continued by king Casimir. He had lived in great splendour; but by his vicious course of life, and some miscarriages, he fell very low, and was revoked with some circumstances of dishonour. He was a man of a great wit, if it had not served him to very of the am- jij purposes. The ambassador of Florence was a bassador of Florence, subject of his master, and an abbot, a grave man ; and though he was frequently called ambassador, he was in truth but resident ; which was discovered by a contest he had with the Denmark resident for place ; who alleged, that the other was no more than resident ; which was true, and made the disco- very that the Florentines send no ambassadors to Madrid, because they are not suffered to cover, of the arch- which they use to do in many other courts. The spruck's " archduke of Inspruck's minister was likewise a Flo- ter ' rentine, and had been bred in Spain, and was a knight of the order; and supported that character upon a small assignation from his master, for some benefit and advantage it gave him in negociations and pretences he had in that court. of the resi- The resident of Denmark was don Henrique Wil- liamson, (he was afterwards called Rosewell,) who came secretary to Hannibal Zested ; who had been the year before ambassador in that court, and lived in extraordinary splendour, as all the northern min- isters do ; who have not their allowance from the king, but from a revenue that is purposely set aside for that kind of service. When he went away, he EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 273 left this gentleman to remain there as resident. He PART was a grave and a sober man, wiser than most of his , nation ; and lived with much more plenty, and with 1649< a better retinue than any other minister of that rank in that court. They had not been many days in Madrid, when don Lewis sent them the news of the imprisonment of the prince of Conde, prince of Conti, and the duke of Longueville, and that marshal Turenne was fled into Flanders; so much the cardinal had im- proved his condition from the time that they had left Paris. There was yet no house provided for them, which they took very heavily ; and believed that it might advance that business, if they had once a public reception as ambassadors ; and therefore they resolved to demand an audience. Don Lewis came to be advertised that the ambassadors had prepared mourning for themselves, and all their train, against their audience ; which was true ; for they thought it the most proper dress to appear in *, and to demand assistance to revenge the murder of their master, it being yet within the year : but don Lewis sent to them, that he hoped that when the whole court was in gala., upon the joy of the mar- riage of the king, and to give the queen a cheerful reception, they would not dishonour the festival by appearing in Into., which the king could not but take unkindly; which, he said, he thought fit to advertise them of, out of friendship, and without any authority. Whereupon, as well to comply in an affair which Lord c-ot- seemed to have somewhat of reason in it, as out 1 to appear in] for them to appear in VOL. I. T 274 THE LIFE OF EDWARD &c. PART V. 1649. lor of the exchequer demand their audi- ence. apprehension, that from hence they might take oc- casion to defer their audience, they changed their purpose, and caused new clothes to be made ; and then sent to demand their audience. & Montpelier, March 1, 1670. s audience.] MS. dds : upon the subject whereof, and what followed of the negotiation, the relation shall be continued. At the end. of this part in the MS. is the following paragraph: All that passed at the Hague, both with the States and the Scots, is more particularly con- tained in papers and memorials, which will be found in the hair cabinet, out of which any thing that is material may be added or altered ; as also the names of all the ministers at that time in Madrid are in a paper book that stands in the shop. THE LIFE OF EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON ; FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE RESTORATION OF THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE YEAR 1660. PART VI. i V ^ - . ._ JL HE ambassadors were conducted in form to PART their audience of the king of Spain ; and after- Vl ' wards of the queen and infanta ; and at last a 1 64 9. house was provided for them. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 378. &c. They perceived that court was more inclined to cultivate a strict friendship with the new common- wealth of England, than with the king their mas- ter, from an opinion of his condition being irre- coverable After all ceremonies were over, the ambassadors had a private audience of the king, to whom they delivered a memorial containing their propositions and demands They received shortly after such an answer as was evidence enough to them, how little they were to expect from any avowed friendship of that crown They rested for some time without giving the court any further trouble, (Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 389- &c.) and enjoyed themselves in no unpleasant retreat T 2 276 THE LIFE OF PART from business, if they could have put off the thought . of the miserable condition of their master, and their 1649. own p ar ti cu i ar concernments in their own country. 2for oT" The chancellor betook himself to the learning their the exche- language, by reading their books ; of which he plies him- made a good collection ; and informing himself the self to the , learning best he could of their government, and the admini- stration of their justice : and there began his Devo- tions upon the Psalms, which he finished in another banishment. Prince Rupert came upon the coast of Spain with the fleet under his command; and wrote to the chancellor, acquainting him, that he had brought away all the fleet from Ireland; and de- siring him to procure orders from the court, that he might flnd a good reception in all the Spanish ports, if his occasions brought him thither The news of a fleet of the king of England being on their coast at a time when their galeons were ex- pected home, occasioned great alteration in the be- haviour of that court ; and all that the ambassa- dors asked was easily granted : but that seeming favourable disposition was of short duration ; for on the arrival afterwards of a strong fleet sent out by the parliament, and the commander thereof writing an insolent letter to the king of Spain, the ambassadors found themselves less regarded. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 390. 1650. The king had now determined to go into Scot- land, upon the invitation of the council and parlia- ment of that kingdom ; and the ambassadors, who in reality disapproved of that measure, notified it to the court of Spain as a happy turn in the king's affairs; setting forth, that his majesty was now EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 277 master of that kingdom, and therefore might rea- PART sonably hope to be restored to the possession of the. rest of his dominions The court of Spain then I65 - began again to treat the ambassadors with more regard. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 404. &c. Upon the news of Cromwell's victory over the marquis of Argyle's army in Scotland., the ambas- sadors received a message from the king of Spain, desiring them to depart, since their presence in the court would be prejudicial to his affairs They imagined this proceeded from the expectation of the arrival of an ambassador from the common- wealth of England, which was then reported; but they knew afterwards that the true cause of this impatience to get rid of them was, that their min- ister in England having purchased many of the kings pictures, and rich furniture, had sent them to the Groyne ; from whence they were expected to arrive about that time at Madrid: which they thought could not decently be brought to the pa- lace while the ambassadors remained at the court. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 458. &c. Lord Cottington resolves, and obtains leave to stay as a private man in Spain ; but is not permit- ted to reside at Madrid. Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vi. p. 464. The other ambassador made his journey by Al-Tbechan- cala; and stayed a day there to see that university; the where the college and other buildings made by the cardinal Ximenes are well worth the seeing; went through the kingdom of Navarre to Pampe- drid lima, where the vice-king, the duke of Escalona, re- ceived him ; and lodged him two days in the palace, and treated him with great civility. There he was T 3 278 THE LIFE OF PART seized upon with the gou ; yet he continued his .journey by mules, there being no passage by coach 1650. or ntter, over the Pyrenees to Bayonne; where he was forced to keep his bed, and to bleed, for many days : but was so impatient of delay, that after a week's rest, and before he was fit for the journey, he put himself into a litter, and reached Bourdeaux ; where he was forced to follow the prescription of Dr. Lopez, a very learned Jew and physician ; and Andar- yet went too soon from thence too; so that when ne came to Paris, he was cast into his bed by a new defluxion of the gout, more violent than ever. As soon as he had recovered any strength, he waited upon the queen mother, who received him The queen's very graciously ; complained very much to him of the duke of York; who having been left with her by * ne k* n & when he parted with her majesty at Beauvais, had, expressly against her consent and command, transported himself to Brussels, upon imaginations which had no foundation, and upon some treaty with the duke of Lorrain, which she was sure could produce no good effect. Her ma- jesty seemed most offended with sir Edward Her- bert, the attorney general, and sir George Ratcliff, as the two persons who prevailed with the duke, and had engaged him in that journey, and governed him in it, against the advice of the lord Byron, who was his governor ; and that being disappointed of what they had unreasonably looked for at Brus- sels, they had carried his royal highness into Hol- land, to his sister; who suffered much by his pre- sence, the States of Holland being resolved not to suffer him to reside within their province ; the prince of Orange being lately dead of the smallpox, EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 979 and his son, who was born after his death, being an PART infant, and depending so entirely upon the good- will of the States : and therefore the princess royal was much troubled that the coming of the duke her bro- ther into those parts gave the States any occasion of offence. The queen said, that she had writ to the duke to return into France, but had received no an- swer ; and therefore she desired the ambassador, as soon as he should come into those parts, (for he meant to go to Antwerp, where his wife and chil- dren then were,) that he would make a journey to the Hague, to reduce the duke, and to prevail with him to return into France ; which the ambassador could not refuse to promise. He found there the queen's own family in some disorder, upon some declaration she had made, that the protestant chaplain should be no more permitted to perform his function in the Louvre ; where the queen's court resided, and where there was a lower room, which had been always used as a chapel, from the time of the princes first coming thither to that time; and where twice a day the common prayer was read to those who were protestants, in both fa- milies ; and now the queen had signified to Dr. Co- Dr - c* forbid to of- sins (who was the chaplain assigned by the late kmgficiatetothe to attend in her majesty's family, for the protestant f n ro t an part of it) that he should be no more permitted to ^' s fa ' have the use of that room. The chancellor of the exchequer took this occa-Thechan- ' i j ce ^ r sion to speak with the queen ; and put her in mind speaks to of some promise she had made him, when he took on that his leave of her to go for Spain, that she would not subje as much as usually attends the space of two years, which was the time he had been absent. The fatal success at Worcester about this time had put a pe- riod to all his majesty's present designs ; and he had no sooner made his wonderful escape into France, than he sent for the chancellor ; who left his family, as he had done formerly, and as meanly supplied, and made all haste to Paris, where he found the king ; with whom he remained till his majesty was even compelled to remove from thence into Germany; which was above three years. During that time the princess royal had, out of They re - her own princely nature and inclination, cultivated by the civility and offices of the lady Stanhope, con- ferred a very seasonable obligation upon him, by assigning a house, that was in her disposal at Breda, to his wife and children ; who had thereupon left - Antwerp ; and, without the payment of any house- rent, were more conveniently, because more frugally, settled in their new mansion at Breda; where he got liberty to visit them for four or five days, whilst the king continued his journey to the Spa, and after another absence of near four years ; finding his chil- dren grown and improved after that rate. The gracious inclination in the princess royal towards the chancellor's wife and children, (not without some reprehension from Paris,) and the civilities in the lady Stanhope, had proceeded much from the good offices of Daniel O'Neile, of the king's bedchamber ; who had for many years lived in very good corre- spondence with the chancellor, and was very accept- 302 THE LIFE OF PART able in the court of the princess royal, and to those _J persons who had the greatest influence upon her 1655. counc jig a nd affections. The princess met the king her brother at the Spa, rather for the mutual comfort they took in each other, than for the use either of them had of the waters ; yet the princess engaged herself to that or^ der and diet that the waters required ; and after near a month's stay there, they were forced suddenly to remove from thence, by the sickness of some of the princess's women of the smallpox, and resided at Aix-la-Chapelle ; where they had been but one whole day, when notice came from the Spa, that Mrs. Killigrew, one of the maids of honour to the Mr. o'Neiie princess, was dead of the smallpox. O'Neile came the P chan- t0 m the instant to the chancellor, with very much *"^J r t s oask kindness, and told him e , that the princess royal had Kiiiigrew's a verv good opinion of him, and kind purposes to- daughter. wards his family ; which she knew suffered much for his fidelity to the king ; and therefore that she was. much troubled to find that her mother the queen had less kindness for him than he deserved ; that by the death of Mrs. Killigrew there was a place now fallen, which very many would desire ; and that it would no sooner be known at Paris, than the queen would undoubtedly recommend some lady ta the princess ; but he was confident that, if the chancellor would move the king to recommend his daughter, who was known to the princess, her high- ness would willingly receive her. He thanked him e O'Neile came in the instant by his friendship with the lady to the chancellor, with very much Stanhope had much credit in kindness, and told him] Mr. the family of the princess, came O'Neile, who professed much to him and told him kindness to the chancellor, and EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 303 for his particular kindness, but conjured him not to PART use his interest to promote any such pretence; and told him f , that " himself would not apply the king's' 6 ^ 5 ' * r * & Which the " favour to such a request ; that he had but one chancellor declines. " daughter , who was all the company and comfort " her mother had in her melancholic retirement, " and therefore he was resolved not to separate " them, nor to dispose his daughter to a court life ;" which he did in truth perfectly detest. O'Neile, much disappointed with the answer, and believing that the proposition would have been very grateful to him, confessed, that the princess had been already moved in it by the lady Chesterfield; and that it was her own desire that the king should move it to her, to the end that she might be thereby sheltered from the reproach which she expected from the queen ; but that the princess herself had so much kindness for his daughter, that she had long resolved to have her upon the first vacancy. The chancellor was exceedingly perplexed, and resolved nothing more, than that his daughter should not live from her mother ; and therefore renewed his conjurations to Mr. O'Neile, that he would not further promote it, since it would never be acceptable to him ; and concluded, that his making no application, and the importunity of others who desired the honour, would put an end to the pretence. The king had heard of the matter from the The king princess, and willingly expected when the chan-SmoVthat cellor would move him for his recommendation ; sub J ect - which when he saw he forbore to do, he spake him- self to him of it, and asked him why he did not f told him] Omitted in MS. he had then no more) daughter] MS. adds: (for 304 THE LIFE OF PART make such a suit to him : upon which the chancellor VI. told him all that had passed between O'Neile and 1655. jjim ; and that for many reasons he declined the re- ceiving that obligation from the princess ; and there- fore he had no use of his majesty's favour in it. The king told him plainly, that " his sister, upon " having seen his daughter some days, liked her so " well, that she desired to have her about her per- " son ; and had herself spoken to him to move it to " her, for the reason aforesaid, and to prevent any *' displeasure from the queen ; and he knew not how " the chancellor could, or why he should, omit such " an opportunity of providing for his daughter in so The chan- " honourable a way." The chancellor told him, answer. " he could not dispute the reasons with him ; only " that he could not give himself leave to deprive his " wife of her daughter's company, nor believe that " she could be more advantageously bred than un- His dis- " der her mother." Hereupon he went to the rincess princess, and took notice of the honour she was in- clined to do him ; but, he told her, the honour was not fit for him to receive, nor the conjuncture sea- sonable for her royal highness to confer it ; that she could not but know his condition, being deprived of his estate; and if her highness's bounty had not assigned a house at Breda, where his wife and fa- mily lived rent free, they had not known how to have subsisted : but by that her favour, the small supplies his friends in England secretly sent over to them sustained them in that private retirement in which they lived ; so that it was not in his power to make his daughter such an allowance as would en- able her to live in her court in that manner as would become her relation. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 305 The princess would not permit him to enlarge; PART VI. but very generously told him, that she knew well 1 f> r the straitness of his condition, and how it came to be so low ; and had no thought that he should be at the charge to maintain his daughter in her service ; that he should leave that to her : and so used many expressions of esteem of him, and of kindness and grace to his daughter. He, foreseeing and ex- pecting such generosity, replied to her, that since her goodness disposed her to such an act of charity and honour, it became his duty and gratitude to provide, that she should bring no inconvenience upon herself; that he had the misfortune (with all the innocence and integrity imaginable) to be more in the queen her mother's disfavour, than any gen- tleman who had had the honour to serve the crown so many years in some trust \ that all the applica- tion he could make, nor the king's own interposition, could prevail with her majesty to receive him into her gracious opinion ; and that he could not but know, that this unseasonable act of charity, which her highness would vouchsafe to so ungracious a family, would produce some resentment and dis- pleasure from the queen her mother towards her highness, and increase the weight of her severe in- dignation against him, which so heavily oppressed him already ; and therefore he resolved to prevent that mischief, which would undoubtedly befall her highness ; and would not submit to the receiving the fruits of her favourable condescension. To this the princess answered with some warmth, that she had always paid that duty to the queen her mother which was due to her, and would never give her a just cause to be offended with her : but that VOL. i. x 306 THE LIFE OF PART she was mistress of her own family, and might re- ceive what servants she pleased ; and that she should I xe t commit a great fault against the queen, if she should forbear to do a good and a just action, to which she was inclined, out of apprehension that her majesty would be offended at it. She said, she knew some ill offices had been done him to her mother, for which she was sorry; and doubted not, but her majesty would in due time discern that she had been misinformed and mistaken; and then she would like and approve of what her highness should now do. In the mean time she was resolved to take his daughter, and would send for her as soon as she returned into Holland. The chancellor, not in any degree converted, but confounded with the gracious and frank discourse of the princess royal, knew not what more to say ; replied only, that he hoped her highness would think better of what she seemed to undervalue, and that he left his daughter to be dis- posed of by her mother, who he knew would be very unwilling to part with her ; upon which her high- ness answered, " I'll warrant you, my lady and I " will agree upon the matter." To conclude this discourse, which, considering what fell out after- wards, is not impertinent to be remembered; he knew his wife had no inclination to have her daugh- ter out of her own company ; and when he had by letter informed her of all that had passed, he endea- voured to confirm her in that resolution : but when the princess, after her return into Holland, sent to her, and renewed her gracious offer, she, upon con- sultation with Dr. Morley, (who upon the old friend- ship between the chancellor, and him, chose in his banishment, from the murder of the king, to make EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 307 his residence for the most part in his family, and PART was always perfectly kind to all his interests,) be-. lieved it might prove for her daughter's benefit, and 1655> writ to her husband her opinion, and that the doctor concurred in the same. The chancellor looked upon the matter itself, and all the circumstances thereof, as having some marks of divine Providence, which he would not resist, and so referred it wholly to his wife ; who when she had presented her daughter to the princess, came herself His wife ac - & r > cepts the to reside with her husband, to his great comfort ; offer, and presents tier and which he could not have enjoyed if the other daughter to separation had not been made; and possibly that thepm consideration had the more easily disposed her to consent to the other. We have now set down all the passages and circumstances which accompanied or attended that lady's first promotion to the service of the princess royal ; which the extreme averseness in her father and mother from embracing that op- portunity, and the unusual grace and importunity from them who conferred the honour being consi- dered, there may appear to many an extraordinary operation of Providence in giving the first rise to what afterwards succeeded ; though of a nature so transcendent, as cannot be thought to have any re- lation to it. After an unsuccessful insurrection of some of the king's friends in England, Cromwell exercised the utmost severity and cruelty against them ; put- ting many to death, and transporting others as slaves to Barbadoes ; and by his own authority, and that of his council, made an order, that all persons who had ever borne arms for, or declared themselves of, the royal party, should be decimated; x 2 308 THE LIFE OF PART that is, pay a tenth part of all the estate they had ty to support the charge of the commonwealth ; li55. and published a declaration to justify his proceed- pubiishesa ings, (Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vii. p. 129 to 162.) justifying which confidently set down such maxims, as made decimating r it manifest to all who had ever served the king, or would not submit to Cromwell's power and govern- ment, that they had nothing that they could call their own, but must be disposed of at his pleasure ; which as much concerned all other parties as the king's, in the consequence *. This declaration, as soon as printed, was sent over to Cologne, where the king then was, and the TO which chancellor was commanded by the king to write the chancel- lor by the some discourse upon it, to awaken the people, and mand* writes shew them their concernment in it; which he did an answer. by way of " a Letter to a Friend ;" which was like- wise sent into England, and there printed; and when Cromwell called his next parliament, it was made great use of to inflame the people, and make them sensible of the destruction that attended them; and was thought then to produce many good effects, conclusion. And so we conclude this part. Montpelier, May 27, 1670. 1656 The seventh and last part of the manuscript is 1660 dated at Montpelier, August 1, 1670, and con- ' in the consequence] MS. would have given his majesty adds: though for the present the least assistance, and were none but that party underwent only reputed to be of the king's that insupportable burden of party, because they had not as- the decimation, which brought sisted the rebels to any consi- in a vast incredible sum of mo- derable" proportion, but had a ney into his coffers, the greater good mind to have sat neuters, part whereof was raised upon and not to be at any charge those who never did, nor ever with reference to either party. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 309 tinues the history from the king's residence at Co- PART logne, to the restoration of the royal family in 1660; containing the substance of what is printed 1656 in the two last books of The History of the Rebel- jfigo lion. The only remarkable circumstance of the author's life during that period is, that in the year 1657, while the king was at Bruges, his ma- jesty appointed the chancellor of the exchequer to be lord high chancellor of England; and delivered the great seal into his custody, upon the death of sir Edward Herbert, the last lord keeper thereof . Hist, of the Reb. 8vo. vol. vii. p. 167506. X 3 THE CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON, LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND, AND CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD ; THE RESTORATION IN 1660, TO HIS BANISHMENT IN 1667. x4 THE CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE ; OF EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. Moulins, June 8, 1672. Reflections upon the most material passages which hap- pened after the king's restoration to the time of the chancellor's banishment; out of which his children, for whose information they are only collected, may add some important passages to his Life, as the true cause of his misfortunes. X HE easy and glorious reception of the king, in 1 660. the manner that hath been mentioned, without any The au- other conditions than what had been frankly offered fe c e r . spre by himself in his declaration and letters from Breda ; the parliament's casting themselves in a body at his feet, in the minute of his arrival at Whitehall, with all the professions of duty and submission imagin- able ; and no man having authority there, but they who had either eminently served the late king, or who were since grown up out of their nonage from such fathers, and had throughly manifested their fast fidelity to his present majesty; the rest, who CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. had been enough criminal, shewing more animosity ~~ towards the severe punishment of those, who having more power in the late times had exceeded them in mischief, than care for their own indemnity : this temper sufficiently evident, and the universal joy of the people, which was equally visible, for the total suppression of all those who had so many years ex- ercised tyranny over them, made most men believe, both abroad and at home, that God had not only restored the king miraculously to his throne, but that he had, as he did in the time of Hezekiah, " prepared the people, for the thing was done sud- " denly," (2 Chron. xxix. 36.) in such a manner that his authority and greatness would have been more illustrious than it had been in any of his ancestors. And it is most true, and must never be denied, that the people were admirably a disposed and prepared to pay all the subjection, duty, and obedience, that a just and prudent king could expect from them, and had a very sharp aversion and detestation of all those who had formerly misled and corrupted them ; so that, except the general, who seemed to be possessed entirely of the affection of the army, and whose fidelity was now above any misappre- hension, there appeared no man whose power and interest could in any degree shake or endanger the peace and security the king was in ; the congratu- lations for his return being so universal from all the counties of England, as well as from the parliament and city ; from all those who had most signally dis- served and disclaimed him, as well as from those of his own party, and those who were descended from them : insomuch as the king was wont merrily to a admirably] so admirably EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 315 say, as hath been mentioned before, " that it could 1660. " be nobody's fault but his own that he had stayed " so long abroad, when all mankind wished him so " heartily at home." It cannot therefore but be concluded by the standers-by, and the spectators of this wonderful change and exclamation of all de- grees of men, that there must be some wonderful miscarriages in the state, or some unheard of defect of understanding in those who were trusted by the king in the administration of his affairs ; that there could in so short a time be a new revolution in the general affections of the people,- that they grew even weary of that happiness they were possessed of and had so much valued, and fell into the same discon- tents and murmurings which had naturally accom- panied them in the worst times. From what fatal causes these miserable effects were produced, is the business of this present disquisition to examine, and in some degree to discover ; and therefore must be of such a nature, as must be as tenderly handled, with reference to things and persons, as the disco- very of the truth will permit ; and cannot be pre- sumed to be intended ever for a public view, or for more than the information of his children of the true source and grounds from whence their father's mis- fortunes proceeded, in which nothing can be found that can make them ashamed of his memory. The king brought with him from beyond the seas that council which had always attended him, and whose advice he had always received in his trans- actions of greatest importance ; and his small fa- mily, that consisted of gentlemen who had for the most part been put about him by his father, and 316 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1 660. constantly waited upon his person in all his distress h , "with as much submission and patience undergoing their part in it, as could reasonably be expected from such a people; and therefore had the keener appetites, and the stronger presumption to push on their fortunes (as they called it) in the infancy of their master's restoration, that other men might not be preferred before them, who had not " borne the " heat of the day," as they had done. The king's Qf t ne council were the chancellor, the marquis council at * the restore- of Ormond, the lord Colepepper, and secretary Ni- cholas, who lived in great unity and concurrence in the communication of the most secret counsels. There had been more of his council abroad with him, who, according to the motions he made, and the places he had resided in, were sometimes with him, but other remained in France, or in some parts of Holland and Flanders, for their convenience, ready to repair to his majesty when they should be called. The four nominated above were they who constantly attended, were privy to all counsels, and waited upon him in his return. Lord chan- T ne chancellor was the highest in place, and cellorHyde. thought to be so in trust, because he was most in private with the king, had managed most of the se- cret correspondence in England, and all despatches of importance had passed through his hands ; which had hitherto been with the less envy, because the indefatigable pains he took were very visible, and it was as visible that he gained nothing by it. His wants and necessities were as great as any man's, nor was the allowance assigned to him by the king b distress] distresses EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 317 in the least degree more, or better paid, than every 1 660. one of the council received. Besides, the friendship was so entire between the marquis of Ormond and him, that no arts that were used could dissolve it ; and it was enough known, that as he had an entire and full confidence from the king, and a greater esteem than any man, so, that the chancellor so en- tirely communicated all particulars with him, that there was not the least resolution taken without his privity and approbation. The chancellor had been employed by the last king in all the affairs of the greatest trust and secrecy ; had been made privy counsellor and chancellor of the exchequer in the very beginning of the troubles ; and had been sent by that king into the west with his son, when he thought their interest would be best preserved and provided for by separating their persons. A greater testimony and recommendation a servant could not receive from his master, than the king gave of him to the prince, who from that time treated him with as much affection and confidence as any man, and which (notwithstanding very powerful opposition) he continued and improved to this time of his restora- tion ; and even then rejected some intimations ra- ther than propositions, which were secretly made to him at the Hague, that the chancellor was a man very much in the prejudice of the presbyterian party, as in truth he was, and therefore that his majesty would do best to leave him behind, till he should be himself settled in England : which the king received with that indignation and disdain, and answered the person, who privately presumed to give the advice, in such a manner, that he was troubled no more with the importunity, nor did any 318 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. man ever own the advice. Yet the chancellor had besought the king, upon some rumours which had been spread, that if any exception or prejudice to his person should be so insisted on, as might delay his return one hour, he would decline giving him any protection, till he should find it more in his power, after his arrival in England : which desire of his, though it found no reception with the king, proceeded from so much sincerity, that it is well known the chancellor did positively resolve, that if any such thing had been urged by any authority, he would render the king's indulgence and grace of no inconvenience to his majesty, by his secret and vo- luntary withdrawing himself, without his privity, and without the reach of his discovery for some time : so far he was from being biassed by his own particular benefit and advantage. The mar- T ne marquis of Ormond was the person of the quis of Ormond. greatest quality, estate, and reputation, who had frankly engaged his person and his fortune in the king's service from the first hour of the troubles, and pursued it with that courage and constancy, that when the king was murdered, and he deserted by the Irish, contrary to the articles of the peace which they had made with him, and when he could make no longer defence, he refused all the conditions which Cromwell offered, who would have given him all his vast estate, if he would have been contented to have lived quietly in some of his own houses, without further concerning himself in the quarrel ; and transported himself, without so much as accept- ing a pass from his authority, in a little weak vessel into France, where he found the king, from whom he never parted till he returned with him into Eng- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 319 land. And having thus merited as much as a sub- 1660. ject can do from a prince, he had much more credit "~ and esteem with the king than any other man : and the lustre the chancellor was in, was no less from the declared friendship the marquis had for him, than from the great trust his majesty reposed in him. The lord Colepepper was a man of great parts, . . -I 1 -i Colepepper. very sharp and present wit, and an universal under- standing ; so that few men filled a place in council with more sufficiency, or expressed themselves upon any subject that occurred with more weight and vigour. He had been trusted by the late king (who had a singular opinion of his courage and other abilities) to wait upon the prince when he left his father, and continued still afterwards with him, or in his service, and in a good correspondence with the chancellor. Secretary Nicholas was a man of general good Secretary reputation with all men, of unquestionable integrity and long experience in the service of the crown ; whom the late king trusted as much as any man to his death. He was one of those who were excepted by the parliament from pardon or composition, and so was compelled to leave the kingdom shortly after Oxford was delivered up, when the king was in the hands of the Scots. The present king con- tinued him in the office of secretary of state, which he had so long held under his father. He was a man of great gravity, and without any ambitious or private designs ; and had so fast a friendship with the chancellor for many years, that he was very well content, and without any jealousy for his making many despatches and other transactions, which more 320 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. immediately related to his office, and which indeed "were always made with his privity and concurrence. This was the state and constitution of the king's council and his family, when he embarked in Hol- land, and landed at Dover : the additions and alter- ations which were after made will be mentioned in their place. It will be convenient here, before we descend to those particulars which had an influence upon the minds of men, to take a clear view of the temper and spirit of that time ; of the nature and inclination of the army ; of the disposition and interest of the several factions in religion ; all which appeared in their several colours, without dissembling their prin- ciples, and with equal confidence demanded the li- berty of conscience they had enjoyed in and since the time of Cromwell ; and the humour and the pre- sent purpose and design of the parliament itself, to whose judgment and determination the whole settle- ment of the kingdom, both in church and state, stood referred by the king's own declaration from Breda, which by God's inspiration had been the sole visible motive to that wonderful change that had en- The tem- sued. And whosoever takes a prospect of all those rit'oftha? 1 "several passions and appetites and interests, toge- time. ther w jth t ne divided affections, jealousies, and ani- mosities of those who had been always looked upon as the king's party, which, if united, would in that conjuncture have been powerful enough to have ba- lanced all the other ; I say, whoever truly and inge- nuously considers and reflects upon all this com- position of contradictory wishes and expectations, must confess that the king was not yet the master of the kingdom, nor his authority and security such EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 321 as the general noise and acclamation, the bells and the bonfires, proclaimed it to be; and that there was in no conjuncture more need, that the virtue and wisdom and industry of a prince should be evident, and made manifest in the preservation of his dignity, and in the application of his mind to the govern- ment of his affairs ; and that all who were eminently trusted by him should be men of unquestionable sincerity, who with industry and dexterity should first endeavour to compose the public disorders, and to provide for the peace and settlement of the king- dom, before they applied themselves to make or im- prove their own particular fortunes. And there is little question, but if this good method had been pursued, and the resolutions of that kind, which the king had seriously taken beyond the seas, when he first discerned his good fortune coming towards him, had been executed and improved; the hearts and affections of all degrees of men were so prepared by their own natural inclinations and integrity, by what they had seen and what they had suffered, by their observations and experience, by their fears, or by their hopes ; that they might have been all kneaded into a firm and constant obedience c and resignation to the king's authority, and to a lasting establish- ment of monarchic power, in all the just extents which the king could expect, or men of any public or honest affections could wish or submit to. The first mortification the king met with was as importu- . . _ . . nate solici- soon as he arrived at Canterbury, which was within three hours after he landed at Dover; and where JJ,,' he found many of those who were justly looked ^'^ b a >'_ ists. c a firm and constant obedience] as firm and constant an obedience VOL. I. Y 322 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. upon, from their own sufferings or those of their fathers, and their constant adhering to the same principles, as of the king's party; who with joy waited to kiss his hand, and were received by him with those open arms and flowing expressions of grace, calling all those by their names who were known to him, that they easily assured themselves of the accomplishment of all their desires from such a generous prince. And some of them, that they might not lose the first opportunity, forced him to give them present audience, in which they reckoned up the insupportable losses undergone by themselves or their fathers, and some services of their own ; and thereupon demanded the present grant or promise of such or such an office. Some, for the real small value of one, though of the first classis, pressed for two or three with such confidence and importunity, and with such tedious discourses, that the king was extremely nauseated with their suits, though his modesty knew not how to break from them ; that he no sooner got into his chamber, which for some hours he was not able to do, than he lamented the condition to which he found he must be subject ; and did in truth from that minute contract such a prejudice against the persons of some of those, though of the greatest quality, for the indecency and incon- gruity of their pretences, that he never afterwards received their addresses with his usual grace or patience, and rarely granted any thing they desired, though the matter was more reasonable, and the manner of asking much more modest. Monk re- B u t there was another mortification, which im- commends . . a list of mediately succeeded this, that gave him much more Si?!