THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES limiiiiiriiiittnfit CMS 7- 29. I dare not advise what to do in this case ; only I resolve to send my men and horses as well furnished as I can, to be there attendant. And thus, with the remembrance of my love and service to your lordship, I rest Your lordship's to be disposed, HEN. GOODRICKE.* Ribston, 9th of June, 1628. These letters recal us to the period from which we have somewhat diverged the re-assembly of the Parlia- ment, in the January of 1629. On the 20th of that month they met, and were too wise and wary not to continue the same politic course, by which alone they had won the Petition of Right in the preceding session. The King and his advisers knew full well, that they had set the law at defiance, and had been levying Tonnage and Poundage not only without its sanction, but despite its prohibition. Now that the " envenomed spirits," as the King termed the leaders of the House of Commons, were gathered together, and the dread of their stings was upon him, he summoned together his Privy Council, to prepare for coming mortifications. Instead of the statesmanlike detail of measures for the public good, taken in accordance with the law, the Executive (exposed to public obloquy) was exhibited in the unbecoming position of quibbling, excusing, and pleading for an act * Henry Goodricke, son of Sir John Goodricke, succeeded to the baronetcy, and became one of Charles the Second's Ministers. He was a Privy Councillor, Lieutenant General of the Ordnance, and Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of Spain. He died at a very advanced age in 1705. His father suffered much in the Royalist cause during the Civil War, but eventually escaped from the Tower into France. By his second marriage to the Dowager Viscountess Fail-fax, the two families became connected. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 171 of oblivion for outrages committed against the liberty of the subject. That the King knew that he had been acting unconsti- tutionally was confessed by his directing an Act grant- ing him Tonnage and Poundage to be prepared and so worded as to relate to the whole previous period of his reign, and by his instructing such of his Privy Council as were members of the Commons to assure the House, if the disagreeable admission were necessary, that " his Majesty will do any reasonable thing to declare that he claims not Tonnage and Poundage otherwise than by grant of Parliament." * The Act, worded so as to have retrospective operation from the day of the King's accession, would afford by implication, pardon for past outrage ; and to induce the House to assent to its enactment, it was to be urged that Tonnage and Poundage had been taken only de bene esse, the King being assured that the Parliament would grant that source of revenue to him as they had done to his predecessors. This strange justification could no more mollify reformers who found, in the withholding of supplies, the most effective engine to enforce redress, than a child could be saved from pum'shment, by the plea that he took what he desired because he thought it would be given. It was in vain to urge such excuses upon the Commons. They had refused to grant this source of revenue for more than one year ; and the King had assented to the Petition of Right, which expressed, in terms not to be mistaken, that he should levy no tax without the pre- vious assent of Parliament. The Commons were fully justified, then, in passing, even in the very hour of Rushworth, I. 654. 172 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. their dissolution, those unflinching and memorable resolutions : " WHOSOEVER shall council or advise the taking and levying of the subsidies of Tonnage and Poundage, not being granted by Parliament, or shall be an actor or instrument therein, shall be reputed an innovator in the government, and a capital enemy to this kingdom and commonwealth. And if any merchant or other person whatsoever shall voluntarily yield or pay the said sub- sidies, not being granted by Parliament, he shall like- wise be reputed a betrayer of the liberties of England and an enemy of the same."* Nobly did the merchants of England respond to this appeal for their support to the constitution. f Richard Chambers, " the City of London Merchant," an emphatic designation earned by his wealth, fearless- ness and integrity, may serve as an example of the deter- mined opposition made by the commercial community to those unparliamentary imposts. He was summoned, with some others, to the Council-board, then sitting at Hampton Court, and stood forth there to justify his refusal. He complained that his merchandise had been seized, and all opportunity denied him of disputing the legality of the levy, and that this and the insolencies of the inferior officers was such, that "merchants in no part of the world were so screwed and wrung as in England ; even in Turkey they had more encourage- ment." For this daring, (construed into an attempt "to set discord between his Majesty and his good people,)" * Rushworth, I. 670. t More than five hundred merchants refused to pay this unparliamentary impost. Parl.Hitt. II. 467. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 173 though uttered in argument before the Council, the bold merchant was committed to the Marshalsea; and being brought before the Court of Star Chamber he was fined 2000/. for "intending to make the people believe that the King's happy government may be termed Turkish tyranny;"* and the lesson taught by this fact is not without point, that though many of the judges of the court were for imposing "a fine of only one-fourth the amount inflicted, Dr. Laud and Dr. Neal, the Bishops of London and Winchester, were among those who were least inclined to leniency and mercy they voted for a fine of 3000/.f But this punishment so totally in excess of the act committed, for it was no offence, did not satisfy that black tribunal, and they called upon him also to sign an acknowledgment of it, and a confession of sorrow that what he had said was "insolent, con- temptuous, seditious, false, and malicious." Chambers took the pen, and wrote beneath the proffered confes- sion these words, " All the above contents and sub- missions, I, Richard Chambers, do utterly abhor and detest, as most unjust and false, and never, to death, will acknowledge any part thereof ; " adding, among other quotations from Scripture this denunciation by the prophet. " Woe to them that devise iniquity, because it is in the power of their hand : and they covet fields, and take them by violence ; and houses, and take them away ; so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage/' J A quotation fully justified Rush worth, I. 681. t Ibid. 1. 682. Laud, with the appropriate narrow wit of a punster, when aggravating the case to the King, observed, " If your Majesty had many such Chambers, you would soon have no chamber to rest in." History of Hie Times and Troubles of Land. * Micah, II. 1, 2 ; Rushworth, 683. 174 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. by the suffering and ruin visited upon himself, for throughout six years he was imprisoned in the Fleet, for nine months he was similarly incarcerated in New- gate for resisting the payment of Ship-money, and more than 7000/. worth of his merchandise was seized.* The illegal enforcement of Tonnage and Poundage was brought most prominently to the notice of the Commons, by being levied, during the recess, upon the goods of one of their own members. In his case, 5000/. worth of merchandise was seized, though the impost claimed was but 200/. ; and the officer, when brought before the House, boldly acknowledged that when he made the seizure, he knew that their owner, Mr. Rolle, was " a Parliament man, and that he told him he did not find any Parliament-man exempted in the commission ; and, if all the body of the Commons were in him, he would not deliver the goods, "f There had been no speech from the throne at the opening of the session, but the stern notice taken of this illegal seizure induced the King to summon both Houses before him at Whitehall; and there, in a con- ciliatory address, to explain "the necessity, not the right, by which he was to take Tonnage and Poundage, until they had granted it ! " He then asked them to pass, without loss of time, the bill legalising the levy, and thus to close all questions arising upon the subject. J But the House, not so readily pacified, proceeded to * Rushworth, I. 687. This unyielding citizen, at length died infirm, and "of low estate," in 1658, aged seventy. The Parliament seems to have neglected his claims to recompense, until it was too late. He had served the city as alderman and sheriff in 1644, and had put himself at the head of a troop of horse in the service of the Parliament. t Parl. Hist II. 478. + Ibid. 443. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 175 search out for a mode of punishing the offenders. The legal acuteness of Noy detected that the commission of the custom-house officers gave them no power to seize the goods of the tonnage recusants, and the little minds of Sir Humphry May and Mr. Secretary Cooke caught with avidity at the suggestion, that the subordinates might be thus rendered the scapegoats. * But baseness of that character was not among their master's faults ; and he commanded them to announce to the House that " it concerned in a high degree his justice and honour that the truth be not concealed, that what those officers did was by his own, or the Council-board's direct orders and commands, himself being present, and there- fore he would not have it divided from his act." This was nobly done, and must have commanded the respect it deserved even from his most uncompromising opponents ; but that which had the bearing of magna- nimity, assumed a far different aspect when coupled with another step of the revenue collectors, for the outrages upon Mr. Rolle and against his property were repeated, even while these debates as to the legality of the imposts were in agitation. The House was astounded by the announcement by that gentleman, that since he had complained to the House his warehouse had been closed by a pursuivant and himself subpoenaed to appear in the Star-Chamber. It is true that both the Attorney-General and Sir Humphry May announced this to be a mistake ; but even Mr. Selden, though he was more temperate than most men, declared his belief that it was no error, but * Parl. Hist. II. 481. Sir Humphry May was Chancellor of the Duchy, and Sir John Coke Secretary of State. 176 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. daringly done as an affront, and ventured upon because the House was lenient. In this last conclusion Selden was right, for it was a mistake only as to time. The warrant and the subpoana had been prepared, pre- determined to be put in operation ; the only error was in enforcing them at an unseasonable period. The House of Commons committed some trespasses in their anxiety to prevent such an infringement of the liberty of the subject, and of their own supreme power over the public purse. They had no right to interfere with the proceedings in th,e Court of Exchequer ; and they were quite wrong in asserting that exemption from seizure was a privilege, extending to the goods as well as to the persons of their members. But they were quite right in only insisting, with becoming dignity, that before they entered upon the consideration of granting Tonnage and Poundage, all seizures made by the Council's illegal warrants should be given up, and all proceedings upon them abandoned ; for as Mr. Noy justly observed, " if the subsidies are the King's already, as by their new records they seem to be, we need not give them." Care for the preservation of the Protestant Church, and determined enmity to every act calculated to encourage the Roman Catholic religion in these realms, was another prominent characteristic of this session. Some of the causes which roused this zeal to increased activity, were noticed in the letters of Sir Ferdinando Fairfax, f but there were many other sources of jealousy which they pressed, without reserve, upon the attention of Charles. They reminded him that in Scotland " the Parl. Hist. II. 462. f Sec page 15.5. 1629.] CHAELES THE FIRST. 177 Popish party," (and Laud, we shall see, sided with this,) were " not a little disquieting that famous (Presbyterian) Church :" that Ireland was "almost wholly overspread with Popery, swarming with friars, priests, and Jesuits ; and that in Dublin, where not many years since there were few who refused to frequent a church, there were lately restored and erected for friars, Jesuits, and idola- trous mass-priests, thirteen houses, being more in number than its parish churches :" that in England, though during Queen Elizabeth's reign there were in some counties no known Popish recusants, yet they now amounted to thousands ; and for this the causes were easily assignable, if the tolerated resort to mass even in the Queen's court, and the late erection of a Jesuit's College at Clerkenwell were regarded.* The Jesuits' college was first established at Edmon- ton ; lands for its endowment were purchased, its rules prepared, and its library and reliquary furnished ; thence it was removed to Camberwell, and finally to Clerkenwell. Being then brought to the King's notice, he referred it to his Privy Council, and the ten Jesuit professors were committed to Newgate : some were brought to trial and condemned, but all were pardoned. In this Charles was wiser than those who sought to sustain the Church by persecution, and none but a bigot will seek for any other justification of the King than this brief one by Mr. Secretary Cooke " His Majesty being merciful * Sir Walter Earle said, " If we speak not now, we may for ever hold our peace, when, besides the Queen's mass, there are two other masses daily in her Court, so that it is now an undisguised inquiry and common in discourse, ' Have you been to mass at Somerset House V Five hundred resort thither at a time." Parl. Hi*t. II. 468 ; Fairfax MSS. VOL. I. N 178 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. in a case of blood, gave directions for reprieving the condemned priests." * Inquiries were made tending to implicate the judges, but the only member of the bench against whom even a suspicion was justified of having acted unfaithfully as an administrator of the law, was the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Sir Thomas Rich- ardson, of whom a committee reported, (Selden being its chairman,) " that the evidence tendered, clearly proved the prisoners to be priests, but that the Chief Justice rejected it, contrary to the sense of the rest of the judges and justices present, whereby it is plain that he dealt underhand with some of the Jesuits.f" The Commons further pressed upon the King the "per- nicious spreading of the Arminian faction/' which, as Sir Ferdinando Fairfax expressed the common opinion, tended " to an insensible subversion of the religion now established." The conduct of the Government and of the clergy, encouraging Arminianism, and tending " to incline men to Popery," was strikingly similar to that which has roused the Church in the present century to enter its protest against Puseyism, and was thus held up to reprehension by the Commons "Some are bold and unwarranted in introducing practices, and defending new ceremonies, without authority, in conformity to the Church of Rome ; erecting altars ; changing the usual * Parl. Hist. II. 474. " f Ibid. 475. The conclusion arrived at by the committee is not so " plain" to us as to them ; and, after looking at the replies of the judges, it is much more evident, that there was no legal proof of the prisoners being priests. So far from Sir T. Richardson's favouring papist practices, he made an order for the suppression of wakes and ale-meetings on Sunday ; " and Bishop Laud complaining of it to the King, the judge was checked." Whitclocke, 16. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 179 manner of placing the communion table, setting it at the upper end of the chancel ; adorning it with candle- sticks ; also, making obeisance thereto ; and praying towards the East, &c." The theological literature of the day did not escape without just censure. Sir Ferdinando Fairfax named some of the authors, and a portion of their works has already been noticed. Dr. Montague had published his " Appeal to Ca?sar " " The Gagg," and " On the Invo- cation of Saints," yet he had been promoted to the Bishopric of Chichester. Dr. Roger Mainwaring was fined and censured by the House for " endeavouring to destroy the King and kingdom by his divinity ;" but by the instrumentality of Laud he was pardoned and pro- moted, ultimately obtaining the deanery of Worcester and the see of St. David's : " Though (with Sibthorpe) accounted a sycophant by the Puritans, yet by the Royalists he was esteemed worthy of the function of a bishop," says Anthony Wood, without expressing an opinion as to which were correct in their estimate.""" Dr. Sibthorpe has already passed under our notice, and the Commons now again cited him as popishly inclined, as well as Dr. Cosins, whose " Horary" savoured of Rome, and whose innovations in the Church Service were matter of public accusation, but who was made, notwith- ing, Dean of Peterborough.! Some other ecclesiastics of minor importance were in like manner reprobated, but the chief attack was directed against Dr. Laud, whom * Athenze Oxonienses, II. 1141. t The works of Dr. Cosins, certainly, are not opposed to Romanism ; but he was so little acceptable to the Queen, that she wished to remove him from the chaplaincy he held in her household at Paris, where he officiated to its Protestant members. Clarendon's Hist. III. 324. N 2 180 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. the Commons charged home with having the ear of Charles in all ecclesiastical affairs, to the " discountenanc- ing and hindering the preferment of those who were orthodox, and to the favour of such as are contrary."* Against him the voice of the House rose loud and general. Sir James Perrot pointed out the bishop's chaplain, as one who had disputed in favour of the Arminian tenets ; whilst others, and among them Mr. Kirton, and Sir John Eliot declared that " in this Laud was contracted all the danger they feared." f Dr. Richard Neale, Bishop of Winchester, was another of the prelates most reprobated by the House, for his patronage of Popish doctrines ; and there is evidence that he inclined that way more than any of his brethren of the episcopal bench. It was in advancing the charges against this bishop, that one who ruled the Stuart destinies first addressed the House of Commons ; and we feel satisfied that we have a faithful portraiture of this great man, as he appeared when he first attracted public notice, in the following sketch by the pen of Sir Philip Warwick : " I came one morning into the House, and perceived a gentleman speak- ing, whom I knew not, very ordinarily apparelled. It was a plain cloth suit, which seemed to have been made by an ill country tailor ; his linen was plain, and not very clean, and I remember a speck or two of blood upon his little band, which was not much longer than his collar. His hat was without a hat-band ; his sword stuck close to his side ; his stature was of a good size; his countenance swollen and reddish ; his voice sharp and untunable ; and his eloquence full of fervour." Parl. Hist. II. 486. f Ibid. 460. Warwick's Memoirs, 247. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 181 This man in " a plain cloth suit" was OLIVER CROMWELL ; and he told the House of a Dr. Alabaster, who " had preached flat Popery at St. Paul's Cross, and that the Bishop of Winchester commanded him, as he was his diocesan, he should preach nothing to the contrary."* The great debate involving the condemnation of Dr. Laud, and the ecclesiastical administration of the country, occurred upon the 23rd of February, 1629, and it fixed the King in his resolution again to dissolve the Parliament. In his eyes, accustomed to view every proposed reform of the kingly government as an un- warrantable attempt at popular innovation, this series of detected misrule savoured of presumption and re- volution. It had never been a part of Stuart education,- that the dictum, "a king can do no wrong," was a mere legal fiction. These renewed and apparently ever re-commencing searches after abuses these delays and disregards of his repeated monitions to grant him Tonnage and Poundage could be brooked no longer, so the King commanded the House to adjourn for a week. This was * Parl. Hist. II. 464. Cromwell was now representative of the town of Huntingdon. That he was careless of his costume is certain, because even Hampden, less of a carpet knight than Warwick, thus spoke of him in answer to a query from Lord Digby : " That slovenly fellow before us, who hath no ornament in his speech that sloven, if we should ever come to have a breach with the King (which God forbid) that sloven, in such case, will be one of the greatest men of England." Bulstrode'a Memoirs, 193. There must have been in Cromwell an aspect, a soundness of judgment, and a firmness of purpose, unmistakeably indicative of a character commanding selection for a leadership in seasons of difficulty ; otherwise, observers so opposite as Warwick, Hampden, and Lord Keeper Williams, would not have coincided in their anticipations of his future greatness. The statesman last named warned Charles, at the very commencement of the civil strife, that though Cromwell was then " of mean rank, he would climb higher." Phillips' Lift nf Loi-d Kteper WiUiam*, 290. 182 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. known to be a warning that a dissolution was approach- ing ; it was known, too, who counselled this resolve, and Sir John Eliot determined that the councillor should not escape entirely the storm which had been gathering for his overthrow. " That councillor," said Eliot, " is the Lord Treasurer (Weston), in whose person is all evil contracted, both for the innovation of our religion and the invasion of our liberties. He is the great enemy of the commonwealth. I have traced him in all his actions, and I find him building on those grounds laid by his master, the great Duke. He is secretly moving for this interruption, and they go about to break parliaments, lest parliaments should break them. I find him the head of all that party the Papists ; and all the Jesuits and priests derive from him their shelter and protection." " I protest," added the kindling patriot, " I protest, as I am a gentleman, if my fortune be ever again to meet in this honourable assembly, that where I now leave off I will again begin."* " Coming events" seem to have overshadowed him as he spoke : the doubt whether he should ever appear again within those walls, was one of the whispers of that unrecognised sense which reveals to us, the future, as it were by anticipation, for tyrant despotism hurried him from the Parliament to that prison, from which it refused to permit even his corpse to be withdrawn. That second of March, the last day of the Parlia- ment, was not to close even with that impassioned denunciation. Events more stirring were on its heel. When Eliot resumed his seat, the Speaker rose and said, the King desired their adjournment "until Tuesday Parl. Hist. II. 487. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 183 come seven-night following ; " but the House refused to obey this interference with its privileges, and the Speaker was told " that it was not his office to deliver any such command, for the adjournment of the House belonged to themselves; and that after they had settled some things they thought convenient to be spoken of, they would satisfy the King." * The subject which was considered desirable " to be spoken of " was Tonnage and Poundage ; and Sir John Eliot again rose to propose for the adoption of the House, the remonstrance already quoted, declaratory that " the receiving of those and other impositions, not granted by Parliament, is a breach of the fundamental liberties of this kingdom, and contrary to the Petition of Right." Eliot himself read that remonstrance, for neither the Speaker nor the Clerk of the House would perform the office ; and he concluded by moving for its adoption and presentation to the King. But when the Speaker was requested to put the question, that it be adopted, he refused, adding, that " He was commanded otherwise by the King." Selden then rose, and thus addressed him : " Mr. Speaker, dare you not put the question when we command you "? If you will not, we must sit still, and so we shall do nothing; for they that come after you may plead a similar excuse. We sit here by com- mand from the King, under the Great Seal ; and as for you, you are by his Majesty's command, sitting on his throne before both Houses, appointed our Speaker. Do you now refuse to be our Speaker ? " * Pai-l. Hist. II. 488. 184 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. This rational appeal could not alter his determina- tion. He replied, " he had an express command from the King, as soon as he had delivered his message, to rise ;" and so saying, he attempted to leave the chair, but was retained in it by Mr. Hollis (son of the Earl of Clare), Mr. Valentine, and other members. Sir Thomas Edmonds, and others of the Privy Council, endeavoured to release the Speaker, but Mr. Hollis swore, " By God's wounds ! he should sit still until it pleased the House to rise." The tumult in the House was great and disgraceful ; disgraceful because the opinion against the Speaker should have been unanimous. The Court party voci- ferously opposed the question being put ; and the friends of the privileges of the House supported it by counter- acclamations. Even blows were exchanged, and many laid their hands upon their sword-hilts. In the lobbies it was believed that swords were drawn, for in. a manu- script letter of the period, it is stated that a "Welsh servant came in great haste, and endeavoured to gain admittance at the door, saying, " I pray you let hur in ; let hur in to give hur master his sword." * The Speaker wept bitterly, whilst he declared that he dared not put the question ; but his tears were not for the trampled liberties of his country : they were the abject confession of fear for his own interests. He was the creature of the Court, and instead of daring to disre- gard its frowns by performing his duty to England, he implored the House not to force him to his ruin ; reminded it that he had been a faithful servant ; and concluded by saying, what his conduct belied, that he * D'lsraeli's Curiosities of Literature (2nd series) III. 426. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 185 was ready to die for his country, but, (which was more true,) he dared not offend against the commands of his Sovereign. Selden felt that this pusillanimity was more worthy of contempt than pity, and told him " that he had ever loved his person well, but he could not choose but blame him now, being the servant of the House, that he should refuse their command under any colour. His obstinacy would be a precedent to posterity, if it went unpunished ; for, hereafter, if they should meet with a dishonest Speaker, and they could not promise them- selves to the contrary, he might, under pretence of the King's command, refuse to propose the business and intendment of the House." Sir Peter Hayman was still more severe in his reproval. He told the Speaker " he was sorry he was his kinsman, for that he was a disgrace to his country, and a blot upon a noble family ; that all the inconveniences, or even destruction, that should follow, would come upon posterity as the issue of his baseness, and that he would be remembered with scorn and disdain." He concluded with declaring his opinion, that the refractory Speaker ought to be called to the bar, and a new Speaker chosen. All these arguments, reproaches, and threats were in vain ; the recreant Speaker returned only tears and pusil- lanimous entreaties. Finally, Mr. Hollis was called upon to read three protestations, which stated that whoever caused an innovation of religion, advised the imposition of Tonnage and Poundage without the assent of Parlia- ment, or whoever voluntarily paid it, if levied without such sanction, would be a capital enemy of this kingdom, 186 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. and a betrayer of its liberty. The House having agreed to these declarations, adjourned. During these exciting proceedings, the King, hearing that the House persisted in sitting, sent a messenger to command the Serjeant to bring away the mace, but the House would not permit this formal suspension of its proceedings. His Majesty then sent a summons to them, by the Usher of the Black Rod, but he was denied admittance. Enraged at this opposition, Charles sent for a guard to force the door ; but fortunately the House had risen before it arrived.* On the 10th of March the King came to the House of Lords, where the Peers were assembled in their robes, and dissolved the Parliament. Many members of the Commons were present, but they had not been sum- moned to attend the ceremony, nor was their Speaker in attendance. To them, and to them alone, Charles attributed this termination of the Parliament, not that he blamed them indiscriminately, for he said, "As I know there are many as dutiful and loyal subjects as any are in the world, so I know that it was only some vipers amongst them that had cast this mist of differ- ence before their eyes. As those evil-affected persons must look for their rewards, so you that are of the higher House may justly claim from me that protection and favour that a good king oweth to his loyal and faithful nobility." Thus closed this third and eventful Parliament of Charles the First, a Parliament whose only offence was that of seeking reform less courteously than the King could tolerate. By adversity the friends of popular Parl. Hist. II. 491 ; Life of Selden, 169 ; Rushworth, I. 670. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 187 liberty had been taught to combine into an effective body the first Opposition party known in our political history ; and they had learned also that the most certain mode of carrying their measures was to stop the supplies, until acquiescence from the Court was secured. This was the King's severest visitation ; for it was the transition-step from absolutism to a limited monarchy. He spurned the attempt : he declared as he laid aside the robes he wore at the dissolution, that he would never resume them.* For eleven years he adhered to that resolution, and we shall now see how the realm was governed during that period of despotism. * D'Israeli's Charles the First, II. 256. 