* the trouble, and in which he knew not how to comport king. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 323 himself. The general, after he had given all neces- 1 660. sary orders to his troops, and sent a short despatch ~~ to the parliament of the king's being come to Can- terbury, and of his purpose to stay there two days, till the next Sunday was passed, he came to the king in his chamber, and in a short secret audience, and without any preamble or apology, as he was not a man of a graceful elocution, he told him, " that he " could not do him better service, than by recom- " mending to him such persons who were most " grateful to the people, and in respect of their " parts and interests were best able to serve him;" and thereupon gave him a large paper full of names, which the king in disorder enough received, and without reading put it into his pocket, that he might not enter into any particular debate upon the persons ; and told him, " that he would be always " ready to receive his advice, and willing to gratify " him in any thing he should desire, and which " would not be prejudicial to his service." The . king, as soon as he could, took an opportunity, when there remained no more in his chamber, to inform the chancellor of the first assaults he had encountered as soon as he alighted out of his coach, and afterwards of what the general had said to him ; and thereupon took the paper out of his pocket and read it. It contained the names of at least three- score and ten persons, who were thought fittest to be made privy counsellors; in the whole number whereof, there were only two who had ever served the king, or been looked upon as zealously affected to his service, the marquis of Hertford and the earl of Southampton ; who were both of so universal reputation and interest, and so well known to have Y 2 324 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. the very particular esteem of the king, that they "needed no such recommendation. All the rest were either those counsellors who had served the king, and deserted him by adhering to the parliament ; or of those who had most eminently disserved him in the beginning of the rebellion, and in the carrying it on with all fierceness and animosity, until the new model, and dismissing the earl of Essex : then, in- deed, Cromwell had grown terrible to them, and disposed them to wish the king were again possessed of his regal power ; and which they did but wish. There were then the names of the principal persons of the presbyterian party, to which the general was thought to be most inclined, at least to satisfy the foolish and unruly inclinations of his wife. There were likewise the names of some who were most notorious in all the other factions ; and of some who, in respect of their mean qualities and meaner quali- fications, nobody could imagine how they could come to be named, except that by the very odd mixture any sober and wise resolutions and concurrence might be prevented, with which The king was in more than ordinary confusion he is dis- pleased, with the reading this paper, and knew not well what to think of the general, in whose absolute power he now was. However, he resolved in the entrance upon his government not to consent to such impositions, which might prove perpetual fet- ters and chains upon him ever after. He gave the paper therefore to the chancellor, and bade him " take the first opportunity to discourse the matter " with the general," (whom he had not yet saluted,) " or rather with Mr. Morrice, his most intimate " friend ;" whom he had newly presented to the EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 325 king, and " with both whom he presumed he would 1660. " shortly be acquainted," though for the present ~~ both were equally unknown to him. Shortly after, when mutual visits had passed between them, and such professions as naturally are made between per- sons who are like to have much to do with each other, and Mr. Morrice being in private with him,, the chancellor told him " how much the king was " surprised with the paper he had received from the " general, which at least recommended (and which " would have always great authority with him) some " such persons to his trust, in whom he could not " yet, till they were better known to him, repose " any confidence." And thereupon he read many of their names, and said, " that if such men were made " privy counsellors, it would either be imputed to " the king's own election, which would cause a very " ill measure to be taken of his majesty's nature and " judgment ; or (which more probably would be the " case) to the inclination and power of the general, " which would be attended with as ill effects." Mr. Morrice seemed much troubled at the apprehension,, and said, " the paper was of his handwriting, by the " general's order, who, he was assured, had no such " intention ; but that he would presently speak with " him and return ;" which he did within less than an hour, and expressed " the trouble the general "was in upon the king's very just exception; and " that the truth was, he had been obliged to have " much communication with men of all humours " and inclinations, and so had promised to do them " good offices to the king, and could not therefore " avoid inserting their names in that paper, without " any imaginations that the king would accept them; Y 3 326 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. "that he had done his part, and all that could be ~ " expected from him, and left the king to do what " he had thought best for his own service, which he " would always desire him to do, whatever proposi- " tion he should at any time presume to make to his " majesty, which he would not promise should be al- " ways reasonable. However, he did still heartily " wish that his majesty would make use of some of " those persons," whom he named, and said, " he " knew most of them were not his friends, and that " his service would be more advanced by admitting " them, than by leaving them out." was abundantly pleased with this good Monk's ex- temper of the general, and less disliked those who he discerned would be grateful to him than any of the rest : and so the next day he made the general knight of the garter, and admitted him of the coun- cil ; and likewise at the same time gave the signet to Mr. Morrice, who was sworn of the council, and secretary of state ; and sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, who had been presented by the general under a spe- cial recommendation, was then too sworn of the council ; and the rather, because having lately mar- ried the niece of the earl of Southampton, (who was then likewise present, and received the garter, to which he had been elected some years before,) it was believed that his slippery humour would be easily . restrained and fixed by the uncle. All this was transacted during his majesty's stay at Canterbury. SUm'hlnt Upon the 29th of May, which was his majesty's entry into birthday, and now d the day of his restoration and triumph, he entered London the highway from Ro- d now] now again EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 327 Chester to Blackheath, being on both sides so full of 1660. acclamations of joy, and crowded with such a multi-~ tude of people, that it seemed one continued street wonderfully inhabited. Upon Blackheath the arm^ was drawn up, consisting of above fifty thousand men, horse and foot, in excellent order and equi- page, where the general presented the chief officers to kiss the king's hands, which grace they seemed to receive with all humility and cheerfulness. Shortly after, the lord mayor of London, the sheriffs, and body of the aldermen, with the whole militia of the city, appeared with great lustre ; whom the king received with a most graceful and obliging counte- nance, and knighted the mayor, and all the alder- men, and sheriffs, and the principal officers of the militia : an honour the city had been without near eighteen years, and therefore abundantly welcome to the husbands and their wives. With this equi- page the king was attended through the city of London, where the streets were railed in on both sides, that the livery of the e companies of the city might appear with the more order and decency, till he came to Whitehall ; the windows all the way be- ing full of ladies and persons of quality, who were impatient to fill their eyes with a beloved spectacle, of which they had been so long deprived. The king was no sooner at Whitehall, but (as hath been said) the speakers and both houses of parliament pre- sented themselves with all possible professions of duty and obedience at his royal feet, and were even ravished with the cheerful reception they had from him. The joy was universal ; and whosoever was e of the] of all the Y 4 3528 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1 660. not pleased at heart, took the more care to appear Excessive as ^ ne was ' an( ^ no v i ce was heard but of the joy upon highest congratulation, of extolling the person of the restora- & tion. the king, admiring his condescensions and affability, raising his praises to heaven, and cursing and de- testing the memory of those villains who had so long excluded so meritorious a prince, and thereby withheld that happiness from them, which they should enjoy in the largest measure they could de- sire or wish. The joy on all sides was with the greatest excess, so that most men thought, and had reason enough' to think, that the king was even al- ready that great and glorious prince which the par- liament had wantonly and hypocritically promised to raise his father to be. Both houses The chancellor took his place in the house of peers menTmeet. with a general acceptation and respect ; and all those lords who were alive and had served the king his fa- ther, and the sons of those who were dead and were equally excluded from sitting there by ordinances of parliament, together with all those who had been cre- ated by this king, took their seats in parliament with- The charac- out the least murmur or exception. The house of ter of the , ._, . , , . - house of commons seemed equally constituted to what could >ns ' be wished ; for though there were many presbyterian members, and some of all other factions in religion, who did all promise themselves some liberty and in- dulgence for their several parties, yet they all pro- fessed great zeal for the establishing the king in his full power. And the major part of the house was of sober and prudent men, who had been long known to be very weary of all the late governments, and heartily to desire and pray for the king's return. And there were many who had either themselves EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 329 been actual and active malignants and delinquents 1660. . in the late king's time, or the sons of such, who in-"~ herited their fathers virtues. Both which classes of men were excluded from being capable of being elected to serve in parliament, not only by former ordinances, but by express caution in the very writs which were sent out to summon this parliament ; and were notwithstanding made choice of, and re- turned by the country, and received without any hesitation in the house, and treated by all men with the more civility and respect for their known malig- nity : so that the king, though it was necessary to have patience in the expectations of their resolu- tions in all important points, which could not sud- denly be concluded in such a popular assembly, was very reasonably assured, that he should have nothing pressed upon him that should be ungrateful, with reference to the church or state. It is true, the presbyterians were very numer- Particularly ous in the house, and many of them men of good byterian^ parts, and had a great party in the army, and a party 1D ltf greater in the city, and, except with reference to episcopacy, were desirous to make themselves grate- ful to the king in the settling all his interest, and especially in vindicating themselves from the odious murder of the king by loud and passionate inveigh- ing against that monstrous parricide, and with the highest animosity denouncing the severest judg- ments not only against those who were immediately guilty of it, but against those principal persons who had most notoriously adhered to Cromwell in the administration of his government, that is, most emi- nently opposed them and their faction. They took all occasions to declare, " that the power and in- 330 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1 660- " terest of the party f had been the chief means to bring home the king;" and used all possible en- deavours that the king might be persuaded to think so too, and that the very covenant had at last done him good and expedited his return, by the causing it to be hung up -in churches, from whence Crom- well had cast it out; and their ministers pressing upon the conscience of all those who had taken it, " that they were bound by that clause which con- " cerned the defence of the king's person, to take up " arms, if need were, on his behalf, and to restore ** him to his rightful government ;" when the very same ministers had obliged them to take up arms against the king his father by virtue of that cove- nant, and to fight against him till they had taken him prisoner, which produced his murder. This party was much displeased that the king declared himself so positively on behalf of episcopacy, and would hear no , other prayers in his chapel than those contained in the Book of Common Prayer, and that all those formalities and solemnities were now again resumed and practised, which they had caused to be abolished for so many years past. Yet the king left all churches to their liberty, to use such forms of devotion which they liked best ; and such of their chief preachers who desired it, or were desired by their friends, were admitted to preach before him, even without the surplice, or any other habit than they made choice of. But this conniv- ance would not do their business; their preaching made no proselytes who were not so before ; and the resort of the people to those churches where the f the party] their party EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 331 Common Prayer was again introduced, was evi- 1660. dence enough of their inclinations ; and they saw ~~ the king's chapel always full of those who had used to possess the chief benches in their assemblies ; so that it was manifest that nothing but the supreme authority would be able to settle their discipline : and therefore, with their usual confidence, they were which very importunate in the house of commons, " that settlement " the ecclesiastical government might be settled and f j, c ^* ias " remain according to the covenant, which had been Ternn nt . according " practised many years, and so the people generally to the c - " well devoted to it ; whereas the introducing the " Common Prayer (with which very few had ever " been acquainted or heard it read) would very " much offend the people, and give great interrup- ** tion to the composing the peace of the kingdom." This was urged in the house of commons by emi- nent men of the party, who believed they had the major part of their mind. And their preachers were as solicitous and industrious to inculcate the same doctrine to the principal persons who had re- turned with the king, and every day resorted to the court as if they presided there, and had frequent audiences of the king to persuade him to be of the same opinion ; from whom they received no other condescensions than they had formerly had at the Hague, with the same gracious affability and ex- pressions to their persons. That party in the house that was in truth devoted to the king and to the old principles of church and of state, which every day increased, thought not fit so to cross the presbyterians, as to make them despe- rate in their hopes of satisfaction ; but, with the concurrence with those who were of contrary fac- 332 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. tions, diverted the argument by proposing other sub- jects of more immediate relation to the public peace, (as the act of indemnity, which every man impa- tiently longed for, and the raising money towards the payment of the army and the navy, without which that insupportable charge could not be less- ened,) to be first considered and despatched ; and the model for religion to be debated and prepared by that committee which had been nominated before his majesty's return to that purpose ; they not doubt- ing to cross and puzzle any pernicious resolutions there, till time and their own extravagant follies should put some end to their destructive designs. In the mean time there were two particulars which the king, with much inward impatience, though with little outward communication, did most desire ; the disbanding the army, and the settling the revenue, the course and receipt whereof had been so broken and perverted, and a great part ex- tinguished by the sale of all the crown lands, that the old officers of the exchequer, auditors or re- ceivers, knew not how to resume their administra- tions. Besides that the great receipt of excise and customs was not yet vested in the king ; nor did the parliament make any haste to assign it, finding it necessary to reserve it in the old way, and not to divert it from those assignments which had been made for the payment of the army and navy ; for which, until some other provision could be made, it was to no purpose to mention the disbanding the one or the other, though the charge of both was so vast and insupportable, that the kingdom must in a short time sink under the burden. For what con- cerned the revenue and raising money, the king EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 333 was less solicitous; and yet there was not so much 1660. as any assignation made for the support of his~ household, which caused a vast debt to be con- tracted before taken notice of, the mischief of which is hardly yet removed. He saw the parliament every day doing somewhat in it; and it quickly dissolved all bargains, contracts, and sales, which had been of any of the crown lands, so that all that royal revenue (which had been too much wasted and impaired in those improvident times which had pre- ceded the troubles) was entirely remitted to those to whom it belonged, the king and the queen his mo- ^_ ther ; but very little money was returned out of the same into the exchequer in the space of the first year: so difficult it was to reduce any payments, which had been made for so many years irregularly, into the old channel and order. And every thing else of this kind was done, how slowly soever, with as much expedition as from s the nature of the af- fair, and the crowd in which it was necessary to be agitated, could h reasonably be expected ; and there- fore his majesty was less troubled for those incon- veniences which he foresaw must inevitably flow from thence. But the delay in disbanding the army, how una- The nature 111 1*1 1*1 /vi i 11 iilu ' inclina- voidable soever, did exceedingly afflict him, and the tion of the more, because for many reasons he could not urge it ari nor complain of it. He knew well the ill constitu- tion of the army, the distemper and murmuring that was in it, and how many diseases and convulsions their infant loyalty was subject to ; that how united soever their inclinations and acclamations seemed 8 from] Not in MS. h could] as could 334 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. to be at Blackheath, their affections were not the same : and the very countenances then of many offi- cers as well as soldiers did sufficiently manifest, that they were drawn thither to a service they were not delighted in. The general, before he had formed any resolution to himself, and only valued himself upon the presbyterian interest, had cashiered some regiments and companies which he knew not to be devoted to his person and greatness ; and after he found it necessary to fix his own hopes and depend- ence upon the king, he had dismissed many officers who he thought might be willing and able to cross his designs and purposes when he should think fit to discover them, and conferred their charges and com- mands upon those who had been disfavoured by the late powers ; and after the parliament had declared for and proclaimed the king, he cashiered others, and gave their offices to some eminent commanders who had served the king ; and gave others of the loyal nobility leave to list volunteers in companies to appear with them at the reception of the king, who had all ' l met and joined with the army upon Blackheath in the head of their regiments and com- panies : yet, notwithstanding all this providence, the old soldiers had little regard for their new officers, at least had no resignation for them ; and it quickly appeared, by the select and affected mixtures of sul- len and melancholic parties of officers and soldiers, that as ill-disposed men of other classes were left as had been disbanded ; and that much the greater part so much abounded with ill humours, that it was not safe to administer a general purgation. It ' who had all] all who had EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 335 is true that Lambert was close prisoner in the 1660. Tower, and as many of those officers who were" 1 taken and had appeared in arms with him when he was taken were likewise there, or in some other prisons, with others of the same complexion, who were well enough known to have the present settle- ment that was intended in perfect detestation : but this leprosy was spread too far to have the conta- gion quickly or easily extinguished. How close soever Lambert himself was secured from doing mischief, his faction was at liberty, and very nu- merous ; his disbanded officers and soldiers mingled and conversed with their old friends and compan- ions, and found too many of them possessed with the same spirit; they concurred in the same re- proaches and revilings of the general, as the man who had treacherously betrayed them, and led them into an ambuscade from whence they knew not how to disentangle themselves. They looked upon him as the sole person who still supported his own model, and were well assured that if he were removed, the army would be still the same, and appear in their old retrenchments ; and therefore they entered into several combinations to assassinate him, which they resolved to do with the first opportunity. In a word, they liked neither the mien nor garb nor countenance of the court, nor were wrought upon by the gracious aspect and benignity of the king himself. All this was well enough known to his majesty, and to the general, who was well enough acquainted and not at all pleased with the temper and disposi- tion of his army, and therefore no less desired it should be disbanded than the king did. In the 336 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. mean time, very diligent endeavours were used to ~~ discover and apprehend some principal persons, who took as much care to conceal themselves ; and every day many dangerous or suspected men of all quali- ties were imprisoned in all counties : spies were em- ployed, who for the most part had the same affec- tions which they were to discover in others, and re- ceived money on both sides to do, and not to do, the work they were appointed to do. And in this me- lancholic and perplexed condition the king and all his hopes stood, when he appeared most gay and ex- alted, and wore a pleasantness in his face that be- came him, and looked like as full an assurance of his security as was possible to be put on. Disunion of There was yet added to this slippery and uneasy the king's . .,. . friends. posture of affairs, another mortification, which made a deeper impression upon the king's spirit than all the rest, and without which the worst of the other would have been in some degree remediable; that was, the constitution and disunion of those who were called and looked upon as his own party, which without doubt in the whole kingdom was numerous enough, and capable of being powerful enough to give the law to all the rest ; which had been the ground of many unhappy attempts in the late time ; that if any present force could be drawn together, and possessed of any such place in which they might make a stand without being overrun in a moment, the general concurrence of the kingdom would in a short time reduce the army, and make the king superior to all his enemies ; which imagi- nation was enough confuted, though not enough ex- tinguished, by the dearbought. experience in the woful enterprise at Worcester. However, it had EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 337 been now a very justifiable presumption in the king, icco. to believe as well as hope, that he could not be long ~ in England without such an apparency of his own party, that wished all that he himself desired, and such a manifestation of their authority, interest, and power, that would prevent, or be sufficient to sub- due, any froward disposition that might grow up in the parliament, or more extravagant demands in the army itself. An apparence there was of that people, great enough, who had all the wishes for the king which he entertained for himself. But they were A review of so divided and disunited by private quarrels, fac-thisdis-* tions, and animosities; or so unacquainted with each ""^ s n t ^," ie other; or, which was worse, so jealous of each other ; restoration - the understandings and faculties of many honest men were so weak and shallow, that they could not be applied to any great trust; and others, who wished and meant very well, had a peevishness, frowardness, and opiniatrety, that they would be engaged only in what pleased themselves, nor would join in any thing with such and such men whom they disliked. The severe and tyrannical govern- ment of Cromwell and the parliament had so often banished and imprisoned them upon mere jealousies, that they were grown strangers to one another, without any communication between them : and there had been so frequent betrayings and treach- eries used, so many discoveries of meetings privately contrived, and of discourses accidentally entered into, and words and expressions rashly and unad- visedly uttered without any design, upon which multitudes were still imprisoned and many put . to death ; that k the jealousy was so universal, that k that] so that VOL. I. Z 338 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. few men who had never so good affections for the king, durst confer with any freedom together. Most of those of the nobility who had with con- stancy and fidelity adhered to the last king, and had greatest authority with all men who professed the same affections, were dead; as the duke of Rich- mond, the earl of Dorset, the lord Capel, the lord Hopton, and many other excellent persons. And of that classis, that is, of a powerful interest and un- suspected integrity, (for there were some very good men, who were without any cause suspected then, because they were not equally persecuted upon all occasions,) there were only two who survived, the marquis of Hertford and earl of Southampton ; who were both great and worthy men, looked upon with great estimation by all the most valuable men who could contribute most to the king's restoration, and with reverence by their greatest enemy, and had been courted by Cromwell himself till he found it to no purpose. And though the marquis had been prevailed with once and no more to give him a visit, the other, the earl, could never be persuaded so much as to see him ; and when Cromwell was in the New Forest, and resolved one day to visit him, he being informed of it or suspecting it, removed to another house he had at such a distance as exempted him from that ^visitation. But these two great per- sons had for several years withdrawn themselves into the country, lived retired, sent sometimes such money as they could raise out of their long-seques- tered and exhausted fortunes, by messengers of their own dependence, with advice to the king, " to sit " still, and expect a reasonable revolution, without " making any unadvised attempt;" and industriously EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 339 declined any conversation or commerce with any 1660. who were known to correspond with the king: so that now, upon his majesty's return, they were to- tally unacquainted with any of those persons, who now looked as men to be depended upon in any great action and attempt. And for themselves, as the marquis shortly after died, so the other with great abilities served him in his most secret and im- portant counsels, but had been never conversant in martial affairs. There had been six or eight persons of general good and confessed reputation, and who of all who were then left alive had had the most eminent charges in the war, and executed them with great courage and discretion ; so that few men could with any reasonable pretence refuse to receive orders from them, or to serve under their commands. They had great affection for and confidence in each other, and had frankly offered by an express of their own number, whilst the king remained in France, " that if they were approved and qualified " by his majesty, they would by joint advice intend " the care of his majesty's service ; and as they " would not engage in any absurd and desperate " attempt, but use all their credit and authority to " prevent and discountenance the same, so they " would take the first rational opportunity, which " they expected from the divisions and animosities " which daily grew and appeared in the army, to " draw their friends and old soldiers who were ready " to receive their commands together, and try the " utmost that could be done, with the loss or hazard " of their lives :" some of them having, beside their experience in war, very considerable fortunes of their 7. 2 340 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. own to lose, and were relations to the greatest fami- lies in England. And therefore they made it their humble suit, " that this secret correspondence might " be carried on, and known to none but to the mar- " quis of Ormond and to the chancellor ; and that if " any other counsels were set on foot in England by " the activity of particular persons, who too fre- " quently with great zeal and little animadversion " embarked themselves in impossible undertakings, " his majesty upon advertisement thereof would " first communicate the motives or pretences which " would be offered to him, to them ; and then they " would find opportunity to confer with some sober " man of that fraternity," (as there was no well-af- fected person in England, who at that time would not willingly receive advice and direction from most of those persons,) " and thereupon they would pre- " sent their opinion to his majesty; and if the de- " sign should appear practicable to his majesty, they " would cheerfully embark themselves in it, other- " wise use their own dexterity to divert it." These men had been armed with all necessary commissions and instructions, according to their own desires ; the king consented to all they proposed; and the cyphers and correspondence were committed to the chancel- lor, in whose hands, with the privity only of the marquis of Ormond, all the intelligence with Eng- land, of what kind soever, was intrusted. Under this conduct, for some years all things suc- ceeded well ; many unseasonable attempts were pre- vented, and thereby the lives of many good men preserved: and though (upon the cursory jealousy of that time, and the restless apprehension of Crom- well, and the almost continual commitments of all EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 341 who had eminently served the king, and were able 1 660. to do it again) these 1 persons who were thus trusted," or the major part of them, were seldom out of pri- son, or free from the obligation of good sureties for their peaceable behaviour; yet all the vigilance of Cromwell and his most diligent inquisitors could never discover this secret intercourse between those confidants and the king, which did always pass and was maintained by expresses made choice of by them, and supported at their charge out of such monies as were privately collected for public uses, of which they who contributed most knew little more than the integrity of him who was intrusted, who did not always make skilful contributions. It fell out unfortunately, that two of these princi- pal persons fell out, and had a fatal quarrel, upon a particular less justifiable than any thing that could result from or relate to the great trust they both had from the king, which ought to have been of influence enough to have suppressed or diverted all passions of that kind : but the animosities grew suddenly irreconcilable, and if not divided the affec- tions of the whole knot, at least interrupted or sus- pended their constant intercourse and confidence in each other, and so the diligent accounts which the king used to receive from them. And the cause growing more public and notorious, though not known in a long time after to the king, exceedingly lessened both their reputations with the most sober men ; insomuch as they withdrew all confidence in their conduct, and all inclination to embark in the business which was intrusted in such hands. And 1 these] and so these z 3 342 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. which was worse than all this, one person amongst ""them, of as unblemished a reputation as either of them, and of much better abilities and faculties of mind, either affected with this untoward accident, or broken with frequent imprisonments and despair of any resurrection of the king's interest, about this time yielded to a foul temptation ; and for large supplies of money, which his fortune stood in need of, engaged to be a spy to Cromwell, with a latitude which he did not allow to others of that ignominious tribe, undertaking only to impart enough of any de- sign to prevent the mischief thereof, without expos- ing any man to the loss of his life, or ever appear- ing himself to make good and justify any of his dis- coveries. The rest of his associates neither sus- pected their companion, nor lessened their affection or utmost zeal for the king ; though they remitted some of their diligence in his service by the other unhappy interruption. This falling out during his majesty's abode in Cologne, he was very long without notice of the grounds of that jealousy which had obstructed his usual correspondence ; and the matter of infidelity being not in the least degree suspected, he could not avoid receiving advice and propositions from other honest men, who were of known affection and cou- rage, and who conversed much with the officers of the army, and were unskilfully disposed to believe that all they, who they had reason to believe did hate Cromwell, would easily be induced to serve the king : and many of the officers in their behaviour, discourses, and familiarity, contributed to that be- lief; some of them, not without the privity and al- lowance of Cromwell, or his secretary Thurlow. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 343 And upon overtures of this kind, and wonderful 1660. confidence of success, even upon the preparations" which were in readiness, of and by his own party, several messengers were sent to the king; and by all of them sharp and passionate complaints against those persons, who were so much and still in the same confidence with him, as men who were at ease, and uninclined to venture themselves upon dan- gerous or doubtful enterprises. They complained, " that when they imparted to them or any one of ". them," (for they knew not of his majesty's refer- ence to them, but had of themselves resorted to them as men of the greatest reputation for their af- fections and experience,) " a design which had been " well consulted and deliberated by those who meant " to venture their own lives in the execution of it, " they made so many excuses and arguments and " objections against it, as if it were wholly unadvis- " able and unpracticable ; and when they proposed " the meeting and conferring with some of the offi- " cers, who were resolved to serve his majesty, and " were willing to advise with them, as men of more " interest and who had managed greater commands, " upon the places of rendezvous, and what method " should be observed in the enterprises, making no " scruple themselves to receive orders from them, " or to do all things they should require which " might advance his majesty's service, these gentle- " men only wished them to take heed they were " not destroyed, and positively refused to meet or " confer with any of the officers of the army : and " hereupon," they said, " all the king's party was so " incensed against them, that they no more would " have recourse to them, or make any conjunction z 4 344 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. " with them." They informed his majesty at large ~~ of the animosity that was grown between two of the principal persons, and the original cause thereof, and therefore desired " that some person might be sent, " to whom they might repair for orders, until the " king himself discerned that all preparations were " in such a readiness, that he might reasonably ven- " ture his royal person with them." Though he was not at all satisfied with the grounds of their expectation and proceedings, and therefore could not blame the wariness and reservedness of the other, and thought their apprehension of being betrayed, (which in the language of that time was called -trepanned,) which befell some men every day, very reasonable ; yet the confidence of many honest men, who were sure to pay dear for any rash under- taking, and their presumption in appointing a per- emptory day for a general rendezvous over the king- dom, but especially the division of his friends, and sharpness against those upon whom he principally relied, was the cause of his sending over the lord Rochester, and of his own concealment in Zealand ; the success whereof, and the ill consequence of those precipitate resolutions, in the slaughter of many worthy and gallant gentlemen with all the circum- stances of insolence and barbarity, are mentioned in their proper places. But these unhappy and fatal miscarriages, and the sad spectacles which ensued, made not those impressions upon the affections and spirits of the king's friends as they ought to have done ; nor ren- dered the wariness and discretion of those who had dissuaded the enterprise, and who were always im- prisoned upon suspicion, how innocent soever, the EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 345 more valued and esteemed : on the contrary, it in- 1 660. creased the reproaches against the knot, as if their" lachete* and want of appearance and engaging had been the sole cause of the misfortune. And after some short fits of dejection and acquiescence, upon the shedding so much blood of their friends and confederates, and the notorious discovery of being betrayed by those, who had been trusted by them, of the army ; they began again to resume courage, to meet and enter upon new counsels and designs, imputing the former want of success to the want of skill and conduct in the undertakers, not to the all- seeing vigilance of Cromwell and his instruments, or to the formed strength of his government, not to be shaken by weak or ill-seconded conspiracies. Young men were grown up, who inherited their fathers malignity, and were too impatient to revenge their death, or to be even with their oppressors, and so entered into new combinations as unskilful, and therefore as unfortunate as the former ; and being discovered even before they were formed, Cromwell had occasion given him to make himself more ter- rible in new executions, and to exercise greater tyranny upon the whole party, in imprisonments, penalties, and sequestrations ; making those who heartily desired to be quiet, and who abhorred any rash and desperate insurrection, to pay their full shares for the folly of the other, as if a.11 were ani- mated by the same spirit. And this unjust and un- reasonable rigour increased the reproaches and ani- mosities in the king's friends against each other : the wiser and more sober part, who had most experi- m and who abhorred] and who as much abhorred 346 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. ence, and knew how impossible it was to succeed in ~~ such enterprises, and had yet preserved or redeemed enough of their fortunes to sit still and expect some hopeful revolution, were unexpressibly offended, and bitterly inveighed against those, who without reason disturbed their peace and quiet, by provoking the state to fresh persecutions of them who had given them no offence : and the other stirring and enraged party, with more fierceness and public disdain, pro- tested against and reviled those who refused to join with them, as men who had spent all their stock of allegiance, and meant to acquiesce with what they had left under the tyranny and in the subjection of Cromwell. And thus they who did really wish the same things, and equally the overthrow of that go- vernment, which hindered the restoration of the king, grew into more implacable jealousies and viru- lencies against each other, than against that power that oppressed them both, and " poured out their " blood like water." And either party conveyed their apologies and accusations to the king : one in- sisting upon the impertinency of all such attempts ; and the other insisting that they were ready for a very solid and well-grounded enterprise, were sure to be possessed of good towns, if, by his majesty's positive command, the rest, who professed such obedience to him, would join with them. It was at this time, and upon these reasons, that the king sent the marquis of Ormond into England, to find out and discover whether in truth there were any sober preparations and readiness for action, and then to head and conduct it ; or if it was not ripe, to compose the several distempers, and unite, as far as was possible, all who wished well, to con- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 347 cur in the same patience for the present, and in the 1660. same activity when it should be seasonable. And" he, upon full conference with the principal persons of the most contradictory judgments, quickly found that they who were accused to be lazy and unactive were in truth discreet men, and as ready vigorously to appear as the other, when the season should be advisable, which he clearly discerned it was not then ; and that the presumption of the other, upon persons as well as places, was in no degree to be depended upon. And so, after he had done what was possible towards making a good intelligence between tempers and understandings so different, the marquis had the same good fortune to retire from thence and bring himself safe to the king ; which was the more wonderful preservation, in that, during the whole time of his abode in London, he had trusted no man more, nor conferred with any man so much, as with that person of the select knot, who had been corrupted to give all intelli- gence to Cromwell : and as he had now blasted and diverted some ill laid designs, so he had discovered the marquis's arrival to him, but could not be pre- vailed with to inform him of his lodging, which was particularly known to him upon every change, or to contrive any way for his apprehension : on the con- trary, as in all his conferences with him he ap- peared a man of great judgment and perspicacity, and the most ready to engage his person in any action that might be for his majesty's advantage, so he seemed best to understand the temper of the time, and the parts, faculties, and interest of all the king's party ; and left the marquis abundantly satis- fied with him, and of the general good reputation 348 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. he had with all men : which had afterwards an ill "effect, for it kept the king and those who were trusted by him from giving credit to the first infor- mation he received, from a person who could not be deceived, of his tergiversation ; his late fidelity to the marquis of Ormond weighing down with them all the intimations, until the evidence was so preg- nant that there was no room for any doubt. After all these endeavours by the king to dis- countenance and suppress all unseasonable action amongst his party, and to infuse into them a spirit of peace and quiet till he himself could appear in the head of some foreign forces, which he looked upon as the only reasonable encouragement that could animate his friends to declare for him, the generous distemper and impatience of their nature was incorrigible. They thought the expectation of miracles from God Almighty was too lazy and stu- pid a confidence, and that God no less required their endeavours and activity, than they hoped for his be- nediction in their success. New hopes were enter- tained, and counsels suitable entered upon. Mr. Mordaunt, the younger son and brother to the earls of Peterborough, who was too young in the time of the late war to act any part in it, had lately under- gone, after Cromwell himself had taken great pains in the examination of him. a severe trial before the high court of justice ; where by his own singular ad- dress and behaviour, and his friends having wrought by money upon some of the witnesses to absent themselves, he was by one single voice acquitted; and after a longer detention in prison by the indig- nation of Cromwell, who well knew his guilt, and against the rules and forms of their own justice, he EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 349 was discharged, after most of his associates were pub- 1 550. licly and barbarously put to several kinds of death. And he no sooner found himself at liberty, than he engaged in new intrigues, how he might destroy that government that was so near destroying him. The state of the kingdom was indeed altered, and he had encouragement to 'hope well, which former un- dertakers, and himself in his, had been without. Cromwell had entered into a war with Spain ; and the king was received and permitted to live in Flanders, with some exhibition from that king for his support, and assurance of an army to embark for England, (which made a great noise, and raised the broken hearts of his friends after so many distresses,) which his majesty was contented should be generally reputed to be greater and in more forwardness than there was cause for. He had likewise another ad- vantage, much superior and of more importance than the other, by the death of Cromwell, which fell out without or beyond expectation, which seemed to put an end to all his stratagems, and to dissolve the whole frame of government in the three king- doms, and to open many doors to the king to enter upon that which every body knew to be his own. And though this reasonable hope was, sooner than could be imagined, blasted and extinguished by an universal submission to the declaration that Crom- well had made at his death, " that his son Richard " should succeed him ;" upon which he was declar- ed protector by the council, army, navy, with the concurrence of the forces of the three kingdoms, and the addresses of all the counties in England, with vows of their obedience ; insomuch as he ap- peared in the- eyes of all men as formidably settled 350 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF IGGO. as his father had been : yet Mr. Mordaunt proceeded "with alacrity in his design, contrary to the opinion and advice of those with whom he was obliged to consult, who thought the conjuncture as unfavour- able as any that was past, and looked upon Mr. Mor- daunt as a rash young man, of a daring spirit, with- out any experience in military affairs, and upon themselves as unkindly treated by those about the king, in being exposed to the importunity of a gen- tleman who was a stranger to them, and who was not equally qualified with them for the forming any resolution which they could concur in. n But the intermission of the severe persecution which had been formerly practised against the royal party, in this nonage of Richard's government, gave more liberty to communication ; and the Presby- terian party grew more discontented and daring, and the Independent less concerned to prevent any inconvenience or trouble to the weak son of Oliver, whom they resolved not to obey. Mr. Mordaunt, who had gained much reputation by his steady car- riage in his late mortification, and by his so brisk carriage so soon after, found credit with many per- sons of great fortune and interest ; as sir George Booth and sir Thomas Middleton, the greatest men in Cheshire and North Wales, who were reputed Presbyterians, and had been both very active against the king, and now resolved to declare for him ; sir Horatio Townsend, who was newly become of age, and the most powerful person in Norfolk, where n who was not equally quali- qualified with them for the form- fied with them for the forming ing any resolution which they any resolution which they could could not concur in. concur in.] who was equally EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 351 there were many gallant men ready to follow him ; 1CGO. and many others the most considerable men in most "~ of the counties of England : who all agreed, in so many several counties of England, to appear upon a day, in such bodies as they could draw together; many considerable places being prepared for their reception, or too weak to oppose them. And Mr. Mordaunt secretly transported himself and waited upon the king at Brussels, with that wariness that he was known to none but to them with whom he was to consult. The king received by him a full information of the engagement of all those persons to do him service with the utmost hazard, and of the method they meant to proceed in, and the pro- bability, most like assurance, of their being to be possessed of Gloucester, Chester, Lynne, Yarmouth, all Kent, and the most considerable places in the west, where indeed his own friends were very con- t siderable. Upon the whole matter the king thought it so reasonable to approve the whole design, that he ap- pointed the day, with a promise to be himself, with his brother the duke of York, concealed at Calais or thereabout, that they might divide themselves to those parts which should be thought most proper for the work in hand. Mr. Mordaunt lamented the wariness and want of confidence in those persons upon whom the king depended, and acknowledged them most worthy of that trust, and of much repu- tation in the nation ; and imputed their much re- servation to the troubles and imprisonments which they had been seldom free from, and their observa- tion how little ground there had been for former enterprises, without the least suspicion of want of 352 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1 GGO. affection and resolution in any one of them, and less ~of integrity. But the king was by this time fully convinced where the treachery was, without any blemish to any one of the rest, who needed not to be ashamed of being deceived by a man whom all the kingdom would have trusted. The ridiculous dethroning of Richard by the army, and the reas- sembling that part of the old parliament which was called the Rump, and which was more terrible than any single person could be, because they presently returned into their old track, and renewed their former rigour against their old more than their new enemies, rather advanced than restrained this com- bination ; too much being known to too many to be secure any other way than by pursuing it. So the king and duke, according to their former resolution, went to Calais and Boulogne, and prepared as well to make a descent into Kent with such numbers of men as the condition they were in would permit. How many of those designs came to be wonderfully and even miraculously disappointed, and sir George Booth defeated by Lambert, are particularly set down by those who have taken upon them to men- tion the transactions of those times. And from thence the universality of all who were, or were suspected to be, of the king's party, wqre, according to custom, imprisoned, or otherwise cruelly entreat- ed ; and thereupon a new fire kindled amongst themselves : they who had done nothing reproach- ing them who had brought that storm upon them ; and they who had been engaged more loudly and bitterly cursing the other, as deserters of the king, and the cause of the ruin of his cause through their want of courage, or, what was worse, of affection. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 353 And so all men's mouths were opened wider to ac- 1 600. cuse and defame each other, than to defend their ~" own integrity and their lives. I have thought myself obliged to renew the me- Theun - mory of all these particulars, that the several vicissi-stitution of tudes and stages may be known, by which the jea- friend" at" lousies, murmurs, and disaffections in the royal party ^2". amongst themselves, and against each other, had em P lified - mounted to that height which the king found them at when he returned ; when in truth very few men of active minds, and upon whom he could depend in any sudden occasion that might probably press him, can be named, who had any confidence in each other. All men were full of bitter reflections upon the actions .and behaviour of others, or of excuses and apologies for themselves for what they thought might be charged upon them. The woful vice drinking, from the uneasiness of their fortune, 1 . n t drinking. the necessity of frequent meetings together, for which taverns were the most secure places, had spread itself very far in that classis of men, as well as upon other parts of the nation, in all counties; and had exceedingly weakened the parts, and broken the understandings of many, who had formerly com- petent judgments, and had been in all respects fit for any trust ; and had prevented the growth of parts in many young men, who had good affections, but had been from their entering into the world so cor- rupted with that excess, and other license of the time, that they only made much noise, and, by their extravagant and scandalous debauches, brought many calumnies and disestimation upon that cause which they pretended to advance. They who had suffered much in their fortunes, and by frequent im- VOL. i. A a 354 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF - 1660. prisonments and sequestrations and compositions, ""expected large recompenses and reparations in ho- nours which they could not support, or offices which they could not discharge, or lands and money which the king had not to give ; as all dispassioned men knew the conditions which the king was obliged to perform, and that the act of indemnity discharged all those forfeitures which could have been applied to their benefit : and therefore they who had been without comparison the greatest sufferers in their fortunes, and in all respects had merited most, never made any inconvenient suits to the king, but mo- destly left the memory and consideration of all they had done or undergone, to his majesty's own gra- Thosewho cious reflections. They were observed to be most least the importunate, who had deserved least, and were least portunat~e. capable to perform any notable service; and none had more esteem of themselves, and believed prefer- ment to be more due to them, than a sort of men, who had most loudly began the king's health in ta- verns, especially if for any disorders which had ac- companied it they had suffered imprisonment, with- out any other pretence of merit, or running any other hazard. Though it was very evident, humanly speaking, that the late combination entered into, and the brave attempt and engagement of sir George Booth, how unsuccessful soever in the instant, had contributed very much to the wonderful change that had since ensued, by the discovery of the general affections and disposition of the kingdom, and their aversion from any kind of government that was not founded knew] who knew EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 355 upon the old principles; and the public or private 1 660. engagement of very many persons, who had never ~~ been before suspected, whereof, though many of the most considerable persons had been, by the treachery heretofore mentioned, committed to seve- ral prisons, yet many others of equal interest re- mained still in liberty, and had a great influence upon the counsels both in the parliament and army: yet, I say,' notwithstanding this was notorious, a greater animosity had been kindled in the royal party, and was still pursued and improved amongst them from that combination and engagement, than from all the other accidents and occasions, and gave the king more trouble and perplexity. It had in- troduced a great nuniber of persons, who had for- merly no pretence of merit from the king, rather might have been the objects of his justice, to a just title to the greatest favours the king could confer ; and which, from that time, they had continually improved by repeated offices and services, which, being of a later date, might be thought to cloud and eclipse the lustre of those actions, which had before been performed by the more ancient cavaliers, espe- cially of those who had been observed to be remiss in that occasion : and therefore they were the more solicitous in undervaluing the undertaking, and the persons of the undertakers, whom they mentioned under such characters, and to whom they imputed such weakness and levities as they had collected from the several parts of their lives, as might render them much disadvantage; and would by no means ad- mit, " that any of the good that afterwards befell the king, resulted in any degree from that rash more enterprise; but that thereby the king's friends A a 2 356 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. " were so weakened, and more completely undone, ~~" that they were disabled to appear in that conjunc- " ture when the army was divided, and in which " they might otherwise have been considerable " enough to have given the law to all parties." Mr. Mordaunt, whom the king had created a vis- count before his return into England, and had P been most eminent in the other contrivances, in a time when a general consternation had seized upon the spirits of those who wished best to his majesty ; for when he resumed his former resolutions, so soon after his head was raised from the block, and when the blood of his confederates watered so many streets in the city and the suburbs, the most trusted by the king had totally withdrawn their correspond- ence, and desired, that for some time no account or information might be expected from them ; and therefore it must not be denied, that his vivacity, courage, and industry, revived the hearts which were so near broken before Cromwell's death, and afterwards prevailed with many to have more active spirits than they had before appeared to have : this gentleman, I say, most unjustly underwent the heaviest weight of all their censures and reproaches. Particularly He was the butt, at which all their arrows of envy, of Mr. Mor- m i -i i i daunt, who malice, and jealousy, were aimed and shot ; he was signally" the object and subject of all their scurrilous jests, served the an( j depraving discourses and relations; and they, who agreed in nothing else, were at unity and of one mind, in telling ridiculous stories to the king him- self of his vanity and behaviour; and laying those aspersions upon him, as were most like to lessen the v and had] and who had EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 357 king's opinion of him; and to persuade him, that 1660. the recompenses he had already received were"" abundantly more than the services he had per- formed : which kind of insinuations from several persons, who seemed not to do it by concert, toge- ther with some prejudice the noble person did him- self by some unseasonable importunities, as if he thought he had deserved very much, did for some time draw a more ungracious countenance from the king towards him, than his own nature disposed him to, or than the other's singular and useful activity, though liable to some levity or vanity, did deserve ; and which the same persons, who procured it, made use of against those who were in most trust about the king, as arguments of the little esteem they had of those who had done the king most service, when a man of so eminent merit as Mr. Mordaunt was so totally neglected; and did all they could to infuse the same apprehensions into him. When the truth is, most men were affected, and more grieved and discontented for any honour and preferment which they saw conferred upon another man, than for be- ing disappointed in their own particular expecta- tions ; and looked upon every obligation bestowed upon another man, how meritorious soever, as upon a reproach to them, and an upbraiding of their want of merit. This unhappy temper and constitution of the This per- royal party, with whom he had always intended to state erf the have made a firm conjunction against all accidents fr \ends and occurrences which might happen at home or" t c s h h *[~ from abroad, did wonderfully displease and trouble s P irit ' the king; and, with the other perplexities, which are mentioned before, did so break his mind, and A. a 3 358 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. had that operation upon his spirits, that finding he ""could not propose any such method to himself, by which he might extricate himself out of those many difficulties and labyrinths in which he was involved, nor expedite those important matters which de- pended upon the good-will and despatch of the par- liament, which would proceed by its own rules, and He gives with its accustomed formalities, he grew more dis- tdTb piea. posed to leave all things to their natural course, and God's providence ; and by degrees unbent his mind from the knotty and ungrateful part of his business, grew more remiss in his application to it, and in- dulged to his youth and appetite that license and satisfaction that it desired, and for which he had opportunity enough, and could not be without min- isters abundant for any such negociations ; the time itself, and the young people thereof of either sex having been educated in all the liberty of vice, wickedness without reprehension or restraint. All relations introduced were confounded by the several sects in religion, ^ which discountenanced all forms of reverence and respect, as relics and marks of superstition. Chil- dren asked not blessing of their parents ; nor did they concern themselves in the education of their children; but were well content that they should take any course to maintain themselves, that they might be free from that expense. The young wo- men conversed without any circumspection or mo- desty, and frequently met at taverns and common eatinghouses ; and they who were stricter and more severe in their comportment, became the wives of the seditious preachers, or of officers of the army. The daughters of noble and "illustrious families be- stowed themselves upon the divines of the time, 7>r EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 359 other low and unequal matches. Parents had no 1660. manner of authority over their children, nor children any obedience or submission to their parents; but " every one did that which was good in his own " eyes." This unnatural antipathy had its first rise from the beginning of the rebellion, when the fa- thers and sons engaged themselves in the contrary parties, the one choosing to serve the king, and the other the parliament ; which division and contradic- tion of affections was afterwards improved to mutual animosities and direct malice, by the help of the preachers and the several factions in religion, or by the absence of all religion : so that there were never such examples of impiety between such relations in any age of the world, Christian or heathen, as that wicked time, from the beginning of the rebel- lion to the king's return ; of which the families of Hotham and Vane are sufficient instances ; though other more illustrious houses may be named, where the same accursed fruit was too plentifully gathered, and too notorious to the world. The relation be- tween masters and servants had been long since dis- solved by the parliament, that their army might be increased by the prentices against their masters con- sent, and that they might have intelligence of the secret meetings and transactions in those houses and families which were not devoted to them ; from whence issued the foulest treacheries and perfidious- ness that were ever practised : and the blood of the master was frequently the price of the servant's villany. Cromwell had giving the first rise to what afterwards succeeded, though of a nature so trans- cendent as cannot be thought to have any relation to it. When the king resolved [as in page 300, line 5. to page 302, line 14.] Mrs. Killigrew was dead of the smallpox. O'Neile came in the instant to the chancellor with very much kindness, and told him, that if he desired the king to speak to his sister to receive his daughter into the place of Mrs. Killigrew, he was most confident she would do it very willingly, but that she expected the king should speak to her, because the queen had writ to bestow the place that should first fall vacant to an- other ; and when he found him not inclined to move the king in it, saying, he would not be any occasion to increase the jea- lousies which were already be- tween their majesties, nor to dis- pose the princess to displease her mother, he frankly offered to move the king without the other's appearing in it. Where- upon the chancellor thought it necessary to deal freely with him, and told him, that his daughter was the only company and com- fort that her mother had, and who he knew could not part with her; and that for him- self he was resolved, whilst the king's condition continued so low, he would not have his daughter in that gayety, which was necessary for the court of so young a princess; and there- fore he conjured him by all the friendship he had for him, since he saw to what resolution he was fixed, to use all his dexterity and address to divert the princess from the thought of a bounty that would prove so inconveni- ent to her, and to engage the lady Stanhope in the same office. O'Neile on the contrary used many arguments to him for his compliance with an opportunity that offered itself so much for [his] daughter's advantage, and which would probably, by the generosity of such a mistress, be attended with benefits and advantages which might absolve him from any further charges for her preferment. He remain- ed not to be shaken, and the other desisted from his impor- tunity. Shortly after, the king took notice of the vacant place in his sister's family, which he said he thought might in many respects be convenient for his daughter, and therefore offered to move his sister in it on her behalf. The chancellor, after he had acknowledged his ma- jesty's goodness, with all humi- lity besought him not to inter- pose his authority with his royal sister ; made him a full relation of all that had passed between EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 375 sently to marry her ; to which purpose he had an i '60. overture from a noble family, on the behalf of a well- "~ O'Neile and him, and of his resolution not to separate his daughter from his wife, and that one should not live in lustre, whilst the other must be neces- sitated to continue in so much security; and thereupon humbly entreated the king to refuse to interpose in that affair. The king told him with a very gra- cious freedom, that his 'sister had directly spoken to him to move in it, because of the letter she had received from the queen ; that she herself had seen his daughter, and was so well pleas- ed with her nature and her hu- mour, which she had oppor- tunity to observe a week toge- ther, that she had taken a re- solution within herself, and communicated it to the lady Stanhope, that she would take her into her service when there should be opportunity; and therefore his majesty wished him to consider, whether he would not accept a benefit with all these circumstances ; how- ever advised him to wait upon his sister, and acknowledge so much grace, if he did not in- tend to make use of it. Though the chancellor was exceedingly perplexed with the knowledge of all these particulars, and un- derstood to what misinterpre- tation and disadvantages this obstinacy might make him lia- ble, yet he changed nothing of his resolution, and waited upon the princess with hope that he might convert her purely upon the inconvenience that might follow upon the conferring a grace, in that conjuncture, upon a family so inconsiderable to her service. After he had attended the princess, and with all the expres- sions which his gratitude could suggest to him magnified the many favours he had received from her, and the gracious in- clination he was informed shehad now for his daughter; and he knew no better way (he told her) to return his most dutiful ac- . knowledgments, than by taking care that she should undergo the least prejudice by her bounty to him, and therefore that he was re- solved not to receive the honour she was inclined to bestow upon his daughter: that he had the misfortune to be ill understood by the queen her mother, who would be the more incensed against him, and offended with her highness, if the recom- mendation she had given on the behalf of another lady should be rejected on his behalf, and that in truth he was not able to maintain his daughter in such a condition as that relation did require ; and concluded how in- convenient it would be to sepa- rate her from her mother, who would be desolate without her. Her royal highness, who heard him with great patience till he had alleged all the arguments why she should not persist in her gracious disposition, and why he could not receive the obligations, answered, " that " she knew well the long and " faithful service he had per- " formed towards the king her B b 4 376 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. bred hopeful young gentleman, who was the heir of ~~it. His daughter quickly arrived at her father's house, to his great joy, having always had a great " father, and the confidence his " majesty had in him at his " death; that he had continued " the same fidelity to the king " her brother, who was very. " sensible of it, and that she was " the more troubled, that her " mother had entertained any " prejudice towards him, which " she was assured proceeded " from some false information, " which would shortly appear " to be so; that for her own " part, she had always paid all " duty to her, and would be " ready to gratify any worthy " person who came recom- " mended by her majesty, but " that she would not exclude " her own judgment, and be " bound to have no servants " about her person but such te who should be recommended " by her mother, who she could " not believe could ever be of- " fended with her for taking " the daughter of a person who " had been of so eminent fide- " lity to the crown : that for the " maintenance of his daughter " he should take no further " care; she well enough knew " his condition, and how it " came to be such, and that " she took the care of that upon " herself: for what related to " his wife's unwillingness to " part with her daughter, her " highness said, she was con- " tented to refer it entirely to " her ; as soon as she came " home she would send for her " to Breda, and if her mother " would not permit her to come " to her, she had done her part, " and would acquiesce." There remained nothing for the chan- cellor to reply, and he remained still confident that his wife (to whom he had written to confirm her in her former resolution of having her daughter still with her) would continue of the mind she had been of; but when she was informed of all that had passed, she concluded that all those unusual circumstances in an affair of that nature were not without some instinct of Provi- dence ; and so when the princess royal sent for her daughter, she went herself likewise, and pre- sented her to her highness ; to which possibly it was some mo- tive, that there would then re- main no objection against her own residence with her hiis- band ; and so she presently re- moved to him to Cologne, where the king then was, and remained for some years. Having now set down (not improperly I think) the true rise and story of his daughter's going into that court, with all the particulars which preceded it, I shall now return to that place from whence this digression led us, of the public discovery of the duke's affection, and shall continue the relation till an end was put to that great affair, by the consent and ap- probation of the royal family, and, for ought appeared to the contrary, to the general satis- faction of the kingdom. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 377 affection for her ; and she being his eldest child, he j 660. had more acquaintance with her, than with any of his children ; and being now of an age fit for mar- riage, he was well pleased that he had an opportu- nity to place her in such a condition, as with God's blessing was like to yield her much content. She The duke's had not been long in England, when the duke fo-ofHtotb* formed the king " of the affection and engagement kl " 8 ' " that had been long between them ; that they had " been long contracted, and that she was with " child :" and therefore with all imaginable impor- tunity he begged his majesty's leave and permission upon his knees, " that he might publicly marry her, " .in such a manner as his majesty thought necessary " for the consequence thereof." The king was much troubled with it, and more with his brother's pas- sion, which was expressed in a very wonderful man- ner and with many tears, protesting, " that if his "majesty should not give his consent, he would " immediately leave the kingdom, and must spend his " life in foreign parts." His majesty was very much perplexed to resolve what to do : he knew the chan- cellor so well, that he concluded that he was not privy to it, nor would ever approve it ; and yet that it might draw much prejudice upon him, by the jea- lousy of those who were not well acquainted with his nature. He presently sent for the marquis ofrhe king Ormond and the earl of Southampton, who he well oflhe cban- knew were his bosom friends, and informed them at^j^V^ large, and of all particulars which had passed from to P eD the matter to the duke to him, and commanded them presently toim- see for the chancellor to come to his own chamber at Whitehall, where they would meet him upon a business of great importance, which the king had 378 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. commended to them for their joint advice. They no sooner met, than the marquis of Ormond told the chancellor, " that he had a matter to inform him of, " that he doubted would give him much trouble ;" and therefore advised him to compose himself to hear it : and then told him, " that the duke of York " had owned a great affection for his daughter to " the king, and that he much doubted that she was " with child by the duke, and that the king re- " quired the advice of them ancj of him what he was " to do." The chan- The manner of the chancellor's receiving this ad- wittTittr vertisement made it evident enough that he was the heart : struc k w j t j, j t to tne heart, and had never had the least jealousy or apprehension of it. He broke out into a very immoderate passion against the wicked- ness of his daughter, and said with all imaginable earnestness, " that as soon as he came home he " would turn her out of his house, as a strumpet, to " shift for herself, and would never see her again." They told him, " that his passion was too violent to " administer good counsel to him, that they thought " that the duke was married to his daughter, and " that there were other measures to be taken than " those which the disorder he was in had suggested " to him." Whereupon he fell into new commo- tions, and said, " if that were true, he was well pre- And breaks pared to advise what was to be done : that he had out into a very immo- " much rather his daughter should be the duke's ion. " whore than his wife : in the former case nobody " could blame him for the resolution he had taken, " for he was not obliged to keep a whore for the " greatest prince alive ; and the indignity to him- " self he would submit to the good pleasure of God. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 379 " But if there were any reason to suspect the other, 1660. " he was ready to give a positive judgment, in which " he hoped their lordships would concur with him ; " that the king should immediately cause the wo- '* man to be sent to the Tower, and to be cast into " a dungeon, under so strict a guard, that no per- " son living should be admitted to come to her ; " and then that an act of parliament should be im- " mediately passed for the cutting off her head, to " which he would not only give his consent, but " would very willingly be the first man that should " propose it :" and whoever knew the man, will be- lieve that he said all this very heartily. In this point of time the king entered the room, and sat down at the table ; and perceiving by his countenance the agony the chancellor was in, and his swollen eyes from whence a flood of tears were fallen, he asked the other lords, " what they had done, " and whether they had resolved on any thing." The earl of Southampton said, " his majesty must " consult with soberer men ; that he" (pointing to the chancellor) " was mad, and had proposed such " extravagant things, that he was no more to be " consulted with." Whereupon his majesty, look- ing upon him with a wonderful benignity, said, " Chancellor, I knew this business would trouble " you, and therefore I appointed your two friends " to confer first with you upon it, before I would " speak with you myself: but you must now lay " aside all passion that disturbs you, and consider " that this business will not do itself; that it will " quickly take air ; and therefore it is fit that I first " resolve what to do, before other men uncalled pre- " sume to give their counsel : tell me therefore 380 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. " what you would have me do, and I will follow ~~" your advice." Then his majesty enlarged upon the passion of his brother, and the expressions he had often used, " that he was not capable of having " any other wife, and the like." Upon which the chancellor arose, and with a little composedness said, " Sir, I hope I need make no apology to you " for myself, and of my own in this matter, upon " which I look with so much detestation, that " though I could have wished that your brother " had not thought it fit to have put this disgrace "upon me, I had much rather submit and bear it " with all humility, than that it should be repaired " by making her his wife ; the thought whereof I " do so much abominate, that I had much rather " see her dead, with all the infamy that is due to " her presumption." And then he repeated all that he had before said to the lords, of sending her pre- sently to the Tower, and the rest ; and concluded, " Sir, I do upon all my oaths which I have taken to " you Jto give you faithful counsels, and from all the " sincere gratitude I stand obliged to you for so " many obligations, renew this counsel to you ; and " do beseech you to pursue it, as the only expedient " that can free you from the evils that this business " will otherwise bring upon you." And observing by the king's countenance, that he was not pleased with his advice, he continued and said, " I am the " dullest creature alive, if, having been with your " majesty so many years, I do not know yoiir infirm- " ities better than other men. You are of too " easy and gentle a nature to contend with those " rough affronts, which the iniquity and license of " the late times is like to put upon you, before it EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 381 " be subdued and reformed. The presumption all 1660. " kind of men have upon your temper is too noto-~~ " rious to all men, and lamented by all who wish " you well : and, trust me, an example of the " highest severity in a case that so nearly concerns " you, and that relates to the person who is nearest " to you, will be so seasonable, that your reign, dur- " ing the remaining part of your life, will be the " easier to you, and all men will take heed how " they impudently offend you." He had scarce done speaking, when the duke of York came in ; whereupon the king spake of some other business, and shortly after went out of the roOm with his brother, whom (as was shortly known) he informed of all that the chancellor had said, who, as soon as he came to his house, sent his wife to command his daughter to keep her chamber, and not to admit any visits ; whereas before she had al- ways been at dinner and supper, and had much company resorting to her : which was all that he thought fit to do upon the first assault, and till he had slept upon it, (which he did very unquietly,) and reflected upon what was like to be the effect of so extravagant a cause. And this was quickly known to the duke, who was exceedingly offended at it, and complained to the king, " as of an indignity of- " fered to him." And the next morning the king chid the chancellor for proceeding with so much precipitation, and required him " to take off that re- " straint, and to leave her to the liberty she had " been accustomed to." To which he replied, " that " her having not discharged the duty of a daughter " ought not to deprive him of the authority of a " father ; and therefore he must humbly beg his ma- 1660. "jesty not to interpose his commands against his ~" " doing any thing that his own dignity required : " that he only expected what his majesty would do " upon the advice he had humbly offered to him, " and when he saw that, he would himself proceed " as he was sure would become him :" nor did he take off any of the restraint he had imposed. Yet he discovered after, that even in that time the duke had found ways to come to her, and to stay whole nights with her, by the administration of those who were not suspected by him, and who had the excuse, " that they knew that they were mar- " ried." This affair This subject was quickly the matter of all men's not those discourse, and did not produce those murmurs and murmurs discontented reflections which were expected. The and discon- tents the parliament was sitting, and took not the least no- chancellor expected, tice of it ; nor could it be discerned that many were scandalized, at it. The chancellor received the same respects from all men which he had been accus- tomed to : and the duke himself, in the house of peers, frequently sat by him upon the woolsack, that he might the more easily confer with him upon the matters which were debated, and receive his ad- vice how to behave himself; which made all men believe that there had been a good understanding between them. And yet it is very true, that, in all that time, the duke never spake one word to him of that affair. The king spake every day about it^ and told the chancellor, " that he must behave him- " self wisely, for that the thing was remediless ; and " that his majesty knew that they were married, " which would quickly appear to all men, who " knew that nothing could be done upon it." In EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON 383 this time the chancellor had conferred with his 1660. daughter, without any thing of indulgence, and not" only discovered that they were unquestionably mar- ried, but by whom, and who were present at it, who would be ready to avow it ; which pleased him not, though it diverted him from using some of that rigour which he intended. And he saw no other remedy could be applied, but that which he had proposed to the king, who thought of nothing like it. At this time there was news of the princess royal's embarkation in Holland, which obliged the king and the duke of York to make a journey to Dover to receive her, who came for no other reason, but to congratulate with the king her brother, and to have her share in the public joy. The morning that they began their journey, the king and the duke came to the chancellor's house ; and the king, after he had spoken to him of some business that was to be done in his absence, going out of the room, the duke stayed behind, and whispered the chancellor in the ear, because there were others at a little distance, "that he knew that he had heard of " the business between him and his daughter, and " of which he confessed he ought to have spoken " with him before ; but that when he returned " from Dover, he would give him full satisfaction : " in the mean time," he desired him, " not to be of- " fended with his daughter." To which the chan- cellor made no other answer, than " that it was a " matter too great for him to speak of." When the princess royal came to the town, there grew to be a great silence in that affair. The duke said nothing to the chancellor, nor came nor sent to 384 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1 660. his daughter, as he had constantly