188 THE FAIEFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. CHAPTER VI. Clarendon's opinion of the Government. Sir John Eliot and others arrested. Examined before the Privy Council. And at the Tower. Prosecuted in the Star Chamber. Selden's defence. Attorney General's reply. Favourable opinion of the Judges. The King removes the prisoners. Infatuated con- duct of the Court. Solitary confinement of the prisoners. Indicted in the Court of King's Bench. Sir Allan Apsley. Prisoners decline finding sureties. Fines imposed. Treatment voted illegal. Cruelty to Sir John Eliot. His death. Prosecution of Sir Robert Cotton and others. His library sealed. His death. The proposal of a Parliament forbidden. Peace with France and Spain. Instructions to the Subsidy Commissioners. Knighthood-money. Revival of Forest Laws. Appendage of land to cottages. Tonnage and Poundage doubled. Fines on monopolies. The Soap Monopoly. Ship Money. The first Writ. John Hampden. Argu- ment of his case. Judges' opinion. Michael Wentworth to Lord Fairfax. Lord Savile's case. Bladen to Lord Fairfax. Dr. Duppa. Fairfax coat of arms. Mr, Bellasis released. Bushen's case. Sir Giles Allington's case. Lord Audley's execution. Dr. Neale translated to York. Death of Lady Wentworth. Ferdinando Fairfax to Lord Fairfax. Sir Thomas Herbert to Lord Fairfax. French news. Falconberg to Lord Fairfax. Birth of Princess Mary. Vavasour to Lord Fairfax. Clifford to the same. Earl of Newcastle's promotion. Lawson to Lord Fairfax. Ferdinando Fairfax to the same. Wentworth's reproval of him. Morris to Lord Fairfax. Wentworth's Irish government. Bladen to Lord Fairfax. Dr. Bramhall. Christopher Herbert to Lord Fairfax. Hutton to Ferdinando Fairfax. Marriage of Lord Weston's daughter. Lord Savile's character. Ferdinando Fairfax to Lord Fairfax. Sir John Melton. Charles Fairfax to Lord Fairfax. Affairs of the Palatinate of the Low Countries. Biography of C. Fairfax. T. Herbert to Lord Fairfax. German news. Sir John Gibson to Lord Fairfax. Mr. Goring's promotion. The celebrated Countess of Pembroke to Lord Fairfax. T. Herbert to Lord Fairfax. French affairs. Outrage on the Pope's nuncio. W. Sheffield to Lord Fairfax. Promotion of Mr. Littleton. Removal of Chief Justice Heath. WITH a knowledge of the facts detailed in the pre- ceding chapters, having lived and mingled with those 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 189 to whom they most intimately related, Clarendon still ventured to advance, as a grave historical truth, that " many wise men thought it a time wherein those two adjuncts which Nerva was deified for uniting, Imperium et Libertas, were as well reconciled as is possible." We know not who those " wise men " may have been ; but we can feel no surprise that even in those days the less courtly portion of the community declined to accept their judgment with respect to the relative proportions which should subsist between the prerogative of the ruler and the liberty of the ruled. Casting an onward gaze over the times immediately following those which we have just passed, the same aristocratic historian tells us that "the King was re- solved now to try if he could not give his people a taste of happiness, and let them see the equity of his government in a single state." Clarendon would have us believe that Charles succeeded to the entire satisfac- tion of the people; and "that the like peace and plenty, and universal tranquillity for ten years was never enjoyed by any nation," yet at the end of those ten years they were in arms, nor did they lay them down until they had brought him to his death. The first " taste of happiness" Charles gave to his people, even before the Parliament was dissolved, was to issue warrants against those, who had been most strenuous in defence of their liberties. These warrants were directed from the Privy Council to Sir John Eliot, Sir Miles Hobart, and Sir Peter Hayman, and to Denzil Holies, William Coriton, Walter Long, William Strode, Benjamin Valentine, and John Selden, Esquires, com- manding their appearance at the Council-board on the following day. 190 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. The four first named obeyed the summons. The Privy Council inquired of Mr. Holies, why, on the day of the tumult in the House of Commons, he had placed himself, contrary to custom, above the privy councillors, and next to the Speaker's chair 1 To which he replied, " That at some other times as well as then, he seated himself in the same place ; and as for sitting above the privy councillors, he considered he was entitled to do so in any place, unless at the Council- board. He went to the House with a zeal to do the King service equal to that of any of its members ; but finding his Majesty was offended with what he had done, " he humbly desired that he might rather be the subject of his mercy than of his power." "You mean/' said the Lord Treasurer Weston, "of his Majesty's mercy rather than of his justice." Mr. Holies, however, disavowed this acknowledgment of guilt by replying, " I say of his Majesty's power, my lord." Sir John Eliot was questioned concerning certain speeches he had uttered, and the papers he had read in the House ; but in his reply he was quite as free from pusillanimity as Mr. Holies. "Whatever was said or done by me in that place and at that time," he rejoined, " was performed by me as a public man, and as a member of that House ; and I am, and always shall be, ready to give an account of my sayings arid doings there, whenever I shall be called unto it by that House; where, as I take it, it is only to be questioned. In the meantime, being now but a private individual, I will not trouble myself to remember what I have either spoken or done in that place as a public man." 1629.] CHARLES THE FIEST. 191 Sir Miles Hobart was equally uncompromising. He desired to know by what warrant he could be called upon to account for his conduct in Parliament ; and insisted that, for anything done there, Parliament itself could alone inquire. He acknowledged that he shut the door of the House on the day in question, and that having locked it, he put the key into his pocket, because the House so directed him. Sir Peter Hayman, in reply to the Council, said, that he reproved the Speaker/"" because the Speaker, as the servant of the House, ought to have obeyed its command. If the King had directed him, being in the Speaker's chair, to deliver such a message, he should have requested his Majesty to select some other person to communicate it to the House. In conclusion, these four gentlemen were committed close prisoners to the Tower, where Selden and the others, with the exception of Mr. Strode and Mr. Long, soon joined them. The studies of Sir John Eliot, of Mr. Holies, and of Selden, were sealed up ; and a pro- clamation being issued for the apprehension of the two who had not appeared, they were soon after taken, and committed to the King's Bench Prison. t After Selden and his fellow-prisoners had been about two weeks in confinement, they were subjected to a very strict examination before the Earls of Arundel, Dorset, and Manchester, who came to the Tower, with * Sir John Finch, the Speaker, whose pusillanimous conduct the House, both at this and other times, had cause to reprehend, was a tool of the Court party. He was subsequently made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and created Lord Fordwich ; but when the Parliament became predominant, he was accused of high treason, and fled from its authority into Holland. + In 1641, the House of Commons voted that all these proceedings were breaches of privilege. Parl. llist. IX. 4(55. 192 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. others of the Privy Council. Sir Robert Heath, the Attorney General, examined them upon questions which had been previously prepared. Selden says, that he was chiefly interrogated as to his opinion concerning Ship- money being part of the royal prerogative ; and that to the questions he answered so ingenuously, that he hoped to obtain a speedy liberation. But that hope altogether deceived him.'* Conduct so inquisitorial, and so repugnant to the usual rules of English justice, was the common routine of Star Chamber practice ; and the next step in this course of oppression and breach of privilege, which in our times would at once be justly branded as an attempt to prejudice the administration of the laws, was unnoticed in those days when tyrannical courses were so usual, as not particularly blameworthy. This step was the summoning the judges before the Privy Council, to obtain their opinions upon certain questions which were considered to be involved in the cases of these gentlemen. As they agreed that a member of Parliament could be punished for uniting himself with other members in Parliamentary resolutions tending to bring hatred and contempt upon the Government, the Attorney General exhibited an information in the Star Chamber against the nine members, f The information specified, that they had entered into an unlawful confederacy to disturb the Government and interrupt the trade of the realm ; and that in further- ance of their design, they had written false and scan- dalous assertions against several of the Privy Council : also, that when the Speaker of the House of Commons * Vindicise Maris Clausi, 31. t Parl. Hist. VIII. 354368 ; Rushworth, I. 661670. K>29.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 193 announced to its members that his Majesty's pleasure was they should adjourn, Sir John Eliot rose several times to speak ; and when the Speaker endeavoured to leave the chair, Denzil Holies and Benjamin Valentine, being one on each side of the Speaker, held him in against his will, and upon his struggling to rise, again thrust him back : that Sir John Eliot produced a paper which he desired to have read ; that thereupon arose a confusion, and the contest became so hot, that Sir William Coriton actually assaulted another member, named Winterton ; and many members wished to leave ; Sir Miles Hobart, at his own suggestion, locked the door of the House : that they endeavoured to persuade the Speaker to read the paper ; and as he pertinaciously refused, Selden moved that the Clerk of the House should read it. For these proceedings, for several speeches, and other supposed offences, the Attorney General prayed his Majesty that they might be sub- poenaed to appear in the Court of Star Chamber. To this information, Selden demurred, and pleaded that he was not responsible for his speeches in Parlia- ment ; and that there was no proof of a confederacy. He then pointed out, that many parts of the pretended offences did not affect him, and observed in conclusion, " No sufficient cause is set forth in the information to put this defendant to make answer to the matters therein contained. And whereas, in the said infor- mation, there is a charge, or pretence of a charge, laid against this defendant, for conspiring and confederating with the other defendants ; this defendant saith, (not acknowledging any charge either of that kind, or any other kind in the said information contained, to be true), that, as he conceives, he is not bound to make any answer, VOL. I. O 194 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. not only for the reasons before expressed, concerning the rights and liberties of every member of the House of Commons, but also for that he conceives it is lawful for any members of the same House, for the time being, freely, according to their judgments and opinions, to join together, or agree in preparing to deliver, or in delivering unto the said House, either by speech or writing, any matter that may be communed or treated of in the same House, of which nature all the par- ticulars supposed to have been prepared or delivered in the information are ; and having free liberty to consult, advise and agree together, concerning the weighty affairs of the Church and kingdom, is not, nor ought to be called or named a confederacy, nor questioned by information thus exhibited." He then prayed to have the information dismissed and his reasonable costs paid. It is not uninteresting to know Selden's opinion of the forcible detention of the Speaker. He thus expresses himself: "It is supposed in the informa- tion, that the Speaker, according to his Majesty's command endeavouring to go out of the chair, was there retained against his will. This defendant con- ceiveth it to be so far both in form and matter from a charge to be answered to by this defendant, that out of the very words and matter of the information, the said Speaker ought to have been so stayed at that time ; for besides that it is a right belonging to that House, that its Speaker by commandment of its members is to do whatsoever belongeth to his duty in the said House, and it appeareth, from the words of the information, that the greatest number of the House had assented, before the pretended time of keeping the Speaker in 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 195 the chair, to the adjournment of the House, according to the signification of his Majesty, it was then the Speaker's duty, according to the custom of the House, to have declared the adjournment itself, and it was his bounden duty to stay in the chair until he had pro- nounced the adjournment so assented to. And it is ordained by authority of Parliament in the 6th year of Henry the Eighth, that no member of the House of Commons, for the time being, may depart or absent himself from the Parliament, until it is fully ended, finished, or prorogued, except he have licence of the Speaker and Commons of the House." * However doubtful it may be whether the ordinance of the 6th of Henry the Eighth applies to an adjourn- ment, as it does to a prorogation of Parliament, it is not at all uncertain, that it is the duty of the Speaker to remain in the chair until the House has agreed to adjourn. Selden could not plead that this was not done, because in that case he would have admitted the occurrence of an event that chiefly implicated his friends. Whether they were right in holding the Speaker in his chair, is a question which an information could not impugn : if it were a breach of parliamentary privilege, the House of Commons was the guardian and vindicator of its own rights, perfectly unconnected with the Star Chamber ; if it were an insult, the Speaker had his private remedy. That the King has no right to command the House to adjourn, is perfectly clear ; though it is his undoubted prerogative to prorogue or dissolve the whole Parliament. The Court party was too conscious of the badness of their case to show any alacrity in bringing it to an * Harlcian MSS. 2217, pi. 61 h. O 2 196 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [162.9. issue ; consequently, Selden, and his fellow-prisoners, were brought up on their motion by writs of Habeas Corpus to the bar of the King's Bench prison, on the first day of Trinity Term, 1629. The declaratory part of the warrant for the imprison- ment of Selden, to Sir Allan Apsley, the Lieutenant of the Tower, as returned by that officer, stated " that this commitment was for notable contempts by him com- mitted against ourself and our government, and for stirring up sedition against us." Upon this Mr. Littleton pleaded for his client's release. He acknow- ledged the King's power to commit, but at the same time showed that the Court of King's Bench had power to bail any one so committed. The question, therefore, to be resolved was, whether the offences specified in the warrant were such as allowed the prisoner to be bailed. Having demonstrated that in this case they neither amounted to treason nor felony, and that they were not provided for by an express statute, he concluded with an incontrovertible appeal to the common law, and the lately enacted Petition of Right, that Selden might be admitted to bail."* In reply, the Attorney General argued that Selden and his fellow-prisoners should be remanded ; Hobart, Holies, and Valentine agreeing to have their cases concluded by the determination upon Selden's case. Sir Robert Heath evidently felt that the law was against him, and relied upon convincing the judges that it was their duty to recommit them, if they thought it for the good of the commonweal. He concluded with an admonition, which the event proved was a confes- sion that the Court party had prejudged the cases of * Rushworth, I. Appendix, 28 39. 162y -J CHARLES THE FIRST. 197 the prisoners. He used these remarkable words : "I am confident that you will not bail them, if any danger may ensue ; but first you are to consult with the King, and he will show you where the danger rests." The consultation of English judges with the King, as to the judgment they should give, needs no invective of the historian ; the ' common sense of every reader will supply the comment. The present instance affords an example of the legiti- mate consequences. The judges informed the King that, by their oaths, they were bound to bail the pri- soners. So far they were uncorrupted, but they were base enough to request his directions for them to per- form their duty. Charles, however, was resolved that the law should not be superior to his will, and he dared, in the face of his people, to set them an example of contempt for the institutions and laws of the country. When the judges were prepared to deliver their judgment upon this question, which so greatly involved the liberty of the subject, no prisoners appeared according to the rule of the court the bar was vacant. Proclamation was consequently made, calling upon the keepers of the several prisons to produce the prisoners. The Marshal of the King's Bench alone appeared ; and he informed the court, that, upon "the King's own warrant," his prisoners had been removed to other places of confinement. The counsel for the prisoners prayed the court to declare its opinion of the law of the case, but this was declined by the judges, because, as the prisoners were absent, they could be neither bailed, delivered, nor 198 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. remanded. Their lordships had been prepared for this conclusion, because, the evening previously, the King wrote to inform them, that the prisoners would not be allowed to come before them, in consequence of his hearing "how most of them a while since did carry themselves insolently and unmannerly," both towards himself and their lordships. " Nevertheless," continued this contemptible apology for injustice, "the respect we bear to the proceedings of the court hath caused us to give way that Selden and Valentine should attend you to-morrow." Upon more mature delibera- tion, about three hours afterwards, even this was altered, the King informing the judges in a second letter, " that all the prisoners would receive the same treatment." * Thus did the infatuated Court urge on towards ruin. Sir Robert Cotton had warned it of the increasing dis- satisfaction of the people ; and Lord Carlisle had long previously urged upon its attention the great political truth, that to gain their good opinion is to obtain power. These admonitions were, however, disregarded ; and if we trace the public transactions of the government step by step, if we notice the series of violations which were offered to the national institutions and liberties, the con- viction is forced upon us, that no conduct could have been pursued better calculated to precipitate the governed and the government into that lamentable collision which invariably is fatal to the latter. The Parliament also had warned the Court that sub- missive endurance was at an end, and that no govern- ment would be obeyed without resistance, that did not * Rushworth, I. 679 681. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 199 guide its proceedings by the established laws. The policy dictated by common sense, (and common sense is the best political, as well as the best domestic mentor,) was to adopt such a guide, and to relax rather than strain the prerogative of the Crown. Had the opposition been a petty faction, an illegal effort of government might have crushed it ; but no oppression by that power, however determined, could crush the united resolve of the nation. Every fresh injustice acted but as a stimulus, to those who had already been roused to resistance. The course thus unwisely and illegally adopted was pursued with severity. Solitary confinement, (that is, imprisonment without any intercourse with friends, or personal occupation,) is the most severe punishment, short of a lingering death, that can be inflicted upon our nature. To this species of imprisonment, to the worst of weariness, the weariness of lengthened inac- tivity, Selden and his fellow-prisoners, were at first condemned. During three months, the tedious mono- tony of this imprisonment was without the happy com- panionship of a book, and, of course, the use of writing materials was strictly forbidden. With books they could not have conspired treason, therefore the denial of them was an unnecessary deprivation, the seve- rity of which those will duly estimate who remem- ber Selden's literary pursuits. "After the lapse of about three months," says Selden, " permission was obtained for me to make use of such books as, by writing for, I procured from my friends and the book- sellers, for my own library then, and long subsequently, remained under seal." He says also, " I extorted, by 200 THE FAIKFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. entreaty, from the governor (Sir Allan Apsley)* the use of pens, ink, and paper ; but of paper only nineteen sheets, which were at hand, were allowed, each of which was to be signed with the initials of the governor, that it might be ascertained easily how much and what I wrote ; nor did I dare to use any other. On these, during my prison leisure, I copied many extracts from the above-named books, which extracts I have now in my possession, thus signed and bound together.f Towards the close of the vacation, the judges of the King's Bench being all in the country, were sum- moned to meet at Serjeants' Inn, on Michaelmas day ; and on the following morning, the Chief Justice (Sir Nicholas Hyde) and Mr. Justice Whitelocke had a con- ference with the King, at Hampton. His Majesty then told them, he was willing the members in the Tower should be bailed, although they were so obstinate that they would not even petition him, and confess "that they were sorry he was offended with them."! He then told the judges that he should abandon the proceedings against the members in the Star Chamber, and indict them in the Court of King's Bench. The judges told * Selden always spoke gratefully of the kindness of this gentleman. Sir Allan died in May, 1630, of a fever, which he caught during Buckingham's unfortunate attack upon the Isle of Hne". His daughter, Mrs Hutchinson, speaking of him, when Governor of the Tower, says, "He was a father to all his prisoners, sweetening with such compassionate kindness their restraint, that the affliction of a prison was not felt in his days." She adds, that he had a singular kindness for all persons who were eminent in learning. Memoirs of Col. Hutchinson, 12. t Opera Omnia, II. 1428. J The Court party finding that it had erred without attaining its object, would willingly have sneaked out of any further proceeding. It employed Dr. Mosley to endeavour to persuade the imprisoned members to submit, but they would not sue for an acquittal as a boon, which they knew they were entitled to obtain as a right. CHARLES THE FIRST. 201 liim " the offences were not capital, and that by law the prisoners ought to be bailed, giving security for their good behaviour." On the first day of Michaelmas Term, the judgment of the court being again moved for, it was pronounced in accordance with that which they had previously communicated to the King. Selden, answering for himself and his fellow-prisoners, replied, that they had their sureties ready for the bail, but not for the good behaviour, and desired that the first might be accepted, and the latter not urged. He reminded the court that they had been imprisoned thirty weeks ; that in all the arguments, the only question had been, whether they were or were not bailable ; and that finding sureties for their good behaviour was admit- ting by implication that they were guilty. " In con- clusion," said Selden, " we demand to be bailed in point of right ; and if of right it be not grantable, we do not demand it. The finding of sureties for good beha- viour is merely a point of discretion, and we cannot assent to it without great offence to the Parliament, where these matters, which are surmised by the return, were acted."' 1 '" These just objections to the demand of finding sureties for their good behaviour were not all that could have been urged ; they would have been held in thraldom to the amount of the security by their persecutors ; since the judicature of England, as then unfortunately consti- tuted, would have interpreted any conduct to be a breach of good behaviour, which the Stuart party with any colourable reason might suggest. We have already Rushworth, I. 682. 202 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. seen it consented not to do right when that party dictated ; and without any other appeal to the history of the period, we must be conscious that there is no wide interval between passive and active injustice. Selden remarks in his last published work, (and the subsequent reversal of the judgment justifies his asser- tion,) that the judges themselves were conscious that he and his fellow-prisoners had done nothing which required them to find sureties for their good behaviour ; and their counsel, as well as their own experience, assured them, that securities were only usually required of criminals ; they, therefore, refused to enter into these recognisances, not only because it would be conduct unworthy of them- selves, but because they were determined that the pri- vileges of Parliament, and the just liberty of the English people, should not be infringed by their acquiescence. * They were consequently remanded to the Tower, and their persecution was now changed in form, as the King had announced, to an information against them in the Court of King's Bench. Selden, Holies, Valen- tine, and Eliot were made the subjects of this proceed- ing. They excepted to the jurisdiction of the court, as their offences were alleged to have been committed in Parliament, and therefore by Parliament alone were they punishable. This exception was overruled, and judgment was finally given against them, upon the plea of Nihil diwit, " that they should be imprisoned, and not delivered until they had given security for their good behaviour, and made a submission and acknowledgment of their offences." * Opera Omnia, II. 1429. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 203 In submitting to this sacrifice of inclination to duty, Selden had to overcome many temptations besides our natural repugnance to captivity. Far more than the requisite number of friends were ready to be his sure- ties ; they urged him to comply, and represented that the time of his imprisonment was of an entirely inde- finite duration. The Chief Justice declared that there was no other purchase-price for his liberty, and when it was remarked that he had been already eight months in prison, that judge, who, as Selden remarks, ought to be " the legal vindicator of every personal liberty," observed they might be lengthened into eight years, unless he submitted. Entreaties and threats, however, were alike unavailing, and he remained firm even with the knowledge that those, who had hitherto suffered firmly by his side, faltered in their endurance, and at length compromised with their common oppressors. Mr. Hollis paid one thousand marks ; Mr. Long two thousand marks ; Mr. Valentine five hundred pounds, and were, with Mr. Hobart and others, released after various terms of imprisonment, upon entering into bonds of two thousand pounds each, not to come nearer the Court than ten miles/"" * Parl. Hist. VIII. 388. Mr. Long yielded to the entreaties of his wife and mother ; but when he understood that his fellow- prisoners had refused to find sureties for their good behaviour, " he had no rest till he had made his sureties to desist from their suretyship, and so was again returned into prison." Sloane MSS. In 1641, the Parliament voted the treatment of these gentlemen to be a breach of the privilege of Parliament, and gave to them or their heirs (accord- ingly as they had or had not survived) 5000J. each, as some recompense for the expense and loss they had suffered. In 1667, when the decision of the Legis- lature may be esteemed more dispassionate, both Houses of Parliament agreed in resolving that the judgment of the Court of King's Bench upon these sufferers in the cause of freedom, " was an illegal judgment, and against the freedom and privileges of Parliament." Crokc't Reports, III. 6C9. 204 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. Sir John Eliot fell a martyr to the cause. He refused to submit to the degrading and unjust terms offered by the Court, and prepared, with his usual energy, to endure that confinement which he foresaw would be for the residue of his life. He had, some years previous to his first confinement, assigned over all his estates, with provident forethought, in trust for the use of his children ; and now, when informed that he was sentenced to pay a fine of 2000/., he replied, " I have two cloaks, two suits, two pair of boots and galla-shees, and a few books ; that is all my present substance, and if they can pick out of that 20 OO/., much good may it do them/' In the solitude of his prison he continued to act a part consistent with his most active life. In letters still remaining among the papers of the St. Germain family, we have his own assurance, that though " faint and feeble/' he did " not bate a jot of heart and hope." He wrote to Hampden and other friends, as well as to his sons. He warned the latter that the only overwhelming sorrow which could come upon him, would be a knowledge of their unworthiness, by which he pathetically observes, " I shall then receive that wound, which, I thank God, no enemy could give me ; sorrow and affliction of mind, and that from them from whom I expected the contrary/' He further occupied his monotonous leisure, by composing a treatise upon the " Monarchy of Man/' which is pre- served among the Harleian manuscripts, and is an eloquent expression of learning and religion, applicable to our conduct in life. Imprisonment slowly completed its work of death. His legal adviser related, that he " found him the same cheerful, healthful, undaunted CHARLES THE FIRST. 205 man as ever ; " but he was gradually sinking. His native county petitioned for his release. He applied to the Court of King's Bench, but the Lord Chief Justice Richardson, coldly remarking " that though brought low in body, Sir John was as high and lofty in mind as ever," directed him to petition the King. Sir John conveyed a request for a release to Charles, and the King made answer. " It is not humble enough ! " The petition was re-worded, but still the unbroken spirit of Eliot spoke in words that were uncringing, and there came to it no reply ! The patriot rose to meet his impending fate. He sent for a painter, that his descendants might know the lineaments of their ancestor, who died for the legal freedom of their country. " Let it be preserved," was his desire, " as a perpetal memorial of my hatred of tyranny." It still exists at Port Eliot, and well expresses the features, pale and contracted by the inroads of con- sumption. Some few of his letters remain, written at this period, when he was dying, and they contain the most eloquent expressions of resignation and of hope. He said he had now nothing remaining in this world, " but the contestation between an ill body and the air, that quarrel and make friends as the summer winds affect them ;" but he was contented, and looked forward with fearless and enthusiastic delight to the arrival of the period of his departure to that eternal home " where the weary are at rest." He died in the third week of November, 1632. Stuart hatred was not even yet satiated. I record the following fact without comment. Sir John's son petitioned to be allowed to convey the body of his 206 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. father into Cornwall, but the inexorable answer, was, "Let Sir John Eliot's body be buried in the church of that parish where he died/' The King was obeyed. His ashes rest in the Tower Chapel.