used to do : and it was industriously published about the town, that that business was broken off, and that the duke was resolved never to think more of it. The queen had before written a very sharp letter to the duke, full of indignation, that he should have so low thoughts as to marry such a woman ; to whom he shewed The quen the letter, as not moved by it. And now she sent in- the king word, " that she was on the way to Eng- censed at f( \ an ^ t o prevent, with her authority, so great a " stain and dishonour to the crown ;" and used many threats and passionate expressions upon the subject. The chancellor sat unconcerned in all the rumours which were spread, " that the queen was " coming with a purpose to complain to the parlia- " ment against the chancellor, and to apply the " highest remedies to prevent so great a mischief." In the mean time it was reported abroad, that the duke had discovered some disloyalty in the lady, which he had never suspected, but had now so full evidence of it, that he was resolved never more to see her ; and that he was not married. And all his family, whereof the lord Berkley and his nephew were the chief, who had long hated the chancellor, The king spake very loudly and scandalously of it. The king sei7with im carried himself with extraordinary grace towards the chancellor, and was with him more, and spake towards the U p 0n all occasions and before all persons more gra- chancellor. r ciously of him, than ever. He told him with much trouble, " that his brother was abused ; and that " there was a wicked conspiracy set on foot by vil- " lains, which, in the end, must prove of more dis- " honour to the duke than to any body else." The queen was now ready to embark, inflamed EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 385 and hastened by this occasion ; and it was fit for 1 G60. the king and the duke to wait on her at the shore. ~" But before his majesty's going, he resolved of him- self to do a grace to the chancellor, that should publish how far he was from being shaken in his fa- vour towards him, and to do it with such circum- stances as gave it great lustre. From the time of his coming into England, he had often offered the chancellor to make him a baron, and told him, " that " he was assured by many of the lords, that it was " most necessary for his service in the parliament." But he had still refused it, and besought his ma- jesty " not to think of it ; that it would increase " the envy against him if he should confer that ho- " nour upon him so soon ; but that hereafter, when ** his majesty's affairs should be settled, and he, out " of the extraordinary perquisites of his office, should ** be able to make some addition to his small for- " tune, he would, with that humility that became " him, receive that honour from him." The king, in few days after, coming to him, and being alone with him in his cabinet, at going away gave him a Makes inm little billet into his hand, that contained a warrant twenty" of his own handwriting to sir Stephen Fox, to pay to J^,;? " d the chancellor the sum of twenty thousand pounds ; which was part of the money which the parliament had presented to the king at the Hague, and for which he had been compelled to take bills of ex- change again from Amsterdam upon London ; which was only known to the king, the chancellor, and sir Stephen Fox, who was intrusted to receive it, as he had done all the king's monies for many years be- yond the seas. This bounty flowing immediately from the king at such a melancholic conjuncture, VOL. I. c c 386 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. and of which nobody could have notice, could not ~~ but much raise the spirits of the chancellor. Nor did the king's goodness rest here; but the night before he began his journey towards the queen, he sent for the attorney general, whom he knew to be most devoted to the chancellor, and told him, " that " he must intrust him in an affair that he must " not impart to the chancellor :" and then gave him a warrant signed for the creation of him a baron, which he commanded " to be ready to pass the seal " against the hour of his majesty's return, and he " would then see it sealed himself; but if the chan- " cellor came first to know it, he would use great ** importunity to stop it." The attorney said, " it " would be impossible to conceal it from him, be- " cause, without his privity and direction, he knew " not what title to give him for his barony." The king replied with warmth, " that he should confer " with some of his . friends of the way ; but that he " would take it ill of him, if there were any delay " in it, and if it were not ready for the seal at the " time of his return, which would be in few days." The attorney came to the chancellor and told him, " he would break a trust to do him a service ; and " therefore he presumed, that he would not be so " unjust to let him suffer by it :" and then told him all that had passed between the king and him. And the chancellor confessed, " that the king's ob- " liging manner of proceeding s , and the conjunc- " ture in which this honour was given," though he had before refused it with obstinacy, " made it now 6 obliging manner of proceeding] manner of proceeding was so obliging fv EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 387 " very grateful to him :" and so without hesitation 1 6GO. he told him what title he would assume. And all And crcMps was ready against the king's return, and signed by [ * him, and sealed the same night. The queen had expressed her indignation to the king and duke, with her natural passion, from the time of their meeting; and the duke had asked her pardon " for having placed his affection so un- " equally, of which he was sure there was now an " end ; that he was not married, and had now such " evidence of her unworthiness, that he should no " more think of her." And it was now avowedly said, that sir Charles Berkley, who was captain of his guard, and in much more credit and favour with the duke than his uncle, (though a young man of a dissolute life, and prone to all wickedness in the judgment of all sober men,) had informed the duke, " that he was bound in conscience to preserve him sir charies r> i >ft i it i Berkley tra- " irom taking to wife a woman so wholly unworthy duces the " of him; that he himself had lain with her; and " that for his sake he would be content to many i iutation - " her, though he knew well the familiarity the duke " had with her." This evidence, with so solemn oaths presented by a person so much loved and trusted by him, made a wonderful impression in the duke ; and now confirmed by the commands of his mother, as he had been before prevailed upon by his sister, he resolved to deny that he was married, and up winch * - the duke re- never to see the woman again, who had been so false solves to to him. And the queen being satisfied with this marriage. resolution, they came all to London, with a full hope that they should prevail to the utter overthrow of the chancellor ; the king having, without any re- ply or debate, heard all they said of the other af- cc 2 388 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. fair, and his mother's bitterness against him. But ~ when, the very next morning after their arrival at London, they saw the chancellor (who had not seen the king) appear in the parliament in the robes of a peer ; they thought it to no purpose to prosecute their design against him, whom his majesty was resolved to protect from any unjust persecution. But the other resolution was pursued with noise and much defamation. The next day after the queen's arrival, all the privy council in a body waited upon the queen to congratulate her return into England; and the chancellor was obliged to go in the head of them, and was received with the same countenance that the rest were, which was very cheerful, and with many gracious expressions. And from this time he put not himself in her majesty's presence, nor ap- peared at all concerned at the scandalous discourses against his daughter. The earl of St. Alban's, and all who were near the queen in any trust, and the lord Berkley and his faction about the duke, lived in defiance of the chancellor ; and so imprudently, that they did him no harm, but underwent the reproach of most sober men. The king continued his grace towards him without the least diminution, and not only to him, but to many others who were trusted by him ; which made it evident that he believed no- thing of what sir Charles Berkley avowed, and looked on him as a fellow of great wickedness : which opinion the king was long known to have of him before his coming into England, and after. In the mean time, the season of his daughter's de- livery was at hand. And it was the king's chance to be at his house with the committee of council, EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 389 when she fell in labour : of -which being advertised 1 6GO. by her father, the king directed him " to send for ~~ " the lady marchioness of Ormond, the countess of " Sunderland, and other ladies of known honour " and fidelity to the crown, to be present with her :" who all came, and were present till she was deli- The duchess i n mi i i n -r-rr' -, delivered of vered of a son. The bishop of Winchester, in the a son. interval of her greatest pangs, and sometimes when they were upon her, was present, and asked her such questions as were thought fit for the occasion ; " whose the child was of which she was in labour," whom she averred, with all protestations, to be the duke's ; " whether she had ever known any other " man ;" which she renounced with all vehemence, saying, " that she was confident the duke did not "think she had;" and being asked " whether she " were married to the duke," she answered, " she " was, and that there were witnesses enough, who " in due time, she was confident, would avow it." In a word, her behaviour was such as abundantly sa- tisfied the ladies who were present, of her innocence from the reproach ; and they were not reserved in the declaration of it, even before the persons who were least pleased with their testimony. And the lady marchioness of Ormond took an opportunity to declare it fully to the duke himself, and perceived in % him such a kind of tenderness, that persuaded her that he did not believe any thing amiss. And the king enough published his opinion and judgment of the scandal. The chancellor's own carriage, that is, his doing nothing, nor saying any thing from whence they might take advantage, exceedingly vexed them. Yet they undertook to know, and informed the duke c c 3 390 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE 'OF 1660. confidently, " that the chancellor had a great party ~~ " in the parliament ;" and that " he was resolved " within few days to complain there, and to produce " the witnesses, who were present at the marriage, "to be examined, that their testimony might re- " main there ; which would be a great affront to " him ;" with many other particulars, which might incense his highness. Whereupon the duke, who had been observed never to have spoken to him in the house of peers, or any where else, since the time of his going to meet his sister, finding the chancellor one day in the privy lodgings, whispered him in the ear, " that he would be glad to confer with him in " his lodging," whither he was then going. The other immediately followed ; and being come thi- ther, the duke sent all his servants out of distance ; and then told him with much warmth, " what he " had been informed of his purpose to complain to " the parliament against him, which he did not va- " lue or care for : however, if he should prosecute " any such course, it should be the worse for him ;" implying some threats, " what he would do before he " would bear such an affront ;" adding then, " that " for his daughter, she had behaved herself so foully, " (of which he had such evidence as was as con- " vincing as his own eyes, and of which he could " make no doubt,) that nobody could blame him for " his behaviour towards her ;" concluding with some other threats, " that he should repent it, if he pur- " sued his intention of appealing to the paiiia- " ment." As soon as the duke discontinued his discourse, the chancellor told him, " that he hoped he would " discover the untruth of other reports which had EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 391 " been made to him by the falsehood of this, which j 660. " had been raised without the least ground or sha- ~~ " dow of truth. That though he did not pretend to " much wisdom, yet no man took him to be such a " fool, as he must be, if he intended to do such an "" act as he was informed. That if his highness had " done any thing towards or against him, which he " ought not to have done, there was one who is as " much above him, as his highness was above him, " and who could both censure and punish it. For " his own part, he knew too well whose son he was, " and whose brother he is, to behave himself to- " wards him with less duty and submission than was " due to him, and should be always paid by him." He said, " he was not concerned to vindicate his daugh- " ter from any the most improbable scandals and " aspersions : she had disobliged and deceived him " too much, for him to be over-confident that she " might not deceive any other man : and therefore " he would leave that likewise to God Almighty, " upon whose blessing he would always depend, " whilst himself remained innocent, and no longer." The duke replied not, nor from that time men- tioned the chancellor with any displeasure ; and re- lated to the king, and some other persons, the dis- course that had passed, very exactly. There did not after all this appear, in the dis- courses of men, any of that humour and indigna- tion which was expected. On the contrary, men of the greatest name and reputation spake of the foul- ness of the proceeding with great freedom, and with all the detestation imaginable against sir Charles Berkley, whose testimony nobody believed; not without some censure of . the chancellor, for not c c 4 392 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1 660. enough appearing and prosecuting the indignity : ~" but he was not to be moved by any instances, which he never afterwards repented. The queen's implac- able displeasure continued in the full height, doing all she could to keep the duke firm to his resolution, and to give all countenance to the calumny. As be- fore the discovery of this engagement of the duke's affection, the duke of Gloucester had died of the smallpox, to the extraordinary grief of the king and the whole kingdom ; so at this time it pleased God to visit the princess royal with the same disease, and of which she died within few days ; having in her last agonies expressed a dislike of the proceedings in that affair, to which she had contributed too much. The duke The duke himself grew melancholic and dispirited, faudioiTc! and cared not for company, nor those divertisements in which he formerly delighted : which was observed by every body, and which in the end wrought so far upon the conscience of the lewd informer, that he, sir Charles Berkley, came to the duke, and clearly sir Charles declared to him, " that the general discourse of men, &>n(esLs " of what inconvenience and mischief, if not absolute hoo such a marriage would be to his royal high- his charge ness, had prevailed with him to use all the power against the duchess. " he had to dissuade him from it ; and when he found " he could not prevail with him, he had formed that " accusation, which he presumed could not but pro- " duce the effect he wished ; which he now con- " fessed to be false, and without the least ground ; '* and that he was very confident of her virtue :" and therefore besought his highness " to pardon a ** fault, that was committed out of pure devotion to " him ; and that he would not suffer him to be -" ruined by the power of those, whom he had so un- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 393 " worthily provoked ; and of which he had so much 1 660. " shame, that he had not confidence to look upon " them." The duke found himself so much relieved in that part that most afflicted him, that he em- braced him, and made a solemn promise, " that he " should not suffer in the least degree in his own " affection, for what had proceeded so absolutely " from his good-will to him ; and that he would " take so much care of him, that in the compound- " ing that affair he should be so comprehended, " that he should receite no disadvantage." And now the duke appeared with another coun- The duke tenance, writ to her whom he had injured, " that " he would speedily visit her," and gave her charge con " to have a care of his son." He gave the king a full account of all, without concealing his joy ; and took most pleasure in conferring with them, who had seemed least of his mind when he had been most transported, and who had always argued against the probability of the testimony which had wrought upon him. The queen was not pleased with this change, though the duke did not yet own to her that he had altered his resolution. She was always very angry at the king's coldness, who had been so far from that aversion which she expected, that he found excuses for the duke, and endeavoured to di- vert her passions ; and now pressed the discovery of the truth by sir Charles Berkley's confession, as a thing that pleased him. They about her, and who had most inflamed and provoked her to the sharpest resentment, appeared more calm in their discourses, and either kept silence, or spake to another tune than they had done formerly, and wished that the business was well composed ; all which mightily in- 394 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. creased the queen's passion. And having come to ~ know that the duke had made a visit at the place she most abhorred, she brake into great passion, The queen and publicly declared, " that whenever that woman fended at " should be brought into Whitehall by one door, e." ner majesty would go out of it by another door, " and never come into it again." And for several days her majesty would not suffer the duke to be in her presence ; at least, if he came with the king, she forbore to speak to him, or to take any notice of him. Nor could they, who had used to have most credit with her, speak to her with any acceptation ; though they were all weary of the distances they had kept, and discerned well enough where the matter must end. And many desired to find some expedient, how the work might be facilitated, by some application and address from the chancellor to the queen : but he absolutely refused to make the least advance towards it, or to contribute to her in- dignation by putting himself into her majesty's pre- sence. He declared, " that the queen had great " reason for the passion she expressed for the indig- " nity that had been done to her, and which he " would never endeavour to excuse ; and that as " far as his low quality was capable of receiving an " injury from so great a prince, he had himself to " complain of a transgression that exceeded the " limits of all justice, divine and human." The queen had made this journey out of France into England much sooner than she intended, and only, upon this occasion, to prevent a mischief she had great reason to deprecate. And so, upon her arrival, she had declared, " that she would stay a " very short time, being obliged to return into EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 895 " France for her health, and to use the waters of 1660. " Bourbon, which had already done her much good, " that the ensuing season would with God's blessing " make perfect." And the time was now come, that orders were sent for the ships to attend her embarkation at Portsmouth ; and the day was ap- pointed for the beginning her journey from White- hall : so that the duke's affair, which he now took to heart, was (as every body thought) to be left in the state it was, at least under the renunciation and interdiction of a mother. When on a sudden, of which nobody then knew the reason, her majesty's countenance and discourse was changed ; she treated the duke with her usual kindness, and confessed to him, "that the business that had offended her " much, she perceived was proceeded so far, that no alters her y " remedy could be applied to it ; and therefore that behaviour> " she would trouble herself no further in it, but " pray to God to bless him, and that he might be " happy :" so that the duke had now nothing to wish, but that the queen would be reconciled to his wife, who remained still at her father's, where the king had visited her often ; to which the queen was not averse, and spake graciously of the chancellor, and said, " she would be good friends with him." But both these required some formalities ; and they who had behaved themselves the most disobligingly, expected to be comprehended in any atonement that should be made. And it was exceedingly la- boured, that .the chancellor would make the first ap- proach, by visiting the earl of St. Alban's ; which he absolutely refused to do : and very well ac- quainted with the arts of that court, whereof dissi- mulation was the soul, did not believe that those 396 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. changes, for which he saw no reasonable motive, ~~ could be real, until abbot Mountague (who had so far complied with the faction of that court as not to converse with an enemy) visited him with all open- ness, and told him, " that this change in the queen " had proceeded from a letter she had newly re- " ceived from the cardinal, in which he had plainly The cause " told her, that she would not receive a good wel- in " come in France, if she left her sons in her dis- 16 qneen> " pleasure, and professed an animosity against those " ministers who were most trusted by the king. " He extolled the services done by the chancellor, " and advised her to comply with what could not " be avoided, and to be perfectly reconciled to her *' children, and to those who were nearly related to " them, or were intrusted by them : and that he " did - this in so powerful a style, and, with such " powerful reasons, that her majesty's passions were " totally subdued. And this," he said, " was the " reason of the sudden change that every body had " observed ; and therefore that he ought to believe " the sincerity of it, and to perform that part which " might be expected from him, in compliance with " the queen's inclinations to have a good intelligence " with him." The chancellor had never looked upon the abbot as his enemy, and gave credit to all he said, though he did little understand from what fountain that good-will of the cardinal had proceeded, who had never been propitious to him. He made all those professions of duty to the queen that became him, and " how happy he should think himself in her " protection, which he had need of, and did with all " humility implore ; and that he would gladly cast EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 397 himself at her majesty's feet, when she would 1G60. " vouchsafe to admit it." But for the adjusting this, there was to be more formality ; for it was ne- cessary that the earl of St. Alban's (between whom and the chancellor there had never been any friend- ship) should have some part in this composition, and do many good offices towards it, which were to precede the final conclusion. The duke had brought sir Charles Berkley to the duchess, at whose feet he had cast himself, with all the acknowledgment and penitence he could express ; and she, according to the command of the duke, accepted his submission, and promised to forget the offence. He came like- wise to the chancellor with those professions which he could easily make ; and the other was obliged to receive him civilly. And then his uncle, the lord Berkley, waited upon the duchess ; and afterwards visited her father, like a man (which he could not avoid) who had done very much towards the bring- ing so difficult a matter to so good an end, and ex- pected thanks from all ; having that talent in some perfection, that after he had crossed and puzzled any business, as much as was in his power, he would be thought the only man who had united 1 all knots, and made the way smooth, and removed all obstruc- tions. The satisfaction the king and the duke had in The king this disposition of the queen was visible to all men ; . greati" e And they both thought the chancellor too reserved ^ e t j lis in contributing his part towards, or in meeting, the chan s e n queen's favour, which he could not but discern was approaching towards him ; and that he did not en- 1 united] untied 398 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1G60. tertain any discourses, which had been by many entered upon to him upon that subject, with that cheerfulness and serenity of mind that might justly be expected. And of this the duke made an ob- servation, and a kino! of complaint, to the king, who thereupon came one day to the chancellor's house ; and being alone with him, his majesty told him many particulars which had passed between him and the queen, and the good humour her majesty was in ; " that the next day the earl of St. Alban's " would visit him, and offer him his service in ac- " companying him to the queen ; which he conjured " him to receive with all civility, and expressions of " the joy he took in it ; in which," he told him, " he " was observed to be too sullen, and that when all " other men's minds appeared to be cheerful, his " alone appeared to be more cloudy than it had " been, when that affair seemed most desperate ; " which was the more taken notice of, because it " was not natural to him." The chancellor answered, " that he did not know " that he had failed in any thing, that in good man- " ners or decency dould be required from him : but " he confessed, that lately his thoughts were more ** perplexed and troublesome to himself, than they " had ever been before ; and therefore it was no " wonder, if his looks were not the same they had " used to be. That though he had been surprised to " amazement, upon the first notice of that business, " yet he had been shortly able to recollect himself; " and, upon the testimony of his own conscience, to " compose his mind and spirits, and without any " reluctancy to abandon any thought of his daugh- " ter, and to leave her to that misery she had de- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 399 " served and brought upon herself. Nor did the vi- " cissitudes which occurred after in that transaction, " or the displeasure and menaces of the duke, make " any other impression upon him, than to know how " unable he was to enter into any contest in that " matter, (which in all respects was too difficult and " superior to his understanding and faculties,) and " to leave it entirely to the direction and disposal of " God Almighty : and in this acquiescence he had " enjoyed a repose with much tranquillity of mind, " being prepared to undergo any misfortune that " might befall him from thence. But that now he " was awakened by other thoughts and reflections, " which he could less range and govern. He saw those " difficulties removed, which he had thought insu- " perable ; that his own condition must be thought " exalted above what he thought possible ; and that " he was far less able to bear the envy, that was un- " avoidable, than the indignation and contempt, that " alone had threatened him. That his daughter " was now received in the royal family, the wife of " the king's only brother, and the heir apparent of " the crown, whilst his majesty himself remained un- " married. The great trust his majesty reposed in " him, infinitely above and contrary to his desire, was " in itself liable to envy ; and how insupportable that " envy must be, upon this new relation, he could not " but foresee ; together with the jealousies which " artificial men would be able to insinuate into his " majesty, even when they seemed to have all pos- " sible confidence in the integrity of the chancel- *' lor, and when they extolled him most ; and that " how firm and constant soever his majesty's grace " and favour^ was to him at present, (of which he 400 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF I G60. " had lately given such lively testimony,) and how " resolved soever he was to continue it, his majesty '* himself could not know how far some jealousies, " cunningly suggested by some men, might by de- " grees be entertained by him. And therefore that, " upon all the revolvings he had with himself, he " could not think of any thing that could contribute " equally to his majesty's service, and his quiet, and " to the happiness and security of himself, as for " him to retire from the active station he was in, to " an absolute solitude, and visible inactivity in all " matters relating to the state : and which he " thought could not be so well, under any retire- " ment into the country, or any part of the king- " dom, as by his leaving the kingdom, and fixing " himself in some place beyond the seas remote " from any court." And having said all this, or words to the same effect, he fell on his knees ; and with all possible earnestness desired the king, " that " he would consent to his retirement, as a thing " most necessary for his service, and give his pass, " to go and reside in any such place beyond the seas " as his majesty would make choice of." The king heard him patiently, yet with evidence enough that he was not pleased with what he said ; and when he kneeled, took him up with some pas- sion ; " He did not expect this from him, and that " he had so little kindness for him, as to leave him " in a time, when he could not but know that he " was very necessary for his service. That he had " reason to be very well assured, that it could never " be in any man's power to lessen his kindness to- " wards him, or confidence in him ; and if any should " presume to attempt it, they would find cause to re- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 401 "pent their presumption." He said, " there were JGGO. " many reasons, why he could never have designed " or advised his brother to this marriage ; yet since " it was past, and all things so well reconciled, he " would not deny that he was glad of it, and pro- " raised himself much benefit from it." He told him, " his daughter was a woman of a great wit " and excellent parts, and would have a great power " with his brother ; and that he knew that she had " an entire obedience for him, her father, who he " knew would always give her good counsel ; by " which," he said, " he was confident, that naughty " people, which had too much credit with his bro- " ther, and which had so often misled him, would " be no more able to corrupt him ; but that she " would pi-event all ill and unreasonable attempts : " and therefore he again confessed that he was glad of " it ;" and so concluded with many gracious expres- sions ; and conjured the chancellor, " never more to . " think of those unreasonable things, but to attend " and prosecute his business with his usual alacrity, " since his kindness could never fail him." The next morning, which was of the last day that the queen was to stay, the earl of St. Alban's visited the chancellor with all those compliments, professions, and protestations, which were natural, and which he did really believe every body else thought to be very sincere ; for he had that kind- ness for himself, that he thought every body did be- lieve him. He expressed " a wonderful joy, that the " queen would now leave the court united, and all " the king's affairs in a very hopeful condition, m " which the queen confessed that the chancellor's " counsels had been very prosperous, and that she VOL. i. D d 1660. " was resolved to part with great and a sincere kind- ~" ness towards him ; and that he had authority from " her to assure him so much, which she would do " herself when she saw him :" and so offered *' to go " with him to her majesty, at such an hour in the " afternoon as she should appoint." The other made such returns to all the particulars as were fit, and " that he would be ready to attend the queen at the " time she should please to assign :" and in the after- noon the earl of St. Alban's came again to him ; and they went together to Whitehall, where they found the queen in her bedchamber, where many ladies were present, who came then to take their leave of her majesty, before she begun her journey. The queen The duke of York had before presented his wife reconciled -i to the to* his mother, who received her without the least shew of regret, or rather with the same grace as if she had liked it from the beginning, and made her sit down by her. When the chancellor came in, the queen rose from her chair, and received him with a countenance very serene. The ladies, and others who were near, withdrawing, her majesty told him, " that he could not wonder, much less take it ill, " that she had been much offended with the duke, " and had no inclination to give her consent to his " marriage ; and if she had, in the passion that could " not be condemned in her, spake any thing of him " that he had taken ill, he ought to impute it to the " provocation she had received, though not from " him. She was now informed by the king, and well " assured, that he had no hand in contriving that " friendship, but was offended with that passion that " really was worthy of him. That she could not " but confess, that his fidelity to the king her hus- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 403 " band was very eminent, and that he had served IGGO. " the king her son with equal fidelity and extraor-~~ " dinary success. And therefore, as she had received " his daughter as her daughter, and heartily forgave " the duke and her, and was resolved ever after to " live with all the affection of a mother towards " them ; so she resolved to make a friendship with Alld to tlie i 11 /v. chancellor. :< him, and hereafter to expect all the offices from " him, which her kindness should deserve." And when the chancellor had made all those acknow- ledgments which lie ought to do, and commended her wisdom and indignation in a business, " in which " she could not shew too much anger and aversion, " and had too much forgotten her own honour and " dignity, if she had been less offended ;" and mag- nified her mercy and generosity, " in departing so " soon from her necessary severity, and pardoning a " crime in itself so unpardonable ;" he made those professions of duty to her which were due to her, and " that he should always depend upon her pro- " tection as his most gracious mistress, and pay all " obedience to her commands." The queen appeared well pleased, and said " she should remain very con- " fident of his affection," and so discoursed of some particulars; and then opening a paper that she had in her hand, she recommended the despatch of some things to him, which immediately related to her own service and interest, and then some persons, who had either some suits to the king, or some con- troversies depending in chancery. And the evening drawing on, and very many ladies and others wait- ing without to kiss her majesty's hand, he thought it time to take his leave ; and after having repeated some short professions of his duty, he kissed her ma- D d 2 404 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. jesty's hand: and from that time there did never ""appear any want of kindness in the queen towards him, whilst he stood in no need of it, nor until it might have done him good. Thus an intrigue, that without doubt had been entered into and industriously contrived by those who designed to affront and bring dishonour upon the chancellor and his family, was, by God's good pleasure, turned to their shame and reproach, and to the increase of the chancellor's greatness and pros- perity. And so we return to the time from whence this digression led us, and shall take a particular view of all those accidents, which had an influence upon the quiet of the kingdom, or which were the cause of all the chancellor's misfortunes; which, though the effect of them did not appear in many years, were discerned by himself as coming and un- avoidable, and foretold by him to his two bosom- friends, the marquis of Ormond and the earl of Southampton, who constantly adhered to him with all the integrity of true friendship. The chan- The greatness and power of the chancellor, by cellor not r ... elated with this marriage of his daughter, with all the circum- riagef r his stances which had accompanied and attended it, daughter. seeme j t o a \[ men ^ o have established his fortune, and that of his family ; I say, to all men but to him- self, who was not in the least degree exalted with it. He knew well upon how slippery ground he stood, and how naturally averse the nation was from ap- proving an exorbitant power in any subject. He saw that the king grew every day more inclined to his pleasures, which involved him in expense, and company that did not desire that he should intend his business, or be conversant with sober men. He EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 405 knew well that the servants who were about the 1660. duke were as much his enemies as ever, and intended ~~ their own profit only, by what means soever, with- out considering his honour; that they formed his household, officers, and equipage, by the model of France, and against all the rules and precedents of England for a brother of the crown ; and every day put into his head, " that if he were not supplied for all " those expenses, it was the chancellor's fault, who " could effect it if he would." Nor was he able to prevent those infusions, nor the effects of them, be- cause they were so artificially administered, as if their end was to raise a confidence in him of the chancellor, not to weaken it ; though he knew well that their design was to create by degrees in him a jealousy of his power and credit with the king, as if it eclipsed his. But this was only in their own dark purposes, which had been all blasted, if they had been apparent ; for the duke did not only profess a very great affection for the chancellor, but gave all the demonstration of it that was possible, and desired nothing more, than that it should be mani- fest to all men, that he had an entire trust from the king in all his affairs, and that he would employ all his interest to support that trust : whilst the chan- cellor himself declined all the occasions, which were offered for the advancement of his fortune, and de- sired wholly to be left to the discharge of his office, and that all other officers might diligently look to their own provinces, and be accountable for them ; and detested nothing more than that title and appel- lation, which he saw he should not always be able to avoid, of principal minister or favourite, and which was never cast on him by any designation of 406 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF lf>60. the king, (who abhorred to be thought to be go- verned by any single person,) but by his preferring his pleasures before his business, and so sending all men to the chancellor to receive advice. And here- by the secretaries of state, not finding a present access to him, when the occasions pressed, resorted to the chancellor, with whom his majesty spent most time, to be resolved by him ; which method exceed- ingly grieved him, and to which he endeavoured to apply a remedy, by putting all things in their pro- per channel, and by prevailing with the king, when he should be a little satiated with the divertisements he affected, to be vacant to so much of his business, as could not be managed and conducted by any body else. some in- And here it may be seasonable to insert at large stances of , ' t > hisdisin- some instances, which I promised before, and by ness! eC which it will be manifest, how far the chancellor was from an immoderate appetite to be rich, and to raise his fortune, which he proposed only to do by the perquisites of his office, which were considerable at the first, and by such bounty of the king as might hereafter, without noise or scandal, be conferred on him in proper seasons and occurrences ; and that he was y as far from affecting such an unlimited power as he was believed afterwards to be possessed of, (and of which no footsteps could ever be discovered in any of his actions, or in any one particular that was the effect of such power,) or from desiring 7 - any other extent of power than was agreeable to the great office he held, and which had been enjoyed by most of those who had been his predecessors in that trust. y that he was] Not in MS. ' or from desiring] or that he did desire EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 407 The king had not been many weeks in England, 1 660. when the marquis of Ormond came to him with his He refused usual friendship, and asked him, " Whether it would > n w r - able offer " not be now time to think of making a fortune, that of crown - " he might be able to leave to his wife and children, " if he should die ?" And when he found that he was less sensible of what he proposed than he ex- pected, and that he only answered, " that he knew " not which way to go about it," the marquis told him, " that he thought he could commend a proper " suit for him to make to the king ; and if his mo- " desty would not permit him to move the king for " himself, he would undertake to move it for him, " and was confident that the king would willingly " grant it :" and thereupon shewed him a paper, which contained the king's just title to ten thou- sand acres of land in the Great Level of the Fens, which would be of a good yearly value; or they, who were unjustly possessed of it, would be glad to purchase the king's title with a very considerable sum of money. And, in the end, he frankly told him, " that he made this overture to him with the " king's approbation, who had been moved in it, " and thought at the first sight, out of his own " goodness, that it might be fit for him, and wished " the marquis to propose it to him." When the chancellor had extolled the king's gene- rosity, that he could, in so great necessities of his own, think of dispensing so great a bounty Upon a poor servant, who was already recompensed beyond what he could be ever able to deserve, he said, " that he knew very well the king's title to that " land, of which he was in possession before the re- " bellion began, which the old and new adventurers D d 4 408 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1660. " now claimed by a new contract, confirmed by an ~~" ordinance of parliament, which could not deprive " the crown of its right ; which all the adventurers " (who for the greatest part were worthy men) well " knew, and would for their own sakes not dispute, " since it would inevitably produce a new inunda- " tion, which all their unity and consent in main- " taining the banks would and could with difficulty " enough but prevent. That he would advise his " majesty to give all the countenance he could to " the carrying on and perfecting that great work, " which was of great benefit as well as honour to " the public, at the charge of private gentlemen, " who had paid dear for the land they had re- " covered ; but that he would never advise him to " begin his reign - with the alienation of such a par- " eel of land from the crown to any one particular " subject, who could never bear the envy of it. " That his majesty ought to reserve that revenue to " himself, which was great, though less than it was " generally reputed to be ; at least till the value " thereof should be clearly understood, (and the de- " taining it in his own hands for some time would " be the best expedient towards the finishing all the " banks, when the season should be fit, which else " would be neglected by the discord among the ad- " venturers,) and the king knew what he gave. He " must remember, that he had two brothers," (for the duke of Gloucester was yet alive,) " who were '* without any revenue, and towards whom his " bounty was to be first extended ; and that this " land would be a good ingredient towards an ap- " panage for them both. And that till they were " reasonably provided for, no private man in his EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 409 " wits would be the object of any extraordinary " bounty from the king, which would unavoidably " make him the object of an universal envy and ha- " tred. That, for his own part, he held by the " king's favour the greatest office of the kingdom " in place ; and though it was not near the value " it was esteemed to be, and that many other offices " were more profitable, yet it was enough for him, " and would be a good foundation to improve his " fortune : so that," he said, " he had made a reso- " lution to himself, which he thought he should not " alter, not to make haste to be rich. That it was " the principal part or obligation of his office, to dis- " suade the king from making any grants of such a " nature, (except where the necessity or conveni- " ence was very notorious,) and even to stop those " which should be made of that kind, and not to " suffer them to pass the seal, till he had again " waited upon the king, and informed him of the " evil consequence of those grants ; which discharge " of his duty could not but raise him many enemies, " who should not have that advantage, to say that " he obstructed the king's bounty towards other " men, when he made it very profuse towards him- " self. And therefore, that he would never receive " any crown-lands from the king's gift, and did not " wish to have any other honour or any advantage, " but what his office brought him, till seven years " should pass; in which all the distractions of the " kingdom might be composed, and the necessities ** thereof so provided for, that the king might be " able, without hurting himself, to exercise some li- " berality towards his servants who had served him " well." How he seemed to part from this resolu- 410 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF Hif>0. tion in some particulars afterwards, and why he ~~ did so, may be collected out of what hath been truly set down before. When the marquis of Ormond had given the king a large account of the conference between him and the chancellor, and " that he absolutely refused " to receive that grant ;" his majesty said, " he was " a fool for his labour, and that he would be much " better in being envied than in being pitied." And though the inheritance of those lands was after- wards given to the duke, yet there were such es- tates granted for years to many particular persons, most whereof had never merited by any service, that half the value thereof never came to his high- ness. 1661. As soon as the king and duke returned from Ports- mouth, where they had seen the queen embarked knight of f or France, the king had appointed a chapter, for the garter. the electing some knights of the garter into the places vacant. Upon which the duke desired him " to nominate the chancellor," which his majesty said "he would willingly do, but he knew not " whether it would be grateful to him ; for he had " refused so many things, that he knew not what " he would take ;" and therefore wished him " to " take a boat to Worcester-house, and propose it to " him, and he would not go to the chapter till his ** highness returned." The duke told the chancel- lor what had passed between the king and him, and " that he was come only to know his mind, and " could not imagine but that such an honour would "please him." The chancellor, after a million of humble acknowledgments of the duke's grace and of "the king's condescension, said, " that the honour EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 411 " was indeed too great by much for him to sus- 1661, " tain ; that there were very many worthy men, ~ " who well remembered him of their own condi- " tion, when he first entered into his father's service, " and believed that he was advanced too much be- " fore them." He besought his highness, " that his i racter. Dcxtera, consilus habitus non minis auctor, Seditione potens. Without doubt he was a person of extraordinary cunning, well bred ; and though, by the ill-placing of his eyes, he did not appear with any great advan- tage at first sight, yet he reconciled even those who had aversion to him very strangely by a little con- versation : insomuch as after so many repeated in- dignities (to say no worse) which he had put upon the late king, and when he had continued the same affronts to the present king, by hindering the Scots from inviting him, and as long as was possible kept him from being received by them ; when there was no remedy, and that he was actually landed, no man paid him so much reverence and outward respect, and gave so good an example to all others, with what veneration their king ought to be treated, as the marquis of Argyle did, and in a very short time made himself agreeable and acceptable to him. His wit was pregnant, and his humour gay and pleasant, except when he liked not the company or the argu- ment. And though he never consented to any one thing of moment, which the king asked of him ; and even in those seasons in which he was used with most rudeness by the clergy, and with some bar- barity by his son the lord Lome, whom he had made 432 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1G61. captain of his majesty's guard, to guard him from "~ his friends, and from all who he desired should have access to him, the marquis still had that address, that he persuaded him all was for the best. When the other faction prevailed, in which there were likewise crafty managers, and that his counsels were commonly rejected, he carried himself so, that they who hated him most were willing to compound with him, and that his majesty should not withdraw his countenance from him. But he continued in all his charges, and had a very great party in that parlia- ment that was most devoted to serve the king ; so that his majesty was often put to desire his help to compass what he desired. He did heartily oppose the king's marching with his army into England ; the ill success whereof made many men believe after- wards, that he had more reasons for the counsels he gave, than they had who were of another opinion. And the king was so far from thinking him his enemy, that when it was privately proposed to him by those he trusted most, that he might be secured from doing hurt when the king was marched into England, since he was so much* against it ; his ma- jesty would by no means consent to it, but parted with him very graciously, as with one he expected good service from. All which the commissioners well remembered, and were very unwilling that he should be again admitted into his presence, to make his own excuses for any thing he could be charged with. And his behaviour afterwards, and the good correspondence he had kept with Cromwell, but especially some confident averments of some parti- cular words or actions which related to the murder of his father, prevailed with his majesty not to speak EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 433 with him ; which he laboured by many addresses, in 1 GC I . petitions to the king, and letters to some of those" who were trusted by him, which were often presented by his wife and his son, and in which he only desired " to speak with the king or with some of those lords," pretending, " that he should inform and communi- " cate somewhat that would highly concern his ma- " jesty's service." But the king not vouchsafing to admit him to his presence, the English lords had no mind to have any conference with a man who had so dark a character, or to meddle in an affair that must be examined and judged by the laws of Scot- land : and so it was resolved, that the marquis of Sent into * Scotland to Argyle should be sent by sea into Scotland, to be be tried. tried before the parliament there when the com- missioner should arrive, who was despatched thither with the rest of the lords, as soon as the seals and other badges of their several offices could be pre- pared. And what afterwards became of the mar*- quis is known to all men ; as it grew quickly to ap- pear, that what bitterness soever the earl of Lau- therdale had expressed towards him in his general discourses, he had in truth a great mind to have preserved him, and so kept such a pillar of presby- tery against a good occasion ; which was not then suspected by the rest of the commissioners. The lords of the English council, who were ap- pointed to sit with the Scots, met with them to consult upon the instructions which were to be given to the king's commissioner, who was now created earl of Middleton.' The Scots seemed all resolute and impatient to vindicate their country from the infamy of delivering up the last king, (for all things relating to the former rebellion had been put in ob- VOL. I. F f 434 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1 66 1 . livion by his late majesty's act of indemnity, at his "last being in Scotland,) and stricdy to examine who of that nation had contributed to his murder, of which they were confident Argyle would be found The eari of Very guilty. Middleton was very earnest, " that he Jrot^e?" " might, for the humiliation of the preachers, and * P reven ^ anv unruly proceeding of theirs in their assembly, begin with rescinding the act of the Scotland. " covenant, and all other acts which had invaded " the king's power ecclesiastical, and then proceed " to the erecting of bishops in that kingdom, ac- in which cording to the ancient institution :" and with him all the Glencarne, Rothes, and all the rest (Lautherdale S CUT Incept' only excepted) concurred ; and averred, " that it " wou ld be very easily brought to pass, because the " tyrannical proceedings of the assemblies and their " several presbyteries had so far incensed persons of " all degrees, that not only the nobility, gentry, and " common people, would be glad to be freed from " them, but that the most learned and best part of " the ministers desired the same, and to be subject " again to the bishops ; and that there would be " enough found of the Scots clergy, very worthy " and very willing to supply those charges." Lautherdale, with a passion superior to the rest, inveighed against the covenant ; called it " a wick- " ed, traitorous combination of rebels against their " lawful sovereign, and expressly against the laws " of their own country ; protested his own hearty " repentance for the part he had acted in the pro- " motion thereof, and that he was confident that " God, who was witness of his repentance, had for- " given him that foul sin : that no man there had a " greater reverence for the government by bishops EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 435 " than he himself had ; and that he was most confi- J661. '* dent, that the kingdom of Scotland could never be ~ " happy in itself, nor ever be reduced to a perfect (( submission and obedience to the king, till the ** episcopal government was again established there. " The scruple that only remained with him, and " which made him differ with his brethren, was, of " the manner how it should be attempted, and of the " time when it should be endeavoured to be brought " to pass." And then with his usual warmth, when he thought it necessary to be warm, (for at other times he could be as calm as any man, though not so naturally,) he desired, " that the commissioner " might have no instruction for the present to make " any approach towards either ; on the contrary, who art- " that he might be restrained from it by his ma- tempt* to " jesty's special direction: for though his own pru- f^ e * d> " dence, upon the observation he should quickly " make when he came thither, would restrain him " from doing any thing which might be inconvenient " to his majesty's service ; yet without that he would " hardly be able to restrain others, who for want of " understanding, or out of ill-will to particular men, " might be too forward to set such a design on " foot" He desired, "that in the first session of parlia^ " ment no further attempt might be made, than in " pursuance of what had been first mentioned, the " vindicating their country from all things which " related to the murder of the late king, which " would comprehend the delivery up of his person, " the asserting the king's royal power, by which all " future attempts towards rebellion would be pre- " vented, and the trial of the marquis of Argyle ; F f 2 436 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. "all which would take up more time than parlia- ~~" ments in that kingdom, till the late ill times, had " used to continue together. That after the expi- " ration of the first session, in which a good judg- " ment might be made of the temper of that king- " dom, and the commissioner's prudence might have " an influence upon many leading men to change " their present temper, such further advance might " be made for the reformation of the kirk as his " majesty should judge best ; and then he made no " doubt, but all would by degrees be compassed in " that particular which could be desired, and which " was the more resolutely to be desired, because he " still confessed that the king could not be secure, nor " the kingdom happy, till the episcopal government " could be restored. But he undertook to know so " well the nature of that people," (though he had not been in that kingdom since his majesty left it,) " that if it were undertaken presently, or without " due circumstances in preparing more men than " could in a short time be done, it would not only " miscarry, but with it his majesty be disappointed " of many of the other particulars, which he would " otherwise be sure to obtain." He named many of the nobility and leading men, who he said " were still so infatuated with the cove- " nant, that "they would with equal patience hear of " the rejection of the four Evangelists, who yet, by " conversation, and other information, and applica- " tion, might in time be wrought upon." He fre- quently appealed to the king's own memory and ob- servation, when he was in that kingdom, " how su- " perstitious they who were most devoted to do him " service, and were at his disposal in all things, were EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 437 " towards the covenant: that all they did for him, " which was all that he desired them to do, was " looked upon as the effects of those obligations " which the covenant had laid upon them." He appealed to the general, (" who," he said, " knew " Scotland better than any one man of that nation " could pretend to do,) whether he thought this a " proper season to attempt so great a change in " that kingdom, before other more pressing acts "were compassed ; and whether he did not know, " that the very pressing the obligations in the cove- " nant lately in England had not contributed very ** much to the restoration of the king, which the " London ministers confidently urged at present as " an argument for his indulgence towards them. " And," he said, " though he well knew that his " majesty was fully resolved to maintain the go- " vernment of the church of England in its full lus- " tre, (which he thanked God for, being in his "judgment the best government ecclesiastical in " the world,) yet he could not but observe, that the " king's prudence had yet forborne to make any " new bishops, and had upon the matter suspended " the English Liturgy by not enjoining it, out of " indulgence to dissenters, and to allow them time " to consider, and to be well informed and in- " structed in those forms, which had been for so " many years rejected or discontinued, that the " people in general and many ministers had never " seen or heard it used : so that the presbyterians " here remained still in hope of his majesty's favour " and condescension, that they should be permitted " to continue their own forms, or no forms, in their " devotions and public worship of God. In consi- Ff3 438 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. " deration of all which, he thought it very incongru- "~" ous, and somewhat against his majesty's dignity, " suddenly and with precipitation to begin and " attempt such an alteration in Scotland, against " a government that had more antiquity there, and " was more generally submitted to and accepted, " than it had been in England, before he himself " had declared his own judgment against it in this " kingdom ; which he presumed he would shortly " do, and which would be the best introduction to " the same in Scotland, where all the king's actions " and determinations would be looked upon with " the highest veneration." He concluded, "that if the other more vigorous " course should be resolved upon, the marquis of " Argyle would be very glad of it ; for though he " was generally odious to all degrees of men, yet he " was not so much hated as the covenant was be- " loved and worshipped : a.nd that when they should " discern that they must be deprived of that, they " would rather desire to preserve both. And there- " fore," he said, " his advice still was, that he " should be first out of the way, who was looked " upon as the upholder of the covenant and the " chief pillar of the kirk, before any visible attempt " should be made against the other, which would " assuredly be done by degrees." Many particulars in this discourse confidently urged, and with more advantage of elocution than the fatness of his tongue, that ever filled his mouth, usually was attended with, seemed reasonable to many, and worthy to be answered; and his fre- quent appeals to the king, in which there were always some ridiculous instances of the use made of EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 489 the covenant, with reference to the power of the preachers in the domestic affairs of other men, and^ 3 ^ 7 ^* 35 ' the like, (which, though it made it the more odious, was still an argument of the reverence that was ge- nerally paid to it, all which instances were^well re- membered by the king, who commonly added others of the same standard from his own memory,) madeHi*di- ,. . . i i' 1 i ' C urs * his majesty in suspense, or rather inclined that no- makes some thing should be attempted that concerned the kirk, o till the next session of parliament, when Lauther- kmg> dale himself confessed it might be securely effected. To this the general seemed to incline, not a little moved by what had been said of Argyle, to whom he was no friend, but much more by the disadvantage which might arise, by a precipitate proceeding in Scotland, to the presbyterian party here, and espe- cially to the preachers, to whom he wished well for his wife's sake, or rather for his own peace with his wife, who was deeply engaged to that people for their seasonable determination of some nice cases of conscience, whereby he had been induced to re- pair a trespass he had committed, by marrying her ; which was an obligation never to be forgotten. Middleton, and most of the Scots lords, were highly offended by the presumption of Laiitherdale, in undertaking to know the spirit and disposition of a kingdom which he had not seen in ten years ; and easily discerned that his affected raillery and railing other iord against the covenant, and his magnifying episcopal Lauther- government, were but varnish to cover the rotten- ^ s< ness of his intentions, till he might more securely and efficaciously manifest his affection to the one, and his malignity to the other. They contradicted F f 4 440 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. positively all that he had said of the temper and af- "fections of Scotland, and named many of those lords, who had been mentioned by him as the most zealous assertors of the covenant, " who," they undertook, " should, upon the first opportunity, declare their " abomination of it to the world ; whereof they knew " there were some who had written against it, and " were resolved to publish it as soon as they might " do it with safety." They advised his majesty, " that he would not choose to do his business by " halves, when he might with more security do it " all together, ajid the dividing it would make both " the more difficult. However," they besought him, " to put no such restraint, as had been so much " pressed, upon his commissioner, that though he " should find the parliament most inclined to do that " now, which every body confessed necessary to be " done at some time, he should not accept their " good-will, but hinder them from pursuing it, as " very ungrateful to the king ; which," they said, ** would be a greater countenance to, and confirma- " tion of, the covenant, than it had ever yet re- " ceived, and a greater wound to episcopacy." And And pre- that indeed was consented to by all. And there- upon the king resolved to put nothing like restraint upon his commissioner from effecting that he wished might be done to-morrow if it could be, but to leave it entirely to his prudence to judge of the conjuncture, with caution " not to permit it to be attempted, if " he saw it would be attended with any ill conse- " quence or hazard to his service." And so the commissioner, with the other officers for Scotland, were dismissed to their full content ; and therewith EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 441 the king was at present eased, by having separated 1 66 1 . one very important affair from the crowd of the rest, ~ which remained to perplex him. That in Ireland was much more intricate, and The state of . 1-11 Ireland at the intricacy in many respects so involved, that no- that time. body had a mind to meddle with it. The chancel- lor had made it his humble suit to the king, " that " no part of it might ever be referred to him ;" and the duke of Ormond (who was most concerned in his own interest that all men's interests in that king- dom might be adjusted, that he might enjoy his, which was the greatest of all the rest) could not see any light in so much darkness, that might lead him to any beginning. The king's interest had been so totally extinguished in that kingdom for many years past, that there was no person of any consideration there, who pretended to wish that it were revived. At Cromwell's death, and at the deposition of Rich- ard, his younger son Harry was invested in the full authority, by being lieutenant of Ireland. The two presidents of the two provinces, were the lord Broghill in that of Munster, and sir Charles Coote in that of Connaught ; both equally depending upon the lieutenant : and they more depended upon him and courted his protection, by their not loving one another, and being of several complexions and con- stitutions, and both of a long aversion to the king by multiplications of guilt. When Richard was thrown out, the supreme power of the militia was vested in Ludlow, and all the civil jurisdiction in persons who had been judges of the king, and pos- sessed ample fortunes, which they could no longer hold than their authority should be maintained. But the two presidents remained in their several pro- 442 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. viuces with their full power, either because they ~had not deserved to be suspected, or because they could not easily be removed, being still subject to the commissioners at Dublin. The next change of government removed Ludlow and the rest of that desperate crew, and committed the government to others of more moderate principles, yet far enough from wishing well to the king. In those revolutions sir Charles Coote took an opportunity to send an ex- press to the king, who was then at Brussels, with the tender of his obedience, with great cautions as to the time of appearing; only desired " to have " such commissions in his hands as might be applied " to his majesty's service in a proper conjuncture ;" which were sent to him, and never made use of by him. He expressed great jealousy of Broghill, and an unwillingness that he should know of his engage- ment. And the alterations succeeded so fast one upon another, that they both chose rather to depend upon general Monk than upon the king, imagining, as they said afterwards, " that he intended nothing " but the king's restoration, and best knew how to " effect it." And by some private letter, for there was no order sent, to Coote and some other officers there, " that they would adhere to his army for the " service of the parliament against Lambert," Coote found assistance to seize upon the castle of Dublin, and the persons of those who were in authority, who were imprisoned by them, and the government settled in that manner as they thought most agree- able to the presbyterian humour, until the general was declared lieutenant of Ireland, who then sent thedifferent commissioners to the same persons, who, as soon as parties in ... Ireland, the king was proclaimed, sent their commissioners EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 443 to the king, who were called commissioners from the state, and brought a present of money to the king from the same, with all professions of duty which could be expected from the best subjects. These were the lord Broghill, sir Audly Mervin, i- c sir John Clotworthy, and several other persons of i! ie state. quality, much the greater number whereof had been always notorious for the disservice they had done the king; but upon the advantage of having been discountenanced, and suffered long imprisonment and other damages, under Cromwell, they called them- selves the king's party, and brought expectations with them to be looked upon and treated as such. Amongst them was a brother, and other friends, made choice of and more immediately trusted by sir Charles Coote, who remained in the castle of Dublin, and presided in that council that supplied the government, and was thought to have the best interest in the army as well as in his own province. " And these men," he said, " had been privy to the " service he meant to have done the king, and ex- " pected the performance of several promises he had " then made them by virtue of some authority had " been sent to him to assure those, who should join " with him to do his majesty service." All these commissioners from the state had instructions, to which they were to conform in desiring nothing from the king, but ** the settling his own authority " amongst them, the ordering the army, the reviving " the execution of the laws, and settling the courts " of justice," (all which had been dissolved in the late usurpation,) " and such other particulars as " purely related to the public." And their public addresses were to this and no other purpose. But 444 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. then to their private friends, and such as they desired ~~ to make their friends, most of them had many pre- tences of merit, and many expedients by which the king might reward them, and out of which they ' would be able liberally to gratify their patrons. And by this means all who served the king were fur- nished with suits enough to make their fortunes, in which they presently engaged themselves with very troublesome importunity to the king himself, and to all others who they thought had credit or power to advance their desires. Nor was there any other art so much used by the commissioners in their secret conferences, as to deprave one another, and to dis- cover the ill actions they had been guilty of, and how little they deserved to be trusted, or had in- terest to accomplish. The lord Broghill was the man of the best parts, and had most friends by his great alliance to promise for him. And he appeared very generous, and to be without the least pretence to any advantage for himself, and to be so wholly devoted to the king's interest, and to the establish- ing of the government of the church, that he quickly got himself believed. And having free access to the king, by mingling apologies for what he had done, with promises of what he would do, and utterly re- nouncing all those principles as to the church or state, (as he might with a good conscience do,) which made men unfit for trust, he made himself so acceptable to his majesty, that he heard him willingly, because he made all things easy to be done and compassed ; and gave such assurances to the bedchamber men, to help them to good fortunes in Ireland, which they had reason to despair of in England, that he wanted not their testimony upon all occasions, nor EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 445 their defence and vindication, when any thing was 1661. reflected upon to his disadvantage or reproach. 2. There were many other deputies of several 2 - Deputies classes in Ireland, who thought their pretences to be bishops and as well grounded, as theirs who came from the state. There were yet some bishops alive of that kingdom, and other grave divines, all stripped of their dig- nities and estates, which had been disposed of by the usurping power to their creatures. And all they (some whereof had spent time in banishment near the king, and others more miserably in their own country and in England, under the charity of those who for the most part lived by the charity of others) expected, as they well might, to be restored to what in right belonged to them ; and besought his ma- jesty " to use all possible expedition to establish the " government of that church as it had always been, " by supplying the empty sees with new prelates in " the place of those who were dead, that all the " schisms and wild factions in religion, which were " spread over that whole kingdom, might be extir- " pated and rooted out." All which desires were grateful to the king, and according to his royal in- tentions, and were not opposed by the commissioners from the state, who all pretended to be well wishers to the old government of the church, and the more by the experience they had of the distractions which were introduced by that which had succeeded it, and by the confusion they were now in without any. Only sir John Clotworthy (who, by the exercise of very ordinary faculties in several employments, whilst the parliament retained the supreme power in their hands, had exceedingly improved himself in under- standing and ability of negociation) dissembled not 446 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1 66 1 . his old animosity against the bishops, the cross, and the surplice, and wished that all might be abolished ; though he knew well that his vote would signify nothing towards it. And that spirit of his had been so long known, that it was now imputed to sincerity and plain-dealing, and that he would not dissemble, (which many others were known to do, who had the same malignity with him,) and was the less ill thought of, because in all other respects he was of a generous and a jovial nature, and complied in all de- signs which might advance the king's interest or service, s. A com. 3 There appeared likewise a committee deputed mittee de- puted by by the adventurers to solicit their right, which was the adven- / turers. the more numerous by the company or many alder- men and citizens of the best quality, and many ho- nest gentlemen of the country; who all desired " that their right might not be disturbed, which ** had been settled by an act of parliament ratified ** by the last king before the troubles ; and that if it " should be thought just, that any of the lands of ** which tliey stood possessed should be taken from " them, upon what title soever, they might first be " put into the possession of other lands of equal va- *' lue, before they should be dispossessed of what An account they had already." All that they made claim to of these ad- ' venturers, seemed to be confirmed by an act of parliament. The case was this : When the rebellion first brake out in Ireland, the parliament then sitting, and there being so much money to be raised and already raised for the payment of and disbanding two ar- mies, and for the composing or compounding the rebellion of Scotland, where the king was at that time ; it had been propounded, " that the war of EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 447 " Ireland might be carried on at the charges of par- 1661 " ticular men, and so all imposition upon the people ~ " might be prevented, if an act of parliament were " passed for the satisfaction of all those who would " advance monies for the war, out of the lands which " should become forfeited." And this proposition being embraced, an act was prepared to that purpose ; in which it was provided, " that the forfeited lands in Leinster, Munster, Con- " naught, and Ulster, should be valued at such seve- " ral rates by the acre, and how many acres in " either should be assigned for the satisfaction of " one hundred pounds, and so proportionally for " greater sums. That for all monies which should " be subscribed within so many days (beyond which " time there should be no more subscriptions) for " that service, one moiety thereof should be paid to 4t the treasurer appointed, within few days, for the " present preparations ; and the other moiety be " paid within six months, upon the penalty of losing " all benefit from the first payment. That when " God should so bless their armies, (which they " doubted not of,) that the rebels should be so near " reduced, that they should be without any army " or visible power to support their rebellion ; there " should a commission issue out, under the great ** seal of England, to such persons as should be no- " minated by the parliament, who should take the " best way they could in their discretion think fit, " to be informed, whether the rebels were totally " subdued, and so the rebellion at an end. And " upon their declaration, that the work was fully " done and the war finished, other commissions " should likewise issue out, in the same manner, for 448 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. " the convicting and attainting all those who were " guilty of the treason and rebellion by which their " estates were become forfeited ; and then other " commissions, for the distribution 6f the forfeited " lands to the several adventurers, according to the " sums of money advanced by them. The king was " to be restrained from making any peace with the " Irish rebels, or cessation, or from granting pardon " to any of them ; but such peace, cessation, or par- " don, should be looked upon as void and null." * This act the king had consented to and confirmed in the year 1641, and in the agony of many troubles which that rebellion had brought upon him, think- ing it the only means to put a speedy end to that ac- cursed rebellion, the suppression whereof would free him from many difficulties. And upon the security of this act, very many persons, of all qualities and af- fections, subscribed and brought in the first moiety of their money, and were very properly styled adven- turers. Great sums of money were daily brought in, and preparations and provisions and new levies of men were made for Ireland. But the rebellion in England being shortly after fomented by the parlia- ment, they applied very much of that money brought in by the adventurers, and many of the troops which had been raised for that service, immediately against the king : which being notoriously known, and his majesty complaining of it, many honest gentlemen, who had subscribed and paid one moiety, refused to pay in the other moiety at the time, and so were liable to lose the benefit of 1 their adventure ; which they preferred before suffering their money to be applied to the carrying on the rebellion against the king, which they abhorred. And by this means EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 449 Ireland was misapplied ; and the rebellion spread and prospered with little opposition for some time. And the parliament, though the time for subscribing was expired, enlarged it by ordinances of their own to a longer day, and easily prevailed with many of their own party, principally officers and citizens, to subscribe and bring in their money ; to which it was no small encouragement, that so many had lost the benefit of their whole adventure by not paying in the second payment, which would make the con- ditions of the new adventurers the less hazardous. When the success of the parliament had totally subdued the king's arms, and himself was so inhu- manly murdered, neither the forces in Ireland under the king's authority, nor the Irish, who had too late promised to submit to it, could make any long re- sistance; so that Cromwell quickly dispersed them by his own expedition thither : and by licensing as many as desired it to transport as many from thence, for the service of the two crowns of France and Spain, as they would contract for, quickly made a disappearance of any army in that kingdom to op- pose his conquests. And after the defeat of the king at Worcester, he seemed to all men to be in as quiet a possession of Ireland as of England, and to be as much without enemies in the one as the other kingdom ; as in a short time he had reduced Scot- land to the same exigent. Shortly after that time, when Cromwell was in- vested with the office of protector, all those commis- sions were issued out, and all the formality was used that was prescribed by that act for the adventurers. Not only all the Irish nation (very few excepted) were found guilty of the rebellion, and so to have VOL. i. G g 450 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. forfeited all their estates; but the marquis of Or- ~~mond, the lord Inchiquin, and all the English catho- lics, and whosoever had served the king, were de- clared to be under the same guilt ; and the lands seized upon for the benefit of the state. There were very vast arrears of pay due to the army, a great part e of which (now the war was ended) must be disbanded ; for the doing whereof no money was to be expected out of England, but they must be sa- tisfied out of the forfeitures of the other kingdoms. The whole kingdom was admeasured ; the accounts of the money paid by the adventurers within the time limited, and what was due to the army for their pay, were stated ; and such proportions of acres in the several provinces were assigned to the adventurers and officers and soldiers, as were agree- able to the act of parliament, by admeasurement. v Where an officer of name had been likewise an ad- venturer, his adventure and his pay amounted to the more. And sometimes the whole company and regiment contracted for money with their captains or colonels, and assigned their interest in land to them ; and possession was accordingly delivered, without any respect to any titles by law to former settlements, or descents of any persons soever, wives or children ; except in some very few cases, where the wives had been great heirs, and could not be charged with any crime, such proportions were as- signed as were rather agreeable to their own con- veniences, than to justice and the right of the claimers. And that every body might with the more se- e part] Omitted in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 451 curity enjoy that which was assigned to him, they 1661, had found a way to have the consent of many to~ their own undoing. They found the utter extirpa- tion of the nation (which they had intended) to be in itself very difficult, and to carry in it somewhat of horror, that made some impression upon the stone-hardness of their own hearts. After so many thousands f destroyed by the plague which raged over the kingdom, by fire, sword, and famine ; and after so many thousands transported into foreign parts, there remained still such a numerous people, that they knew not how to dispose of: and though they were declared to be all forfeited, and so to have no title to any thing, yet they must remain somewhere. They therefore found this expedient, which they called an act of grace. There was a large tract of land, even to the half of the province of Connaught, that was separated from the rest by a long and a large river, and which by the plague and many massacres remained almost desolate. Into this space and circuit of land they required all the Irish to retire by such a day, under the penalty of death ; and all who should after that time be found in any other part of the kingdom, man, woman, or child, should be killed by any body who saw or met them. The land within this circuit, the most barren in the kingdom, was out of the grace and mercy of the conquerors assigned to those of the nation who were enclosed, in such proportions as might with great industry preserve their lives. And to those persons, from whom they had taken great quantities of land in other provinces, they assigned the greater ' thousands] millions g thousands] millions Gg2 452 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. proportions within this precinct ; so that it fell to ~~ some men's lot, especially when they were accommo- dated with houses, to have a competent livelihood, though never to the fifth part of what had been taken from them in a much better province. And that they might not be exalted with this merciful donative, it was a condition that accompanied this their accommodation, that they should all give re- leases of their former rights and titles to the land that was taken from them, in consideration of what was now assigned to them ; and so they should for ever bar themselves and their heirs from ever laying claim to their old inheritance. What should they do ? they could not be permitted to go out of this precinct to shift for themselves elsewhere ; and without this assignation they must starve here, as many did die every day of famine. In this deplor- able condition, and under this consternation, they found themselves obliged to accept or submit to the hardest conditions of their conquerors, and so signed such conveyances and releases as were prepared for them, that they might enjoy those lands which be- longed to other men. And by this means the plantation (as they called it) of Connaught was finished, and all the Irish na- tion enclosed within that circuit ; the rest of Ireland being left to the English ; some to the old lords and just proprietors, who being all protestants, (for no Roman catholic was admitted,) had either never offended them, or had served them, or had made composition for their delinquencies by the benefit of some articles ; and h some to the adventurers and 11 and] Not in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 453 soldiers. And a good and great part (as I remem- 1661, ber, the whole province of Tipperary) Cromwell had ~ reserved to himself, as a demesne (as he called it) for the state, and in which no adventurer or soldier should demand his lot to be assigned, and no doubt intended both the state and it for the making great his own family. It cannot be imagined in how easy a method, and with what peaceable formality, this whole great kingdom was taken from the just lords and proprietors, and divided and given amongst those, who had no other right to it but that they had power to keep it i ; no men having so great k shares as they who had been instruments to murder the king, and were not like willingly to part with it to his successor. Where any great sums of money for arms, ammunition, or any merchandise, had been so long due that they were looked upon as des- perate, the creditors subscribed all those sums as lent upon adventure, and had their satisfaction as- signed to them as adventurers. Ireland was the great capital, out of which all debts were paid, all services rewarded, and all acts of bounty performed. And which is more wonderful, all this was l done and settled, within little more than two years, to that degree of perfection, that there were many buildings raised for beauty as well as use, orderly and regular plantations of trees, and fences and en- closures raised m throughout the kingdom, purchases made by one from the other at very valuable rates, and jointures 1 made upon marriages, and all other conveyances and settlements executed, as in a king- ' it] Omitted in MS. m fences and enclosures rais- k great] Omitted in MS. ed] raising fences and enclo- 1 was] Not in MS. sures Gg3 454 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. dom at peace within itself, and where no doubt "could be made of the validity of titles. And yet in all this quiet, there were very few persons pleased or contented. And these deputies for the adventurers, and for those who called themselves adventurers, came not only to ask the king's consent and approbation of what had been done, (which they thought in justice he could not deny, because all had been done upon the warrant of a legal act of parliament,) but to complain, " that justice had not been equally done " in the distributions ; that this man had received " much less than was his due, and others as much " more than was their due ; that one had had great " quantities of bogs and waste land assigned to him " as tenantable, and another as much allowed as " bogs and waste, which in truth were very tenant- " able lands." And upon the whole matter, they all desired " a review might be made n , that justice " might be done to all ;" every man expecting an addition to what he had already, not suspecting that any thing would be taken from him, to be re- stored to the true owner. Another And this agitation raised another party of adven- class of ad- . 