* Selden was not dismissed without further persecution, for he was attacked upon another charge, though as yet unreleased from the sentence already pronounced. The Attorney General filed an information in the Star Chamber against him, Sir Robert Cotton, and Gilbert Barrell, for " intending to raise false, scandalous, and seditious rumours'' against the King and his government, as appeared in " a false, seditious, and pestilent discourse," which they had " seditiously framed, contrived and written." This discourse was entitled " A Proposition for his Majesty's service, to bridle the impertinency of Parlia- ment," and upon their trial it was incontestably proved to have been written by Sir Robert Dudley, commonly called Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland, in the reign of James the First. The manuscript was in the library of Sir Robert Cotton, and copies of it being traced to the possession of Selden, Barrell, and the Earls of Bedford, Somerset, and Clare, they were all implicated in its dissemination, until the decision of the Court determined its true origin. It appears to have been a satire upon the spirit of the Stuart government ; and the ministers of Charles must have so thought, otherwise they would never have prosecuted such men as Sir Robert Cotton and Selden, Prince's Worthiesof Devon, ed. 1810, 128 ; Bliss's Wood's Athen. Oxon. II. 478 ; D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature ; Sloane MSS. ; Harleian MSS. ; Rushworth. 1629.J CHARLES THE FIRST. 207 who had been the unflinching advocates of constitu- tional liberty, for a composition every sentence of which recommends the most absurd system of despotic misrule. A few short extracts will best show its character. It recommends the King to have a fort in every town, well supplied with men and the necessaries of war, for " it is a greater tie of the people by force and necessity than merely by love and affection ; for by the one, the government resteth always secure, but by the other no longer than the people are well contented. Secondly, it forceth obstinate subjects to be no more presumptuous than it pleaseth your Majesty to permit them. Your Majesty's government is more secure by the people's more subjection, and by their subjection your Parliament must be forced, consequently, to alter their style, and to be conformable to your will and pleasure ; for their words and opposition import nothing when the power is in your Majesty's hands to do with them what you please." The second part of the Discourse relates to his Majesty's revenues, and advises that if "subjects have not wit or will to consider their own interest, your Majesty's wisdom must repair their defects, and force them to it by compulsion." * At length, weary of this contest with men who would * There is a complete copy of this Discourse among the Harleian MSS. To it are appended some particulars relating to this extraordinary prosecution. Still more full information is contained in Sir Symonds D'Ewes' Journal, pre- served among the same MSS. See also Gentleman's Magazine, XXXVII. 335. A manuscript note of Chief Justice Hyde says, that the information exhibited on this occasion by the Attorney General included the Earls of Bedford, Clare, and Somerset. Instead of giving an honest acquittal to all the defendants, the Lord Keeper Coventry signified to the Court that the King, out of his grace and joy at the birth of a Prince, (Charles, born the May before), would pardon them, 208 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1620. yield nothing of their rights, and over whom no advan- tage could be gained, the Court mitigated the suggestions of its anger, and an order was sent by the Privy Council to the lieutenant of the Tower, to release such as remained in his custody from close confinement, to allow them such freedom as could be enjoyed within the walls, and for them to have a free intercourse with their friends. The Government took care that they should pay for this indulgence, for Selden informs us, that whereas they had, according to custom, been liberally dieted at the expense of the Crown, whilst closely imprisoned, they were now left to provide for them- selves."" This relaxation encouraged them to request a still more diminished restraint, for, considering that it would be more difficult to obtain permission to go occasionally abroad in the Tower than in any other prison, Selden and Mr. Strode, two or three weeks subsequently, obtained their removal to the Marshalsea, upon a com- mittal similar to the original, directing their detention until they found security for their good behaviour. Selden was detained in the Marshalsea until May, and not proceed to demand sentence. But on motion by the Attorney General, that Sir Robert Cotton had in his library records, evidences, ledger-books, original letters, and instruments of State belonging to the King, (and to prove it the Attorney General showed a copy of a pardon which Sir Robert had obtained from King James, for embezzling records, and other offences), it therefore was thought lawful, and ordered, that commissioners should be appointed, who might search his library, and withdraw from it all the King's papers. Lansdowne MSS. 841,fol. 79. This was the death-blow to Sir Robert. From that day he declined in health, frequently declaring to his friends, " that they had broken his heart who had locked up his library from him ; " and just previously to his death he had the Privy Council informed " that their so long detaining his books from him, without rendering any reason for the same, had been the cause of his mortal malady." He died in May, 1631. * Opera Omnia, II. 1430. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 209 1630, but this imprisonment was scarcely more than nominal ; for, upon submitting to certain rules, he was allowed to go without the walls wherever and as often as he wished.* Another " taste of happiness " bestowed upon the people was a proclamation, in which Charles announced that he was not only resolved to continue the govern- ment " in a single "state," but warned every one from offering contrary advice. This true specimen of a des- potic edict, after observing that the recall of a Parlia- ment had been publicly suggested " for several ill ends," announced that his Majesty " would account it presump- tion for any to prescribe a time to him for Parliaments ; the calling, continuing, and dissolving of them being always in the King's own power." f Thus determined to rule without the aid of that branch of the legislature which could alone give him a legal right to demand supplies from his people, Charles wisely resolved to cease from those wars so rashly com- menced, in which no honour had been acquired, and to meet the extraordinary expenses of which, there could be no probability of an overflowing exchequer. Peace was signed, therefore, with France and Spain ; and, except that no stipulations were provided for the protection of the Hugonots, (in whose behalf the first war professedly was waged,) on honourable terms, and the three kingdoms were respectively " remitted to the affections they formerly had." Money was required for the ordinary expenses of Government, even in " a piping time of peace," and the * Life of Selden, 1 73, &c. t Franklyn's Annals, 361 ; Part. Hist. II. 524. VOL I. P 210 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [162.9. first measure adopted appears from the following instructions, endorsed by Lord Fairfax : COPY OF INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE COUNCIL AT WHITEHALL TO THE COMMISSIONERS FOR RAISING THE SUBSIDY GRANTED TO HIS MAJESTY, WITH A LIST OF THE COM- MISSIONERS.* AFTER our hearty commendations, we have forborne till now to send down the commissions for the assess- ment of the last subsidy, in succour of the poorer sort of his Majesty's subjects, to ease them what we could, by prolonging their payment, that the burden might fall the less heavier upon them. Besides, we thought it not amiss to expect the going down of those principal gentlemen who attended the Parliament ; to the end that by their forwardness and effectual endeavours their own good intentions in granting these subsidies might the better be performed. For they all know what complaints were made, as well in Parliament as else- where, that the burden of those payments was cast upon the inferiors, and that the better sort were not rateably assessed, whereby the sum of their aids was grown less near by half, than it was in former times ; and yet upon due consideration, nothing can be found more to concern both the honour and welfare of the * COMMISSIONERS' NAMES. The Lord President ; the Earl of Cumberland ; Earl of Sunderland ; Viscount Saville ; the Lord Clifford ; Lord Darcy ; Lord Sanquhar ; Lord Fairfax ; Lord Savill ; Sir Richard Hutton ; Sir Francis Wortley ; Sir Henry Savill ; Sir Richard Beaumont ; Sir Thomas Hobbis ; Sir Henry Goodrick ; Sir Guy Palmes ; Sir Richard Tempest ; Sir Edward Water- house ; Sir Thomas Bland ; Sir William Lister ; Sir John Ramsden ; Thomas Wentworth, Esq. ; William Mallory, Esq. ; Thomas Mauleverer, Esq. ; John Key, Esq. ; Jasper Blithman, Esq. ; Godfrey Boswell, Esq. ; Francis Burdett, Esq. ; Richard Sunderland, Esq. ; Thomas Faber, Esq. ; William Lowther, Esq. 1629.1 CHARLES THE FIRST. 211 kingdom, than that these common aids should contain a sufficient supply for the great and extraordinary affairs of the estate, to make it more respected both by enemies and by friends, and that our kings may have cause highly to value the free affections of their sub- jects, and to rely wholly upon them, as his Majesty most desires. This we doubt not but you will weigh and seriously take 'to heart, and accordingly advance the assessment of those that be best able, and who in former payments have been too much undervalued. And because the said former payments have been collected, and returned with a loose hand, (half of the last subsidy being payable in December last is not yet received,) we must now expect and require a more careful order to be taken for reformation hereof, and for the hastening of these last payments with all possible speed ; so that the time for seasonable prepara- tions for his Majesty's great occasions may not be spent before the means to set them forward may be had, which assuredly will come to pass, if you employ not an extraordinary care, for which his Majesty may have cause to give you thanks. We send with the com- missions the rolls of recusants as they are returned into the Exchequer, and for such as are to be had in the country, yourself can best provide. And so expect- ing your careful and diligent performance of these our directions, we bid you heartily farewell. Given at Whitehall the last of March, 1629. Your loving friends, THOMAS COVENTRY. MONTGOMERY. SALISBURY. THOS. SUFFOLK. WESTON. p 2 212 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. The payment of these subsidies came in slowly, and the receipts had been forestalled by the expenditure on the expedition which Buckingham was to have commanded, and which proved, under the Earl of Lindsay, as abortive as its predecessors. New resources of revenue, therefore, had now to be discovered, and whilst the prerogative of the Crown was still exceeded by the continued enforcement of Tonnage and Poundage, other " tastes of happiness " were sedulously sought for among the clauses of obsolete statutes, to discover pretexts under which money might be extorted. First among these was knighthood-money, a sugges- tion attributed to Lord Went worth. This, though legal, because founded upon unrepealed statutes, yet was cal- culated to make " knights more plentiful than gentlemen or loyal subjects," and was the first occasion of bringing so cheap a semblance of dignity into contempt. This, however, weighed nothing in opposition to the pressure for money, to obtain which " the King seemed resolved to make use of any authority which his regality by any custom or law had formerly exercised. And under this pretence," adds the royalist Sir Philip Warwick, " crept in divers monopolies and projects probably less warrantable/' * Though the levying of knighthood- money " had a foundation in right yet, in the circum- stances of proceeding, it was very grievous," f for it was made an occasion of inquisitorial search into the amount of men's private estates; and the requisite amount of landed income, 40/. per annum, was ridiculously low, for the purpose of rendering a greater number liable to the fines and fees. It brought 100,000 into the royal * Warwick's Memoirs, 49. f Clarendon's History, I. 53. 1629.] CHAKLES THE FIRST. 213 exchequer, for multitudes paid the fine rather than submit to the ridicule which would have been vented upon their knighthood. Like other instances of this monarch's unparliamentary rule, it gave birth to a statute (16 Charles I. c. xx), when the legislature again assembled, to prevent the future exercise of this injurious power ; a power, as the preamble justly declares, both "useless and unreasonable," and the vexatious exercise of which it thus details : " Proclama- tions were made in every county for certifying the names of all men of full age, not being knights, and being seised of lands or rents of the yearly value of 40/. or more, summoning them personally to appear in the King's presence before a certain day, to receive the said order or dignity. Process of Distringas was made from the Court of Exchequer against a very great number of persons, many of whom were altogether unfit either by estate or quality to receive the said dignity, and very many were put to grievous fines and other vexations, although it were not sufficiently known how or where they or any of them should have addressed themselves for the receiving the said dignity, and for saving them- selves thereby from the said fines, process, and vexa- tions." When Charles gave his assent to that statute he must have blushed as he listened to its preamble. As the levying of knighthood-money was directed to the mulcting of the less wealthy classes of the community, so other obsolete laws were revived in a similar manner to place under " unreasonable contribution," those of higher pretensions and more ample means. For this purpose "the old laws of the forest were revived, by which not only great fines were imposed (for alleged encroachments), 214 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. but great annual rents were intended, and likely to be settled by way of contract (for the future quiet enjoyment of the lands so alleged to have been sub- tracted from the forests). This burthen," adds Clarendon, " lighted most upon persons of quality and honour, who thought themselves above ordinary oppressions, and were likely therefore to remember it with more sharp- ness." * Rushworth declares, without any intimation of doubt, that the jurors, who "in such cases are men living within the forest purlieus, and consequently peculiarly open to influence," were induced to return unjust verdicts. To what extent these persecutions were carried may be gathered from the following extracts from letters sent to Lord Wentworth by the Rev. Mr. Garrard : " Whitfield is made a serjeant, for the service he hath done at Dean Forest, and for a later in Essex, for they would have brought all Essex, from Stratford-Bow to Colchester, to be Forest. 'Tis not yet judged, for the gentlemen of that county being unprepared for a defence, have time given them until the Justice in Eyre sit again. If then they cannot free themselves, they must for ever submit to Forest Law." Writing again a few months after, the same correspondent says, " The justice seat in Essex hath been kept this Easter week, and all Essex is become Forest ; and, so they say, will all the counties of England but three ; Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. The Commissioners for the Treasury sit constantly thrice a week ; they look back for five years past, and some of them are amazed to see the greatness * Clarendon's History, I. 53. The Statute 16 Charles I. c. xvi. prevents such future wrongs ; but it does not fail to reprobate also " the great grievance and vexation " which had demanded its enactment. lt29.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 215 of the King's debts." " My Lord of Holland is com- manded to Winchester, to finish his justice seat for the New Forest, where more especially comes in question the manor of Beaulieu. My Lord of Southampton hath been at Court about it : it much concerns him in his fortune, yielding him now from his tenants 2500/. a year, but if it prove to be Forest, it would yield but 500/. yearly. So that his French wife, with whom he had little, and this business, would utterly ruin him in his fortune." " About the 20th of September, my Lord of Holland went to keep his great Court of Justice in Eyre, both in Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. Against Buckingham Forest were found many great trespassers. My lord was assisted by five judges, Bridgeman, Finch, Trevor, Jones, and Crawley ; and those who were found faulty were soundly fined. My Lord of Salisbury, for his father's faults, if he made any, for Brigstock Park, given him by Queen Elizabeth, was fined 20,000/. ; but I hope he will come off, for, it is said, if his counsel had been well informed by his servants who attended the business, and had shown in time those pardons which King James gave Robert, Earl of Salisbury, when he came to the throne, he had escaped fining ; but now he is at the King's mercy. The Earl of Westmoreland was fined 19,000/. ; Sir Christopher Hatton 12,000/. ; my Lord Newport 3000/. ; Sir Lewis Watson 4000/. ; Sir Robert Ban- nister 3000/. ; my Lord of Peterborough, my Lord Brudenell, Sir Lewis Tresham, and others, little fines, which I omit. The bounds of this forest of Rockingham are increased from six miles to sixty. The particulars of his proceedings in Oxfordshire I know not ; it was 216 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. no great matter he did there. My Lord Danby was fined 500/., which he hath sent in."* The profession that the collection of the subsidies was delayed "in succour of the poorer sort/'f harmonises strangely with the fact, that even the meanest cottagers were fined and harassed under a statute, which, (like most other attempts of the legisla- ture to direct what a man ought to do with his own,) proving a failure in practice, had been allowed to remain inoperative on the statute-book. We may accept this as a fact incapable of denial, for it is contained in a letter to Lord Wentworth, from his indefatigable correspondent last quoted : " Here is at this present (October 9th, 1637), a commission in execution against cottagers, who have not four acres of ground laid to their houses, upon a statute made 31 of Elizabeth, which vexeth the poor mightily, is far more burthen- some to them than the ship-monies, all for the benefit of the Lord Morton, and the Secretary of Scotland, Lord Stirling. Much crying out there is against it, especially because mean, needy men of no good fame, prisoners in the Fleet, are used as the principal com- missioners to call the people before them, to fine and compound with them." J The enforcement of these three measures were directed against the landed proprietors of England, but the mer- cantile portion of the community came in for additional and special exactions. The tax of Tonnage and Pound- age was doubled, an increase never before attempted ; * Strafford's Letters, I. 335, 413, 467 ; II. 117. t See page 210. J The Statute 31 Eliz. c. vii. forbids the erection of any cottage without " assigning or laying to the said cottage four acres of ground at the least." Strafford's Letters, I. 428. 1629.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 217 but the merchant and the manufacturer had addi- tional difficulties to contend against, even when labouring under these illegal imposts, consequent upon the grant of innumerable and vexatious monopolies. These monopolies, so embarrassing to trade and so effectual in raising prices to the consumers, included a large majority of the necessaries of life. Coals, iron, salt, soap, leather, tobacco, beer, herrings, butter, linen, hops, buttons, and spectacles, were only a few of the articles monopolised by the sovereign's dictate for the emolument of the few at the expense of the many. No one can read the records of the time without being struck with the thought that the Star Chamber, High Commission Court, and other tribunals, had no other employment than to provide for the wants of the King, and to ruin the adversaries of his power.* If discontent appeared too general for such proceedings to be easily practicable in any particular county, its militia were disarmed, and the royal troops were sent there, and the inhabitants compelled not only to board and lodge, but to equip them. The soap monopoly, above all others, appears to have been the most unjust, and has consigned every one * Six millions sterling were raised, during this unparliamentary period, by fines alone. Lord Morley, for calling Sir George Theobald "a base rascal," within the royal palace, was fined 20,000^., and committed to the Tower. Laud and the Lord Privy Seal were for the severest sentence. Strafford Letters, I. 335. But one of the cases most savouring of pre-influenced injustice was that of Sir David Foulis. For persuading certain parties in Yorkshire not to compound for their knighthood, and for speaking slightingly of Lord Wentworth, he was removed from the Commission of the Peace, condemned to a public apology, and fined 5000J. Rushwvrth, II. 219. This was excessive punishment ; but how exasperated is our sense of the injustice when we now find that it was Strafford who privately urged Laud to punish, and the latter actually promised to gratify him, before the case was heard. Straffortfa Letters, I. 146, &c. 218 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1629. connected with it to the mingled scorn and ridicule of after ages. Two parties were competitors for this monopoly, the one being content to make the soap after the accustomed mode, but the other having " a new soap " wherewith to deterge his Majesty's lieges. It is scarcely needful to say that all female England rose against the innovation ; for, as a contemporary relates, " it burns the linen, scalds the laundresses' fingers, and wastes infinitely in keeping, being full of lime and tallow." But despite all this, " the new soap-boilers got the upper hand of the old," and we now know the reason ; they gave most to the royal Exchequer, agreeing "to pay the King 30,000/. for two years and 40,000/. ever after." This outweighed all the clamour of all the old washer- women within and without the bills of mortality. It might have been otherwise could their tongues have waged war within earshot of his Majesty, for they fairly frightened the Lord Mayor of London. He listened to their complaints so far as to represent their statements to the King, but " he received a shrewd reprimand for his pusillanimity in this business, being afraid of a troop of women." But (richest passage of all in this battle of the wash-tubs) a grave body of commissioners sat, com- prising sages of no less dignity than " the lieutenant of the Tower, Sir William Beecher, Sir Abraham Williams, Spiller, the Lord Mayor, and some Aldermen/' who after presiding over "two general washing-days at Guildhall," gave a verdict for the new soap.* * Strafford's Letters, I. 176, 446. According to Clarendon, the renegade Noy was the suggestor of the soap monopoly as well as of Ship-money. 1634.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 219 Ship-money, if not at the time the most irritating exac- tion of that age of fiscal devices, is the impost which is most connected with that era in our memories, for it brought England in most effective opposition to the Court, and first prominently introduced to public notice the individual whose name and that of patriot are be- come synonymous. It was a tax rendered still more unpopular, as being an occasion which demonstrated that the judges betrayed their sacred charge. Neither was it less obnoxious by being a suggestion of Mr. Noy, tempted from the ranks of the friends of the people by the proffered Attorney-Generalship. The birth-time of this suggestion was 1634, and was at first proposed to be levied only upon the maritime towns, and ostensibly for maintaining the navy ; but, said Selden, that was like putting in a little auger, in order that a larger might be afterwards inserted, for the tax was soon forced also upon the inland counties. The royal income, despite all the contrivances and severities employed (though justice even had been prostituted to supply the deficiency), was now so nar- rowed, that this levy was almost the last unparlia- mentary resource, and Lord Conway was as correct as quaint when he told Lord Wentworth, " If this order for shipping go on, and be well guided, we shall be lupi (wolves) ; if it sink, we shall be pecora (sheep) : for every creature in this world doth eat, or is eaten.""' 1 If the levy of Ship-money had been legal and uncon- tested, it would have rendered the Crown independent of Parliament; for in conjunction with other sources of revenue, an annual supply would have been obtained Strafford's Letters, I. 479. 220 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. H634. more than ample for the ordinary expenditure. " All the shires in England," said Mr. Garrard, writing to Lord Wentworth, "are rated. The whole sum, if they can get the money, comes to 218,500/. Your county of York, 12,000/. ; London and Middlesex, 21,500/. : ships, forty-five; mariners, 7103; a notable revenue, if it be paid every year, far better than Tonnage and Poundage, and yet that is paid too."* The first of these writs issued was to the city of London, and bears date October the 20th, 1634, com- manding seven ships of war, with their requisite crews, armament and provisions, to be provided by the city, and to rendezvous at Portsmouth before the 1st of the following March ; powers being added in the writ for the Mayor and Aldermen " to assess all men in the said city," and to imprison the refractory.f The Corporation petitioned against the levy, but the result is told in the following letter, dated the llth of January, 1635 : " The Mayor of London received some reprimand for being so slow in giving answer to the writ ; afterwards, the city council were called before the Lords and received some gentle check, or rather were admonished to take heed how they advised the city in a case so clear for the King, wherein his Majesty had first advised with his learned counsel, and with his Council of state. It wrought this effect, that they all yielded, and instantly fell to seizing in all the wards of London. It will cost the city at least thirty-five thousand pounds. They * Stafford's Letters, I. 463. This letter is dated September 1st, 1635, and in another dated November 28th, Mr. Howell says, " The levy of the Ship- money in towns and country is done, and the money almost come in ; there is a computation made that it will amount to two subsidies and a half. Ibid. 489. t State Trials, III. 830, edited by Cobbett. 1634.] CHARLES THE FIEST. 221 hoist up the merchant-strangers, Sir William Curtyre, three hundred and sixty pounds ; Sir Thomas Cuttcale, three hundred pounds : great sums to pay at one tax, and we know not how often it may come. It reaches us in the Strand, being within the Liberties of West- minster, which furnisheth out one ship. My Lord of Bedford, sixty pounds ; my Lord of Salisbury, twenty- five pounds ; my Lord of Clare, forty pounds ; the Lord Keeper, and Lord Treasurer, twenty pounds a-piece ; nay, lodgers, for I am set at forty shillings. Giving subsidies in Parliament, I was well content to pay to, which now hath brought me into this tax ; but I tell my Lord Cottinton, that I had rather give and pay ten subsidies in Parliament, than ten shillings this new-old way of dead Noy's. Letters are also gone down to the High Sheriffs of the maritime counties to quicken them."* The writs issued in 1634 contained a clause that no more money was to be levied than was required for pro- viding the ships and their equipment, but when they were issued in subsequent years, when the inland towns and counties were included, and the levy was intended to be annual, this clause was omitted, or by an accom- panying letter the money was required to be paid into the Royal Exchequer. "In the first year," said the Lord Keeper to the judges, " when the writs were directed to the ports and maritime places, they received little or no opposition ; but in the second year, when they went generally throughout the kingdom (though by some well obeyed) they have been refused by some, not only in inland counties, but in some maritime places."f Strafford's Letters, I. 358. + State Trials, III. 841. The responsibility of issuing the writs throughout 222 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1635. Among these recusants was John Hampden, a man of ample fortune, liberal, generous, and charitable, and who contested the payment of the paltry sum demanded, for no other cause than to vindicate the principle, that the levy could not be justified without the sanction of Parliament. Previously to disputing this payment " he was rather of reputation in his own county, than of fame in the kingdom ; but, then, he grew the argument of all tongues, every man inquiring who and what he was that durst, at his own charge, sup- port the liberty and property of the kingdom, and rescue his country, as he thought, from being made a prey to the Court. His carriage, throughout this agitation, was with that rare temper and modesty, that they who watched him narrowly to find some advantage against his person, to make him less resolute in his cause, were compelled to give him a just testi- mony. And the judgment that was given against him infinitely more advanced him than the service for which it was given. His reputation for honesty was universal, and his affections seemed so publicly guided, that no corrupt nor private ends could bias him/' Such is the testimony of Clarendon, at one time his intimate friend, and one of the members selected by the Commons to urge upon the Peers a concurrence with them in condemning the judgment in favour of Ship-money. England does not rest upon Noy, but upon Sir John Finch (Chief Justice of the Common Pleas), Sir John Brampston (Chief Justice of the King's Bench), and Sir Humphry Davenport (Lord Chief Baron). The King having sought their opinion, they answered (June 1635) in these words : " Whereas the charge of defending the sea had been imposed on the Cinque Ports, so, where the whole kingdom is in danger, the whole charge ought to be maintained by all the subjects of the realm." Ibid. 1219. * Clarendon's History, II. 205. 1635.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 223 Charles sought to win Hampden over to the ranks of his supporters, and the Parliament would have granted any request that might have been gratifying to avarice or ambition. But acting upon principle, and above all temptation, he pressed forward on the course which he considered just, turning aside from him all allurements, and obtaining this most memo- rable of praise " He had more ambition to have been the Prince's governor (tutor) than for any greater place." * And why, but that he might have provided for England's future liberty and happiness, by instilling into him better lessons of constitutional knowledge than he was likely to imbibe among the high-prerogative sycophants of the Royal Court ? The progress and issue of his dispute against the levy of Ship-money may be briefly told. By a writ, dated the 4th of August, 1635, Buckinghamshire was called upon to furnish one ship of war, and towards this, "John Hampden, Esq., of Stoke Mandeville," in that county, was assessed to pay twenty shillings. This assessment was not in pursuance of the writ, but in compliance with instructions sent with it to the sheriff, that " instead of a ship, he should levy upon his county such a sum of money, and return the same to the Treasurer of the Navy for his Majesty's use/'t For six days before, all the judges of England, did Mr. Oliver St. John and Mr. Holborne argue against the legality of the levy ; and the replies of the Attor- ney and Solicitor Generals, Sir John Bankes and Sir Edward Littleton, both renegades from the popular party, occupied a similar space of time. It is not too * Warwick's Memoirs, 2-12. t Clarendon's History, I. 53. 