111 venturers turers, who thought they had at least as good a right as any of the other ; and that was, they, or the heirs and executors of them, who upon the first making of the act of parliament, had subscribed several good sums of money, and paid in their first moieties ; but the rebellion coming on, and the mo- nies already paid in being notoriously and visibly employed contrary to the act, and against the per- V 11 -be made] Omitted in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 455 son of the king himself, they had out of conscience forborne to pay the second moiety, lest it might also be P so employed ; whereby, according to the rigour of the law, they lost the benefit of the first payment. And they had hitherto sustained that loss, with many other, without having ever applied themselves for relief. " But now, when it had " pleased God to restore the king, and so many who " had not deserved very well desired help from the " king upon the equity of that act of parliament, " where the letter of the law would do them no " good % they presumed to think, that by the equity " of the law they ought to be satisfied for the money " they did really pay ; and that they should not un- ." dergo any damage for not paying the other moiety, " which out of conscience and for his majesty's ser- " vice they had forborne to do." No man will doubt but that the king was very well inclined to gratify this classis of adventurers, when he should find it in his power. But it is time to return to the com- mittee and deputies of the other parties in that dis- tracted kingdom. 4. There was a committee sent from the army 4. A com- ,1 . . T i j t , n .-i mittee from that was in present pay in Ireland, " tor the arrears t he army. " due to them," which was for above a year's pay ; most of those who had received satisfaction in land for what was then due to them, as well officers as sol- diers, being then disbanded, that they might attend their plantations and husbandry, but in truth because they were for the most part of the presbyterian fac- tion, and so suspected by Cromwell not to be enough inclined to him. The army now on foot, and to to pay] to make P be] Omitted in MS. 'i good] king Gg4 456 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. whom so great arrears were due, consisted for the "greatest part of independents, anabaptists, and le- vellers, who had corresponded with and been di- rected by the general, when he marched from Scot- land against Lambert : and therefore he had advised the king to declare, " that he would pay all arrears " due to the army in Ireland, and ratify the satisfac- " tion that had been given to adventurers, officers, " and soldiers there ;" which his majesty had accord- ingly signified by his declaration from Breda. And whoever considers the temper and constitution of that army then on foot in that kingdom, and the body of presbyterians that had been disbanded, and remained still there in their habitations, together with the body of adventurers, all presbyterians or anabaptists; and at the same time remembers the disposition and general affection of the army in England, severed from their obedience to the general and the good affection of some few superior officers ; will not wonder that the king endeavoured, if it had been possible, rather to please all, than by any un- seasonable discovery of a resolution, how just soever, to make any party desperate ; there being none so inconsiderable, as not to have been able to do much mischief. 5. A com- - 5 T]^ satisfaction that the officers and soldiers mittee from the officers had received in land, and the demand of the present who bad . served the army, had caused another committee to be sent and employed by those reformed officers, who had served the king under the command of the marquis of Ormond, from the beginning of the rebellion to the end thereof, with courage and fidelity; and had since shifted beyond the seas, and some of them in his majesty's service, or suffered patiently in that EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 457 kingdom under the insolence of their oppressors; 1-661. who, because they had always fought against the~ Irish, were by articles, upon their laying down their arms when they could no longer hold them in their hands, permitted to remain in their own houses, or such as they could get within that kingdom. These gentlemen thought it a very incongruous thing, " that " they who had constantly fought against the king's " father and himself, should receive their pay and " reward by his majesty's care, bounty, and as- " signation ; and that they, who had as constantly " fought for both, should be left to undergo all want " and misery now his majesty was restored to his " own." And they believed their suit to be the more reasonable, at least the easier to be granted, by having brought an expedient with them to facilitate their satisfaction. There had been some old order or ordinance, that was looked upon as a law, where- by it was provided, that all houses within cities or corporate towns, which were forfeited, should be re- served to be specially disposed of by the state, or in such a manner as it should direct, to the end that all care might be taken what manner of men should be the inhabitants of such important places : and there- fore such houses had not been, nor were to be, pro- miscuously assigned to adventurers, officers, or sol- diers, and so remained hitherto undisposed of. And these reformed officers of the king made it their suit, that those houses might be assigned to them in proportions, according to what might appear to be due to their several conditions and degrees in com- mand. And to this petition, which might seem equitable in itself, the commissioners from the state gave their full approbation and consent, being ready 458 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1 66 1 . to take all the opportunities to ingratiate themselves "towards those whom they had oppressed as long as they were able, and to be reputed to love the king's party. e. A com- (J. Lastly, there was a committee for, or rather the mittee for the Roman whole body of, the Irish catholics, who, with less modesty than was suitable to their condition, de- manded in justice to be restored to all the lands that had been taken from them : alleging, " that they " were all at least as innocent as any of them were, " to whom their lands had been assigned." They urged " their early submission to the king, and the " peace they had first made with the marquis of " Ormond, by which an act of indemnity had been " granted for what offences soever had been com- " mitted, except such -in which none of them were " concerned." They urged " the peace they had " made with the marquis of Ormond upon this king's " first coming to the crown, wherein a grant of in- " demnity was again renewed to them ;" and confi- dently, though very unskilfully, pressed, " that the " benefit of all those articles which were contained " in that peace, might still be granted and observed " to them, since they had done nothing to infringe " or forfeit them, but had been oppressed and broken, " as all his majesty's other forces had been." They urged " the service they had done to the king be- " yond the seas 4 having been always ready to obey " his commands, and stayed in r or left France or " Spain as his majesty had commanded them, and " were for the last two years received and listed as " his own troops, and in his own actual service, un- i T in] Not in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 459 " der the duke of York." They pressed " the in- J661, " tolerable tyranny they had suffered under, now " almost twenty years ; the massacres and servitude " they had undergone ; such devastation and laying " waste their country, such bloody cruelty and exe- " cutions inflicted on them, as had never been " known nor could be paralleled amongst Christians : " that their nation almost was become desolated, and " their sufferings of all kinds had been s to such an " extent, that they hoped had satiated their most " implacable enemies." And therefore they humbly besought his majesty, " that in this general joy for his " majesty's blessed restoration, and in which nobody " could rejoice more than they, when all his majesty's " subjects of his two other kingdoms (whereof many " were not more innocent than themselves) had their " mouths filled with laughter, and had all their " hearts could desire, the poor Irish alone might not " be condemned to perpetual weeping and misery " by his majesty's own immediate act." Amongst these, with the same confidence, they who had been transplanted into Connaught appeared, related the circumstances of the persecution they had under- gone, and " how impossible it had been for them to " refuse their submission to that they had no power " to resist ; and therefore that it would be against " all conscience to allege their own consent, and <( their releases, and other grants, which had they " not consented to in that point of time, they, their " wives, and children, could not have lived four and " twenty hours." All these particulars were great motives to compassion, and disposed his majesty's s had been] Not in MS. 460 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. heart to wish that any expedient might be found, "which might consist with justice and necessary po- licy, that though it might not make them very happy, 4 yet might preserve them from misery, until he should hereafter find some opportunity to repair their con- dition according to their several degrees and merit. The kiug These several addresses being presented to his greatly per- . with majesty together, before any thing was yet settled in England, and every party of them finding some ses * friends, who filled the king's ears with specious dis- courses on their behalf for whom they u spake, and with bitter invectives against all the rest ; he was almost confounded how to begin, and in what me- thod to put the examination of all their pretences, that he might be able to take such a view of them, as to be able to apply some remedy, that might keep the disease from increasing and growing worse, un- til he could find some cure. He had no mind the parliament should interpose and meddle in it, which would have been grateful to no party ; and by good fortune they were so full of business that they thought concerned them nearer, that they had no mind to examine or take cognizance of this of Ire- land, which they well knew properly depended upon the king's own royal pleasure and commands. But these addresses were all of so contradictory a nature, so inconsistent with each other, and so impossible to.be reconciled, that if all Ireland could be sold at its full value, (that is, if kingdoms could be valued at a just rate,) and find a fit chapman or purchaser to disburse the sum, it could not yield half enough 1 that though it might not very happy, make them very happy,] that u they] he might make them, though not EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 461 to satisfy half their demands ; and yet the king was 1661 not in a condition positively to deny any one party ~ that which they desired. The commissioners from the state, in respect of their quality, parts, and interest, and in regard of their mission and authority, seemed the most proper persons to be treated with, and the most like to be prevailed upon not to insist upon any thing that was most profoundly unreasonable. They had all their own just fears, if the king should be severe ; and there would have been a general concurrence in all the rest, that he should have taken a full ven- geance upon them : but then they who had most cause to fear, thought they might raise their hopes highest from that power that sent them, and which had yet interest enough to do good and hurt ; and they thought themselves secure in the king's decla- ration from Breda, and his offer of indemnity, which comprehended them. Then they were all desirous to merit from the king; and their not loving one another, disposed them the more to do any thing that might be grateful to his majesty. But they were all united and agreed in one unhappy extreme, that made all their other devotion less applicable to the public peace, that is, their implacable malice to the Irish : insomuch as they concurred in their de- sire, that they might gain nothing by the king's re- turn, but be kept with the same rigour, and under the same incapacity to do hurt, which they were till then. For which instance they were not totally without reason, from their barbarous behaviour in the first beginning of the rebellion, which could not be denied, and from their having been compelled to' submit to and undergo the most barbarous servi- 462 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1C61. tilde, that could not be forgotten. And though era- ""dication was too foul a word to be uttered in the ears of a Christian prince, yet it was little less or better that they proposed in other words, and hoped to obtain : whereas the king thought that miserable people to be as worthy of his favour, as most of the other parties ; and that his honour, justice, and po- licy, as far as they were unrestrained by laws and contracts, obliged him more to preserve them, at least as much as he could. And yet it can hardly be believed, how few men, in all other points very reasonable, and who were far from cruelty in their nature, cherished that inclination in the king; but thought it in him, and more in his brother, to pro- ceed from other reasons than they published : whilst others, who pretended to be only moved by Christ- ian charity and compassion, were more cruel to- wards them, and made them more miserable, by ex- torting great engagements from them for their pro- tection and intercession, which being performed would leave them in as forlorn a condition as they were found. In this intricacy and perplexity, the king thought it necessary to begin with settling his own author- ity in one person over that kingdom, who should make haste thither, and establish such a council there, and all courts of justice, and other civil offi- cers, as might best contribute towards bringing the rest in order. And to this purpose he made choice of several persons of the robe, who had been known by or recommended to the marquis of Ormond, but of more by the advice and promotion of Daniel O'Neile of his bedchamber, who preferred a friend of his, and an Irishman, to the office of attorney EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 463 general, (a place in that conjuncture of vast im- 1CC1. portance to the settlement,) and many other to be ~ judges. And all this list was made and settled without the least communication with the chancel- lor, who might have been presumed to be easily in- formed of that rank of men. But to find a person fit to send thither in the supreme authority, was long deliberated by the king, and with difficulty to be resolved. The general continued lord lieutenant The general of Ireland, which he had no mind to quit, for he brd'iieu! had a great estate there, having for some time been tenant- general of that army, and received for the arrears of his pay, and by Cromwell's bounty, and by some purchases he made of the soldiers, an estate of at least four thousand pounds per annum, which he thought he could best preserve in the, supreme go- vernment ; though he was willing to have it be- lieved in the city and the army, that he retained it only for the good of the adventurers, and that the soldiers might be justly dealt with for their arrears. Whatsoever his reason was, as profit was the highest reason always with him, whoever was to be deputy must be subordinate to him ; which no man of the greatest quality would be, though he was to have his commission from the king, and the same jurisdiction in the absence of the lieutenant. There were some few fit for the employment, who were not willing to undertake it ; and many who were willing to under- take it, but were not fit. Upon the view of those of all sorts, the king most inclined to the lord Roberts, who was a man of more than ordinary parts, well versed in the know- ledge of the laws, and esteemed of integrity not to be corrupted by money. But then he was a sullen 464 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. morose man, intolerably proud, and had some hu- mours as inconvenient as small vices, which made him hard to live with, and which were afterwards more discovered than at that time foreseen. He had been in the beginning of the rebellion a leading man in their councils, and a great officer in their army, wherein he expressed no want of courage. But after the defeat of the earl of Essex's army in Cornwall, which was imputed to his positiveness and undertaking for his county, the friendship be- tween him and that earl was broken. And from that time he did not only quit his command in the army, but declined their councils, and remained for the most part in the country ; where he censured their proceedings, and had his conversation most with those who were known to wish well to the king, and who gave him a great testimony, as if he would be glad to serve his majesty upon the first opportunity. The truth is, the wickedness of the succeeding time was so much superior and over- shadowed all that had been done before, that they who had only been in rebellion with the earl of Es- sex, looked upon themselves as innocent, and justi- fied their own allegiance, by loading the memory of Cromwell with all the reproaches and maledictions imaginable. The greatest exception that the king had to the lord Roberts, who was already of the privy council, by the recommendation and instance of the general, was, that he was generally esteemed a presbyterian, which would make him unfit for that trust for many reasons ; besides that, he would not cheerfully act the king's part in restoring and ad- vancing the government of the church, which the king was resolved to settle with all the advantages EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 4G5 which he could contribute towards it. Nor did the lord Roberts profess to be an enemy to episcopacy. Before the king would make any public declara- tion of his purpose, he sent the lord treasurer and the chancellor, who were most acquainted with him, to confer freely with him, and to let him know the good esteem his majesty had of him, and of his abi- lities to serve him. " That the government of Ire- " land would require a very steady and a prudent " man : that the general did not intend to go into " that kingdom, and yet would remain lieutenant " thereof; from which office his majesty knew not ** how, nor thought it seasonable, to remove him, " and therefore that the place must be supplied by " a deputy ; for which office the king thought him " the most fit, if it were not for one objection, which " he had given them leave to inform him of parti- " cularly, there being but one person more privy to " his majesty's purpose, who was the marquis of Or- " mond ; and that he might conclude, that the king " was desirous to receive satisfaction to his objec- " tion, by the way he took to communicate it to " him :" and then they told him, " that he had the " reputation of being a presbyterian ; and that his " majesty would take his own word, whether he was " or was not one." He answered without any kind of ceremony, to which he was not devoted, .or so much as acknow- ledging the king's favour in his inquiry, " that no " presbyterian thought him to be a presbyterian, or " that he loved their party. He knew them too well. " That there could be no reason to suspect him to be " such, but that which might rather induce men to " believe him to be a good protestant, that he went VOL. I. H h 466 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. " constantly to church as well in the afternoons as forenoons on the Sundays, and on those days for- " bore to use those exercises and recreations which " he used to do all the week besides." He desired them, " to assure the king, that he was so far from " a presbyterian, that he believed episcopacy to be " the best government the church could be subject " to." They asked him then, " whether he would " be willing to receive that government of deputy of " Ireland, if the king were willing to confer it upon " him." There he let himself to fall to an acknow- ledgment of the king's goodness, " that he thought " him worthy of so great an honour :" but he could not conceal the disdain he had of the general's per- son, nor how unwilling he was to receive orders from him, or to be an officer under his command. They told him, " that there would be a necessity of " a good correspondence between them, both whilst " they stayed together in England, and when he " should be in Ireland ; but beyond that there would " be no obligation upon him, for that he was to re- " ceive his commission immediately from the king, " containing as ample powers as were in the lieu- " tenant's own commission : that he was not the " lieutenant's deputy, but the king's ; only that his " commission ceased when the lieutenant should be " upon the place, which he was never like to be." Upon the whole matter, though it appeared that the superiority was a great mortification to him, he said, " that he referred himself wholly to the king, to be " disposed of as he thought best for his service, and " that he would behave himself with all possible " fidelity to him." Upon this report made to the king, shortly after EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 4(>7 his majesty in council declared, " that he had made " the lord Roberts deputy of Ireland," and then Lord Ro . "~ charged him, " that he would prepare as soon as berts """?" deputy of " was possible for his journey thither, when those Ireland. " officers, who were designed by him for the civil " justice of the kingdom, should be ready to attend " upon him ; and in the mean time, that he would " send the commissioners, and all others who soli- " cited any thing that had reference to Ireland, to " wait upon him, to the end that he, being well in- " formed of the nature and consistency of the several " pretences, and of the general state of the kingdom, " might be the better able to advise his majesty " upon the whole matter, and to prescribe, for the " entering upon it by parts, such a method, that his " majesty might with less perplexity give his own " determination in those particulars, which must " chiefly depend upon himself and his direction." Thus the king gave himself a little ease, by refer- ring the gross to the lord deputy, in whose hands we shall for the present leave it, that we may take a view of the other particulars, that more immediately related to England ; though we shall be shortly called back again to x Ireland, which enjoyed little repose in the hands in which it was put. The parliament spent most of the time upon the'ivans- _. ... i i j actions in act of indemnity, in which private passions and am- parliament mosities prevailed very far; one man contending to theaTLT preserve this man, who, though amongst the foulest indemnity - offenders, had done him some courtesy in the time of his power; and another, with as much passion and bitterness, endeavouring to have another con- , x to] for H h 2 468 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF I6G1. demned, who could not be distinguished from the ~~ whole herd by any infamous guilt, and who had dis- obliged him, or refused to oblige him, when it was in his power to have done it. The king had posi- tively excepted none from pardon, because he was to refer the whole to them ; but had clearly enough expressed, that he presumed that they would not suffer any of those who had sat as judges upon his father, and condemned him to be murdered, to re- main alive. And the guilty persons themselves made so little doubt of it, that they made what shift they could to make their escape into the parts be- yond the seas, and many of them had transported themselves ; whilst others lay concealed for other op- portunities ; and some were apprehended when they endeavoured to fly, and so were imprisoned. The parliament published a proclamation, " that " all who did not render themselves by a day named, " should be judged as guilty, and attainted of trea- " son ;" which many consented to, conceiving it to amount to no more than a common process at law to bring men to justice. But it was no sooner out, than all they who had concealed themselves in order to be transported, rendered themselves to the speaker of the house of commons, and were by him com- mitted to the Tower. And the house conceived it- self engaged to save those men's lives, who had put themselves into their power upon that presumption. The house of peers insisted upon it in many confer- ences, that the proclamation could bear no such in- terpretation ; but as it condemned all who by flying declined the justice of the kingdom, so it admitted as many as would appear to plead their own inno- cence, which if they could prove they would be safe. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 469 But the guilty, and with them the house of com- J661. mons, declared, " that they could not but under-"" " stand, that they who rendered themselves should " be in a better condition than they who fled be- " yond the seas, which they were not in any degree, " if they were put upon their trial ; for to be tried " and to be condemned was the same thing, since " the guilt of all was equally notorious and manifest." And this kind of reasoning prevailed upon the judg^ ments and understandings of many, who had ally manner of detestation for the persons of the men. In the end, the house of peers, after long contests, was obliged to consent, " that all the persons who were " fled, and those who had not rendered themselves, " should be brought to a trial and attainted accord- " ing to law, together with those who were or should " be taken ;" whereby they would forfeit all their estates to the king : " but for those who had ren- " dered themselves upon the faith of the parliament," as they called it, " they should remain in such pri- " sons as his majesty thought fit during their lives, " and neither of them be put to death without con- " sent of parliament." But then as by this means too many of those im- pious persons remained alive, and some others who were as bad as any were, upon some testimony of the general, and by other interpositions of friends upon the allegation of merit and services, preserv- ed, with the king's consent too easily obtained, so much as from attainder ; so to make some kind of amends for this unhappy lenity, they resolved to ex- cept a multitude of those they were most angry v all] Not in MS. H h 3 470 CONTLNUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. with from -pardon as to their estates, and to fine others in great sums of money ; when worse men, at least as bad, of either classis were exempted, as in- cluded, by the power of their friends who were pre- sent in the debate. And this contradiction and faction brought such a spirit into the house, as dis- turbed all other counsels ; whilst men, who wished well enough to the matter proposed, opposed the passing it, to cross other men who had refused to agree with them in the pardoning or not pardoning of persons : which dissension divided the house into great animosities. And without doubt, the king's credit and authority was at that time so great in the house of commons, that he could have taken full vengeance upon many of those with whom he had reason to be offended, by causing them to be ex- empted from pardon, or exposed to some damage of estate. And there wanted not many, who used all the credit they had, to inflame the king to that re- taliation and revenge. And it was then and more afterwards imputed to the chancellor, that there were no more exceptions in the act of indemnity, and that he laboured z for expedition of passing it, and for excluding any ex- traordinary exceptions ; which reproach he neither then nor ever after was solicitous to throw off. But his authority and credit, though he at that time was generally esteemed, could not have prevailed in that particular, (wherein there were few men without some temptation to anger and indignation, and none more than he, who had undergone injuries and in- dignities from many men then alive,) but that it z laboured] laboured more EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 471 was very evident to the king himself, and to all dis- 166J. passioned men, that no person was so much con-~ cerned, though all were enough, that there should be no longer delay in passing the act of indemnity, The ki|) s *' T J concerned as the king himself was ; there being no progress at the de- made in any other business, by the disorder and jibing it. ill humour that grew out of that. There was no attempt to be made towards disbanding the army, until the act of indemnity should be first passed ; nor could they begin to pay off the navy, till they were ready to pay off the arrears of the army. This was the " remora" in all the counsels ; whilst there wanted not those, who infused jealousies a into the minds of the soldiers, and into the city b , " that the " king had no purpose ever to consent to the act of " indemnity," which was looked upon as the only universal security for the peace of the nation : and till that was done, no man could say that he dwelt at home, nor the king, think himself in any good posture of security. And therefore no man was more impatient, and more instant in council and parliament, to remove all causes which obstructed that work, than the chancellor. And he put the king in mind, " how much he had opposed some " clauses and expressions which were in the declara- " tion and letters from Breda," which notwithstand- ing were inserted, as most agreeable to the general's advice ; and that he then said to his majesty, in the presence of those who were consulted with, " that " it would come to his turn to insist upon the per- " formance of those concessions, which he was against a jealousies] Not in MS. c than the chancellor.] Not b the city] the jealousy of the in MS. cities H h 4 472 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. " the making of, when many others would oppose ~ " them, which may be at that present would advise " much larger :" which his majesty acknowledged to he true, and confessed upon many occasions. And the chancellor did in truth conceive, that the king's taking advantage of the good inclinations of the house to him, to dispose' 1 them to fall upon many persons, who were men of another classis tb those he desired might be excepted, (and of which pros- pect there could be no end, every man having cause to fear his own security by what he saw his neigh- bour suffer, who was as innocent,) was directly con- trary to the sense and integrity of his declaration, and therefore to be avoided ; and that all things were to be done by him that might facilitate and advance the disbanding, that so the peace of the kingdom might again depend upon the civil justice and magistrates thereof. And all men who under- stood in how ticklish a condition it then stood, con- curred in that advice. He inter- And this was the reason that the king used his poses with . -i i i i the pariia- authority, and they who were trusted by him their credit and interest, for the suppressing those ani- mosities, which had irreconciled many persons be- tween themselves who were of public affections, by the nomination of particular persons whose estates should be made liable to penalties, the imposing of which must again depend upon the parliament ; which, besides the consumption of time, which was very precious, would renew and continue the same spirit of division, which already had done too much mischief, and would inevitably have done much d to dispose] and to dispose EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 473 more. But by this temper and composition the act 1661. of indemnity was finished, passed the house of peers, And gets it and received the royal assent, to the wonderful joy P assed - of the people. And present orders were given for the disbanding the army and payment of the navy, as fast as money came in, for which several acts of parliament were formerly passed. And by the former delays, the intolerable burden both of army and navy lay upon the kingdom near six months after the king's return, and amounted not to so little as one hundred thousand pounds by the month ; which raised a vast debt, that was called the king's, who had incessantly desired to have it prevented from the first hour of his arrival. After the bill of indemnity was passed, with some other as important acts for the public peace, (as the preserving those proceedings, which had been in courts of justice for near twenty years, from being ravelled into again as void or invalid, because they had been before judges not legally qualified, which would have brought an intolerable burden upon the subject ; and some other acts,) the parliament was willing to adjourn for some time; that their mem- bers, who were appointed to attend the disbanding the army in several places, and the payment of the navy, might be absent with less inconvenience : and the king was as willing to have some ease. And Tii so it was adjourned for a month or six weeks ; i which time, and even in the middle of the disband- ing, there happened a very strange accident, that was evidence enough of the temper or distemper of the time. The trial of those infamous persons who were in prison for the murder of the king (and who were 474 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 166). appointed by the act of indemnity to be proceeded "against with rigour, and who could not be tried till that vote was passed) was no sooner over, and the persons executed, with some of the same crew, who being in Holland and Flanders were, by the permis- sion and connivance of the e magistrates, taken by the king's ministers there, and brought into Eng- land, and put to death with their companions ; but the people of that classis who were called Fanatics, discovered a wonderful malignity in their discourses, and vows of revenge for their innocent friends. They caused the speeches they had made at their deaths to be printed, in which there was nothing of repentance or sorrow for their wickedness, but a justification of what they had f done for the cause of God ; and had several meetings to consult of the best way to attempt their revenge, and of bringing themselves into the same posture of authority and power which they formerly had. The disbanding the army seemed a good expedient to contribute to their ends : and they doubted not, but as fast as they disbanded they would repair to them, which they could not so well do till then, because of the many new officers who had been lately put over them ; and to that purpose they had their agents in several regiments to appoint rendezvouses. They had conference of assassinating the general, " who," they said, " had betrayed them, and was the only " person who kept the army together." Venner Matters being in this state, and some of their insurrection companions every day taken and imprisoned upon tics hi Lon discovery of their purposes, the king being gone to don. c the] those ' had] Omitted in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 475 Portsmouth, and the parliament adjourned, they ap- 1661. pointed a rendezvous in several places of London at~ twelve of the clock in the night ; the same being assigned to their friends in the country. They had not patience to make use of the silence of the night, till they could draw their several bodies together. But their several rendezvouses no sooner met, than they fell into noise and exclamations, " that all men " should take arms to assist the Lord Jesus Christ ;" and when the watch came towards them, they re- solutely defended themselves, and killed many of those who came to assault them : so that the ala- rum was in a short time spread over the city, and from thence was carried to Whitehall, where the duke of York was and the general, with a regiment of guards and some horse, which were quickly drawn together. Sir Richard Browne was then lord mayor of Lon- don, a very stout and vigilant magistrate, who was equally feared and hated by all the seditious party, for his extraordinary zeal and resolution in the king's service. Nor was there any man in Eng- land, who did raze out the memory of what he had formerly done amiss, with a more signal acknow- ledgment, or a more frank and generous engage- ment against all manner of factions, which opposed or obstructed his majesty's service; which made him terrible and odious to all ; and to none more than to the presbyterians, who had formerly seduced him. Upon the alarum, which of itself had scat- tered many of the conspirators as they were going to or were upon the places to which they were assigned, he was quickly upon his horse, accom- panied with as many soldiers, officers, and friends, 476 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. as he could speedily draw together; and with those ~ marched towards that place where the most noise was made ; and in his way met many who ran from the fury of those, "who," they said, "were in " arms ;" and reported " their numbers to be very " great ; and that they killed all who opposed them." And true it was they had killed some, and charged a body of the trainbands with so much courage, that it retired with disorder. Yet when the mayor came, he found the number so small, not above thirty men, that he commanded them to lay down their arms ; which when they refused to do, he charged them briskly. And they defended themselves with that courage and despair, that they killed and wounded many of his men ; and very few of them yielded or would receive quarter, till they were overborne with numbers or fainted with wounds, and so were taken and laid hands on. Their captain, who was to command the whole party in London, and had for his device in his en- sign these words, THE LORD GOD AND GIDEON, was a wine-cooper, of a competent estate, a very strong man, who defended himself with his sword, and killed some of those who assaulted him, till he fell with his wounds, as some others about him did ; all whom he had persuaded, that they should be able to do as much upon their enemies, as Jonathan and his armour-bearer did upon the Philistines, or any others in the Old Testament had upon those whom the Lord delivered into their hands. Nor could it be founds, upon all his examinations, that there was any other formed design, than what must pro- s it be found] they find EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 477 bably attend the declaration of the army, of which 1661. he was assured. He and the other hurt men were" committed to the gaol, and to the special charge of the surgeons, that they might be preserved for a trial. The next morning the council met early, and having received an account of all that had passed, they could not but conclude, that this so extrava- gant an attempt could not be founded upon the rashness of one man, who had been always looked upon as a man of sense and reason. And thereupon they thought it necessary to suspend the disbanding the general's regiment of foot, which had the guard of Whitehall, and was by the order of parliament to have been disbanded the next day ; and writ to the king " to approve of what they had done, and to " appoint it to be continued till further order ;" which his majesty consented to. And this was the true ground and occasion of the continuing and in- creasing the guard for his majesty's person ; which no man at that time thought to be more than was necessary. Order was given for the speedy trial of Venner and his accomplices ; many whereof, with himself, would have died of their wounds, if their trial had been deferred for many days : but the sur- geons' skill preserved them h till then ; where they made no other defence for themselves than what is before mentioned; nor did then, or at their deaths For which (there being ten or a dozen executed) make the least ^erai of show of sorrow for what they had attempted. dat^are There is no occasion for i mentioning more of the exe cted. particular proceedings of this parliament ; which though it met afterwards at the time appointed, 11 them] Omitted in MS. j for] of 478 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF iGfil. and proceeded with all duty to the king, in raising "~ great sums of money for the army and the navy, and for the payment of other great debts, which they thought themselves concerned to discharge, and which had never been incurred by the king; and likewise passed many good acts for the settling a future revenue for the crown, and a vote that they would raise that revenue to twelve hundred thou- sand pounds yearly : yet they gave not any thing to the king himself (all the rest was received and paid by those who were deputed by them to that pur- pose) but seventy thousand pounds towards the dis- charge of his coronation, which he had appointed to be in the beginning of May following. And this seventy thousand pounds was all the money the king received, or could dispose of, in a full year after his coming to London ; so that there could not but be a very great debt contracted in that time ; for the payment whereof he must afterwards provide as well as he could. I say, I shall not mention more of the particulars of that parliament, because it was foreseen by all, that though their meeting had pro- duced all those good effects, in the restoring the king, disbanding the army, and many other things, which could be wished ; yet that the lasting validity of all they had done would depend upon another parliament, to be legally summoned by the king, with all those formalities which this wanted; and the confirmation of that parliament would be neces- sary for the people's security, that they should en- joy all that this had granted : so that when I shall speak again of the proceedings of parliament, it will be of that parliament which will be called by his majesty's writ. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 479 Only before we dissolve this, and because there 1661, hath been so little said of the license and distemper ~ in religion, which his majesty exceedingly appre- hended would have received some countenance from the parliament, we shall remember, that the king having by his declaration from Breda referred the composing and settling all that related to the go- vernment of the church to the parliament, he could k do nothing towards it himself: but by his gracious reception of the old bishops who were still alive, and his own practice in his devotions and the govern- ment of his royal chapel, he ] declared sufficiently what should be done in other places. The party of the presbyterians was very numerous in the house . of commons ; and had before the king's return made a committee to devise such a government for the church, as might either totally exclude bishops, or make them little superior to the rest of the clergy. But the spirit of the time had of itself elected many members, notwithstanding the injunctions sent out with the writs, and expressly contrary to such in- junctions m , of a very different allay ; who, together with such as were chosen after his majesty's return, were numerous enough to obstruct and check any prevalence of that party, though not of power enough to compel them to consent to sober counsels. And so the business was kept still at the committee, now and then getting ground, and then cast back again, as the sober members attended ; so that no report was brought to the house from thence, which might have given the king some trouble. And by degrees the heads of that party grew weary of the k he could] so that he could '" injunctions] elections 1 he] Not in MS. 480 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. warmth of their prosecution, which they saw not "like to produce any notable fruit that they cared for. The king desired no more, than that they should do nothing ; being sure that in a little time he should himself do the work best. And so in Sep- tember, when he adjourned them, he took notice, " that they had offered him no advice towards the " composing the dissensions in religion ; and there- " fore he would try, in that short adjournment of " the parliament, what he could do towards it him- " self." And thereupon he was himself present many days, and for many hours each day, at a conference between many of the London ministers, who were the heads of the presbyterian party, with an equal number of the orthodox clergy, who had been for so many years deprived of all that they had : which conference was held at Worcester house in the chan- cellor's lodgings, to consider what ceremonies should be retained in the church, and what alterations should be made in the liturgy that had been for- merly used; and the substance of this' conference Tbekiug was afterwards published in print. The king upon declaration this published a declaration concerning ecclesiastical eccinlutu affairs* wherein he took notice " of the conference cai affa.rs. na fo^ been in his own presence, and that he had " commanded the clergy of both sides to meet to- " gether at the Savoy, in the master's lodgings, and, " if it were possible, to agree upon such an act of " uniformity, that might be confirmed in parlia- " ment." And in the mean time he signified his pleasure, " that nobody should be punished for not " using The Book of Common Prayer which had " been formerly established, or for discontinuing EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 481 " the surplice, and the sign of the cross; and that 1(161. " all who desired to conform to the old practice in"~ " the using them all, should be at the same liberty :" which declaration was read to, and put into the hands of the divines of both sides for some days ; and then they were again heard before his majesty at Worcester house 11 . And though it cannot be de- nied, that either party did desire that somewhat might be put in, and somewhat left out, in neither of which they were gratified ; yet it is most true, they were both well content with it, or seemed so. And the declaration was published in his majesty's name before the return of the parliament. Here I cannot but instance two acts of the pres-Twoin- . . . f> . . ' stances of bytenans, by which, if their humour and spmt were the disin- not enough discovered and known, their want of in- fhe p' genuity and integrity would be manifest ; and how j impossible it is for men who would not be deceived to depend on either. When the declaration had been delivered to the ministers, there was a clause in it, in which the king declared " his own constant " practice of The Common Prayer; and that he " would take it well from those who used it in their " churches, that the common people might be again " acquainted with the piety, gravity, and devotion " of it ; and which he thought would facilitate " their living in a good neighbourhood together;" or words to that effect. When they had considered the whole some days, Mr. Calamy and some other ministers, deputed by the rest, came to the chancel- lor to redeliver it to his hands. They acknowledged " the king had been very gracious to them in his " concessions ; though he had not granted all that n house] Omitted in MS. not] Omitted in MS. VOL. I. I i terian min- isters. 482 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. " some of their brethren wished, yet they were con- " tented :" only desired him, " that he would prevail " with the king, that the clause mentioned before " might be left out ; which," they protested, " was " moved by them for the king's own end, and that " they might shew their obedience to him, and re- " solution to do him service. For they were re- " solved themselves to do what the king wished ; " and first to reconcile the people, who for near " twenty years had not been acquainted with that " form, by informing them that it contained much " piety and devotion, and might be lawfully used ; " and then that they would begin to use it them- " selves, and by degrees accustom the people to it : " which," they said, " would have a better effect, " than if the clause were in the declaration ; for " they should be thought in their persuasions to " comply only with the king's recommendation, and " to merit from his majesty, and not to be moved " from the conscience of the duty ; and so they " should take P that occasion to manifest their zeal " to please the king. And they feared there would " be other ill consequences from it, by the wayward- " ness of the common people, who were to be treated " with skill, and would not be prevailed upon all at " once." The king was to be present the next morning, to hear the declaration read the last time before both parties; and then the chancellor told him, in the presence of all the rest, what the min- isters had desired ; which they again enlarged upon with the same protestations of their resolutions, in such a manner, that his majesty believed they v take] Omitted in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 483 meant honestly; and the clause was left out. But icci. the declaration was no sooner published, than, ob- serving that the people were generally satisfied with it, they sent their emissaries abroad : and many of their letters were intercepted ; and particularly a letter from Mr. Calamy to a leading minister in So- mersetshire ; whereby he advised and entreated him, " that he and his friends would continue and persist " in the use of The Directory ; and by no means " admit The Common Prayer in their churches ; " for that he made no question but that they should " prevail further with the king, than he had yet " consented to in his declaration." The other instance was, that as soon as the decla- ration was printed, the king received a petition in the name of the ministers of London, and many others of the same opinion with them, who had sub- scribed that petition ; amongst whom none of those who had attended the king in those conferences had their names. They gave his majesty humble thanks " for the grace he had vouchsafed to shew in his " declaration, which they received as an earnest of '* his future goodness and condescension in granting " all those other concessions, which were absolutely " necessary for the liberty of their conscience ;" and desired, with much importunity and ill manners, " that the wearing the surplice, and the using the " cross in baptism, might be absolutely abolished " out of the church, as being scandalous to all men " of tender consciences." From those two instances, all men may conclude, that nothing but a severe execution of the law can ever prevail upon that classis of men to conform to government. When the parliament came together again after . i i 2 484 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. their adjournment, they gave the king public thanks The pariia- f r his declaration, and never proceeded further in agrin ""[* * ne ma tter of religion ; of which the king was very is dissolved. gi a d : only some of the leaders brought a bill into the house " for the making that, declaration a law ;" which was suitable to their other acts of ingenuity, to keep the church for ever under the same indul- gence, and without any settlement; which being quickly perceived, there was no further progress in it. And the king, upon the nine and twentieth of December, after having given them an ample testi- mony of their kindness towards him, which he mag- nified with many gracious expressions, and his royal thanks for the settling his revenue, and payment of the public debts, promised " to send out writs for " the calling another parliament, which he doubted " not would confirm all that they had done ; and in " which he hoped many of them would be elected " again to serve : " and so dissolved the present par- liament with as general an applause as hath been known ; though it was quickly known, that the re- venue they had settled was not in value equal to what they had computed. Nor did the monies they granted in any degree arise to enough to pay either the arrears to the army or the debts to the navy ; both which must be the work of the ensuing parlia- ment ; which was directed to meet upon the eighth A new par- of May following : before which time, the king made liament summoned choice of worthy and learned men to supply the va- cant sees of bishops, which had been void so many years, and who were consecrated accordingly before the parliament met. And before we come to that tune, some particular occurrences of moment must be first inserted. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 485 When the king arrived in England, monsieur 1661 Bordeaux was there ambassador from the king of ~ France, and had resided ambassador there about three years in Cromwell's time, and lived in marvel- lous lustre, very acceptable and dear to Cromwell, having treated all the secret alliance between the cardinal and him ; and was even trusted by the pro- tector in many of his counsels, especially to discover any conspiracy against him ; for he lived jovially, made great entertainments to lords and ladies with- out distinction, and amongst them would frequently let fall i some expressions of compassion and respect towards the king. After Cromwell's death, his cre- dentials were quickly renewed to Richard his suc- cessor, with whom all the former treaties were again established. And when he was put down, he was not long without fresh credit to the commonwealth that succeeded : and so upon all vicissitudes was supplied with authority to endear his master's affec- tion to the present powers, and to let them know, " how well the cardinal was disposed to join the " power of France to their interest." And his dex- terity had been such towards all, that the cardinal thought fit to send him new credentials against the time of the king's coming to London. And within few days after, when he had provided a new equi- page to appear in more glory than he had ever yet done, he sent to desire an audience from the king. The earl of St. Alban's was newly come from France ; and to him Bordeaux had applied himself, who was always very ready to promote any thing that might be grateful to that crown. But the king fall] Not in MS. s 486 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 166 1 . would not resolve any thing in the point, till he had ~~ conferred upon it with the council : where it being debated, there was an unanimous consent, (the earl of St. Alban's only excepted, who exceedingly la- boured the contrary,) " that it could not stand with " his majesty's honour to receive him as ambassador, " who had transacted so many things to his disad- " vantage, and shifted his face so often, always in " conjunction with his greatest enemies ; and that " it was a great disrespect in the crown of France " towards his majesty in sending such a person, who " they could not believe (without great undervaluing The ambas- " the king) could be acceptable to him." The king France to himself was of that opinion ; and instead of assigning a day for his audience, as was desired, he sent mm an ex P ress command to depart the kingdom. kingdom. And when he afterwards, with much importunity, desired only to be admitted as a stranger to see his majesty, and to speak to him, his majesty as posi- tively refused to admit him to his presence. All which was imputed principally to the chancellor, who had with some warmth opposed his being re- ceived as ambassador ; and when he sent by a per- son well enough esteemed by the chancellor, "that " he would receive a visit from him," he expressly refused to see him. Whoever gave the advice, the king had great honour by it in France itself, which declared no kind of resentment of it ; and gave poor Bordeaux such a reception, after having served them five years with notable success, and spent his whole estate in the service, that in a short time he died heart-broken in misery, and uninquired after. And forthwith that king sent the count of Soissons, the most illustrious person in France, very nobly ac- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 487 companied and bravely attended, as his ambassador, 1661. to congratulate his majesty's happy restoration, with ~~ all the compliments of friendship and esteem that can be imagined. There was another ambassador at the same time The a in London, who might be thought to stand in the p^ru. same predicament with Bordeaux, though in truth JlJrJjJ* their cases were very different, and who received a ki " d 'y re J ceived. very different treatment. That was the ambassador of Portugal, who had been sent by that crown to finish a treaty that had been begun by another am- bassador with Cromwell, who had been so ill used, that they had put his brother publicly to death for a rash action in which a gentleman had been killed ; upon which he had got leave from his master to quit the kingdom. And this other ambassador had been sent in his room r ; and was forced to consent and submit to very hard conditions, as a ransom for that king's generosity in assisting the king in his lowest condition, by receiving prince Rupert with his majesty's fleet in Lisbon, and so preserving them from a fleet much superior in number and goodness of the ships, that pursued him by commission from Cromwell : who took that action so to heart, that he made war upon that kingdom, took their ships, ob- structed their trade, and blocked up all their ports ; whilst the Spanish army invaded them at land, and took their towns in the very heart of the kingdom. And to redeem that poor king from that terrible persecution, that treaty had been submitted to ; in which, besides the yearly payment of a great sum of money from Portugal, which was to continue for r room] Omitted in MS. I i 4 488 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. many years, other great advantages in trade had been" granted to England. The king made no scru- ple of receiving this ambassador with a very good countenance ; and as soon as he got his credentials, gave him a public audience, with all the formality and ceremony that in those cases are usual and necessary. An account And because in some time after a negociation was treaty and set on foot of the highest importance, and had 8 its witiTpor- effect in the king's marriage with the queen ; and because, how acceptable soever both that treaty and conclusion of it was then to the whole kingdom, that affair was afterwards imputed to the chancellor, and in the opinion of many proved to be the cause and ground of all his misfortunes ; I shall here set down all the particulars that introduced and attended that negociation and treaty, with all the circumstances, some whereof may appear too light, and yet are not without weight, to make it appear to all the world, how far the chancellor was from being the author of that counsel, (and if he had been, there was no reason to be ashamed of'it,) and that he did nothing before, in, or after that treaty, but what was neces- sary for a man in his condition, and what very well became a person of that trust and confidence he was in with his master. It hath been remembered before, that upon the publication of the duke's marriage, and the recon- ciliation upon that affair, the chancellor was very solicitous that the king himself would marry ; that he desired the marquis of Ormond very earnestly to advise him to it : and himself often put his majesty * had] Not in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 489 in mind of what he had said to him in France, when the duke was persuaded to treat about a mar- riage with mademoiselle de Longueville, " that his " majesty was by no means to consent, that his heir " apparent should marry before himself were mar- " ried," for which he had given some reasons ; for which at that time he underwent great displeasures. And this discourse he had held often with the king : and sure no man in England more impatiently de- sired to see him married than he did. Indeed it was no easy matter to find a person in all respects so fit, that a man would take upon him to propose in par- ticular ; nor did he think himself in many respects, and with reference to the accidents which might probably or possibly fall out, fit, if he could have thought of one, to be the author of the proposition. One day the king came to the chancellor's house The Por- in the afternoon; and being alone with him, majesty told him, " that he was come to confer " with him upon an argument that he would well mgt: * " like, which was about his own marriage ;" he said, " the lord chamberlain" (who was then earl of Manchester) " had held a discourse with him some " days past, that seemed to have somewhat in it " that was worth the thinking of. That he had " told him, the Portugal ambassador had made him " a visit, and having some conference with him con- " cerning the king, towards whose person he pro- " fessed a profound respect, he said it was time for " his majesty to think of marriage ; which nothing " could keep him from, but the difficulty of finding " a fit consort for him. That there was in Portugal " a princess, in her beauty, person, and age, very fit " for him, and who would have a portion suitable 490 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. "to her birth and quality. That it is true she was ~~ " a catholic, and would never depart from her reli- " gion ; but was totally without that meddling and " activity in her nature, which many times made " those of that religion troublesome and restless, " when they came into a country where another re- " ligion was practised. That she had been bred " under a wise mother, who was still regent in that " kingdom, who had carefully infused another spirit " into her, and kept her from affecting to have any " hand in business, and which she had never been " acquainted with ; so that she would look only to " enjoy her own religion, and not at all concern " herself in what others professed. That he had " authority to make the proposition to the king, " with such particularities as included many ad- " vantages above any, he thought, which could ac- " company any overture of that kind from another " prince. To which the chamberlain had added, " that there could be no question, but that a pro- " testant queen would in all respects be looked upon " as the greatest blessing to the kingdom : but if " such a one could not be found, he did really be- " lieve, that a princess of this temper and spirit " would be the best of all catholics. That the trade " of Portugal was great here, and that England had " a more beneficial commerce with that crown than " with any other : which had induced Cromwell to " make that peace, when he had upon the matter " forsworn it ; and the making it had been the most " popular action he had ever performed." His majesty said, " that he had only answered " the chamberlain, that he would think of it. But " that the very morning of this day, the ambassador EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 491 " of Portugal had been with him, and without any 1661. " formality had entered into the same discourse, and ~~ " said all that the lord chamberlain had mentioned : " to which he added, that he had authority to offer " to his majesty five hundred thousand pounds ster- " ling in ready money, as a portion with the infanta; " and likewise to assign over, and for ever to annex " to the crown of England, the possession of Tangier " upon the African shore in the Mediterranean sea, " a place of that strength and importance, as would " be of infinite benefit and security to the trade of " England ; and likewise to grant to the English " nation a free trade in Brasil and in the East Indies, " which they had hitherto denied to all nations but " themselves. And for their security to enjoy that " privilege, they would put into his majesty's hands " and possession, and for ever annex to the crown of " England, the island of Bombay ne, (with the towns " and castles therein, which are within a very little " distance from Bombayne' ;) which" hath within it- " self a very good and spacious harbour, and would " be a vast improvement to the East India trade. " And those two places," he said, " of Tangier and " Bombayne, might reasonably be valued above the " portion in money." The king mentioned all the The king discourse as a matter that pleased him, and might the^pro- prove of notable advantage to the kingdom ; and |losah said, " that he had wished the ambassador to confer " with him (the chancellor) upon it ;" and then asked him " what he thought of it :" to which he answered, " that he had not heard of it enough to " think of it," (for he had never heard or thought ' Bombayne] Brasil ll which] and 492 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. of it before that moment ;) " and therefore he should " not be able to do more when the ambassador came " to him, than to hear what he said, and report it " to his majesty for the present." He only asked u , " whether his majesty had given over all thoughts " of a protestant wife :" to which he answered, " he " could find none such, except amongst his own sub- " jects ; and amongst them he had seen none that " pleased him enough to that end." And observing the chancellor to look fixedly upon him, he said, " that he would never think more of the princess " of Orange's daughter, her mother having used him " so ill when he proposed it ; and if he should now " think of it, he knew his mother would never con- " sent to it, and that it would break his sister's *' heart : therefore he had resolved never to enter- " tain that thought again. And that he saw no " objection against this overture from Portugal, that " would not occur in x any other, where the advan- " tages would not be so many or so great." What could the chancellor say ? What objection could he make, why this overture should not be hearkened to? And what would the king have thought, or what might he not have thought, if he had advised him to reject this motion ? He gave him no other answer for the present, than " that he de- " sired nothing more in this world, than to see his " majesty well married ; and he was very confident " that all his good subjects were of the same mind : " and therefore there must be some very visible in- " convenience irt it ?, when he should dissuade him 11 report it to his majesty for the present he only asked the present. He only asked] x inj Omitted in MS. report it to his majesty. For - v it] Not in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 493 "not to embrace such an opportunity. That he 1661 " would be ready to confer with the Portugal am-~~ " bassador when he came, and then he should enter- " tain his majesty further upon that subject." The ambassador came to him, repeated what he said and proposed to the king, with little other enlargement, than concerning the benefit England would receive by the two places of Tangier and Bombayne, and the description of their situation and strength ; of all which the chancellor gave his majesty a faithful account, without presuming to mingle with it a word of his own advice. The king appeared abundantly pleased, and willing to proceed further ; and asked " what was next to be z done :" to which he answered, " that it a was a matter of too great importance for " him to deliver any opinion upon; indeed too great (t for his majesty himself to resolve, upon the pri- " vate advice of any one man, how agreeable soever " it should be to his own inclination and judgment." And therefore he desired him " that he would call " to him four or five persons, whom he thought to " be the most competent considerers of such an af- " fair, and consult it very maturely with them, be- " fore he entertained any more conference with the " ambassador. For whatsoever he should resolve b " upon it, it ought yet to be kept in all possible " secrecy : if it should be thought fit to be rejected, " it ought to be without the least noise, and the " least reflection upon the overture, which had been " made with all the possible demonstration of esteem: " if it should appear worthy of entertainment and " acceptation, it would still require the same secrecy; 1 to be] Not in MS. a it] he b resolve] Omitted in MS. 494 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. till the value and consequence of all the particu- " lars proposed by the ambassador might be fully " examined and weighed, and a more particular and " substantial assurance iven for the accomplish- " ment, than the bare word of the ambassador." He ap- The king appointed that the lord treasurer, the committee marquis of Ormond, the lord chamberlain, and se- intoT r cretary Nicholas, should be together at the chan- h ce U r ' s house, where his majesty would likewise be an( j propose the business to them. And accordingly he did relate to them the whole series of what had passed, and required them " with all possible free- " dom to deliver their c opinions, and to consider " whether there was any other princess or lady in " their view, with whom he might marry more ad- " vantageously." He added, " that he had spoken " both with the earl of Sandwich and sir John Law- " son occasionally and merely as loose discourse, what " place Tangier was, which he pointed to in the " map, and whether it was 'well known to them : " and they both said, they knew it well from sea. " But that sir John Lawson had been in it, and said, " it was a place of that importance, that if it were in " the hands of the Hollanders, they would quickly " make a mole, which they might easily do ; that " now ships could not ride there in such a wind," which his majesty named ; " but if there were a " mole, they would ride securely in .all weather ; " and they would keep the place against all the " world, and give the law to all the trade of the " Mediterranean :" with which discourse his majesty seemed very much affected. After many questions c their] Not in -MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 495 and much debate, and some of the lords wishing 1661. that it were possible to get a queen that was a pro-~ testant, and one of them naming the daughter of Harry prince of Orange, of whom they had heard some mention when his majesty was beyond the seas, and of whose elder sister (then married to the elector of Brandenburgh) there had been some discourse in the life of the late king ; (but his majesty quickly declared, " that he had very unanswerable reasons " why he could not entertain that alliance :") all the lords unanimously agreed, " that there was no ca- " tholic princess in Europe, whom his majesty could " with so much reason and advantage marry, as " the infanta of Portugal. That the portion pro- " posed in money, setting aside the places, was much " greater, almost double to what any king had ever " received in money by any marriage. And the " places seemed to be situated very usefully for " trade, the increase whereof his majesty was to " endeavour with all possible solicitude ; which could " only make this nation flourish, and recover the in- " terest they had lost, especially in the Indies and " in the Mediterranean, by the late troubles and " distractions, and the advantage the Dutch had " thereby gotten over the English in those trades, " as well as in other." The king approved all that had been said, and thereupon appointed all those lords with the same secrecy to enter into a treaty with the ambassador; which was begun between them accordingly. The treaty neither was nor could be a secret ; nor was there any thing more generally desired, than that a treaty of alliance and commerce should be made with Portugal, that the trade might continue 496 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 16G1. with security: and it was very grateful to every ~ body to know, that there was a committee appointed to that purpose. But the proposition towards a mar- riage was still a secret, not communicated to any, nor so much as suspected by the Spanish ambas- sador, who did all he could to obstruct the very treaty of alliance ; of whose proceedings there will be occasion to make mention anon by itself. The ambassador offered " to renew the treaty (if that of " the marriage was consented to * in terminis,') that " had been made with d Cromwell, without being so " much as exempted from that yearly payment, " which had been imposed upon them for assisting " prince Rupert," and had been assigned to the merchants to satisfy the damages they had sustained by prince Rupert ; and the release whereof must have obliged the king to pay it himself: and there- fore that offer was looked upon as a generous thing. And the whole treaty, which they had not yet per- used, was generally looked upon and believed to be the most advantageous to England, that had been ever entered into with any crown. It had been foreseen from the first motion towards this marriage, that it would be a very hard matter e with such alliance, to avoid such a conjunction with Portugal, as would produce a war with Spain ; which the king had no mind to be engaged in. For be- sides that he had received some civilities from that king, after a world of disobligations, his resident at Madrid, sir Harry Bennet, had consented in his majesty's name, that the old treaty which had been made between the two crowns in the year 1630, d with] without e matter] Omitted in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 497 should be again observed; of which more anon. But 1661 his majesty's firm resolution at that time was, wholly "~ to intend the composing or subduing the distempers and ill humours in his three kingdoms and all his other dominions ; and till that should be fully done, he would have no difference with any of his neigh- bours, nor be engaged in any war which he could avoid : a resolution very prudently made ; and if it had been adhered to, much evil which succeeded the departure 1 from it, might have been prevented. But the lords found, upon perusal of the treaty, one article (which was indeed the only article that made any show of benefit and advantage to Portugal) by which Cromwell was obliged to assist Portugal when they should require it, with six thousand foot, to be levied in England at their charge. And now the ambassador urged, " that in consideration of the " marriage, the portion, the delivery of those places, . " and his majesty's own interest by that marriage , " in Portugal, which upon the death of the king " and his brother must devolve to his majesty ; he " would take upon him the protection of that king- " dom, and denounce war with Spain :" to which his majesty warmly and positively answered, " that he " would admit no such engagement ; that he was " not in a condition to make a war, till he could not " avoid it. He would do what was lawful for him " to do ; he could choose a wife for himself, and he " could help a brother and ally with a levy of men ** at their charge, without entering into a war with " any other prince. And if Spain should, either " upon his marriage or such supply, declare a war " against him, he would defend himself as well as he "could, and do as much damage as he could to VOL. I. K k 498 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1C61. " Spain ; and then that he would apply such assist- ~" ance to Portugal, as should be most advantageous " to it : and that he should not be willing to see it " reduced under the obedience of Spain for many " reasons. That in the mean time he would assist " them with the same number as Cromwell had pro- " mised, and transport them at his own charge thi- " ther ; provided that as soon as they were landed, " they should be received in the king of Portugal's " pay :" which offer the king made upon a reason not then communicated, and which will be men- tioned hereafter ; besides that he had such a body of men ready for such a service, and which could with much more security and little more charge be transported to Portugal, than be disbanded in the place where they were. When the ambassador found that the king would not be persuaded to enter directly into a war with Spain, though he offered " to put Barcelona into his " hands, of which don Joseph Margarita," (a person who had conducted the revolt of that city, and all the rebellion which had been lately in Catalonia,) " then in Paris, should come over and give un- " questionable assurance," (all which, with many other propositions of the same nature, his majesty totally rejected;) he concluded, that the alliance and marriage would give a present reputation to Portugal, and make impression upon the spirits of Spain, and that a war would hereafter fall out un- The treaty avoidably i and so accepted what the king had of- mercrwiti. fered. Arid then there remained nothing to be ittlel. al done, but to give unquestionable security to the king, for the performance of all the particulars which had been promised ; and for which there ap- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 499 peared yet no other warrant, than letters and in- 1661. structions to the ambassador from the queen re-~" gent. And for further satisfaction therein, the am- bassador offered " presently to pass into Portugal, " and doubted not, in as short a time as could " be expected, to return with such power and au- " thority, and such a full concession of what had " been proposed, as should be very satisfactory :" which his majesty well liked ; and writ himself to the queen regent and to the king such letters, as signified " his full resolution for the marriage, if all " the particulars promised by the ambassador in " writing should be made good ;" and writ likewise a letter with his own hand to the infanta, as to a lady whom he looked upon as his wife ; and as- signed two ships to attend the ambassador, who im- mediately, and with some appearance or pretence of discontent or dissatisfaction, (that the secret might The ambas- be the less discovered,) embarked with all his family f for the river of Lisbon. And to this time the chan- cellor had never mentioned any particular advice of his own to the king, more than his concurrence with the rest of the lords ; nor in truth had any of them shewed more inclination towards it, than the king himself had done, who seemed marvellously pleased, and had spoken much more in private with the am- bassador upon it, than any of the lords had done, and of some particulars which they were never ac- quainted with. That I may not break off the thread of this dis- An account . 11T ., . . of the earl course till I bring it to a conclusion, nor leave out O f Bristol's any important particular that related to that sub- ^|!