224 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. LI 636. much to say, that they exhausted all the sources of argument and precedent that could be cited in favour of their respective clients. The great delinquents in the case were those judges who gave their decision in favour of the Crown, for as even Clarendon acknow- ledges, it was " adjudged upon such grounds and reasons as every stander-by was able to swear was not law/ 5 * One of them, a Baron of the Exchequer, Sir Thomas Trevor, justified his judgment upon the totally untenable ground, that " We, who are the judges of the kingdom, have paid it, therefore it is fit our opinions concur with our actions in this case." The Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, but upon a technical point, gave a decision in favour of Hampden, as did the Lord Chief Baron, and another Baron of the Exchequer, Sir John Denham ; but Sir George Croke, one of the puisne judges of the King's Bench, and Sir Richard Hutton, a puisne judge of the Common Pleas, were in his favour upon the law generally. The judge last-named revealed the iniquitous course which had been pursued, and to which the judges had unwittingly submitted, of giving an extra-judicial opinion upon a point involving to a certain extent the legality of this levy. On the second of February, 1636, just at the very time when the impost was likely to become the subject of judicial enquiry, the King submitted to them these comprehensive questions : " When the good and safety of the kingdom in general is concerned, and the whole kingdom is in danger ; whether may not the King, by writ under the great seal of England, command all the subjects of this * Clarendon's History, I. 54. 1636.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 225 kiDgdom, at their charge, to provide and furnish such number of ships, with men, victuals, and munition, and for such time as he shall think fit, for the defence and safeguard of the kingdom from such danger and peril ; and, by law, compel the doing thereof, in case of refusal or refractoriness ? And whether, in such a case, is not the King sole judge, both of the danger, and when and how the same is to "be prevented and avoided '(" These general queries received from the twelve judges replies as generally affirmative, but Mr. Justice Hutton with just discrimination observed, " No man of us but sometimes delivers his opinion, and yet, after argument, have changed our opinions, and gone contrary to our former judgment; but if after the arguments now heard I had been of the same opinion that was then delivered, yet this writ doth not pursue its direction. We agreed that the King might charge his subjects in case of a general danger, yet this was, and is intended, not a danger from pirates, but an imminent necessity, and apparent danger, which could not be avoided/'* Since the day of the delivery of that judgment, not one lawyer of eminence has recorded an opinion in favour of the legality of the levy. Even if England had not been at entire peace with all Europe, but had been at war with its chief states, instead of being disturbed only by some pirates in the channel, as was actually the case, still the writs were in defiance of both the Common and the Statute Law, unwarranted by any prerogative of the Crown, and totally without precedent. The reversal of the judgment was passed without opposition through both Houses a few years subsequently, for it was most State Trials, III. 1198. VOL. I. Q 226 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1636. clear, as observed by Lord Falkland, "the learned, the honest, the sincere," that if that judgment were law, then "his Majesty, as often as himself pleaseth, may declare that the kingdom is in danger ; that so often, for prevention of such danger, his Majesty, by his writ under the Great Seal of England, may alter the property of the subjects' goods, without their consent in Parlia- ment, and in such proportion as his Majesty shall think fit ; and besides, the altering of the property of their goods may deprive them of the liberty of their persons, and of their lives, in such manner as himself shall please." * Out of evil, however, arose good, for all England was roused more than ever to oppose this and all other illegal inroads, for they now saw plainly that they had no longer a safeguard in the integrity of the judges, but that these were " as sharp-sighted as Secretaries of State, and in the mysteries of state ; judgment of law grounded upon matter of fact, of which there was neither inquiry nor proof; and no reason given for the payment of the shillings in question, but what included the estates of all the by-standers."f Leaving for awhile the more important events of this period of despotism, we may now turn to the considera- tion of some biographical details, as narrated in the following letters. * State Trials, III. 1265. f Clarendon's History, I. 55. 1629.] CHABLES THE FIRST. 227 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, MY LORD FAIRFAX, AT DENTON. MY GOOD LORD, THERE was this day se'nnight (the 13th of this month) a matter handled at London concerning your lordship, with others, which being so lately done, may be, you have not yet had notice thereof. The bill preferred in the Star Chamber against my Lord Went- worth, my Lord Clifford, your lordship, and others, by the Lord Savill, was then heard and spoken unto ; the issue whereof was, the Lord Savill was fined 1007. to the King ; the Lord Wentworth, Lord Clifford, and your lordship, each of you, 1 00 L for damages. Sir Thomas Grower, Sir Richard Cholmeley, Sir Edward Stanhope, and the two Mr. Legerdes, every of them, 50/.; the bill to be taken off the file ; which the Lord Savill's counsel speaking against, he is admitted to prosecute his bill the next term, or to make reparation of honour, as the Lords of the Council shall think fit.* The heavy news of the Queen's delivery of child, two months before her time, and that a son, buried the 9th of this month, is, I think, no news unto you. Thus, with my service humbly remembered, I rest At your lordship's service, MICHAEL. WENTWORTH. Tftis Wth of May, 1629. " A report of this case is in Rushworth, III. Appendix 21. 228 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE, [1631. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE HIS VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, AT DENTON, THESE PRESENT. MY LORD, YOUR servant, John Mawson, hath carefully seen the return of the 50/. to Mr. Burlemachi's hands, who hath given us two bills of exchange for it upon sight ; as also the delivery of the several letters which we have sent with the former bill. Mr. Boswill is pleased to write his affections and instructions to your grandson.""' We have spent some time according to your lordship's directions with one Mr. Tennant, to inquire out a fit and serviceable litter for your lordship's purpose. We could find none ready made but flackey litters, wherefore we have taken as speedy a course as we possibly could, as your servant will inform you, who hath left 18/. 18*. to be disposed to this purpose, if your lordship be pleased to approve of it in the mean- time. Your lordship is pleased to mention a contro- versy betwixt my uncle Birkhead, yourself, and others. I am sorry in remembrance of it : if nothing but title had fallen to suit, the law would have easily moderated, but your accidental circumstances aggravates both in doubt and charge ; I confess my little acquaintance in it makes me ignorant of excuse fit. Leaving that theme, I present to your lordship the present discourse of state. The Earl of Carlisle is to be sent on embassy to the * The bills of exchange were for the future Parliamentary General, then in France. Mr. Burlamaqui was a merchant of great eminence, and associated with our envoys in more than one negotiation with foreign powers. Howell's Letters, 225, &c. 1631. J CHARLES THE FIRST. 229 Emperor of Germany ; * Sir Kenelm Digby to the King of Spain, to the Pope, and thence to the Duke of Venice ; the message is supposed to be the restoration of the Palatinate.f And it is generally received that the Mar- quis of Hamilton proceeds with speed to accompany the King of Sweden, who (as I hear) hath given Tilly a great overthrow, and Tilly in the battle slain.| Mr. Briggs, your lordship's old friend and servant, hath lain bed-rid almost a quarter of a year ; he desired me to intimate that the sight of Denton would prolong his life much, and your lordship's late remembrances were very cordial to him. Dr. Dunne, the late dean of St. Paul's is dead ; Dr. Wemyss succeeds in the deanery, and Dr. Duppa in the parsonage of St. Dunstan. The fear of the sickness is not so great as it was, because the * This was the James Hay, Earl of Carlisle, chiefly celebrated for his sumptuous expenditure. He had been, before this, representative of England at the Courts of France and Germany. He died in 1636, and persisted in his folly even when death was at his threshold, ordering new clothes, as he said, " to outface naked and despicable death." The embassy on which this letter notes his departure related to the Palatinate. f This extraordinary man had defeated the Spanish fleet in the Gulf of Venice in 1629, and was now proceeding as envoy with presents, (for the purpose mentioned by Mr. Bladen,) to those potentates to whose religion he became a convert a few years subsequently. His conversion caused an admirable remonstrance to be written to him by Dr. Laud. J The Marquis of Hamilton did join the forces of the King of Sweden ; but the little army of Englishmen he had with him, by losses in the field and hospital, both alike mismanaged, was speedily reduced to two regiments, and he returned home without gaining honour or serving the cause, (the recovery of the Palatinate,) for which our blood and treasure were for so many years lavished. Dr. Duppa was soon after made Vice Chancellor of Oxford, and tutor to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles the Second. In succession he was advanced to the sees of Chichester, Salisbury, and Winchester, dying Bishop of the latter see. He attended Charles the First during his imprisonment in the Isle of Wight, and when the Bishop was on his death-bed, even Charles the Second knelt by his side to receive the blessing of his old tutor. Wood's Athena: Oxon. II. 2701. 230 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1631. numbers do but continue at the same. And now, my lord, I humbly return to my duty ; and after the acknowledgment of your lordship's many favours, this last addition of your bounty of 21. you sent me pur- chaseth more from me than I have to bestow ; for, be your lordship assured, all I can do is due, and I have no other honour than to be your lordship's humble servant, J. BLADEN. April 8th, 1631. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, AT DENTON, IN YORKSHIRE, THESE PRESENT. MY LORD, I HAVE made quest according to your lord- ship's late directions concerning the addition of arms (supporters) mentioned in your lordship's patent, and find that your patent was under the great seal of Scotland ; so, according to the direction of Sir Richard St. George, your lordship's recourse must be to the heralds of Scotland ; for our English heralds have no dealing therewith. But if it had been under the great seal of England, although Scottish or Irish, Honourable Sir William Segar (Garter) would have undertook to perfect it. Your heralds' fees had been 61. 13s. 4. 1848. LONDON : ANI> EVANS, PRJNTEBS, WHITFFK1ABS, CONTENTS OF VOL. II. CHAPTER I. PAGE Army assembled at Newcastle Money raised by Loans Ship-raouey increased Coat and Conduct money Bullion seized War generally unpopular Public Meetings forbidden Hatred of Laud His Palace attacked Bdlwm Episcopate Episcopal encroachments on Civil power Trained Bands dislike the war Earl of Northumberland declines the command Military movements Leslie, the Scotch General He gives Lord Savile intelligence to the Covenanters March of their army Invasion of England by the Scotch Arrive at Newcastle Battle of Newbourn English defeated Newcastle taken Scotch levy contributions Do not commit depredations Lord Conway blamed Lords Wharton and Esrick advocate a peace Strafford's violence Fidelity of our troops questioned Yorkshire gentry and London citizens reproached Council of Peers summoned Lord Clare to Lord Fairfax Money borrowed from London Treaty with the Covenanters opened Letter of Strafford Regiment disbanded Treaty of Ripon Scotch demands Strafford's indigna- tion Skirmish near Durham Necessity for coming to terms Pay provided for the Scotch army Proposed adjournment Equity of the Scotch claims CHAPTER II. Parliamentary Elections Ferdinando Fairfax, Member for Yorkshire Court interest unavailing Lenthall chosen Speaker Clarendon's opinion of him Opening of " The Long Parliament " King's Speech Lord Keeper's Address Committees appointed Hyde then a Reformer Cromwell's second appearance in Parliament Quarrels with Hyde Star Chamber and Commission Court tyranny exposed Reforms effected Letter of Ferdinando Fairfax Death of Lord Fairfax His family Dispute as to his property Dr. Wren drives weavers out of Norfolk Censure passed on him and other dignitaries Bill for Triennial Parliaments passed Proceedings against Straf- ford Desired to be absent from Parliament Resolves to impeach some of the Commons Arrives in London Impeached immediately VI CONTENTS. PAGE Pym's speech to the Peers Arrest of Strafford Committed to the Tower Injustice of the Commons Strafford's high spirit Letter to his wife ... . 29 CHAPTER III. Strafford's Trial commences Arrangements in Westminster Hall King present Earl of Arundel presides Earl of Lindsay Strafford's coming to the Hall His demeanour Popular feeling turning in his favour Charges against him Conduct as Lord President and as Viceroy Treatment of Lord Mountnorris Tyranny in Ireland War against Scotland advised by him Enforcement of Ship-money recommended by him Illness of the Earl Commons feel their charges failing Offer fresh evidence Vere's notes received Straf- ford's counter-evidence Bill of Attainder preferred Long in agita- tion Letter of Ferdinando Fairfax Attainder hurried forward Lord Digby opposes it Best copy of Vere's notes Selden con- sidered the charges not proved Strafford's reply to them Its im- pression upon his auditors Glyn's and Pym's rejoinder Bill of Attainder passed by the Commons Charles addresses the Peers in behalf of Strafford The advisers of that step Popular clamour raised The Peers urged to pass the Bill The adherents of Strafford denounced The Protestation signed by both Houses Father Phillips's letter intercepted The army in favour of Strafford Letter of Mr. Stockdale Muster of the Troops Rumours against the Scotch Billet-money unpaid Desire for Strafford's death Assessment of Subsidies The Protestation popular Mr. Benson Oppressive military conduct Sir Jacob Astley .... 59 CHAPTER IV. Goring's Plot The King tampers with Hyde Mr. Percy implicated Efforts to save Strafford Attempt to effect his escape Peers linger over the Bill of Attainder It is passed The King's consultations with the Bishops and others Dr. Juxon's faithful advice Straf- ford's Letter to the King The Queen presses for his execution Charles gives his assent Consequent resignation of his Councillors The People surprised at the consent The King's extreme sorrow The consent announced to the Parliament Copy of the Bill of Attainder The King's weak attempts to save Strafford Consults Deuzil Holies Writes to the Peers Their answer unfavourable The King's consent communicated to Strafford His fearless pre- paration for death His farewell Letters to his Secretary, and Sir G. Ratcliff His Letter of forgiveness to his Judges His last Letter to his Son Archbishop Usher attends him His anxiety for his friends CONTENTS. Vli Wishes to have a parting interview with Laud The morning of his Execution Progress to the Scaffold The closing scene His Character and Habits . . . .-> ^. - . . . .117 CHAPTER V. The Parliament attacks Laud Puritans too strong for him Sir E. Bering opens the attack Case of Mr. Wilson Mr. Grimston denounces Laud Di.-ny.il Holies impeaches him Committed to the Tower Sir F. Windebanke .attacked and flies His memoir Sir H. Vane, his co-secretary Lord Keeper Finch threatened His defence Im- peached, but escapes to Holland Subsequent life Sir G. Ratcliff and Judges assailed Sir R. Crew Misconduct of the Bishops Letter of Sir F. Fairfax Petition for a University at Manchester Strafford's Trial Exclusion of the Bishops from power Lord Fairfax's property Charles careful of Church government Dr. Wren and eleven other Bishops impeached Root and Branch Bill Division of opinion relative to them Popular Riots Bishops' lives endangered They absent themselves from Parliament Their Protest Charles commu- nicates it to both Houses Twelve Bishops imprisoned for High Treason Arguments for excluding them from Parliament Counter- arguments Bishops Hall and Latimer differ Recal of Prynne and others Abolition of Star Chamber and other Courts Charles reca- pitulates his concessions Queen of Bohemia and the Palatinate Letter of the Countess Lewenstein Charles Fairfax King proposes to visit Scotland Fears of the Commons Rumoured Designs Mutinous conduct of the Army Letter of Charles Fairfax Petition against serving as Jurors Letter of Mr. Stockdale Oppressive con- duct of the Soldiers Levying Subsidies Peers exempted Three Regiments disbanded Mr. Hyde, Chairman of Bishops' Committee Earl of Holland appointed to disband the army Letter of Mr. Stockdale Course of proceeding Sir J. Astley Sir J. Conyers Billet-money Dishonesty of the Officers Visitors to Harrowgate Spa Disputed Accounts Misdemeanour of Returning Officer for Knaresborough Billet-money due from one regiment National Debt Alarm of Commons Money borrowed by them Levy a Poll Tax Letter of Mr. Stockdale 111 conduct of the Judges Ship- money Re view of the Poll Tax Increase of Recusants Proposal of Tax for Suppression of Irish Rebellion 171 CHAPTER VI. The King's resistance to be expected Encroachments of the Parlia- ment Pym's hints against the Peers and King Bill for " the Per- petual Parliament" Proposed amendment of the Lords All parties blameworthy Mutual distrust Charles resolves to revisit Scotland Vlll CONTENTS. PAGE Reason assigned by him Parliament anxious for delay Real intentions of the journey The Protestation The King unscrupulous Warrant to the Marquis Hamilton Intrigues with the Covenanters Letter of Lord Wariston The King's efforts to win the Scotch Commissioners Earl of Rothes Montrose's ambiguous letter The Plotters' proposals to the King Letter of the King to the Earl of Argyle Military preparations The King leaves London for Edin- burgh Want of money Attendants on the King His conduct at York Earl of Holland's report The King arrives at Edinburgh His base conduct Act of Oblivion Abandons his friends Pardons his opponents Abolishes Episcopacy The Incident Promotes the chief Covenanters Episcopal property confiscated Covenanters un- grateful The King's return to England Letter of Mr. Stockdale Knaresborough Election contested William Derelove Sir William Constable Sir Henry Slingsby The King at York Knighthoods conferred Sir Philip Stapleton Committee attending the King Re-establishment of a Court at York Its Trained Bands Establish- ment of a Northern University Manchester and York compete Letter of Rev. Henry Fairfax Counter- Petitions .... 231 CHAPTER VII. The King's efforts to establish a Scottish Party Its consequences Jealousies against the Roman Catholics Letters from Mr. Stockdale Proposals for exterminating the Roman Catholics Forfeiture of their estates Number of Roman Catholics in Claro Knaresborough Election Pardon of Irish recusants The Declaration of the Par- liament Musterings in the Counties King discharges the Parlia- ment's Guard Review of Poll Tax Lieutenancy of the Tower Levy of Troops for Ireland Plot suspected Sir William Constable's ill health Jealousy between the King and Parliament Yorkshire Billet-money Proposed Narrative of Irish Massacre . . . 281 CHAPTER VIII. Change in the King's manner His improved position Scotch Party Irish Papists London Royalists King's sanguine expectations King's entrance into London The Festivities, Procession, &c. Refuses a Guard to the Parliament The Remonstrance Detail of grievances and their remedies Stormy Debate upon it Protesta- tion against its being printed Falkland and Cromwell Remon- strance presented to the King Its importance His three chief Advisers Hyde declines the Solicitor Generalship Prepares a Reply to the Remonstrance House of Commons make efforts to relieve Ireland Rebels apply for peace Impressment of Soldiers Peers and Commons differ King commits a Breach of their Privileges CONTENTS. ix PAGE. Jealousy of his military control Suspicious movements Parliament again applies for a Guard Faithless reply of the King Tumults First application of the term " Round-head " Private plotting to seize the five members Letter from Mr. Stockdale Value of Straf- ford's Yorkshire Estate Progress of the Moderate Party King attempts to seize the five members Captain Langrish and the Countess of Carlisle give timely warning Narrow escape of the members The King's Address Outrageous conduct of his attendants Consequences of this violent and illegal proceeding This violence suggested by Lord Digby Queen coincides with him Probable Motives The King's advisers disheartened 301 CHAPTER IX. The King deserted Lord Digby's Proposal Five members return trium- phantly to Westminster Charles leaves Whitehall previously Con- sequences of his withdrawal London Corporation and House of Peers still in favour of the King He retires to Windsor Lord Keeper refuses to give up the Great Seal Selden desired as his successor Skippon made Major General of City Militia Lord Digby and Luns- ford at Kingston The Trained Bands of Sussex, Hampshire, and other counties called out Letters from Mr. Stockdale Order of the Parliament about the Magazine at York Petitions to the King and Parliament resolved upon Parliament change Commanders of Trained Bands Sir Thomas Fairfax in Yorkshire Collection of Poll-money Scotch Parliament offer to mediate between the King and the Parliament Parliament propose to remove the Bishops from Parliament, and to have the ordering of the Militia The Queen and Princess Mary journey towards Holland The King parts from them at Dover He consents to the exclusion of the Bishops from Parlia- ment Sir John Culpepper persuades him Opinions on that mea- sure The Parliament's urgency relative to the Militia The King's firm rejection of their applications Ordinance relative to Lord Lieutenants The Parliament give a list King returns to Theobalds Parliament threaten to act without his consent Sir John Conyers succeeds Sir John Biron as Lieutenant of the Tower The King remains firm The Declaration by the Parliament Interview between the King and the Earls of Holland and Pembroke His asperity, and final resolve not to assent to their proposals His answer to the Parliament His warning that no one should obey the Parliament's Ordinances Consequent resolutions of Parliament Supreme power assumed by them Country sides with the Parliament Letters from Mr. Stockdale Yorkshire petitions to the King and the Parliament The Protestation taken Derelove and the Knares- borough Election Calling out Yorkshire Trained Bands Copy of CONTENTS. PACK the Petition Signatures and accompanying offer Letter from Sir Edward Osborne Objects to the Petition Letter from Mr. Stock- dale Petition misunderstood Riot about removing superstitious pictures Colours of the two parties Search for Priests and Arms A Counter-petition proposed Commission to raise money for Ireland Regret at the disagreement between the King and the Parliament- King expected in Yorkshire Proposed publication relative to Trained Bands Members taking the Protestation Expected new election for Knaresborough. -..;.-.'. ....... 334 CHAPTER X. The King's preparations for war Queen's departure for Holland Pro- ceedings of Parliament relative to the Prince of Wales The latter brought to the King Negociations relative to the command of the fleet The King proposes to visit Ireland The King's statue at Greenwich Bernini a physiognomist The Pope displeased with the Parliament The King reaches York Letters from Mr. Stockdale Petition to the King in agitation Reports about Hull Ruthven and King visit Charles Billet-money still due Commissioners from the Parliament Lincolnshire Petition The King's answer to the Decla- ration of Parliament Yorkshire Petition Paper warfare between the King and Parliament Demands of the Parliament The Hull Magazine Committee from the Parliament to the King Letter to the Parliament Reception of the Committee Limited mustering of the Yorkshire gentry The King's proposal for a guard The Com- mittee prepare a Petition The King censures them Their interview with him The King summons the Freeholders, &c., to meet on Heyworth Moor Large Assemblage Sir Thomas Fairfax presents a rejected Petition Extract from his " Short Memorial" Answer to the Petition The Earl of Newcastle's Proclamation for Arms Northern Intelligence of some preliminary operations The King levies money Arrival of the Northumberland Horse Doncaster garrisoned Cawood Castle Leeds taken possession of Skirmish at Darnton The Danish Ambassador arrives First officer killed at Percy Brigg Skirmish at Wetherby Approach of the King's Army Attacks Tadcaster Retreat of the Parliament forces Successes of Sir Thomas Fairfax. . 385 ILLUSTRATIONS. PORTRAIT OF LADY FAIRFAX to face the Title. PORTRAIT OF THE EARL OF STRAFFORD page 1 60 THE REIGN CHAPTER I. Army assembled at Newcastle Money raised by Loans Ship-money increased Coat and Conduct money Bullion seized War generally unpopular Public Meetings forbidden Hatred of Laud His Palace attacked Bellum Episcopate Episcopal encroachments on civil power Trained Bands dislike the war Earl of Northumberland declines the command Military movements Leslie, the Scotch General He gives Lord Savile intelligence to the Covenanters March of their army Invasion of England by the Scotch Arrive at Newcastle Battle of Newbouru English defeated Newcastle taken Scotch levy contributions Do not commit depredations Lord Conway blamed Lords Wharton and Esrick advocate a peace Strafford's violence Fidelity of our troops questioned Yorkshire gentry and London citizens reproached Council of Peers summoned Lord Clare to Lord Fairfax Money borrowed from London Treaty with the Cove- nanters opened Letter of Straff ord Regiment disbanded Treaty of Ripon Scotch demands Strafford's indignation Skirmish near Durham Necessity for coming to terms Pay provided for the Scotch army Proposed adjournment Equity of the Scotch claims. PARLIAMENT being removed, the preparations for war now went on boldly and actively ; the Trained Bands of the various counties, amounting in the aggregate to 29,000, were ordered to concentrate at Newcastle on the 1st of June; and every conceivable means were resorted to in order to obtain the necessary supplies. This was no easy task ; for the King admitted that the army alone cost 100,000/. per month ;* and no one class of society, Rush worth, III. 1137. VOL. ii. B 2 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. except the clergy and Roman Catholics, contributed cheerfully to the expenses. The King demanded a loan from each ward of the City ; but many of the aldermen refused to give the names of those who were capable of contributing, and consequently fell under the censure of the inquisitorial Star Chamber. Ship-money to a greater amount than formerly was levied ; but in every county the levy was resisted, and the sheriffs of several were proceeded against for being dilatory in its collection. A similar resistance was made in several counties to the extortion of Coat and Conduct money, money required for the equipment and transport of their mili- tia. The Convocation illegally continued its sittings after the Parliament had been dissolved, and voted a per-centage out of the revenues of every benefice. These ways and means were sufficiently illegal and oppressive, but they were not sufficiently fruitful ; there- fore the King did not hesitate to adopt others which were dishonest as well as oppressive. It is true that he abstained from debasing the coin, on the representations made to him of the ruinous consequences which would result from such a national fraud ; but he seized the bullion deposited by private individuals in the Tower ; and Lord Cottington, one of the Secretaries of State, bought for the King's use, upon long credit, large consignments of pepper, to sell immediately at a lower price for ready money.* The resistance to the levy of the various imposts was not based solely upon their illegality, but also upon a repugnance to the war itself. All felt that it was a civil war, a letting loose of the worst evils that could afflict a country, for no other purpose than to advance * May's History of the Parliament, 63. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 3 the interests of Episcopacy. The repugnance pervaded all classes and all counties ; nor were the advisers of the Crown ignorant of this national dissatisfaction. They have not the excuse either that they were uninformed upon the subject, or that the dissatisfaction was con- fined to any particular place. "We have seen that Charles, without venturing into details upon paper, had stated his opinion to Strafford that "the Covenant (the bond against Episcopacy) was spreading too far." His Council felt this also, and, to be prepared for extre- mities, ordered all Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace to return to their respective counties. In Westminster, the vicinity of Laud's palace, its twelve burgesses were ordered to reside, and not to leave with- out leave from the Council. The apprentices of London, a turbulent and formidable body even in the seventeenth century, were so much feared, that every master was now made responsible for those bound to him as craftsmen. Even this was not thought sufficient ; but the approaching May-games were suppressed by pro- clamation, " for the preventing of any riots or tumults which by the number of apprentices might otherwise happen." Boats were forbidden to be upon the Thames after nine o'clock ; the Tower and Newgate were garri- soned ; and so nervously alive were the Council to the utterance of dissatisfaction, that they summoned before them sundry convivial Lincoln's Inn students, charged with animadverting upon the Archbishop. To that prelate the best informed attributed the dissolution of the late Parliament, and other arbitrary measures. This opinion was also entertaiued by the students in question, and at a tavern in Chancery Lane they drank " Confu- sion to Laud." The waiter informed the Archbishop, B 2 4 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. who not having either magnanimity or prudence suffi- cient to pass it by as a drunken effervescence, cited them before the Council Board. The Earl of Dorset had more discretion, suggesting, when he found that the waiter was retiring from the room at the moment the toast was given, that " The waiter was mistaken : you drank * Confusion to the Archbishop's foes ;' but he was gone without hearing the concluding word." This explana- tion was allowed to prevail, and the students were dismissed with an admonition. * Notwithstanding every precaution, however, the apprentices gathered together, and in no measured strain gave vent to the popular feeling and opinion. On the 9th of May, a placard was stuck up at the Old 'Change, calling upon the apprentices to sack the Arch- bishop's residence ; and within eight-and-forty hours they would have obeyed the invitation, had not Laud fortified his palace. "Monday, May 1 1th," that obnoxious prelate says in his Diary, " my house at Lambeth was beset by 500 of the rascal riotous multitude. I had notice, and strengthened the house as well as I could, and, God be blessed, I had no harm. Since, I have got cannon, and fortified my house as well as I can, and I hope all may be safe ; yet libels are continually set up in all places of note in the City." The rage of the mul- titude was not confined to the individual, but extended to the class of which he was the chief, for the cry of the mob was, " No Bishops ! No High Commission ! " The indignation was not confined to " the rascal riotous multitude," for the educated class designated the war, Helium Episcopate, the Bishops' War, and well did it merit that title. Laud was the parent of Episcopacy in Rushworth, 111.11 701 1 00. I64d.