^j" ject, I shall in this place make mention of a little cloud or eclipse, raised by the activity and restlessness K k 2 500 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. of the earl of Bristol, that seemed to interpose and darken the splendour of this treaty, and to threaten the life thereof, by extinguishing it in the bud: upon which occasion the chancellor thought himself obliged to appear more for it, than he had hitherto done ; and which afterwards (how unjustly soever) was turned to his reproach. This earl, (who through- out the whole course of his life frequently admin- istered variety of discourse, that could not be ap- plied to any other man,) upon, the defeat of sir George Booth, when all the king's hopes in Eng- land seemed desperate, had not the patience to ex- pect another change that presently succeeded ; but presently changed his religion, and declared himself a Roman catholic, that he might with undoubted success apply himself to the service of Spain, to which the present good acceptation he had with don Juan was the greater encouragement. He gave ac- count by a particular letter to the pope of this his conversion, which was delivered by the general of the Jesuits ; in return of which he received a cus- tomary brief from his sanctity, with the old piece of scripture never left out in those occasions, " Tu con- " versus converte fratres tuos." The noise and scandal of this defection and apo- stasy in a sworn counsellor of the king, and one of his secretaries of state, made it necessary for the king to remove him from both those trusts, which he had made himself incapable to execute by the laws of England, and which he proposed to himself to enjoy with the more advantage by his change ; and believed that the king, who seemed to have no other hopes towards his restoration than in catholic princes, would not think this a season in ordinary EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 501 policy to disgrace a servant of his eminency and re- J661. lation, for no other reason than his becoming catho- lie, by which he should have so many opportunities to serve his master. And this he had the confidence to urge to the king, before he was obliged to deliver the signet, and to forbear the being present any more in council. And this displacing and remove he imputed entirely to his old friend the chancellor, (with whom till that minute he had for many years held a very firm friendship,) and the more, because he received from his majesty the same countenance he had before, without any reprehension for what he had done; the king not being at all surprised with his declaration, because he had long known that he was very indifferent in all matters of reli- gion, and looked upon the outward profession of any, as depending wholly upon the convenience or discommodity that might be enjoyed by it. And with such discourses he had too much entertained the king, who never would speak seriously with him upon that subject. And truly his own relation of the manner of his conversion, with all the circum- stances, and the discourse of an ignorant old Jesuit, whom he perfectly contemned, and of a simple good woman, the abbess of a convent, which contributed to it, was so ridiculous, and administered such occa- sion of mirth, that his majesty thought laughing at him to be the best reproof. And the earl bore that so well and gratefully from the king, and from his other familiar friends too, (for he dissembled his taking any thing ill of the chancellor,) and contri- buted so much himself to the mirth, that he was never better company than upon that argument: and any man would have believed, that he had not K k3 502 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. a worse opinion of the religion he had forsaken, or ~~ of any other, by his becoming Roman catholic. When the king made his journey to Fuentarabia, to the treaty between the two crowns, the earl of Bristol's irresistible importunity prevailed with him to permit him to go likewise, though his majesty had received advertisement from sir Harry Bennet, that don Lewis de Haro desired that he might not come with his majesty thither. The least part of the mischief he did in that journey was, that he prevailed with the king to make so many diversions and delays in it, that the treaty was concluded be- fore he came thither, and he was very near being disappointed of all the fruit he had proposed to him- self to receive from it. However it was finished so much the better, that he left the earl behind him ; who, in the short time of his stay there, had so far insinuated himself into the grace and good opinion of don Lewis de Haro, who came with all the pre- judice and detestation imaginable towards him, (as he had to his extraordinary parts a marvellous fa- culty of getting himself believed,) that he was well content that he should go with him to Madrid, where the king, upon the memory of his father, (who had deserved well from that crown, or rather had suffered much for not having deserved ill,) re- ceived him graciously. And there he resided in the resident's house, who had been his servant, in such a repose as was agreeable to his fancy, that he might project his own fortune ; which was the only thing his heart was set upon, and of which he despaired in his own country. The news of the king's miraculous restoration quickly arrived at Madrid, and put an end to the EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 503 earl's further designs, believing he could not do bet- 1661. ter abroad than he might do in his own country ; ~~ and so he undertook his journey through France, laden with many obligations from that court, and arrived at London about the time that the ambassa- dor was embarked for Portugal. The king of Spain An account had, soon after the king's arrival in England, sent n the prince of Lygnes with a very splendid ambas- SRdor- sage to congratulate with his majesty, about the time that the count of Soissons came from France on the same errand. And after his return, the baron of Batteville was sent from Spain as ordinary ambassador, a man born in Burgundy in the Spanish quarters, and bred a soldier ; in which profession he was an officer of note, and at that time was go- vernor of St. Sebastian's and of that province. He seemed a rough man, and to have more of the camp, but in truth knew the intrigues of a court better than most Spaniards ; and, except when his passion surprised him, wary and cunning in his negotiation. He lived with less reservation and more jollity than the ministers of that crown used to do ; and drew such of the court to his table and conversation, who he observed were loud talkers, and confident enough in the king's presence. In the first private audience he had, he delivered a memorial to his majesty; in which he required " the delivery of the island of Jamaica to his master, "it having been taken by his rebel subjects contrary " to the treaty of peace between the two crowns; " and likewise that his majesty would cause Dun- " kirk and Mardike to be restored to his catholic " majesty, they having not only been taken contrary " to that treaty, but when his majesty was enter- K k 4 504 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. " tained in that king's dominions with all courtesy ~~" and respect." And he likewise required, in the king his master's name, " that the king would not " give any assistance, nor enter into any treaty of " alliance with Portugal : for that the same, as the " rest, was directly contrary to the last treaty, " which was now again revived and stood in force " by the declaration of his majesty's resident at Ma- " drid ;" which was the first notice any of his ma- jesty's ministers had of any such declaration. But when he had delivered those memorials to the king, he never called for an answer, nor willingly entered upon the discourse of either of the subjects ; but put it off merely as a thing he was to do of form once, that his master's just title might be remem- bered, but not to be pressed till a fitter conjuncture. For he easily discovered what answer he should re- ceive : and so took the advantage of the license of the court, where no rules or formalities were yet esta- blished, (and to which the king himself was not enough inclined,) but all doors open to all persons. Which the ambassador finding, he made Jiimself a domestic, came to the king at all hours, and spake to him when and as long as he would, without any ceremony, or desiring an audience according to the old custom ; but came into the bedchamber whilst the king was dressing himself, and mingled in all discourses with the same freedom he would use in his 'own. And from this never heard of license, in- troduced by the French and the Spaniard at this time without any dislike in the king, though not permitted in any other court in Christendom, many inconveniences and mischiefs broke in, which could never after be shut out. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 505 As soon as the earl of Bristol came to the court, 1661. he was very willing to be looked upon as wholly de- ~ voted to the Spanish interest ; and so made a par- ticular friendship with the Spanish ambassador, with whom he had a former acquaintance whilst the king had been at Fuentarabia, that he might give a testi- mony of his gratitude for the favours he had re- ceived so lately at Madrid. The king received him with his accustomed good countenance ; and he had an excellent talent in spreading that leaf-gold very thin, that it might look much more than it was : and took pains by being always in his presence, and often whispering in his ear, and talking upon some subjects with a liberty not ingrateful, to have it be- lieved that he was more than ordinarily acceptable to his majesty. And the king, not wary enough against those invasions, did communicate more to him of the treaty with Portugal, than he had done to any other person, except those who f were imme- diately trusted in it. The earl had always promised himself (though he knew he could not be of the council, nor in any ministry of state, by reason of his religion) that he was in so good esteem with his majesty and with most of those who were trusted by him, that he should have a great share in all foreign affairs, and should be consulted with in all matters of that kind, in regard of the long experience he had in foreign parts ; which indeed amounted to no more, than a great exactness in the languages of those parts. And therefore he was surprised with the notice of this affair, and presently expressed his dislike of it, and told his majesty, " that he would be exceedingly f who] Omitted in MS. 506 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. "deceived in it; that Portugal was poor, and not The eari of " a ^ e to P av tne portion they had promised. That Bristol and now ft was forsaken by France. Spain would over- the Spanish t J ambassador run and reduce it in one year ;" enlarging upon obstruct the . * marriage, the great preparations which were made for that expedition, " of which don Lewis de Haro himself " would be general, and was sure of a great party " in Portugal itself, that was weary of that govern- " ment : so that that miserable family had no hope, " but by transporting themselves and their poor " party in their ships to Brasil, and their other large " territories in the East Indies, which were pos- " sessed only by Portugueses, who might possibly be " willing to be subject to them. And that this was " so much in the view of all men, that it was all " the care Spain had to prevent it." The king did not inform him, that he had concluded any thing, and that the ambassador was gone for more ample powers to satisfy his majesty, that all that was pro- mised should be performed. The earl, who valued himself upon his great fa- culty in obstructing and puzzling any thing that was agreed upon, and in contriving whereof he had no hand, repaired to the Spanish ambassador, and informed him, under obligation of secrecy, of what treaty the king was entered upon with Portugal by the advice of the chancellor ; which he hoped " that " they two should find some means to break." But the ambassador's breast was not large enough to contain that secret z. He talked of it in all places with great passion, and then took it up as from com- mon report, and spake to the king of it, and said, " the s secret] MS, adds: that burned his entrance EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 507 " Portugal ambassador had in his vanity bragged of 1661, " it to some catholics, and promised them great"" " things upon it ; none of which he was confident " could be true, and that his majesty could never be " prevailed with to consent to such a treaty, which " would prove ruinous to himself and his kingdom ; " for the king of Spain could not but resent it to " such a degree, as would bring great inconvenience " to his affairs." And his majesty forbearing to give him any answer, at least not such a one as pleased him, his rage transported him to undervalue the person of the infanta. He said, " she was de- " formed, and had many diseases ; and that it was " very well known in Portugal and in Spain, that " she was incapable to bear children ;" and many particulars of that nature. When he had said the same things several days to the king, the earl of Bristol took his turn again, and told the king other things which the ambassador had communicated to him in trust, and which he durst not presume to say to his majesty, and which in truth he had said himself, being concerning the person of the infanta, and her incapacity to have children ; upon which he enlarged very pathetically, and said, " he would speak freely with the chancel- " lor of it, upon whom the ill consequences of this " counsel would fall." He told him, " there were " many beautiful ladies in Italy, of the greatest " houses ; and that his majesty might take his " choice of them, and the king of Spain would give " a portion with her, as if she were a daughter of " Spain ; and the king should marry her as such." And the ambassador shortly after proposed the same thing, and enlarged much upon it. And both the 508 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1(561. earl and the ambassador conferred with the chancel- lor (concealing the propositions they had made con- cerning the Italian ladies) " as of a matter the town " talked of and exceedingly disliked, the more be- " cause it was generally known, that that princess " could not have any children." 'The king himself had informed the chancellor of all that passed from the ambassador, and of his rudeness towards the infanta, and his declaring that she could have no children ; and told him, " that the earl of Bristol " resolved to confer with him, and doubted not to " convert him ;" without seeming himself to have been moved with any thing that the ambassador or the earl had said to him : so that when they both came afterwards to him, not together but severally, and he perceived that his majesty had not to either of them imparted how far he had proceeded, (but had heard them talk as of somewhat they had taken up from public rumour, and h had himself dis- coursed of it as sprung from such a fountain,) the chancellor did not take himself to be at liberty to enter into a serious debate of the matter with them ; but permitted them to enjoy the pleasure of their own opinion, and to believe that either there had been no inclination to such a treaty, or that the weight of their reasons would quickly enervate it. The king Whether the king grew less inclined to marry, much" and liked the liberty he enjoyed too well to be will- wu&tbe S to k e restrained; or whether what had been treaty. g^ { o n j m o f ^he m f an ta's person, and her unapt- ness for children, had made some impression in him ; or whether the earl of Bristol's describing the per- sons of the Italian ladies, and magnifying their con- h and] he EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 509 versations (in which arguments he had naturally a 1661. very luxurious style, unlimited by any rules of truth ~ or modesty ;) it is not to be denied, that his majesty appeared much colder, and less delighted to speak of Portugal, than he had been, and would sometimes wish l " that the ambassador had not gone, and that " he would quickly return without commission to " give his majesty satisfaction." He seemed to re- flect upon a war with Spain, "which," he said, " could not possibly be avoided in that alliance," with more apprehension than he had formerly done, when that contingency had been debated. All which dis- courses troubled the lords who had been trusted, very much, not conceiving that the ambassador's frantic discourse could have any weight in it, or that the earl of Bristol (whose levity and vanity was enough known to the king) could make that impres- sion in him. However, it appeared, that the earl was much more in private with him than he had used to be, many hours shut up together ; and when the king came from him, that he seemed to be perplexed and full of thoughts. One morning the earl came to the chancellor, and after some compliments and many protestations of his inviolable friendship, he told him, " he was come " to take his leave of him for some months, being " to begin a long journey as soon as he should part " with him ; for he had already kissed the king's " hand : and his friendship would not permit him " to be reserved towards him, and to keep a se- " cret of that vast importance from his knowledge." He said, " that the king had heard such unanswer- \ ' wish] Omitted in MS. 510 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. " able reasons against this marriage with Portugal, ~~ " that he was firmly resolved never more to entertain " a thought of it ; that the Spanish ambassador had " recommended two princesses to him, whereof he " might take his choice, of incomparable beauty and " all excellent parts of mind, who should be en- " dowed as a daughter of Spain by that king, to " whom they were allied ;" and so named the ladies. He said, " this discourse had prevailed very far upon " the king, as a thing that could raise no jealousies " in France, with whom he desired so to live, that " he might be sure to have peace in his own domin- " ions. There was only one thing in which he " desired to be better satisfied, which was thfe per- " sons, beauties, and good humours of the princesses; " and that he had so good an opinion of his judg- " ment, that he was confident if he saw them, he " would easily know whether either of them were " like to please his majesty ; and would so far trust " him, that if he did believe, knowing his majesty " so well as he did, that one of them would be grate- " ful, he should carry power with him to propound " and conclude a treaty ; which," he said, " he car- " ried with him, and likewise other letters, upon " which he should first find such access and admis- " sion, as would enable him to judge of their nature " and humour as well as of their beauty." He seemed much transported with the great trust re- posed in him, and with the assurance that he should make the king and kingdom happy. And he said, " one -reason, besides his friendship, that had made " him impart this great secret, was a presumption, " that now he knew how far his majesty was dis- " posed and in truth engaged in this particular, he EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 511 " would not do any thing to cross or interrupt the 1 6C 1 " design." The chancellor, enough amazed, by some questions found he was utterly uninformed, how far the king stood engaged in Portugal ; and knowing the incredible power the earl had over himself, to make him believe any thing he had a mind should be true, he used little more discourse with him than " to wish him a good journey." Upon the first opportunity he told the king all that the earl had said to him ; with which his ma- jesty seemed not pleased, as expecting that the se- cret should have been kept better. He did not dis- semble his not wishing that the treaty with Portugal might succeed ; and confessed " that he had sent the " earl of Bristol to see some ladies in Italy, who " were highly extolled by the Spanish ambassador," but denied that he had given him such powers as he bragged of. The chancellor thereupon asked him, " whether he well remembered his engagement, " which he had voluntarily made, and without any " body's persuasion, to the king and queen regent ;" and desired him " to impart his new resolution to " the lords who were formerly trusted by him. " That probably he might find good reason and " just arguments to break off the treaty with Por- " tugal ; which ought to be first done, before he " embarked himself in another : otherwise that he " would so far expose his honour to reproach, that " all princes would be afraid of entering into any " treaty with him." This was every word of per- suasion, that he then or ever after used to him upon this affair; nor did it at that time seem to make any impression in him. However, he sent for the lord treasurer, and conferred at large with him and 512 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1GG1. the lord marquis of Ormond. And finding them ""exceedingly surprised with what he had done, and that they gave the same and other stronger argu- ments against it than the other had done, his ma- jesty seemed to recollect himself, and to think, that whatever resolution he should think fit to take in the end, that he had not chosen the best way and method of proceeding towards it ; and resolved to call the earl back, " which," he said, " he could infal- " libly do by sir Kenelm Digby, who knew how to " send a letter to him, before he had proceeded fur- " ther in his journey, it having been before agreed, " that he should make a halt in such and such places, " to the end that he might be advertised of any new " occurrences." And his majesty did write the same night to him " to return, because it was necessary " to have some mere conference with him." And the letter was sent by sir Kenelm Digby, and pro- bably received by the earl in time. But he conti- nued his journey into Italy ; and after his return pretended not to have received that letter, or any other order to return, till it was too late, being at that time entered upon the borders or confines of Italy ; in which he had not the good fortune to be believed. The Portu- The ambassador of Portugal despatched his voy- ba-wador 1 age with more expedition than could have been ex- [ 8 et c u r 1 d5y and pected, and returned, as he believed, with at least received. ^ f u jj satisfaction to all particulars as could be ex- pected; but found his reception with such a cold- ness, that struck the poor gentleman (who was na- turally hypochondriac) to the heart ; nor could he be informed from whence this distemper proceeded. And therefore he forbore to deliver his letters, which EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 513 he thought might more expose the honour of his 1661, master and mistress to contempt, and remained qui- ~ etly in his house, without demanding a second audi- ence ; until he could by some way or other be in- formed what had fallen out since his departure, that could raise those clouds which appeared in every man's looks. He saw the Spanish ambassador ex- ceedingly exalted with the pride of having put an insolent affront upon the ambassador from France, which cost his master dear, and heard that he had bragged loudly of his having broken the treaty of Portugal. And it is very true, that he did every day somewhat either vainly or insolently, that gave the king offence k , or lessened the opinion he had of his discretion, and made him withdraw much of that countenance from him, which he had formerly given him. This, and the return of the Portugal ambas- sador with a new title of marquis de Sande, (an evidence according to the custom of that court, that he had well served his master in his employment,) put him into new fury ; so that he came to the king with new expostulations, and gave him a me- morial, in which he said, " that he had order from " his master to let his majesty know, that if his ma- " jesty should proceed towards a marriage with the " daughter of the duke of Braganza, his master's " rebel, he had order to take his leave presently, and " to declare war against him." The king returned some sharp answer presently to him, and told him " he might be gone as soon as he would, and that " he would not receive orders from the catholic " king, how to dispose himself in marriage." Upon k offence] Omitted in MS. VOL. I. L 1 166). which the ambassador seemed to think he had gone ~~ too far ; and the next day desired another audience, wherein he said, " he had received new orders : and " that his catholic majesty had so great an affection " for his majesty and the good of his affairs, that " having understood that, in respect of the present " distempers in religion, nothing could be more mis- " chievous to him than to marry a catholic ; there- " fore," he declared, " that if there were any pro- " testant lady, who would be acceptable to his ma- " jesty," (and named the daughter of the princess dowager of Orange,) " the king of Spain would give " a portion with her, as with a daughter of Spain ; " by which his majesty's affairs and occasions would " be supplied." The multiplying these and many bther extrava- gancies made the king reflect upon all the ambas- sador's proceedings and behaviour, and revolve the discourses he had held with him ; and to reconsider, whether they had not made greater impressions upon him, than the weight of them would bear. He had himself spoken with some who had seen the infanta, and described her to be a person very dif- ferent from what the ambassador had delivered. He had seen a picture that was reported to be very like her ; and upon the view of it his majesty said, " that " person could not be unhandsome." And by de- grees considering the many things alleged by the ambassador, which could not be known by him, and could result from nothing but his own malice, his majesty returned to his old resolution ; and spake at large with the Portugal 1 ambassador with his usual ' Portugal] Not in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 515 freedom, and received both the letters and informa- 1661. tion he brought with him, and declared " that he" " was fully satisfied in all the particulars." Nor did the carriage of the Spanish ambassador Extrava- ... 1*1 11* i i;:mt beba- contribute a little towards his majesty s resolution : v .our of the for he, without any other ground than from his own fancy, (for the king had not declared his purpose to any, nor was the thing spoken of abroad,) and from what he collected from his majesty's sharp replies to his insolent expressions, took upon him to do an act of the highest extravagancy, that hath been done in Europe by the minister of any state in this age. He caused to be printed in English the copies of the memorials which he had presented to the king, and of the discourses he had made against the match with Portugal, with the offers the king of Spain had made to prevent so great a mischief to the kingdom, and other seditious papers to the same purpose ; and caused those papers to be spread abroad in the army and amongst the populace m ; some whereof were cast out of his own windows amongst the soldiers, as they passed to and from the guard. Upon which unheard of misdemeanour, the king was For winch so much incensed, that he sent the secretary of state qSiiedto " to require him forthwith to depart the kingdom, I^JJ,* " without seeing his majesty's face," which he would not admit him to do ; and to let him know, " that " he would send a complaint of his misbehaviour to " the king his master, from whom he would expect " that justice should be done upon him." The am- bassador received this message with exceeding trou- ble and grief, even to tears, and desired, " to be ad- m the populace] Omitted in MS. L 12 516 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. " mitted to see the king, and to make his humble ~~" submission, and to beg his pardon ; which he was " ready to do :" but that being denied, within few days he departed the kingdom, carrying with him the character of a very bold rash man. AH incident There was an accident about this time, that it is that pro- motes the probable did confirm the king in his resolution con- . cerning Portugal. At this time cardinal Mazarine was dead, and had never been observed to be merry and to enjoy his natural pleasant humour, from the time of the king's restoration, which had deceived all his calculations, and broken all his measures. Upon his death the ministry was committed to three persons, (the king himself being still present at all their consultations,) monsieur de Tellier and mon- sieur de Lionne, the two secretaries of state, and monsieur Fouquet, surintendant of the finances and procureur general du roy, who was a man of extra- ordinary parts, and being not forty years of age, enjoyed his full vigour of body and mind, and in respect of his sole power over the finances was looked upon as the premier ministre. This man, as soon .as he was in the business, sent an express into ' England with a letter to the chancellor. The mes- senger was La Basteede, who, having been secretary during the time of his being in England to Bor- deaux whilst he was ambassador, spake English very well. He, as soon as he arrived, went to the chancellor's house, and desired one of his servants to let his lord know, " that he was newly come from J* France, and that he desired to be admitted to a " private audience with him, where nobody else " might be present :" and so he was brought into a back room, whither the chancellor came to him ; to EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 517 whom he presented a letter directed to him from J<]61. monsieur Fouquet. The letter after general com-"" pliments took notice " of the great trust he had " with his master ; and that he being now admitted " to a part of his master's most secret affairs, and " knowing well the affection that was between the " two kings, much desired to hold a close and se- " cret correspondence together, which he presumed " would be for the benefit of both their masters." The rest contained only a credential, " that he " should give credit to all that the bearer should say, '* who was a person entirely trusted by him." And then he entered upon his discourse, consisting of these parts : 1. " That the king of France was troubled to Some, part u " hear, that there was some obstruction fallen out tures from " in the treaty with Portugal ; and that it would be * ' " a very generous thing in his majesty to undertake " the protection of that crown, which if it should " fall into the possession of Spain, would be a great " damage and a great shame to all the kings in " Europe. That himself had heretofore thought of " marrying the infanta of that kingdom, who is a " lady of great beauty and admirable endowments ; " but that his mother and his then minister, and " indeed all other princes, so much desired the peace " between the crowns, that he was diverted from " that design. And that for the perfecting that " peace and his marriage with Spain, he had been " compelled to desert Portugal for the present ; and " was obliged to send no kind of assistance thither, " nor to receive any ambassador from thence, nor to '' have any there : all which he could not but ob- " serve for some time. But that Portugal was well L 1 3 518 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. " assured of the continuance of his affection, and ~" that he would find some opportunity by one way " or other to preserve it. That he foresaw that his " majesty might not be provided so soon after his " return, in regard of his other great expenses, to " disburse such a sum of money, as the sending a " vigorous assistance, which was necessary, would " require. But for that he would take care ; and for " the present cause to be paid to his majesty three " hundred thousand pistoles, which would defray " the charge of that summer's expedition ; and for " the future, provision should be made proportionable " to the charge :" and concluded, " that he believed " the king could not bestow himself better in mar- " riage, than with the infanta of Portugal." 2. A second part was, " that there were now in " France ambassadors from the States of the United " Provinces, and the like in England, to renew the " alliance with both crowns ; which they hoped to " do upon the disadvantageous terms they had used " to obtain it. That those people were grown too " proud and insolent towards ail their neighbours, " and treated all kings as if they were at least their " equals : that France had been ill used by them, " and was sensible of it ; and that the king had not " been much beholden to them." And therefore he proposed, " that both kings upon this occasion would " so communicate their counsels, that they might " reduce that people to live like good neighbours, " and with more good manners ; and that they would " treat solely and advance together, and that the one " should promise not to conclude any thing without " communicating it to the other : so that both trea- " ties might be concluded together." EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 519 3. " That those particulars, and whatsoever passed 1 66 1 " between M. Fouquet and the chancellor, might be~~ " retained with wonderful secrecy ; which it would " not be, if it were communicated to the queen or " the earl of St. Alban's," (who were at that time in France :) " and therefore his Christian majesty de- " sired, that neither of them should know of this eor- " respondence, or any particular that passed by it." When the gentleman had finished his discourse, the chancellor told him, " that he knew M. Fouquet " to be so wise a man, that he would not invite or " enter into such a correspondence, without the pri- " vity and approbation of his master : and he pre- " sumed that he had likewise so good an opinion of " him, as to believe, that he would first inform his " majesty of all that he received from him, before " he would return any answer himself. That he " would take the first opportunity to acquaint the " king his master ; and if he would come the next " day at the same hour" (which was about four in the afternoon) " to the same place, he would return " his answer." The king came the next day before the hour as- signed to the chancellor's house. And when he heard the gentleman was come, his majesty vouch- safed himself to go into that back room ; and (the chancellor telling the other, " that he should be wit- *' ness to his majesty's approbation of his correspond- " ence") took n notice of the letter he had brought, and asked many kind questions concerning M. Fou- quet, who was known to him, and told him, " that " he was very well pleased with the correspondence 11 look] and took L 1 4 1661. " proposed ; and that the chancellor should perform ~ " his part very punctually, and with the secrecy " that was desired ; and that he would give his own " word, that the queen and the earl of St. Alban's " should know nothing that should pass in this cor- " respondence :" which the chancellor observing with the fidelity he ought to do, and this P coming after to be known, it * kindled a new jealousy and dis- pleasure in the queen, that was never afterwards Which the extinguished. The king told him, " he would upon the encouragement and promise of the French " king, of the performance whereof he could make " no doubt, proceed in the treaty with Portugal ; " and give that kingdom the best assistance he could, " without beginning a war with Spain. That for " the treaty with Holland, which was but newly be- " gun," (for the States who had made choice of and nominated their ambassadors before the king left the Hague, did not send them in near six months after ; which his majesty looked upon as a great disrespect,) " he would comply with what the king desired ; " and that his Christian majesty should from time " to time receive an account how it should advance, " and that he would not conclude any thing with- " out his privity." How ill both these engagements which related to Portugal and Holland were after- wards observed by France, is fit for another discourse by itself. The gentleman, much satisfied with what the king had said, proposed " that he would make " a cipher against the next day to be left in the " chancellor's hand ; because M. Fouquet desired, for " preservation of the secret* that the chancellor and] nor P and this] Not in MS. 1 it] Not in MS. EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 521 " would always write with his own hand in English, 1G61. " directed in such a manner as he should propose ; ~~ " which would always bring the letters safe to the " hands of him, La Basteede, who was appointed by " the king to keep that cipher, and to maintain that " correspondence." There was another circumstance that attended An instancc . . . ofthechan- this private negotiation, that may not be unfitly in- ceiior's un- serted here, and is a sufficient manifestation of the tegrity. '" integrity of the chancellor, and how far he was from being r that corrupt person, which his most corrupt enemies would have him thought to be. The next morning after he had seen the king, La Basteede came again, and desired an audience with the chan- cellor. He said, " he had somewhat else in his in- " structions to say, which he had not yet thought " fit to offer." And from thence he entered in a confused manner to enlarge " upon the great power, " credit, and generosity of M. Fouquet, the extent " of his power and office, that he could disburse and " issue great sums of money without any account so " much as to the king himself; without which li- " berty, the king knew many secret services of the " highest importance could not be performed." He said, " he knew the straits and necessities, in which " the chancellor and others about the king had lived " for many years : and though he was now returned " with much honour, and in great trust with his " master, yet he did suppose he might be some time " without those furnitures of householdstuff and " plate, which the grandeur of his office and place " required. And therefore that he had sent him a r being] Not in MS. 522 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. " present, which in itself was but small, and was only ~ " the earnest of as much every year, which should " be constantly paid, and more, if he had occasion " to use it ; for M. Fouquet did not look upon it as " of moment to himself. But he knew well the " faction in all courts, and that he must have many " enemies ; and if he did not make himself friends " by acts of generosity and bounty, he must be op- " pressed; and that he had designed this supply " only to that purpose." He shewed him then bills of exchange and credit for the sum of ten thousand pounds 'sterling, to be paid at sight : and said, " that " he had been with the merchant, who would be " ready to pay it that afternoon ; so that whoever " he would please to appoint should receive it." The chancellor had heard him with much indignation, and answered him warmly, " that if this correspond- " ence must expose him to such a reproach, he " should unwillingly enter into it ; and wished him to " tell M. Fouquet, that he would only receive wages " from his own master." The gentleman so little looked for a refusal, that he would not understand it ; but persisted to know " who should receive the " money, which," he said, " should be paid in such " a manner, that the person who paid it should " never know to whom it was paid; and that it " should always remain a secret ;" still pressing it with importunity, till the other went with manifest anger out of the room. That afternoon the king and duke (who was likewise informed of the correspondence) came to the chancellor, and found him out of humour. He told him, " that Fouquet could not be an honest " man, and that he had no mind to hold that cor- EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 523 " respondence with him;" and thereupon repeated JG61 what had passed in the morning, with much choler : ~ which made them both laugh at him, saying, " the " French did all their business that way :" and the king told him " he was a fool," implying, " that " he should take his money." Whereupon the chan- cellor besought him " not to appear to his servants " so unconcerned in matters of that nature, which " might produce ill effects ;" and desired him to consider, " what the consequence of his receiving " that money, with what secrecy soever, must be. " That the French king must either believe that he " had received it without his majesty's privity, and " so look upon him as a knave fit to be depended ,'* upon in any treachery against his master ; or that " it was with his majesty's approbation, which must " needs lessen his esteem of him, that he should per- " mit his servants of the nearest trust to grow rich " at the charge of another prince, who might the " next day become his enemy." To which the king smiling made no other reply, " than that few men " were so scrupulous ;" and commanded him " to " return a civil answer to M. Fouquet's letter, and " to cherish that correspondence, which," he said, " might be useful to him, and could produce no in- " conveniency s ." And so, when La Basteede (who could not forbear to use new importunity with him to receive the money, till he found he was much offended) brought him the cipher, he delivered him his letter for M. Fouquet. And the next week after his return, the king of France writ to him in his own hand, " that the correspondence M. Fouquet * inconveniency] inconvenience 524 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. " had invited him to was with his majesty's privity; ~ " and that he was well pleased with it." And so the correspondence continued till that great man's fall: and then the king sent all the letters which had passed, and the cipher, to the chancellor ; and writ to him, " from that time to communicate with " all freedom with his ambassador ;" which he was before restrained from. After the king had himself conferred at large with the Portugal ambassador, he referred him again to give the lords, with whom he had formerly treated, an account how all particulars were ad- justed in Portugal ; " which were," he said, " in this The mea- " manner. For the portion, the queen regent, having " resolved not to dispose of any of the money that " was provided for the war, had sold her own jewels, of marriage. an( j mucn O f her own plate, and had borrowed " both plate and jewels from the churches and mo- " nasteries : by which means she had the whole " portion ready, which was all sealed up in bags, " and deposited where nobody could take it to ap- " ply to any other use. For the delivery of Tangier, " that the old governor, (who had lived there long, " and was humorous,) on l whom the queen could " not confidently depend, was removed ; and another " sent, before he left Lisbon, to take that charge, " who was a creature of the queen's, who could not " deceive her, and was so far trusted, that he knew " for what end he was sent thither, and cheerfully " undertook to perform it : and that the fleet which " should be sent for the queen should first go to " Tangier, and take possession thereof; and till that 1 on] of EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 525 " should be delivered into his majesty's hands, the " queen should not embark upon the fleet, nor till" " all the money should be put on board. That for " the delivery of Bombayne, it was resolved like- " wise, that the vice-king and governor of Goa u , " under whom that island likewise is, should be " forthwith recalled ; and that another," (whom he named,) " of whom the queen had all assurance, " should be sent to that high charge, and should be " transported thither in the fleet which the king " would send to receive the island, and would de- " liver the same to the person designed to receive " it." He added, " that there would be another se- *' curity given, greater than any of the rest, and ** such a one as had never been given before in " such a case. That the queen should be delivered " on board the fleet, and transported into England, " before she was married : which was such a trust " that had never been reposed in any prince, who, " if he would break his word, might put an ever- " lasting reproach upon their nation." The cause of this extraordinary circumstance was truly this. The power of Spain was so great in the court of Rome, notwithstanding the interposition and threatening mediation of France, (whose am- bassador declared that Portugal should choose a pa- triarch, and have no longer dependence upon the pope,) that neither Urban, in whose reign that king- dom severed itself from Spain, nor Innocent, nor Alexander, would acknowledge the duke of Bra- ganza for king, nor receive an ambassador or other minister from him : so that they now foresaw, that 11 Goa] Brasil 526 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF 1661. if they should, in what manner soever, demand a dispensation at Rome, (without which the marriage could not be celebrated in Portugal,) the interest of Spain would cause it to be denied, or granted in such a manner as should be worse for them ; for the queen would have been mentioned only as the daughter and sister of the duke of Braganza. And before they would receive that affront, the most jea- lous and most apprehensive nation in the world chose rather to send the daughter of the kingdom to be married in England, and not to be married till she came thither. The king Upon the whole matter, the king thought not fit whole to to make any further exceptions, but resolved to as- sem ble his whole privy-council, and to communicate the matter to them ; for it did remain a secret yet, no man knowing or speaking of it. The council was so full, that there was only one counsellor that was absent. The king informed them of all that had passed in that affair, " how it was first proposed " to him, and the objections which occurred to him '* against it ; for the better clearing whereof the " ambassador had made a voyage into Portugal, and " was returned with such satisfaction to all particu- " lars, that he thought it now time to communicate " the whole to them, that he might receive their ad- " vice." He commanded then the particular propo- sitions, which were offered by the ambassador, to be reported. And thereupon he commanded and con- jured all the lords severally to give him their ad- vice ; for he said, " he had not yet so firmly re- " solved, but that he might change his mind, if he " heard reasons to move him : and therefore they " would not deal faithfully with him, if they did not EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 527 " with all freedom declare their judgment to him." 1601. In short, every man delivered his opinion, and every ~ one agreed in the opinion, " that it was very fit for " his majesty to embrace the propositions, which " were of great advantage to himself and the king- " dom ;" and that their advice was, " that he should which u '* speedily and without more delay conclude the ^^h " treaty." And thereupon his majesty said, " that JJ " he looked upon so unanimous a concurrence as a " good omen, and that he would follow their ad- " vice.*' END OF VOL. I. 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