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 5 Scotland ; he urged on the war there to establish its unstable mitres, and every possible office both there and in England was conferred, through his influence, upon some one of the Episcopal Bench. In Scotland, eleven of its fourteen bishops were privy councillors, the Archbishop of St. Andrew's was Lord Chancellor, and the Bishop of Ross Lord High Treasurer.* In England, Laud was Prime Minister, "and Bishop Juxon, Lord Treasurer. " No churchman," says Laud, in his Diary, " no church- man had it since Henry the Seventh's time. I pray God bless him to carry it so, that the Church may have honour, and the King and the State service and con- tentment by it ; and, now, if the Church will not hold themselves up under God, I can do no more." It was against this "holding themselves up," this ambition of civil power, this treading in the footsteps of the Roman Pontiff, that Scotch and Englishmen alike revolted. Charles was sufficiently yielding and in- fatuated to throw himself into the ranks of the supporters of Church power ; it was the beginning of his fall, and it is not too much, perhaps, to say that as his son lost a crown to retain a mass, so Charles lost his head to retain a mitre. It will be seen that from the dissolution of that Parliament, which contemporary his- torians name The Short Parliament, in contrast to that which immediately followed, the ruin of the King pro- ceeded with uninterrupted descent. On his part it was an unbroken series of fresh acts of despotism, of resist- ance on the part of his people, of disingenuousness when he was obliged to yield, and of mutual distrust when each felt that the other had so much to forgive. It must not be supposed that amidst the general " May's History of Parliament. 29. 6 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. repugnance to the war against Scotland, the Trained Bands, or Militia, of which the King's forces were con- stituted, had a contrary inclination. This was so far from being the case, that it was found necessary to impress men into the service, and mutiny paralysed the strength of the army, long before it approached that of Scotland. Nor was mutiny confined to one regiment on account of some peculiar oppression, but it was general, and against the expedition altogether. This is told by the proclamations against the mutinous conduct of soldiers in Berkshire, "Warwickshire, Hereford, Dorset, Essex, and elsewhere ; mutiny which involved the murder of one officer, upon no other ground than the belief that he was a Papist."" Even the general appointed to the chief command, the Earl of Northumberland, is not without suspicion of having been restrained from the expedition by disincli- nation, rather than the sickness he pleaded. He was well enough on the 4th of June to write, that " so general a defection in this kingdom hath not been known in the memory of any." f Charles, Strafford, and Laud, were not the characters, however, to yield easily or gracefully ; so the assembling of the troops proceeded, though unpaid, unaccoutred, and mutinous, up to the very hour they were required to march against the advancing clans. Sir Jacob Astley, one of the stoutest of the royalist commanders, wrote thus from Selby on the 10th of July : " I have orders from my Lord General to send four or five thousand men to Newcastle ; but, considering there is not such a number yet come, and those which are come have neither colours, halberts, nor drums, I forbear. I am to receive * Rushworth, III. 1193,&c. f Sidney Papers, II. 654. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 7 all the arch-knaves in this kingdom, and to arm them at Selby ; and before I came hither, some five hundred of them were brought by Lieutenant Colonel Ballard, and these beat up the officers and boors, and break open the prisons, &c. Two days since, Colonel Lawford's regi- ment came hither, who had, by the way, fought with all their officers, and, as they passed, abused all the country/' In other letters, dated on the 13th and 18th of the same month, this officer again thus writes : " It would be impossible to keep the men together, if they should miss their seven days' pay ; they would disband, rise against their officers, and spoil the country. Part of my regiment raised in Daintree is there totally dis- banded, and Lieutenant Colonel Culpepper beastly slain by the Devonshire men ; and three hundred of the Marquis's (Hamilton) regiment refused absolutely to go to Hull for fear of being shipped." * The mutinous conduct of the King's troops was gene- rally known, and so well-advised of it was Charles, that the Secretary of State, Sir H. Vane, wrote, on the 13th of August, to Lord Conway, then commanding at New- castle, urging him to do his utmost " to keep the soldiers from mutiny, until monies came down, which his Majesty and the Council were hastening to him with all possible diligence ; for," adds Sir Henry, " it will be worse than ever to have disorders, either of horse or foot, fall out."f General Leslie, the commander of the Scotch forces, was intimately informed of the ill-provided and dis- organised state of the King's troops. This would have * Dalrymple's Memorials, II. 84. t Hardwicke State Papers, II. 151, &c., contain much information respecting this period. 8 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. been sufficient, in a military point of view, to justify his advance against them, even if he had not thereby saved his own country from the desolation incident to its becoming the seat of war. But he had still other induce- ments ; for Lord Savile, the traitor and betrayer of all who trusted him, had forged the signatures of several English noblemen to an engagement that they would join the Covenanters if they invaded England, and refused consent to any pacification unconfirmed by the Parliament of England.* This document Savile showed to Lords Loudon and Dunfermline, whilst they were in London upon the former articles of pacification ; and on their requesting that it might be transmitted to Scotland, Savile, with reluctance, consented, and it was forwarded thither in a hollow cane, borne by Frost, afterwards Secretary to both kingdoms, who journeyed in the disguise of a poor wayfaring traveller. It arrived without interruption, and was made known, Burnet says, only to three other parties, the chief confidants of the Covenanters, the Earls of Rothes and Argyle, and Archibald Johnston, afterwards Lord Waristoun, who, although they did not divulge the secret thus committed to them, took care that a rumour should be circulated through their camp, that upon their invading England, they would in due time receive great and unex- pected support. This support was not afforded to them, and at one time, after they had crossed the border, they were so straitened for supplies, no aid being afforded to them by our countrymen, that it was seriously debated by the Scotch commanders whether they should not Burnet's Own Times, Book I. ; Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, I. ; Oldmixon gives a copy of the document and the signatures, but he cannot be trusted. 1640.J CHARLES THE FIRST. 9 retrace their steps and inform the King of the invitation to invade England which they had received."* The army of the Covenanters had set out from Edin- burgh on the 20th of July, and the public enthusiasm and deep anxiety for its success form an ominous contrast to the feelings entertained by Englishmen for those who were destined to be its opponents. Even Sir Thomas Hope, the King's Advocate, has recorded his belief that God watched over that army as His chosen instrument for converting both kingdoms from Satan. In that army were two of his own sons and his son-in-law, though another son was in constant attendance upon the King, as his carver-extraordinary. Three times a-day, at morning, noon, and rest-time, did the advocate vow to prostrate himself in prayer for the success of the Covenanters' arms.f At the close of July, and until the 20th of the month following, the army continued encamped near Dunse, the place of its former successful rendezvous, but on that day, having preceded their advance with pro- clamations indicative that they warred not against England, but only to defend their religion and liberty, they crossed the Tweed. There was either some contest for the post of honour and of danger, or else in their religious enthusiasm pro- fessing to following the Apostolic example, lots were cast by the Scotch commanders to decide who first should cross the boundary stream. The lot fell to the Earl of Montrose, who, alighting from his horse, passed at once through the river, and then returned to encou- rage his men, for which indeed there was abundant occa- sion, for the cavalry had to form a line across to break Nalson's Collections, II. 42f t Napier's Life of Montrose, 129. 10 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. the force of the stream from the foot soldiers whilst they waded mid-deep through its waters, and even with this precaution one was swept away and drowned.* On the 27th of August the Scotch army had advanced to within four miles of Newcastle without any interrup- tion, except from an unsuccessful sortie made by the garrison of Berwick ; and on the evening of that day, after sending a summons to surrender the town, they encamped on the heights of Heddon Law, looking down upon Newbourn. Rushworth, who saw their watch- fires that night, says the camp was of large extent : it contained 20,000 foot and 2500 cavalry, and Lord Conway, who had long been in command at Newcastle, well knew their strength.f That officer was not equal to the difficulties by which he was surrounded, being one of those who seek aid from others when safety should depend upon their own self-reliance and exertions. Newcastle required additional fortifications ; but instead of addressing himself to that work with the troopers and townspeople, he contented himself with writing to the Deputy Lieutenants of the county. Abundance of lead was in the town, but being without bullet-moulds, he contented himself with complaining of the deficiency. Sir Jacob Astley was a soldier far more capable in such an emergency, and having arrived with 4000 men, forth- with proceeded to reconnoitre the country, examine the fords, and to throw up entrenchments where the Scotch army was likely to cross. Notwithstanding these preparations, however, and * Baillie's Letters and Journals. The place where they crossed was Cold- stream ; and the horse employed to stem the stream was " The College of Justice Troop," commanded by Sir T. Hope. Rushwwth, III. 1222. t The Scotch army comprised 22,000 foot and 3000 horse. Baillie's Letters, I. 256. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 11 though eight pieces of cannon were mounted on the breastworks, and he had behind them 3000 or 4000 foot and 1500 horse ; the first in a good position on a hill, and an open plain below admirable for the operations of cavalry, yet Lord Conway confesses he would not have hazarded an engagement, but had resolved to retreat to Newcastle, if a letter had not reached him at the moment from the Earl of Strafford, commanding him to hold his ground. The following observations and advice, in Strafford's letter, were not to be mistaken : " Your lordship will permit me to deal plainly with you. I find all men in this place (York) extremely ill-satisfied with the guiding of the horse, and publish it infinitely to your disadvan- tage, that having with you 2000 horse and 10,000 foot, you should suffer an enemy to march so long a way without any skirmish ; nay, without once looking at them. It imports you most extremely, by some noble action, to put yourself from under the weight of ill tongues. I advise that you, with all the horse, and at least 8000 foot, and all the cannon you have, do march opposite to them on this side the river, and be sure, whatever follows, to fight with them upon their passage." We have seen that Lord Conway only in part obeyed this advice, and the result is thus related by an eye-witness : " The Scots all the forenoon of the 28th watered their horses at one side of the river and the English on the other side without offering any in- terruption, until a Scotch officer, well mounted, and having a black feather in his cap came out of one of the thatched houses in Newbourn, and coming to water his horse, was shot by an English sentinel, who had 12 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. observed him with his eye upon our entrenchment. The fire was returned by some Scotch musqueteers, and im- mediately afterwards their cannon, planted in the church steeple, opened upon our breast-works from whence the fire was returned. This fusillade continued until the time of low water, when a breach having been made in our larger sconce, or breast-work, and Colonel Lunsford's men, who were in it, beginning to give way, complain- ing that no relief or support was sent to them from Newcastle, the Scotch pushed a party of twenty-six horse, being gentlemen of the College of Justice troop, rapidly across the river. This they did under cover of a heavy fire from their artillery, and, finding that the reconnoitering party was unattacked, and that our troops were withdrawing, more horse under Sir Thomas Hope, and two regiments of foot commanded by Lords Crawford, Lindsay, and London, also passed across the river. The Scotch artillery was now turned upon the English horse, and some of these being soon put into confusion a general retreat was too readily sounded and obeyed. The rear-guard, under the command of Commissary Wilmot, Sir John Digby, and Captain O'Neal alone did their duty, for seeing the confusion of our troops, and that it was needful to keep the enemy in check, they charged upon their advancing ranks, and drove them back into the river, but unsupported and few in numbers, they were eventually surrounded and taken prisoners. " Although the Scotch did not pursue, and although our loss in killed barely exceeded sixty, yet the retreat speedily became a rout, and the troops so disorganised, that Sir Thomas Fairfax, who commanded a troop of Hi Hi. I CHARLES THE FIRST. 13 horse, declared ' his legs trembled under him ' until he had got across the Tees." * The day following, General Leslie took possession of Newcastle, no one being more astonished than himself at such undisputed success. " We did not well know," says Baillie, who accompanied their army, " we did not well know what to do next ; yet this is no new thing to us, for many a time, from the beginning, we have been at a nonplus, but God helped us ever." General Leslie soon ascertained that his success had been secured really by the hearty reluctance of our countrymen to fight in what they considered an unholy cause, and he wisely resolved that no act of his or of his army, should weaken that feeling. He entertained his prisoners liberally, and then permitted them to return to the King's head-quarters ; he allowed the country people to visit his camp unmolested ; gave strict orders that no one should be inconvenienced more than was unavoidable ; and paid for everything that was required for the supply of his men. There was somewhat of fear mixed with this policy, for their com- missariat was wretchedly deficient, and as they conse- quently derived subsistence from our peasantry, Baillie might well observe, " if we trouble in the least sort the country of England, we are feared for their rising against us." * Rushworth, III. 1237 ; Dalrymple's Memorials, II. 102 ; Burnet's Owu Times, I. ; Hardwicke State Papers, II. 162, &c. Only three officers were killed of the English army, one of whom was a son of Endymion Porter ; and two Scotch officers, one being the only son of Sir Patrick Macgee, and the other Mr. Dacolmy, one of General Leslie's Life-guarda Young Macgee had taken one of our flags from young Porter, when he fell, and was shot himself whilst waving it triumphantly. Baillie says they lost less than twelve men. 14 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. At the same time it is certain that the Scotch leaders were very anxious to avoid injuring the districts through which they passed, and especially to protect the English plantations. "I found at Edinburgh/' says Baillie, " Rothes, Loudon, and Mr. Archibald Johnston, sent by the army to intreat that the town would be pleased, on all security they could invent, to lend what ready money they could spare for the supply of our soldiers, who were in strait for want of money ; also, because it would be troublesome to those of England, who were much delighted with planting, if our army should cut down timber for building of our huts, they prayed that the honest women might be tried what webs of hardin or sheets they might spare, that every four soldiers might have a tent of eight ells." * But careful as the generals were to prevent any rapine upon the country people, yet some of the officers managed to effect a little pillage on their own account, either in return for protection promised, or other favour. The following very curious letter, written during the investment of Newcastle, affords an example of this.f TO SIR THOMAS RIDDELL, OF GATESHEAD. SIR THAMAS, BETWEEN me and Gad, it maks my heart bleed bleud to see sic wark gae thro sae trim a gairden as yours. I ha been twa times wi my cusin the general and sae sail I sax times mare afore the wark gae the gate. But gin (before) awe this be dune, Sir Thamas, * Baillie's Letters, I. 255. t Preserved among the MSS. of the Riddell family. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 15 ye maun mak the twinty punds thretty, and I maun hae the tagg'd tail trooper that stans in the staw (stable), and the wee trim trim gaeing thing (a chime clock) that stans in the newk (corner) of the hawe (hall) chirping and chirming at the newn-tide o' the day, and 40 bows of bier (bolls of barley), to saw the mons (strike the bargain) withawe. And as I am a chevalier of fortin and a lim of the House of Rothes, as the muckle main kist (great record chest) in Edinburgh Auld Kirk can weel witness for these aught hundred years and mair bygainge, nought shall skaith (hurt) your house within or without, to the validome of a twapenny cheekin. I am, your humble servant, JOHN LESSLY, Major General and Captain over sax-score and two men and some mare ; Crowner (Colonel) of Cumberland, Northumberland, Marryland, and Niddisdale, the Merce, Tiviotdale, and Fife ; Bailie of Kirkaldie ; Governor of Brunt Eland and the Bass ; Laird of Libberton, Tilly, and Whoolley ; Siller-tacker of Stirling ; Constable of Leith ; and Sir John Lessly, Knight, to the bute (besides) of awe that. The same good policy (and there is no reason to doubt that it had for its sole object the preservation of their national church and liberties) made the Scotch still pursue the path they had formerly trod, and petition for their establishment, though in arms for the destruction of any one advancing to assail them. Victory was theirs on the 28th of August, yet within a week they petitioned the King for redress, adding to their 16 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. former petitions, no more than the request that peace might be settled, with the advice of the English Parlia- ment. * The King's forces had in the meantime rallied, and concentrated at Northallerton, but Strafford and all his other advisers now saw that the struggle must be concluded. Strafford indeed had written to Lord Conway " to put as much life into his men as he could," and Lords Warton and Howard of Esrick had been imprisoned for presenting some petitions for peace to the King. But the time was come when even the spirit of Strafford was compelled to bow to the force of circum- stances, and when he threatened to shoot those noblemen at the head of the army, as movers of sedition, the Marquis Hamilton made him shrink from his purpose, by the home question " My lord, are you sure of that army 1" Had execution been attempted upon those peers, says Burnet, very probably a total revolt would have fol- lowed. The threat, however, could only have been the hasty ebullition of a temper which Clarendon admits had become so " marvellously provoked and inflamed," that he treated both officers and soldiers so harshly as to render them " more enraged against himself than against the enemy." All came in for a share of his impotent abuse. He told the gentry of Yorkshire they were " no better than beasts," if they refused to support the King ; yet, contrary to the Earl's command, they persisted in petitioning for a Parliament and peace, f The city of London addressed the King in a similar manner, though the whole Council asked the Lord Mayor "to stop the intended petition ; " and a similar petition, * Rushworth, III. 1255. t Ibid. III. 12351265 ; Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, I. Book 2. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 17 signed by twelve of the chief peers of England, was delivered at the same time (Sept. 12) into the King's hands. No extraordinary ingenuity is required to discern the cause of the repugnance of Laud and Strafford to summon a Parliament ; the voice of all England was against their measures, and they have left on record their inward misgivings that their safety would be jeopardised by the success of the popular outcry. Their last hope of escape from the dreaded Parliament now rested upon summoning a Council of Peers a course determined upon before the public voice had been raised for a Parliament, for the Secretary of State of Scotland stated that : " For the more mature deliberation of the weighty affairs, his Majesty hath already (Sept. 5) given out summons for the meeting of the Peers of this kingdom in the city of York, the 24th day of this month."* If that Council would have granted subsidies, as was suggested, no Parliament would have been sum- moned, though we believe Charles expressed no more nor less than truth when he wrote, "I have always thought the right way of Parliaments most safe for my Crown, as best pleasing to my people," f but in this, as in most other determinations of vital import- ance, he yielded to the worse natures and suggestions of others. The writs summoning the Peers to this great Council * Rushworth, III. 1256. This was not strictly correct The determination to summon the Council might have been passed, but the writs were dated September 7. It had been recommended by the Privy Council at a meeting in London, September 2, being advocated by Laud and others. ffardwicke State Papers, II. 1 68. t Eikon Basilike, I. VOL. II. C 18 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. were couched in terms the most urgent, forbidding all excuse, and setting forth that the subjects for discussion involved the honour and privileges of the sovereign as well as the tranquillity of the realm. Such a summons to a distant county where the facilities for travelling were but few, was a hardship which might have justified many excuses ; but to the honour of our nobility but few of such excuses were preferred. The Earl of Clare, one of the Peers whose name Lord Savile forged to the Scots' invitation, wrote thus upon the receipt of his summons. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORD FAIRFAX, AT HIS HOUSE IN YORK, OR (IN HIS ABSENCE) TO MRS. FAIRFAX, HIS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. MY LORD, I AM but new come to town this day to see my poor wife, and comfort her in her affliction for the loss of one of our children, and yet I must hurry back as fast as I can, being summoned by writ to attend his Majesty at York on the 24th of this present, when all the lords are enjoined to be there. And thereby doubting lodging may be scant, I must be an earnest suitor unto you to help to furnish me with one, and with a stable, and (if it may be with your lordship's conveniency, that you will) please to help my Lord North with one in the same house, or near, we desiring to quarter together for those few days of our stay there ; who required me to use my credit with your lordship 1640 -1 CHARLES THE FIRST. 19 herein. For the stable, if your lordship will do me the favour to speak to my cousin Wroughton, the Knight Harbinger, in my name, I am confident he will give me a cast of his office ; so with my service to my sister and brother, I rest in haste Your lordship's very affectionate kinsman and servant, CLARE. * London, the \5tKof September, 1640. Lord Clare was not detained long from his family, for, being deputed with five other Peers to negociate a loan to meet the immediate necessities of the King, he proceeded to London on the 26th of the same month. This legal and business-like mode of proceeding differed widely from that which had hitherto been pursued by the royal advisers, and which it was hoped might be continued ; for the Peers agreed " to join with his Majesty in any security," the citizens advancing the money which might be required, f There was no difficulty in thus raising the 200,000/. so pressingly needed. It is quite certain that the summoning a great Council of the Peers was an unusual exercise of the prerogative of the Crown, but it is equally certain that Clarendon is wrong in considering it " a new invention," though he is correct when, (contradicting himself,) he adds, that some centuries had elapsed since such a Council had been assembled. Every member of the Peerage is an This is the Lord Houghton mentioned in a former note. He had succeeded to the Earldom of Clare in 1637, on the death of his father, t Rushworth, III. 1302. C 2 20 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. hereditary councillor of the King, and may be sum- moned by him to give advice at any time of need. No greater need of assistance and advice had ever occurred to Charles than at that time ; not a fortnight's amount of pay for his troops remained in the Exchequer ; forced loans, and illegal imposts had been tried and had failed ; the merchants would not aid him or his unpopular " Cabinet Ministers ; " and there was no time for summoning a new Parliament* Added to this the Scotch army was before him, whilst his own was ill-paid, ill-armed, and mutinous. It may be that his advisers hoped, and Clarendon says it was proposed by one of them, that this Council would grant subsidies, and that the necessity for a Parliament might thus be avoided ; but this hope must have been abandoned before the great Council had assembled, otherwise most ill- advisedly in the first sentences of his opening address the King told them " I have of myself resolved to call a Parliament, and already given order for issuing the writs instantly." There was no need, therefore, for the Peers to pro- vide for more than immediate necessities, leaving the rest for Parliament to arrange, and the loan they resolved to raise has been already noticed. Indeed he asked for no more, if there were any honesty in these words " How shall my army be kept on foot * The term " Cabinet Council " was first employed at this period, and as a term of reproach by the Courtiers who were dissatisfied and envious of the six Peers who were exclusively summoned into the King's private room or " Cabinet " to advise upon affairs of importance. These six were the Archbishop of Canterbury, Strafford, Cottington, Northumberland, Hamilton, and the Bishop of London. The two secretaries were Sir Henry Vane and Sir Francis Windebanke. Clarendon's History, I. 117. 140. J CHARLES THE FIRST. 39 TO MY VERY LOVING BROTHER, MR. HENRY FAIRFAX, AT ASHTON-UNDER-LINE, THESE. GOOD BROTHER, I RECEIVED your letter, dated the 10th of this instant, and am sorry to find in it the continuance of your former complaint. As I am grieved to be thought the occasion among some friends you write of, so should I be glad to satisfy my own conscience and yourself of doing what is fit, leaving them to their own ways whom I hold myself no ways bound to please, how inquisitive soever they be. Your last demands and my sister's, at Popleton, were of that extent, claiming a third part of my father's personal estate, as I must entreat your excuse that I yield not unto. His will, his speeches, and his servants about him can witness his full intention. I need not now write them unto you. Sir Hugh Cholmeley was with me, who requires the same, and told me that Serjeant Glanvill's opinion, upon perusal of the will, was that a third part was due. I told him the opinion of Sir John Bankes upon the like, stating the case was contrary, because I had neither the copy of the will, nor that resolution here. I writ to Mr. Clapham for them, who returned answer, he had them not. Then I per- ceived they were in such a place as I could not employ any to seek for them, but must rest till my coming home. If the way of suit must be pursued as the means to satisfy your friends, I shall neither make it by my own delays tedious, nor lessen my affections to you, in so seeking what is conceived your right ; if other- wise, I shall desire to know what your demands are, and I shall then signify what I will grant, which shall 40 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. as freely come to you and yours as the mediation of any friends can work me unto."* * The following notice of Lord Fairfax, whose will was thus in dispute, is from a MS. by his nephew, Brian Fairfax : * Thomas Lord Fairfax, of Denton, Baron of Cameron, married Ellen, daughter of Robert Ask, Esq., by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Dawney, Knight, whose mother was daughter of the Lord Latimer ; and her great grandfather Ask was son of Sir Robert, by Elizabeth, the daughter of John Lord Clifford. Their children were first, Ferdinando Lord Fairfax ; second, Henry ; the third that had issue was Charles of Menston. Those which died were Henry and Charles, twins, and Mary, all infants. All the rest lived to be men, viz. William Fairfax, a captain in the Palatinate, where he was slain in the defence of the city of Frankendale, with his brother John. His picture is at Denton, with one eye.f John Fairfax, slain at Frankendale. Peregrine, slain in France, in defence of Rochelle. Dorethy, married to Sir William Constable, Bart., sans issue. Anne, to Sir George Wentworth, of Woolley, Knight, by whom he had issue, Michael, who died sans issue. All the said younger sons, except Henry and Charles, died without issue. This Thomas, first Lord Fairfax, of Denton, was knighted before Roan, in Normandy, by the Earl of Essex, the Queen's (Elizabeth) General of the English. Created Baron of Cameron,! in Scotland, 3 Car. I. ; married 25 Eliz. Sent by Queen Elizabeth to King James into Scotland ; wrote several books, viz. 1. A Discourse, containing about 150 pages, in a large 4to, which he intituled " Dangers Detected, or the Highway to Heidelburgh ;" the argument being the present state of Christendom ; the generally received opinion (that our differences in religion is the cause of these intestine wars) is erroneous ; the ambition of Spain, her aiming at a fifth monarchy is the occasion and ground ; how the estate of Spain has grown in few years from a mole-hill to a moun- tain, and by what means ; how it enlargeth itself daily, and what we do or may suffer in the same ; how we may exchange our passive part to their active ; and lastly, how an equality may bring a concord, which is never permanent in disproportions. 2. Conjectures about Horsemanship ; What Lessons the Breed of each king- dom or country is fittest for ; Helps and Corrections ; Pillars of each Sort ; The Art of Riding ; The Groom's Office ; How to back the Colt first in the Field ; What shall be done when the Colt will be led with a Man upon him ; What to be done when he can (with the helps there directed) go forward, stop, and turn ; Of * The will is printed in the Appendix to this volume. t For this picture's sake Prince Rupert forbade the plundering and demo- lishing of Denton Hall in 1644. J Cameron is a village in Fife. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 41 Tliis bearer's haste will not suffer me to write any- thing of Parliament business. The Earl of Strafford has not yet answered his charge ; my Lord of Canter- bury where he was, and his charge not ready ; nor the other bishops, Wren and Piers. Judge Berkley was arrested on Friday last, of treason, for perverting the laws, and in the Sheriff of London's custody. The Bill of Subsidies, and the Trienian Parliaments, we hope will this day pass : our business great and many, which make our pace through them very slow. I pray you remem- ber my best affections to my sister, resting Your very loving brother, FER. FAIRFAX. Westminster , 16th, of Feb. 1640 (N.S. 1641). Dr. Wren was Bishop of Norwich, and having in his diocese many weavers, Puritans, who had sought refuge there from papal persecution in Flanders, he so enforced Several Rings in the Field ; Of the Carriers ; Lesson Serpentine ; Fittest Grounds for Exercise ; How to be Taught at Single Pillar ; And the Manage in encounters, &c. 3. A small piece of " Militia for Yorkshire." 4. A Larger Tract of the Yorkshire Cavalry ; And against Horse Races. 5. Of the Militia of Durham, (writ at the then Bishop NeaPs request). 6. Orders for the House ; And Remembrances for Servants in Great Enter- tainments. 7. Prayers composed by him, writ with his own hand, and many excellent Verses upon several subjects, in loose papers : In nomen Desideratissimi Prsecharissimiq. Fratris mei, Ferdinand! Domini Fairfax, nuper in Partibus Borealibus Polemarchi Ducisq. Generalissimi, which prove him both a soldier and a scholar. He built Denton, and died there, May 1, anno 1640, aged 80, and was buried at Otley. His Lady, Ellen, died 1620. They were both buried together. II n'avoit laisse" passer aucune occasion de servir son patrie en les gueres ; et durant hi paix, sans ambition, et sans avarice, mesprisant les vanite's de la Cour, se retiroit chez-soi, (a Denton), fort visite" de ses amis, et pranant grand plaisir a nourrir et dresser des chevaux. La vit de Mont, de PUttit. 42 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. upon them religious ceremonies and observances, that they once more emigrated, to the great injury of our clothiery trade and commerce. This " showing himself forward in formalities and outward ceremonies" was quite sufficient to bring down upon him the wrath of the prevailing popular power, and he was consequently subjected to the enormous bail of three sureties of 1 0,0 OO/. each, and his own recognisance of 30,000/.~* Dr. Piers, Bishop of Bath and Wells, had similarly inclined to the Puseyism of his day, and was similarly censured for his " great pride and insolence." That he could not have expected to escape from the resentment of those now in power, we may be assured, from the fact that he had forbidden one of his clergy even to be a visitor in the house of Mr. Pym, because the latter was "a Parliamenteer " and "a Puritan." f Mr. Justice Berkley was not the only judge upon whom the wrath of the Parliament was visited, for their unworthy conduct in the case of Ship-money ; for Lord Chief Justice Bramston, Chief Baron Davenport, Barons Trevor and Weston, and Mr. Justice Crawley, were all compelled to enter into recognisances of 10,000/. each, " to abide the judgment of Parliament." \ * May's Long Parliament, 82 ; Clarendon, II. 74. The latter says that Dr. Wren was learned, severe, and sour, I. 83. f Speeches, &c. of this Great Parliament, 320 ; Clarendon, I. 162. For their votes in Convocation, after the last Parliament was dissolved, Dr. Wren was fined 5000?., and Dr. Piers and others somewhat less. Laud had to pay 20,OOOZ., and Dr. Neile, Archbishop of York, 10,OOOZ. t Parl. Hist. IX. 89. Sir Robert Berkley was removed from being a Judge of the King's Bench a few weeks after. Whitelocke's Memorials, 39. He appears to have been especially selected by the House of Commons for punishment. They impeached him of High Treason ; and, by command of the House of Lords, he was arrested, whilst on the Bench, by the Usher of the Black Rod, " which struck a great terror into the rest of his brethren, then sitting in Westminster Hall, and in all his profession." Ibid. 40. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 43 The bill to secure the summoning a Parliament once in three years, though its preamble declares it " ought to be holden at least once every year," received the royal assent on the day anticipated by Lord Fairfax, as well as the grant of four subsidies to the King. Charles personally attended to give his assent, truly observing of the Triennial Act, " that never bill passed in that House of more favour to his subjects ;" and, with a proper sense of its importance, it was received ; for not only did both Houses address to him their special thanks, but, as Baillie records, " it did fill the city with such joy, that they required permission, and obtained it, to express their sense of it by ringing of all their bells, above 1000, and setting out their great bonfires."* The great event of the period, however, was the trial of Strafford, for that of Laud was of secondary importance. This was not simply an arraignment under the Statute of Treasons; but the attendance of the House of Commons, together with commissioners from Scotland and from Ireland, at the trial, rendered it a momentous struggle between the people of three kingdoms and the repre- sentative of despotic government. It was a trial without parallel, observed an eye-witness, whether we consider the high nature of the charge, the pompous circumstances of the proceedings, its long duration, or the consequences inevitably attendant upon the condemnation of the Earl ; indeed, " we can hardly call it the trial of the Earl of Strafford only ; the King's affections towards his people and Parliament, the future success of this Parliament, and the hopes of three kingdoms depending upon it, were all tried, when Strafford was arraigned."f " Letters and Journal, I. 301, t May's Long Parliament, 87. 44 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. Strafford wisely would have shunned the fearfully unequal contest, but Charles wished for and commanded his attendance, which rendered still more unpardonable the ultimate abandonment of his servant in the hour of his extremest confidence and greatest need. But so it was ; and the unembellished facts present us with a record of weakness and faithlessness, happily without parallel in English history. Strafford foresaw the impending storm and wished to allow its violence to spend itself and pass over whilst he was distant. He pointed out that he should not be able to serve the King as a member of the Parlia- ment, but that his presence would rather hinder the progress of the Session. By appearing in his place in the House he would only attract more attention, whilst by being at a distance he could better retire from danger, and in Ireland, or elsewhere, more effectually serve his master. The King was peremptory for his coming to London, telling him that his advice "on weighty matters" was indispensable, and "that as he was King of England, he was able to secure him from danger, and that Parliament should not touch one hair of his head." * Still the Earl hesitated ; and it was not until a second urgent appeal from the King, that he departed from the dictate of his own judgment, and set forth to confront his enemies. One rash resolve led to another still worse advised, * Whitelocke's Memorials, 36. Rushworth and Nalson agree in stating that Strafford's friends urged him not to come to Parliament ; but they are silent as to the King's contrary command ; and Nalson says he came because " he had more of the oak than the willow in his heart." Strafford's friends anticipated, and forwarned him of the result when the House resolved itself into a committee on Irish affairs, November 6. Rushwvrth, Trial of Straffor d, 1. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 45 and, like one who not contented with entering the lion's den must needs pluck him by the beard, he determined, on proofs recently obtained, to impeach the popular leaders of the Commons for holding intercourse with the Scots and exciting them to invasion. But his foes were wakeful and watchful, and the instant they saw him within the toils, they lost not an hour in making the casting throw. Wearied, and broken down by disease, the Earl reached London on the 9th of November. Fever confined him to his couch throughout the following day, but on the llth, with a cleared lobby and closed doors, and at the suggestion of Pym, the House of Commons resolved to impeach him of High Treason. In vain did messengers from the Peers seek for a con- ference on affairs of importance, for it was suggested they merely wished " to get intelligence of what was in hand ;" in vain did members wish to retire ; and in vain did Lord Faulkland, though no friend of Strafford, urge that such precipitancy ill became the justice and dignity of the House. He stood alone in pleading for procrastination. " The least delay," exclaimed Pym, " may blast everything. If the Earl talk but once with the King, we shall be dissolved : besides, this House only impeaches ; it is not the judge ; and, moreover, once committed to custody, he will no longer have access to the King."* The wisdom of this promptitude soon became apparent ; the message to the House of Lords had been prearranged, and though submitted to a committee of seven, " they presently returned," and the House Clarendon, I. 139. 46 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. directed Pym to carry up the impeachment to the Lords. Not a minute was lost, and "that ancient gentleman of great experience in Parliamentary affairs, and no less known fidelity to his country, "* thus announced to the Lords the startling message of which he was the bearer : " My lords The knights, citizens, and burgesses, now assembled for the Commons in Par- liament, have received information of divers traitorous designs and practices of a great Peer of this House, and by virtue of a command from them, I do here, in the name of the Commons now assembled in Parliament, and in the name of all the Commons of England, accuse Thomas, Earl of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, of High Treason : and they have commanded me further, to desire your lordships that he may be sequestered from Parliament, and forthwith committed to prison. They have further commanded me, to let you know that they will within a very few days resort to your lordships, with the particular articles and grounds of this accusation. And they do further desire, that your lordships will think upon some con- venient and fit way, that the passage betwixt England and Ireland, for his Majesty's subjects of both kingdoms, may be free, notwithstanding any restraint to the contrary." At the door of the House of Commons, which opened for the passage of Pym, the friends of Strafford also made their exit, and the intelligence soon reaching him, * May's Long Parliament, 88. The members of the committee were Pym, Strode, St. John, Lord Digby, Sir John Clotworthy, Sir Walter Earle, and Hampden. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 47 though at the time closeted with the King, he hastened down to the Peers' House to anticipate and confound his assailants, by "accusing the Lord Say, and some others, of having induced the Scots to invade the kingdom." * His loud summons at the door of the House, of which he was a member, was answered by Maxwell, Keeper of the Black Rod; and passing on with a proud and frowning countenance, he attempted to reach his accustomed seat. But the voices of too many peers were raised against his intrusion even for his bold spirit to disregard so pausing, and having heard the cause of this " clamour more than was suitable to the gravity of that supreme court," he claimed a right to be heard, before his peers assented to the application for his committal. The justice of such request was too apparent, and they listened in silence to his firm avowal of innocence, and his warning not to establish a prece- dent against themselves, by restraining his liberty without the assignment of a single crime. " Consider, my lords, of what consequence such a precedent may be to your own privilege and birthright/' was the judicious appeal with which he concluded, though it made not the desired impression ; for, after a short debate, he was called in, and whilst kneeling at the bar, the Lord Keeper Finch announced to him, that it was resolved to commit him to the custody of the Gentleman Usher, to be seques- tered from the House until he had cleared himself of the accusations that should be charged against him.f * Clarendon, I. 139. This authority slurs over the fact of Strafford coming direct from the King ; he says, " It was about 3 of the clock in the afternoon, when the Earl, being infirm, and not well disposed in his health, and so not having stirred out of his house that morning, hearing that loth Houses still sat t thought Jit to go thither." t Speeches, &c. of this Parliament, &c. 116. 48 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. He wished to address the House, but the House refused to hear him. " In the outer room, James Maxwell re- quired him, as prisoner, to deliver his sword, and when he had gotten it, he cried with a loud voice for his man to carry the Lord Lieutenant's sword. This done, he made through a number of people towards his coach, all gazing, no man capping to him, before whom, that morning the greatest of England would have stood uncovered, all crying, ' What is the matter V He replied, 'A small matter, I warrant you;' but some rejoined, ' Yes, indeed, high treason is a small matter.' Coming to the place where he expected his coach, it was not there ; so he behoved to return that same way through a world of gazing people. When, at last, he had found his coach, and was entering, James Maxwell told him, ' Your lordship is my prisoner, and must go in my coach ' so he behoved to do. For some days, too many went to visit him ; but since, the Parliament has com- manded his keeping to be stricter."""" On the 25th of November, after the articles of impeachment had been exhibited against him, he was committed to the Tower, with an injunction to the Lieutenant, "that he should keep a close guard upon him." f In their anxiety to destroy their prisoner, the House of Commons forgot every dictate of justice and humanity ; and, to a calm observer, betrayed a con- sciousness of the weakness of their legal evidence, by the virulence with which they strove to cut off every aid from him, who was now about to struggle for his life * Baillie's Letters, &c. I. 272, (dated Nov. 18, 1640). t May's Long Parliament, 89. This author makes the day of committal, Dec. 8 ; but Nalson and Rushworth, the day named in the text. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 49 against the people of three kingdoms. That such were his opponents is most certain, for the representatives of those kingdoms were there assembled suggesting and marshalling against him charges of criminality; and petitions flowed in, calling for judgment upon him, from whom, whilst living, " neither religion, life, liberty, nor estate, could be secured." The House of Commons missed no precaution requi- site for embarrassing the Earl, and for securing his condemnation. They impeached Sir George Ratcliff, his brother-in-law, and Irish Secretary, that they might remove him from aiding in his relative's defence, " order- ing the Lieutenant of the Tower that he do not suffer Sir George to speak with, nor to send message or letter to, the Earl ; " * they complained of his friends " great resort daily " to him ; they pressed that he should have no legal advisers to aid him ; but the lords, with becoming dignity, replied, that he should have such counsel " as the necessity of the case, for his just defence, required ;" no member of the House was allowed to visit him, and even a reluctant exception was made in favour of his brother, Sir George Wentworth ; and when the House of Peers assigned him counsel, the Commons endeavoured to deter them from their honourable duty, by inquiring, " what these gentlemen had incurred, he being accused of high treason." f Notwithstanding these ungenerous * " The Earl had obtained from the King his houses' and royal stuff in the Tower. All came to him who pleased. But since Sir F. Windebanke's escape, the Lieutenant of the Tower, Sir W. Balfour, is enjoined to keep him straiter ; so he has now but the liberty of three rooms, hi the outmost whereof is a guard. Since he heard of Ratcliff being in prison, and of Wandesford's death, his two pillars, his heart is a little fallen." BaUHe's Letters, I. 282. t Strode was the suggester that they might " charge as conspirators in the VOL. II. E 50 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. and cruel efforts to shackle him in his struggle to establish his innocence, he beat them aside, and rose superior to the difficulties with which he was sur- rounded. The articles of impeachment were exhibited against him on the 25th of November and 30th of January ; and the Earl felt so assured that there was no charge embodied in them amounting to high treason, that he immediately wrote thus confidently to his wife :* SWEETHEART, IT is long since I wrote unto you, for I am here in such a trouble, as gives me little or no respite. The charge is now come in, and I am now able, I praise God, to tell you, that I conceive there is nothing capital, and for the rest, I know, at the worst, his Majesty will pardon all, without hurting my fortune, and then we shall be happy, by God's grace. Therefore, comfort yourself, for I trust these clouds will away, and that we shall have fair weather afterwards. Farewell. Your loving husband, STRAFFORD. Tvwer of London, 4t7i February, 1640-41. same treason all who had or should plead in that cause. If this hold, Strafford's counsel will be rare." Ibid. I. 309. Baillie wrote as if he gloated over Strafford's sorrows. * Strafford's third wife, to whom he had united himself in the October of 1632, was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Godfrey Rhodes, of Great Houghton, in Yorkshire. She appears to have been a pretty, common-place woman. He married her privately, concealed his union for some time, and never appears to have had such an elevated love for her as that which inspired him towards his second wife. She remained in Ireland during all his period of extreme suffer- ing ; and there is no evidence of any effort made by her to save him from the executioner. 1641.1 CHARLES THE FIRST. 51 The proceedings in the late treaty, and Strafford's clear appreciation of the dangers which environed him, are particularised in the following letter, addressed to Sir G. Ratcliff. COUSIN RATCLIPP, I HAVE so many things to write that I know not well where to begin, on this side or on that ; but I will first let you see our present condition here, and come to the other at after. Our Lords Commissioners concluded a cessation of arms with the Scots on Monday was sevennight, and we transferred the treaty to London. I shall not need to mention any of the articles, because George Carre hath them to show you. They gave an account to his Majesty and the Great Council, wherewith, to my thinking, his Majesty seemed not well pleased ; but after some hours of debate, his Majesty allowed thereof; yet were not the articles signed by the rest of the lords as was desired by the Commissioners, neither are they to be signed by the King ; only his Majesty, by a letter apart under the signet, is to allow thereof. Much ado there hath been, and the greatest malignity expressed towards me that you ever saw ; wherein, nevertheless, I trust I have given them no advantage. Howbeit, the Scots have publicly declared me their enemy, a public incendiary, and I know not what besides. My Lord of Bristol hath been their Mercury in all the treaty ; Holland, Mandeville, Wharton, and Savile, greatly busied therein, and Berkshire, under the highest E 2 52 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. professions of friendship you ever heard, brought to be the conduit to utter all their bitterness towards me. My Lord of Bristol professeth great friendship unto me, and very fair and kind we continue ; but yet he put it notably upon me in divers particulars whilst the business was in agitation. First, whether I would advise the breach of the treaty, and if so, how I would assure the King and kingdom we should be able to beat out the Scots. My answer was, that I was so far from advising a breach, as I should not presume a judgment in a business of so great consequence as the treaty was, and for assuring anything I was less able to do that ; I was not a prophet nor a son of a prophet, that I could divine ; and howbeit I had the honour to be of his Majesty's Privy Council, yet I was not of the Almighty's Privy Council, to undertake to bespeak the event of war beforehand. All I was able to do (and that I did) was truly to let them know as much as I knew of the strength of both armies, and so humbly to submit the resolution to their greater wisdom. Secondly, his lord- ship propounded that I might be left here to see the performance of the treaty, and that I should be the commissioner to treat and draw the adjacent shires, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Lancaster, and York, to contribute with Durham and Northumberland towards the maintenance of the Scottish army. My answer was, that for the treaty, I was not so well knowing the private debates, arguments, reasons, and purposes there- of, as to be able so well to judge what might be or might not be in breach thereof, as others that had heard all ; and that in respect thereof, my Lords Wharton and Savile were far more capable to discharge that service 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 53 than myself. Besides, I had the charge of the army upon me, which alone was more than sufficient to a person of much more experience than myself. For the latter, I held it no ways comely for me, commanding this army under his Majesty and my Lord General, to be busied in raising contribution for the Scottish army for two months' pay, not knowing the whilst where to procure two days' to our own ; so as I did absolutely protest against my being an instrument of drawing new provinces under the Scottish yoke ; and that in my own private capacity I would never give them anything, but rather bestow my whole estate upon the King than one farthing on them. Besides, I, being by them declared their enemy, was of all others least proper to be employed in their affairs. This debate finally took end, by his Majesty's saying, " That, indeed, they were not fit for me to meddle in." Lastly, his lordship and the other Commissioners acknowledging the treaty not to be such as they had cause to brag of, being only amidst these public misfortunes to choose the least of evils, they read a long declaration, containing the reasons wherefore they were constrained to conclude this treaty, in prevention of far greater mischiefs, and pitched the strength of these reasons forth of what I had said in the Great Council on several occasions, taking and leaving as they liked themselves best, and thus to make me the author of what they professed not good in itself ; and yet privately charged me to be of all others most averse to the treaty. Was not here, if you observe it, a rare art and malice together ? Here- upon was I forced to run over all I had said since the first time the Council of Peers sat, to deny some things 54 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. they said in that declaration, and throughout to supply it where they had left anything forth ; as, indeed, was done in most of the particulars so collected, and these most material ones. Their lordships acknowledged some things to be mistaken, and so to be left out ; in other things my Lord of Bristol said it should be mended, and sent to me to alter and change any words not pleasing to me. I humbly thanked his lordship for his noble offer, but that it could not consist with my modesty to presume to be able to mend what had passed so much abler judgments and greater experience than my own. I humbly craved, that if it seemed good to their lordships to ground anything upon my sudden and weak opinions, they would take them altogether, and not to pick them forth by pieces ; and, as I live, if they publish this declaration, in answer thereof you shall have me ere long a fool in print. I am to-morrow to London, with more dangers beset, I believe, than ever any man went with out of York- shire ; yet my heart is good, and I find nothing cold within me. It is not to be believed how great the malice is, and how intent they are about it : little less care there is taken to ruin me than to save their own souls. Nay, for themselves, I wish their attention to the latter were equal to that they lend me in the former ; and certainly they will rack heaven and hell, as they say, to do me mischief. They expect great matters out of Ireland, therefore pray you lend an ear to what may stir there ; howbeit, I know not any thing yet. George Carr hath something to tell you that against all events must be provided for. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 55 If they come to charge, I will send for you to have your help in my defence. I pray therefore make ready, if the occasion be offered, else stir not. The King hath given me great demonstrations of his affection, and strong assurances as can be expressed in words. The Queen is infinitely gracious towards me, above all that you can imagine, and doth declare it in a very public and strange manner, so as nothing can hurt me, by God's help ! but the iniquity and necessity of these times. Three main disadvantages the King and his poor servants labour under at this time ; and what the effects thereof may be, God Almighty knows ! The uttermost of the Scots' demands are yet veiled from us, and cer- tainly by design of some even among ourselves, so as the minds and opinions of the subjects are infinitely dis- tracted ; some thinking over well, others, may be, over ill of their purposes, which turn infinitely to the King's prejudice ; for if they were once made patent, every man's judgment would be satisfied, and so unity and concurrence in councils, by God's grace, might follow, which is the only means, under his goodness, to preserve and save ourselves and children by. The Scottish army is still by this means kept as a rod over the King, to force him to do anything the Puritan popular humour hath a mind unto, which is a devilish practice, if you will consider it. This army, which is our bulwark, depends nearly upon the loan of the City ; if that fail, we disband shamefully, and with all the danger that can be thought of, which certainly they will either enlarge or straiten, as the King shall please the Parlia- ment more or less ; which I assure you I take to be of 56 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. more peril than any of the rest, albeit the other are almost as bad as can be. Thus you see we are in a brave condition ; could any man wish it worse ? The question is to be answered with a verse of Spenser, " Gk>d help the men, thus wrapt in error's endless traine." The Lord Keeper, to begin the business with, hath declared in open Parliament the war was advised by the body of the Council, which albeit in effect true, yet are they infinitely offended at it : what expedient they will find to recruit it we must expect. In the mean time I am hastened up ; that there is a great want of me ; that if I had been there that folly had not been committed ; that I was of absolute neces- sity to be there, and therefore no delay to be used ; and so am I pulled from old Woodhouse by head and ears, as they used to say, and forced to leave the army, which I confess I do most unwillingly, albeit a charge all others I would thank God to be free of. As con- cerning that other army there (in Ireland), it must rest as it is until I come to London, then you shall speedily hear from me again. In the mean time I would have the Deputy and you interesting the rest of the Council by degrees with you to deal with my Lord Ormond, that now being to go to their winter quarters, the soldiers' pay, during time of garrison, may be reduced to sixpence a-day, wherein not stirring the officers, you may have them to join in the business, taking your rise from the Parliament's abating, indeed abusing, the subsidies. If you compass this you do a great service, and methinks it is not very hard if dexterously handled ; for truly sixpence there is more than eightpence here ; but then your direction must be hastened thither before 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 57 the King's pleasure be declared for setting the subsidy and proroguing the Parliament. The Archbishop of York died since the King's departure, and thereby lies a tale which you can easily expound. An answer to all other parts of your letters you will find in the inclosed, and in the duplicate of my letter to Secretary Windebanke, which George Carr hath to show you. Remember my service to the Deputy ; show him this letter : it will (show 1) from me that he must tenir roide, and not suffer my gentlemen to grow insolent upon him, and that his old rule of moderate counsels will not serve his turn in cases of this extremity. To be a fine well-natured gentleman will not do it : we are put by that ward : I cannot write to him now ; the best is, what is for one is for both. For love of Christ, take order that all the money due to my Lady Carlisle be paid before Christmas ; for a nobler and more intel- ligent friendship did I never meet with in all my life ; and send me as much as possible you can, for there will be use of all, and yet you must by any means make straight with the Vice-treasurer. A heavy task, you will say : I grant it ; but who can help that will away \ I must entreat both the Deputy and you to assist and advise Captain Rockley all you may ; and so, gentle George, farewell. Your ever most faithful affectionate friend and cousin, STRAFFORD. Wenlworth, Nov. 5th, 1640. I am, God be praised ! much amended in my health. Albeit I do not answer all your letters in this strait 58 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. wherein I am, yet I have great use of them, and hope to live to give you more thanks for them than a few lines can express. To the best of my judgment we gain much rather than lose. I trust God will preserve us ; and as all other passions, I am free of fear : the articles that are coming I apprehend not. The Irish business is past, and better than I expected, their proofs being very scant. God's hand is with us, for what is there not we might expect to have been sworn from thence ? Continue your letters, which are not ill bestowed upon me ; for I observe them, and have great use of your advice, which hath helped me exceedingly. All will be well, and every hour gives more hope than other. God Almighty protect and guide us ! * Sunday after dinner. * Rateliff Correspondence. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 59 CHAPTER III. Strafford's Trial commences Arrangements in Westminster Hall King pre- sent Earl of Arundel presides Earl of Lindsay Strafford's coming to the Hall His demeanour Popular feeling turning in his favour Charges against him Conduct as Lord President and as Viceroy Treatment of Lord Mountnorris Tyranny in Ireland War against Scotland advised by him Enforcement of Ship-money recommended by him Illness of the Earl Commons feel their charges failing Offer fresh evidence Vere's notes received Strafford's counter-evidence Bill of Attainder preferred Long in agitation Letter of Ferdinando Fairfax Attainder hurried forward Lord Digby opposes it Best copy of Vere's notes Selden con- sidered the charges not proved Stratford's reply to them Its impression upon his auditors Glyn's and Pym's rejoinder Bill of Attainder passed by the Commons Charles addresses the Peers in behalf of Strafford The advisers of that step Popular clamour raised The Peers urged to pass the Bill The adherents of Strafford denounced The Protestation signed by both Houses Father Phillips's letter intercepted The army in favour of Strafford Letter of Mr. Stockdale Muster of the Troops Rumours against the Scotch Billet-money unpaid Desire for Strafford's death Assessment of Subsidies The Protestation popular Mr. Benson Oppressive military conduct Sir Jacob Astley. ON the 22nd of March, 1641, commenced that trial " which was and is, some way or other, the concern of every man of England ; " and Westminster Hall was its fitting arena. At the northern end, so that there should be ready admission from the main entrance door in Palace Yard, were two rooms erected, " in the one did Duke de Vauden, Duke de Vallet, and other French nobles sit ; in the other, the King, the Queen, Princess Mary, the Prince Elector, and some Court ladies. The hangings, which made them to be secret, the King broke down with his own hands, so they sat 60 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. in the eye of all, but little more regarded than if they had been absent, for the lords all sat covered ; those of the Lower House and all others, except the French noblemen, sat uncovered when the lords were present, but not else." In the centre, a little in advance of these two rooms were " a throne for the King, and a chair for the Prince of Wales ;" but although the latter occasionally came to this position of state, his Majesty, being supposed to have delegated the dispensing of justice to others, never occupied the chair of state. He came daily, however, to be an auditor of the trial, and as " most of the lords and Lower House did write much daily, so none more than the King." The presiding judge at the tribunal was the Lord Steward, the Earl of Arundel, and he sat before the throne on " a large woolsack, covered with green cloth. Beneath it lay two other sacks for my Lord Keeper and the judges."* Those who attended were " all in their scarlet robes," but the Lord Keeper Littleton, the ungrateful and the pusillanimous, was not of the number. StrafFord had been his patron and the architect of his fortune, but he had not the courage to stand forth in this hour of the peril of his patron, and as President to make sure that the balance was poised equally for the assailed as well as for the assailants. He pleaded sickness, and slunk from the judgment-seat, and was succeeded in it by Strafford's enemy, the Earl of Arundel. This cast a shadow upon the very opening of Strafford's trial. The Lord Keeper, The arrangement of the Hall was under the 'direction of " the Speaker of the Peers, the Earl of Lindsay, who was made Lord High Constable of England for that time." WkitelocJce, 40. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST, 61 however, had showed his cowardice and his incapacity, when, a month previously, Strafford had been first arraigned. On that day, February 24th, the King entered the House of Lords without his robes, and his visit being unexpected he was received without ceremony, and took his seat upon the throne. Having informed the House that he merely attended to hear the articles of the impeachment, the Earl was called to the bar, and they were read, and so soon as they and the Earl's answers to them had been concluded, his Majesty withdrew. It was then moved that the arraignment be again gone through, some of the Peers considering that the King's presence had rendered the previous proceeding coram non judice. The Lord Keeper ought to have refuted this bad law, and have vindicated the King's prerogative to be present at all times in Parliament, and in his Court of Justice ; but his lordship dared not attempt to stem the indignation expressed at the King's intrusion, and without any opposition Strafford was recalled, and the impeachment and the answer were once more read. In front of the woolsack was a small table, at which sat " four or five clerks of the Parliament in their black gowns." On each side of these were the benches "covered with green friezes,"' 55 ' for the Peers who sat in judgment, habited "in their red robes, lined with white ermine skins." "The Barons on their right sleeve having two bars of white skin, the Viscounts two and one half, the Earls three, the Marquis of Winchester three and one half. England hath no more Marquisses," adds Baillie, from whom this description is Red cloth." Whitehcke, 40. 62 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. chiefly taken, " and he but one late upstart of Queen Elizabeth's. Hamilton goes here but among the Earls, and that a late one. Dukes they have none in Par- liament ; York, Richmond and Buckingham are but boys, and Lennox goes among the late Earls." Behind the Peers, and separated from them by a bar covered with green cloth stood the committee appointed as counsel for the impeachment. They were Lord Digby, Hampden, Pym, St. John, afterwards the King's Solicitor General, Sir Walter Earle, Palmer, Attorney General to Charles the Second, Maynard, subsequently a Sergeant, and Glyn, at one time Recorder of London. Lower down behind the same bar was a small desk, at which "the prisoner Strafford stands or sits as he pleaseth, together with his keeper, Sir William Balfour, the Lieutenant of the Tower. At the back of this is a desk for StrafFord's four secretaries, who carry his papers and assist him in writing and reading. At their side is a space for the witnesses, and behind them a long desk next the wall for StrafFord's counsel, some five or six able lawyers." The leader of these was Lane, afterwards the King's Lord Keeper at Oxford ; Gardiner, the City Recorder, whom Charles had desired for Speaker ; with Loe and Lightfoot as juniors ; the names of the others have not reached us. On each side of the hall, and extending its entire length, " arose a stage of eleven ranks of forms, the highest touching almost the roof : the two highest were divided from the rest by a rail, and another rail at each end cut off some seats. Within the rails sat the gentle- men of the House of Commons, and many hundreds more of gentlemen who could get places with them." 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 63 The description of the first day will suffice to give an idea of the manner of proceeding throughout, for each that succeeded during the lengthened course of the trial was but a repetition of the same painful details/' 5 " So intense was the public interest in its proceeding, and such numbers crowded to be spectators of it, that, Baillie says, " we always behoved to be there a little after five in the morning : my Lord Willoughby, Earl of Lindsay, ordering the house with great difficulty." By seven the hall was full, and at eight the lords had taken their seats. Many ladies were seated near the throne for places " for which they paid much money f and the Prince of Wales, then a mere child, " sat (occa- sionally) on a little chair near the throne." The King and Queen with the members of the Court, had arrived " about nine of the clock, but kept themselves private within their closets, only the Prince came out once or twice to the cloth of State."f " It was daily," says our Scottish authority, " the most glorious assembly the isle could afford, yet the gravity not such as I expected ; oft there was great clamour withoutside the door ; in the intervals, whilst Strafford was making ready for answers, the Lords got always on their feet, walked and clattered ; the Lower House men, too, loud clattering. After ten hours, much public eating, not only of confections but of flesh and bread ; bottles of beer and wine going thick from mouth to mouth without cups ; and all this in the King's eyes : yea, many but turned their backs and did * It began on the 22nd of March, and concluded on the 12th of April. The Bill of Attainder passed the House of Commons on the 21st of the latter month, and the House of Lords, on the 10th of May. t Rushworth's Trial of Strafford, 4 1 , who was " purposely placed near the Earl, to take in characters whatsoever should be said either for or against him." 64 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. worse, for there was no outgoing to return ; and often the sitting was till two or even four o'clock."* StrafFord came from the Tower in his barge attended by its lieutenant, guarded by 100 partizans in six barges, and was received on landing at Westminster by a guard of the Trained Bands, who conducted him to the Hall. On his entrance the porter asked of the usher whether the axe should be borne before the Earl, but the King had forbidden this painful and useless form ; nor was it customary " except when a prisoner has to be put upon his jury." He bowed lowly to his judges as he entered the court, and after advancing a few steps he repeated this courtesy, and again when he reached the place at which he was to contend with his accusers. He then advanced to the bar, and having bent upon one knee for a second, he rose, " saluted both sides of the House, and then sat down." " Some few of the Lords lifted their hats to him," and the rest of the assemblage had the good taste to be silent if not courteous. Apparelled becomingly in mourning, courteous yet bold, and with a countenance " manly black," on which, though " terror mixed with wisdom," usually were impressed, now softened by affliction, imprisonment, and acute disease, it is no wonder that even the hearts of his oppo- nents were softened by his appearance. But after his eloquent address had been heard ready, bold, cogent, and pathetic as it was his enemies saw and acknow- ledged he was winning his way to an acquittal, and extorted from Serjeant Maynard the tart acknowledg- ment, " that by the flow of his eloquence he spent time to gain affection ; " " as indeed," says Baillie, Baillie's Letters, I. 316. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 65 " with the more simple sort, especially the ladies, he gained daily much." But this generous feeling was not confined to them ; for who can look without sym- pathy upon greatness contending with dignity against adversity t " Soon," says one of his opponents, " the people began to be a little divided in opinions ;* the clergy in general were so much fallen into love and admiration of him, that Laud was almost forgotten by them ; the courtiers cried him up, and the ladies, whose voices will carry much with some parts of the State, were exceedingly on his side. So great was the favour and love which they openly expressed for him, that the verse could not but be remembered, Non fonnosus erat, sed erat facundus Ulysses, Et tamcn sequoreas torsit amore Deas. Ulysses, though not beautiful, the love Of goddesses by eloquence could move."t This favourable feeling towards Strafford, however, influenced those of sterner metal than his countrywomen, for the army began to be moved in his favour. " In my letter by Mr. Mauleverer," says Mr. Stockdale, writing again to Lord Fairfax, " I gave your lordship a touch of the present inclination of the soldiers now lying in this county (Yorkshire) ; they continue much after the same manner, neither unquiet nor well resolved to be content with peace. Yet every day their affection to the Lord Stratford's deliverance and safety doth appear most evidently ; and it is the more remarkable, because it is not many months since he was scarcely beloved or " The crowd of people was neither great nor troublesome. All of them saluted him and he them, with great courtesy, both at his entrance and at his return." RushworOi, 43. t May's Long Parliament, 92. VOL. II. F 66 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. valued by any of them. The general opinion in these parts is, that he will escape the censure of treason ; but I am persuaded that the House will not think it stands with their reputation to fail in an action so much con- cerning the public, and themselves also in particular, if he should escape, who is known to be of a vindictive character."* It would be tedious and of no utility to trace the evidence by which the managers of the Earl's impeach- ment endeavoured to establish each charge against him, or the testimony he produced in his defence to rebut it ; but we may advantageously confine ourselves to the particulars which were established by witnesses or ad- mitted by the accused. It was established that, as Lord President of the Northern Court, he had held himself superior to the Courts at Westminster, declaring that if from them any one brought a prohibition to stay any cause in his court, "he would lay him by the heels ;" but then as the Earl replied, " if there be an error in a judge so that he determines otherwise than a man of better understanding considers reasonable, this is not to be heightened into treason ; for if it were so, few judges would serve." It was next endeavoured to be proved that Strafford had publicly declared in Yorkshire " that the King's little finger should be heavier than the loins of the law ; " but after showing that he was in Ireland when the words * Fairfax MSS. The writer of this letter was a Yorkshire Magistrate, and subsequently represented Knaresborough in this Parliament. The letter is dated 30th April, 1641, and directed " To the Right Honourable my singular good Lord, the Lord Fairfax, Baron Cameron, at his lodgings, at Mr. Brigham's house, the sign of the Saracen's Head, in King-street, Westminster." 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 67 were said to be uttered, he declared that he had made use of a speech diametrically the reverse of that charged, though at another period. He was in Yorkshire per- suading certain gentlemen to compound for knighthood, by showing that it was much less chargeable to them than if they should be compelled to do so by legal pro- cess, adding, " for the little finger of the law is heavier than the King's loins." That this version was truth was proved by the evidence of one of the House of Commons' own members, Sir William Pennyman, and one of the managers of the impeachment, Maynard, could only vent his vexation in the sarcasm, " He did his duty well, being a member of the House of Com- mons, never to inform them." This called forth an indecent volley of hisses from the Commons, by which "Sir William was confounded and fell a- weeping;" upon which the Earl, with becoming feeling and judg- ment, besought the peers to protect his witnesses, for " my lords," he added, " rather than I should prejudice any man in that kind I would put myself on God's mercy and goodness, for I account it an unjust thing to overthrow another to save myself." Other witnesses were called to prove the charge as laid in the impeach- ment, but it need only be further observed, that, sup- posing them to have been correct, yet the Earl was right when he observed, " It is no treason within the statute." The next charge against the Earl was, that he had publicly declared Ireland was a conquered nation, and that the King might do with them what he pleased. The evidence upon this was conflicting ; but even sup- posing that he had so expressed himself, yet Serjeant Maynard acknowledged " the Commons never passed F 2 68 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. these words singly to be treason." As to the addition to this charge, that the Earl had said the Dublin city charters "were nothing worth, and did not bind the King," it appears that this was no more than the opinion of the King's law-officers. Besides, those charters remained still enjoyed by the corporation ; but if they had been infringed upon, what lawyer would have said that this was treason ! Errors they may have been, and of " errors," said Strafford, " I may have many ; perhaps my tongue hath been too free ; my heart, may be, hath lain too near my tongue ; but God forbid that every word should rise up in judgment against me." For the better proof of what the words actually spoken were, he desired that Sir George Ratcliff, who was present when they were spoken, might be examined ; but the Commons, foreseeing his importance as a witness for the defence, had impeached him also of treason. That was unjust in its purpose, yet could only be effectual by its securing from the peers an illegal decision that it incapacitated him from giving evidence, and that decision was attained. It deserves to be recorded, that Ratcliff was not the only Irish privy-councillor impeached for the purpose of silencing them. The Lord Chancellor, Sir Richard Bolton ; the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Sir Gerard Lowther ; and the Bishop of Derry, Dr. Bram- hall, were charged with high treason, and committed to prison. "I have been near a fortnight at the Black Rod, charged with treason," said the Bishop, writing to his wife on the 12th of March, 1641 ; "never any man was more innocent of that foul crime ; the ground is only my reservedness. God in his mercy, I do not doubt, will send us many merry and happy days 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 69 together when this storm is blown over/' He was a true prophet, for the impeachment against the four was entirely abandoned, so soon as their prosecutors' object had been attained by the fall of Strafford. The next charge was fully established by evidence, and proved that the Earl had decided causes at the Irish Council Board which were cognisable only by the courts of law. That board had no jurisdiction over lay titles to land or benefits thence arising, and such was the lay-impropriation of tithes enjoyed by the Earl of Cork ; for endeavouring to protect which in a court of law, Strafford threatened to "clap him in the Castle," adding, " For, I tell you, I will not have my orders dis- puted by law nor lawyers." It was made an aggravation of Strafford's oppression in this instance, that he had endeavoured to force into the Earl of Cork's rectory, Strafford's own under-coachman, one Arthur Gwyn. But this must be admitted to the Earl's honour rather than to his discredit, for Baillie acknowledges that Mr. Gwyn " was a Master of Arts," to which he could not have been admitted without such learning as entitled him to be raised from that station to which misfortune probably had reduced him.* The most despotic and most illegal of the acts laid to Strafford's charge, and folly established by evidence, was his treatment of Lord Mountnorris. This nobleman " in a time of full peace/' at a private dinner-party, had said that a kinsman of his had hurt Strafford's gouty foot, " perhaps in revenge of a public affront," done by him, to Lord Mountnorris. For these words, without notice, about eight months after, Strafford summoned * Baillie's Letters, I. 324. 70 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Mountnorris to a Council of War, and then, without hearing any defence, or giving him time to summon wit- nesses, that council sentenced him to be deprived of all his appointments, to be disarmed, and to be shot or beheaded, " at the pleasure " of Strafford. * It is quite true that Strafford did not vote on this occasion, but the members of the council were his creatures, and he sat there until they had concocted what he was pleased to designate " a noble and just sentence ; " it is also quite true that Lord Mountnorris was a proud, overbearing, and unpopular nobleman ; and it is equally certain that Strafford only imprisoned him, and, as he said, may have intended only " to discipline Lord Mountnorris, and teach him to govern his speech with more modesty." But admitting all this, still the trial was illegal, the sen- tence disproportioned to the offence, the insults heaped upon Lord Montnorris most unjust ; and, at all events, there could be no defence of his brutality to Lady Mountnorris, who on her knees in the open street pre- sented the King's pardon, for which, with a wife's devotion, she had hastened to England and obtained. We can but scorn the tyrant, whose only reply to this part of the charge was, "My Lady Mountnorris's courtesy was above all measure displeasing." f It is needless to pause upon the charges against the Earl, of permitting the issue of general warrants by one * In a letter to the Secretary of State, dated December 14, 1635, Strafford had ventured to 8ay that Lord Mountnorris had been sentenced " after a full and clear hearing of all he could say in his own justification." Strafford Letters, I. 498. The very anxiety evinced in those Letters to show that he had had no voice in the proceeding betrays what it would willingly conceal. t The public condemnation of the proceedings against Lord Mountnorris, and the corrupt motives on which it was said to be founded, may be gathered from the Strafford Letters, I. 500, &c. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 71 of the bishops, for however oppressive, they were not without precedent in Ireland ; or upon those which alleged he had imposed excessive duties upon wool, hides, and tobacco; for it has been well observed, that never before had the fact of increasing the price of a fleece of wool, or a roll of tobacco, formed an ingredient in a charge of high treason. That he profited by having a monopoly of tobacco was fully proved, but monopolies were then of frequent occurrence, and his pecuniary gain did not alter its complexion, for the Earl truly remarked, " the goodness of a bargain could not make it a treason." The attempt to make the next charge high treason was still more ridiculous than the preceding, for it was no more than an order of the Council Board, that flaxen yarn should be only reeled in one particular way. It was quite true that the constables and others appointed to see the order obeyed, executed their commission with great severity, and for this they should have been punished. But the severity was unquestionably caused in the first instance by the resistance made by the spinners a resistance so obstinate, that the order of council was obliged to be recalled. It was not attempted to be denied that the reeling process which was sought to be enforced, was an improvement upon the rude mode pursued by the natives ; and Strafford said that he only sanctioned the issuing of the order " to bring them from these Irish customs to English manners," and that similar orders had been issued and enforced to prevent them from attaching their horses to their ploughs by the tail, and to enforce the practice of thrashing instead of burning the straw to obtain the corn. " If it savoured of oppression, it tended not towards treason." 72 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. The same reply applied to the next accusation, satisfactorily proved, that Strafford issued warrants to quarter soldiers upon individuals who had failed in satisfying their creditors. Such oppression, such illegality, accompanied as it was by all the brutality of licentious soldiers, was indeed a high crime and mis- demeanor. It was no defence, though preferred by the Earl, that other Lord Lieutenants had similarly quartered the military upon crown debtors, and those who har- boured criminals, for the instances in which he had been the oppressor were in cases of private debts, and to oblige private individuals. Coupled, however, with this charge was another offence, which made the tyranny more bitter, by taking from it all power of appeal to a higher tribunal. All persons were forbidden to resort to England, until they had a licence from the Earl, and it was proved that he used this to gratify private pique, and to the ruinous disadvantage of many. It matters not that he obtained the King's sanction to such a course of despotism, for even supposing that it was legal to restrain the Irish gentry from the passage into England, " still here is the sting of my lord of Strafford's pro- ceeding," observed Serjeant Maynard; "he avails himself of this power to prevent the complaints which might be brought to his Majesty against his injustice." The next charge against the Earl was for having framed an oath, which he endeavoured to compel all the Scotch resident in Ireland to subscribe, whereby they pledged themselves not merely to be loyal subjects, but not to adhere to the League and Covenant. It is quite true, that a similar oath was offered to many in England, and that both the oaths had the King's sanction ; but it is equally true that no such oaths could be legally 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 73 enforced but by Act of Parliament. In England it was not urged upon any, but in Ireland it was so rigorously enjoined, that thousands left all their property, and fled to their native country, rather than thus pledge themselves to act contrary to their consciences. Only one specific instance was proved of the Earl's enforcing obedience to this, and that was the family of the Stuarts. The father and mother were each fined 5000/., and the two daughters each 3000/., and in default of payment they were committed to prison. In this instance he did not carry out his threat to the letter, that " those who refused to take the oath he would prosecute to the blood/' but he certainly " stretched his power above the law ; framed a new law, and for not observing that, a new punishment also." The next charges were that the Earl, at the Council Board, had advised an offensive war against the Scotch ; that in conversation he had said, that if the Parliament would not grant to the King the requisite supplies, the King would be justified, for the safety of the state, in taking the property of his subjects, for that he was not to be mastered by their frowardness ; but, above all, that the Earl had advised the King in these or similar words " You have an army in Ireland which you may employ here to reduce this kingdom." Words which were reported by Sir H. Vane, and which subsequently were urged more strenuously against Strafford. As these charges at first stood, a war being resolved upon, there was no treason in expressing an opinion that an offensive, rather than a defensive, war, was to be preferred. On a sudden emergency, Salus reipub- //< suprema lex ; " when there is no time to call a 74 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Parliament, the King, as common parent of the country, may use all possible means for its safety." " This," added Strafford, " this may be a foolish opinion, but for this a man should not forfeit his life, honour, and inheritance." He denied that he had ever advised that the Irish army might be employed against England, but it being diffi- cult to establish a negative, he could do no more than produce such members of the Privy Council as being present at the time did not hear the word alleged. But supposing these words to have been uttered, still, as the Earl observed, " nothing is more common than for a councillor to be of one opinion when he comes out of his chamber, and to have that opinion confuted by the wisdom of his fellow-councillors nothing was done to enforce the opinion he was alleged to have expressed and though an opinion may make a heretic, he never heard that an opinion could make a traitor." Moreover, " if words spoken to friends in familiar discourse, at one's table, in one's sick bed, and perhaps to gain light and information, were to be gathered into treason, it would take away the comfort of all society, and it will become a silent world. If words spoken under an oath of secrecy at the Council-table shall be taken against a man for the attainting of himself and the disinheriting of his children, what wise and noble person of fortune will, upon such perilous terms, adventure to be a coun* cillor to the King ? " The evidence of the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Henry Garaway, established the urgency and illegality of the means recommended by Strafford to extort loans and Ship-money. Sir Henry said that he was frequently summoned before the Privy Council, for the Ship-money 1641.] CHARLES THE FIHST. 75 demanded was not procurable, and " he could not tell which way to turn himself to levy it." He told the King of the difficulty, and that of the Ship-money, (demanded two years before,) not one-half of the City had paid, and that the willing men who had paid thought this inequitable. This reply being distasteful, Strafford said to the King, " Sir, you will never do good on this man till you have made him an example. He is too diffident; unless you commit him, you shall do no good upon him." And on another occasion, when the aldermen refused either to advance money as a loan, or to give a list of those who were equally resolved not to part with their mqney, the Earl spoke in a similar way to the King respecting the aldermen, adding, " Unless you hang up some of them, you will do no good upon them." Strafford did not deny one of these speeches, but observed, after regretting their utterance even to assist the King in his time of necessity, that they were no more than words. " True, my lords," rejoined Mr. Glynn, " they were but words, but let it be remembered that for words spoken concerning treading on his toe, the Earl procured a sentence of death against the speaker." * It deserves especial notice that Strafford did not deny having advised the rigorous levying of Ship- money, but he rested satisfied with pleading that " he advised no other ways than had been before used," and that the impost being sanctioned by the judges, " it was not for him to dispute what they had done." This deserves to be remembered, because such levy was in Lord Mountnorris, see p. 70. It was not true that no consequences arose from those words, for four Aldermen were imprisoned or " laid by the heels " the same day. Rtuhicorth, 598. 76 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. direct defiance of the Petition of Right, and " this great man's principal crime, objected against him by the Parliament, was, his attempts to subvert that excel- lent law, which he himself had promoted with the most ardent zeal, as the best inheritance he could leave to his posterity. The laws confirmed and renewed in that Petition of Right were said to be the most envenomed arrows that gave him his mortal wound." * Thus closed the evidence adduced at this memorable trial ; and no one can rise from its perusal without the conviction that most signally did it fail in establishing the charge of treason against the arraigned. This conviction was that also felt by his friends at the time : " They are all hopeful and almost confident of his deliverance/' wrote Mr. Stockdale, to one of the Earl's accusers, Lord Fairfax.f Strafford felt equally sanguine, as we have seen in his letter to his wife ; and Lord Baltinglass, upon premises which proved deceitful, felt equally confident, saying, "His lordship trusts extremely well of his cause, having God and the King on his side, and the Lords' House fairly inclined towards him."! Strafford's accusers, the House of Commons, felt that they were failing in their object, and this conviction stimulated them to further exertion, and increased their bitterness. The morning after the case against him was closed, he was to have replied generally upon the evi- dence ; but when the morning came, the Lieutenant of * Rushworth, in Preface. f Fairfax MSS. April 10, 1641. Yet the Earl prepared wisely for the worst, the same letter stating that the King had given him the power to dispose of his Irish estates " notwithstanding his accusation, or what may follow thereon." 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 77 the Tower and the gentlemen of the Earl's chamber, attended in the Hall, and deposed that he was confined to his bed by a violent return of his old calculous disorder. Mr. Glyn urged that a physician should have attended to make this report, and that in the absence of medical evidence it must be taken to be Strafford's " wilfulness, rather than weakness/' But the Peers took a more liberal and more just view of the circumstance ; for the four noblemen whom they deputed to visit the Earl, found two physicians with him, who thought he might attend in the Hall next day.* On the morrow he again confronted his accusers, whose claim for permission to produce fresh evidence, was demurred to by the Earl, on the ground that the case was closed. Glyn replied, that it was not closed so long as the evidence was not summed up, adding, with uncalled-for discourtesy, that " it did not become a prisoner at the bar to prescribe a method of proceeding to the Commons of England." " I think," replied Strafford, " it concerns me as nearly to defend my life, as it does any one to pursue it. Yet I am willing new proofs should be brought, provided I have liberty to reply, and to produce wit- nesses on some points which concern my justification." The Lords acceded to this plain dictate of " common equity," but it did not accord with his accusers' inten- tions. They had some fresh evidence to adduce that would not bear a strict investigation, some rough notes, purporting to be written by a living witness. " So at once the Commons began to grumble ;" the decision " showed that Strafford's friends were strongest Nalson, II. 100. 78 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. in the Higher House ;"* therefore the Commons rose on both sides of the Hall, clamouring " Withdraw, withdraw I" and, with one accord, " on with their hats, cocked their beavers in the King's sight, and went all away in confusion ; Strafford slipped away to his barge, and to the Tower, glad to be gone, lest he should be torn in pieces ; the King went home in silence ; the Lords to their House," without even adjourning the court.f Those rough notes, now proffered as evidence, de- serve more than a mere cursory notice. They purported to be notes, taken by Sir Henry Vane, Secretary of State, of certain opinions expressed by the King, Laud, Strafford, and Cottington, at a meeting of the Privy Council, on the 5th of May, 1640. There is a grave suspicion as to the genuineness of those notes, for in the " Journals of the House of Commons " it is recorded, that the paper produced was only a "a copy; " and it is a striking fact, that Whitelocke's detail of their contents differs essentially and extraordinarily from that given by Nalson. J It seems certain that Whitelocke's particulars * Baillie's Letters, I. 345. t Ibid. I. 346 ; Nalson, II. 102. J Nalson, II. 208 ; Whitelocke, 41. Rushworth was clerk to the Parlia- ment, and his silence can only be accounted for, by supposing that the notes were never produced as evidence, but were read obiter. To suppose that he suppressed them with an unfair intention is absurd, for they were unfavourable to Strafford. The history of the discovery of these notes, as related by Nalson, Clarendon, and Whitelocke, is briefly this. Old Sir H. Vane being in Kent, arranging settlements preparatory to his son's marriage, sent to the latter, then in London, the key of his cabinet, to obtain some papers to be returned by the bearer. In searching for those papers, the son found these notes of the Privy Council debate notes, be it remarked, which, if they ever existed, were in defiance of the King's order, that such notes and memoranda should be destroyed. Young Vane communicated a copy of those notes to Pym, who employed them in the way mentioned in the text. The fullest copy of the notes is given by Nalson, II. 208. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 79 must have been given from his own memory and those of his brother managers of the impeachment, for when the notes were required for use, they could no where be found. Whitelocke, as Chairman of the managers, having the charge of all the papers, was the person sus- pected of having made away with the notes ; but he and all the managers made a solemn protestation, that they had neither taken them, nor knew what had become of them. Lord Digby made this protestation " with more earnestness and deeper imprecations than any of the rest ; yet, afterwards, at the battle of Naseby, the King's cabinet being taken, among the papers in it was found a copy of these notes, under the Lord Digby 's hand."* Neither the copy, nor the portions remembered by Whitelocke, appear to have been read to the House of Lords, and this accounts for Rush worth's silence respect- ing them. It is true, that Whitelocke states the contrary, but then, he also states, as Strafford's reply, the very words which the Earl used in answer to the 23rd article of the impeachment, and if his memory failed in one particular relative to this charge, it might also fail in another particular ; and more especially when he con- tradicts himself by saying, that " the notes were openly read " in the hall ; and in another sentence, that they had been lost at the committee. Baillie states that the Whitelocke, 42 ; Baillie's Letters, I. 345. Nalson does not state that Sir H. Vane's notes were communicated to the House of Lords, but only that some fresh evidence was " begun to be offered ; " and Clarendon, who gives very full particulars, only mentions that those notes were made known to the Commons. It is certain that those notes had been shown to Strafford, for in his summing up his defence he mentioned that the debate at the Council Board had taken place on the 5th of May. This date was affixed to the " notes," though not mentioned by Sir H. Vane in his evidence ; and Mr. Glyn hit the blot by observing, in the course of his reply, " I wonder how he came to the knowledge of the day." 80 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Lords would only allow the Commons to adduce fresh evidence on condition that Strafford might do the same, and if the paper had been read, this would have been an infraction of their resolution, and the Commons, having obtained its admission, need not have " risen in such a fury." Moreover, in the " Journal of the House of Commons," April 12th, we find, that at a conference with the Lords, the Commons merely asked for the admission of " a narrative of the evidence mentioned on Saturday last, to which two members of the House were ready to depose." There was no need for this if the missing note had been read in evidence. So soon as the Commons had withdrawn from West- minster Hall to their own House, Sir Arthur Haselrigg introduced a bill "for the Attainder of the Earl of StrafFord." Much ingenuity has been wasted in the endeavour to discover reasons for this irregular mode of proceeding, but that which is stated in one short sen- tence by Baillie, appears quite sufficient, " It was shown that Strafford's friends were strongest in the Higher House."""' Those friends were to be overawed, and it would be too late if they were allowed to record their opinions by a verdict of " Not guilty " on the impeach- ment. To overawe them one powerful engine would be, a vote of the House of Commons, a verdict of some 250 gentlemen, that they considered the evidence had established the Earl's guilt. This mode of proceeding against Strafford was no new or sudden suggestion, for Waristoun, writing to Lord Balmerino a week previously, said, " Strafford's business is but yet on the 1 5th article ; the Lower House, if they * Baillie's Letters, I. 345. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 81 see that the King gains many of the Upper House not to condemn him, will make a Bill of teinture, and con- demn him formally in their own House, and send it up to their House as any other Act of Parliament." * And that such a course had been contemplated even still earlier, is intimated by a passage in the following letter : FOR MY VERY LOVING BROTHER, MR. HENRY FAIRFAX, AT ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE, LANCASHIRE. GOOD BROTHER, I HAVE advised with divers gentlemen, who serve for the counties of Lancashire and Chester, con- cerning an university at Manchester, but find them hopeless of having it. 1 gave the writings concerning that business to Mr. Ashton, one of the knights for that county, to confer with the rest, who has not yet given me any answer. The way to effect it must be by Bill, which will be a charge of one hundred marks at least, too much to be hazarded on so great an uncertainty ; and, therefore, I think it fittest to let that rest, and let none come to solicit it in this troublesome time, when all businesses of the commonweal are at a stay, my Lord of Strafford still keeping us in play. Against him we have framed a short Bill to convict him of treason, which was the speedier way, had we not been at first misled by the other opinion of going by the Lords, to effect either of which (both being now on foot) I fear will take a fortnight's time longer, my lord having yet to answer by counsel upon the first way, and upon the other ; our Bill being yet upon committee in our own * Dalrymple's Memorial)*, II. 117. VOL. II. fi 82 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. House, which will ask divers days to be engrossed for the Lords, where it may attend their leisures. So are all the business of the commonweal at a stop at this present. If there be an open I shall let you know ; but I long to be in the country, where my cousin Bellasis has been this month, and promised to return by Easter. Either myself before I go, or he in my absence, will do our best, but truly I much fear the success. I pray you remember my love to my sister ; so, in haste, I rest Your very affectionate brother, FER. FAIRFAX. 20th of April, It has been stated by some who ought to have been better informed, that the Bill of Attainder was read twice in one day ; but this is contrary to the truth, and there is no need to make out a case of haste and harsh- ness against the House of Commons of a complexion darker than is rendered by facts. The Bill thus intro- duced and read a first time on the 10th of April, and read a second time on the 14th, was yet in committee, Lord Fairfax says, on the 20th, and the day following it was read a third time and passed.* Previously to its third reading, it was opposed by Lord Digby in an unanswerable speech, and which must have carried conviction to the minds of all but those * Journals of the House in loco ; Parl. Hist. IX. 252 ; and Rushworth, IV. 47. Nalson (II. 15 7) and Clarendon (I.) are the two writers who make the misstate- ments relative to the Bill of Attainder. Nalson says it was " thrice read in one day ;" and Clarendon, that " it was immediately read a first and second time, and so committed." Dugdale concurs in this, in his "Short View of the Late Troubles," 68. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 83 who were resolved not to be persuaded from their course. Lord Digby had been one of the six members deputed by the Commons to conduct Strafford's impeachment, and his reasons for not condemning the Earl fell there- fore from his always eloquent lips with a tenfold autho- rity : " I was engaged with earnestness in his prosecu- tion," he said, " but the ground of our accusation, the spur to our prosecution, that which should be the basis of my judgment unto treason against the Earl of Strafford is vanished away. I mean, Mr. Speaker, his advising the King to employ the army of Ireland to reduce England. I was assured that this would be proved, before I gave my assent to his accusation. I was confirmed in the same during the prosecution, and fortified in it most of all since Sir Henry Vane's preparatory examinations, by the assurances Mr. Pym gave me that his testimony would be made convincing by some notes of what passed at the Juncto (Cabinet Council) concurrent with it. I understood those notes to be of some other councillor, but they now prove to be but a copy of the same secre- tary's notes, discovered and produced in the manner you have heard, and those only disjointed fragments* of the venomous parts of discourses ; but no results no The following is Nalson's copy of Sir H. Vane's " disjointed fragments " : LORD LIEUTENANT OP IRELAND. No danger in undertaking the war, whether the Scots are to be reduced or not ? To reduce them by force, as the state of this kingdom stands. If his Majesty had not declared himself so soon, he would have declared himself for no war with Scotland. They would have given him plentifully. The City to be called immediately, and quickened to lend one hundred thousand pounds. The Shipping-money to be put vigorously upon collection. o2 84 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. 1.1641. conclusions of councils, which are the only things that secretaries should register, the other being useless, Those two ways will furnish his Majesty plentifully to go on with arms, and war against Scotland. THE MANNER OF THE WAR. Stopping of the trade of Scotland no prejudice to the trade, free with England, for cattle. A Defensive War totally against it. Offensive War into the kingdom. His opinion Few months will make an end of the war : Do you invade them. LAUD, ARCH. If no more money then proposed, how then to make an Offensive War a difficulty. Whether to do nothing and let them alone, or to go on with a vigorous war. L. L. IRELAND. Go vigorously on, or let them alone ; no Defensive War ; loss of honour or reputation ; the quiet of England will hold out long ; you will languish as between Saul and David. Go on with an Offensive War as you first designed, loosed and absolved from all rules of Government. Being reduced to extreme necessity, everything is to be done as power will admit, and that you are to do. They refused ; you are acquitted toward God and man. You have an army in Ireland you may employ here to reduce this kingdom. Confident as anything under heaven, Scotland will not hold out five months one summer, well employed, will do it ; venture all I had, I would carry it or lose it. Whether a Defensive War as impossible as an Offensive War ! or whether to let them alone. L. ARCH. " Tried all ways, and refused all ways. By the law of God you should have subsistence, and ought to have, and lawful to take it. L. COTTINGTON. Leagues abroad they make and will, and therefore the defence of this kingdom. The Lower House are weary both of King and Church. It always hath been just to raise moneys by this unavoidable necessity, therefore to be used being lawful. L. L. IRELAND. Commission of Array to be put in execution. They are to bring them to the borders. In reason of State, you have power, when they are there, to use them at the King's pay. If any of the lords can show a better, let them do it. Town full of nobility ; who will talk of it ; he will make them smart for it. 1641.J CHARLES THE FIRST. 85 except to accuse and to bring men into danger. But this, Sir, which I shall tell you, is that which works with me to an utter overthrow of his evidence. The first time he was questioned to that part which concerns the army of Ireland, he said positively, 'I cannot charge him with that.' Some days after, he was examined a second time, and then repeated that he could say nothing to that. Here we thought we had done with him, till divers weeks afterwards, my Lord of Northumberland, and all others of the Juncto, denying to have heard anything concerning those words of reducing England by the Irish army, it was thought fit to examine the secretary once more, and then he deposes these words to have been said by the Earl of Strafford to his Majesty, 'You have an army in Ireland, which you may employ here to reduce this kingdom/ Now he who twice upon oath, with time for recollection, could not remember anything of such a business, might well the third time misremember somewhat ; and the differ- ence of one letter, ' here' for 'there/ or 'that' for 'this/ quite alters the case : the latter, also, being the more probable, since all confess that the debate then was concerning a war with Scotland." Lord Digby then proceeded to observe that the proof of that charge failing, he considered no other charge in the impeachment amounted to treason. " I do not say," he added, " but the rest may represent him a man as worthy to die, and perhaps worthier, than many a traitor. I do not say, but they may justly direct us to enact that they shall be treason for the future ; but God keep me from giving judgment of death on any man, and of ruin to his innocent posterity, upon a law made d posteriori. 86 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Let the mark be set on the door where the plague is, and then let him that will enter, die."* Whoever reads the evidence now, when the spirit of partisanship has ceased to have any influence upon the judgment, and when it is no longer smarting under the inflictions suggested by the despotism of which the Earl was the advocate, must coincide in opinion with his assailant, who thus declared that the ground of his opinion against the Earl had " vanished away." Nor was that assailant alone in his retraction ; for the most learned lawyer of his age, he who adopted for his motto, " Liberty concerning all things," and whom all nations concur in honouring, withdrew also from being a manager of the prosecution, and voted against the Bill of Attainder. The name of Selden occurs in all the committees appointed to search for precedents of attainders, preparing articles of accusation, holding conferences with the Lords, and other preliminary arrangements. He was even one of the committee of free conference with the Peers after the Earl had given in his answers to the charges, but then, convinced pro- bably that the proofs had failed, his connection with the impeachment seems to have terminated. Clarendon says, that Selden was " designed by the House of Com- mons to be one of Strafford's accusers ;" but Mr. Glyn, from the time just mentioned, occupied the station where Selden probably would have appeared, f Selden had arrived at that sound conclusion even be- fore he had heard the legal argument of Mr. Lane, and the admirable observations with which the noble prisoner concluded his defence ; and he remained unchanged in * Speeches of this great Parliament, 218. t Rushworth's Trial of Strafford, 3338. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 87 opinion after listening to the replies of Glyn and Pym, and to the lengthy argument of Oliver St. John. The address of Strafford was a master-piece of elo- quence, in which, after annotating upon the evidence, and pointing out the danger of constructive treason, he concluded with this forcible appeal to the discretion and justice of his judges : " May your lordships be pleased to have that regard to the Peerage of Eng- land as never to suffer yourselves to be put upon moot points, upon constructions of laws not clear, nor known. If there must be a trial of wits, I beseech your lordships that the subject may be something else than of your lives and your honours. The fear troubles me, that for my sins, not for my treasons, it may be my misfortune, that my precedent may bring that dis- advantage upon the whole kingdom. My lords, I be- seech you, do not through me wound the interests of the commonwealth. Do not put greater difficulty upon the Ministers of State, than that with cheerfulness they may serve the King and the State ; for, if you will examine them by every grain, or every little weight, the public affairs of the kingdom will be left waste, for no man will meddle with them that hath wisdom, and honour, and fortune to lose. " My lords, I have now troubled your lordships much more than I should have done, were it not for the interest of those pledges which a saint in heaven left me. I would be loth, my lords "- This remembrance of the deceased mother of his children was too much even for his undaunted spirit ; tears came to his relief, but the sentence remained unfinished. After a brief pause he continued, " What I forfeit for myself is nothing, 88 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. but that my indiscretion should bring forfeitures upon them wounds me very deeply. My lords, be pleased to pardon my infirmity ; something more I should have said, but I shall not be able. And now, my lords, for myself, I thank God that I have been taught by his good blessing, that the afflictions of this present life are not to be compared with that eternal weight of glory that shall be revealed to us hereafter ; and so, my lords, even so, with all humility, and with all tranquillity of mind, I do submit myself clearly and freely to your judgments ; and whether that righteous judgment shall be to life or to death, 'Te Deum laudamus; Te Deum confitemur/" He paused, and raising his hands and eyes to heaven, added, before he sat down, " In te, Domine, confido : ne confundar in eternum." Thus, adds one of his friends, did this great man deliver his defence, and with a grace so inimitable and peculiar to himself as wrought, for the time, admiration and compassion even in his enemies : and pity it is that it cannot be found in the power of art to rescue from oblivion that part of eloquence which consists in action. Even Whitelocke records, that never any other man acted such a part, in such a theatre, with greater reason, judgment, and temper, or with a greater grace in all his words and gestures, than did this great and excellent person ; and he moved the hearts of all his auditors, some few excepted, to remorse and pity.* * Nalsoii, II. 123 ; Whitelocke, 43, &c. Denham, probably a spectator of the trial, says " So did he move our passions, some were known To wish, for the defence, the crime their own. Now private pity strove with public hate, Reason with rage, and eloquence with fate." 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 89 Among the few thus excepted was the stoical Baillie ; for though he admits that of the Earl's " speech full two hours and one half long," the concluding half hour was pathetic " as ever comedian did upon the stage," and that " doubtless, if he had grace or civil goodness, he is a most elegant man," yet the old Scotch Principal descended to misinterpret and belie the dauntless victim before him. " One passage made the speech most spoken of; his breaking off in weeping and silence, when he spoke of his first wife. Some took it for a true defect of memory ; others, and the most part, for a notable part of his rhetoric ; some, that true grief and remorse at that remembrance had stopped his mouth ; for, they say," (such is the usual prelude to a lie which the retailer disbelieves whilst he circulates), " they say, that his first lady, the Earl of Clare's sister, being with child, finding one of his whores' letters, brought it to him, and chiding him therefore, he struck her on the breast, whereof shortly she died." Glyn and Pym wisely requested an adjournment for half an hour, before they entered upon their reply, for this delay would be of as much importance to them in calming the excited feelings of their auditors as in allow- ing them time to arrange their course of argument. That argument failed in establishing their point that any or all of the Earl's offences amounted to treason, and if they had succeeded in shaking the confidence of any one in the correctness of this conclusion, that confidence must have been re-established by the able argument of the Earl's leading counsel, Mr. Lane. He showed beyond all power of refutation, that acts of injustice, committed ignorantly or even maliciously, do riot in any legal sense 90 THE FAIEFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. amount to a subversion of the laws or to treason, other- wise probably every judge might be proved a traitor, for to err was an incident of man's nature. To Mr. Lane's argument and precedents the House of Commons vouch- safed no reply, pretending as an excuse for their in- ability to confute, that it was beneath their dignity to argue against a private lawyer.*' 5 " It cannot be denied that Mr. Pym's speech was an able though too diffuse pourtrayal of the consequences arising from arbitrary government, nor that his arguments against excuses for evil, grounded on necessity and policy, are sufficiently cogent, and his peroration most bitter against his friend of former days. "Nothing can be more just," are his words, " than that he should perish by the justice of that law which he would have sub- verted ; neither will this be a new way of blood, for there are marks enough whereby to trace this law to the very original of the kingdom ; and if it hath not been put in execution, as he alledgeth, for 240 years, that is because that during that time a man hath not been bred bold enough to commit such crimes as these." He would have proceeded in the same keen tone, pressing for the Earl's life, but that " to humble the man, God let his memory fail him : his papers he looked on," adds a friendly eye-witness, " but they could not help him," so he hurried to a close, f Pym was too practised an orator to have been con- fused from mere failure of memory, and we may believe, therefore, that his self-command wavered as his eye met the indignant and reproachful glance of Strafford,| and that the remembrance of former friendship, and the very Clarendon, I. 178. f Baillie'a Letters, I. 348. I State Trials. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 91 aspect of greatness struggling so magnanimously against adversity may have subdued, for the time, even " the gravity and animosity " of Pym. These arguments occupied the whole daytime of the 13th of April, but the Commons had predetermined not to press for judgment upon the articles of impeachment, and had introduced, three days previously, the bill of attainder against the Earl, which has been mentioned already ; a harsh, but by no means an unusual course, being, as Blackstone well defines it, a new law, to all intents and purposes, made pro re not a. This bill has been already noticed as having passed the House of Com- mons on the 21st of April, 204 votes being in its favour opposed by only fifty-nine, and it was immediately car- ried up to the House of Lords by Pym " with special recommendation for expedition in regard of the import- ance of the bill, and that the House was ready to justify its legality if required." The Lords did require this justification, and on the 29th, Oliver St. John was heard at their bar in its support.* His speech, of three hours duration, has been ridiculed by some as replete with curious erudition, and some portions have been justly condemned as barbarous ; but as a whole, it was sound and convincing. He failed in showing that any of the articles amounted to treason, but he clearly estab- lished the legality of the bill of attainder, citing many * Rushworth, IV. 58. Baillie (I. 348) says that Lord Savile, a one of the stoutest lords in all England for the country and our cause at first, but since we made him a councillor, clearly the Court-way for Strafford and all his designs ; thought the receiving of the Bill into the House prejudicial to the privilege of the Peers." It resulted in a quarrel between him and the Earls of Essex and Stamford ; but no duel ensued. The introduction of the Bill was certainly declining to abide by the decision of the Peers as Judges. 92 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. precedents in its support, and concluding by observing " We receive, as just, the other laws and statutes made by our ancestors ; they are the rules we go by in other cases ; why should we differ from them in this alone 1" It is recorded that, during its delivery, the Earl by his gestures " expressed greater eloquence than marked this prolix discourse/' but he was refused the liberty to reply. That refusal was unjust, for parties being heard in support of the bill, he also should have been heard in opposition, who was so fatally interested in its rejection. It must for ever remain uncertain whether when St. John closed his address a majority of Peers were resolved in favour of the Earl's death, for on the 1st of May, with the usual illfortune of the Stuarts, Charles pre- cipitated the fate of the friend whom he so earnestly desired to save. On that day he came to the House of Peers, and having summoned the members of the Commons, thus addressed the assembled legislature : MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, I HAD not any intention to speak of this business, which causes me to come here to-day, which is the impeachment of the Earl of Strafford, because I would do nothing that might hinder your occasions ; but now as it comes to pass, that of necessity I must have part in that judgment, I think it most necessary for me to declare my conscience therein. I am sure you all know that I have been present at the hearing of this great business, from one end to the other ; that which I have to declare unto you is shortly this, that, in my conscience, I cannot condemn him of high treason. It is riot fit for me to argue the business : I am sure 1641.] CHAELES THE FIRST. 93 you will not expect it. A positive doctrine best becomes the mouth of a prince. Yet I must tell you three great truths ; which I am sure nobody can know so well as myself : First, That I never had any intention of bringing over the Irish army into England, nor ever was advised by any body to do so. Secondly, There never was any debate before me, neither in public council nor at private committee, of the disloyalty and disaffection of my English subjects ; nor ever had I any suspicion of them. Thirdly, I was never counselled by any to alter the least of any of the laws of England, much less to alter all the laws. Nay, I must tell you this, I think nobody durst ever be so impudent as to move it to me ; for if they had, I should have put such a mark upon them, and made them such an example, that all posterity should know my intention by it ; for my intention was ever to govern according to law, and not otherwise. I desire to be rightly understood : I told you, in my conscience, I cannot condemn him of high treason, yet I cannot say I can clear him of misdemeanor ; there- fore, I hope that you may find a way for to satisfy justice and your own fears, and not to press upon my conscience. My lords, I hope you know what a tender thing con- science is. Yet I must declare unto you, that to satisfy my people, I would do great matters ; but, in this of conscience, no fear, no respect whatsoever, shall ever make me go against it. Certainly I have not so ill- deserved of the Parliament at this time, that they should press me in this tender point ; and therefore I cannot expect that you will go about it. Nay, I must confess, for matter of misdemeanor, I 94 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. am so clear in that, that though I will not chalk out the way, yet let me tell you, that I do think my Lord Strafford is not fit, hereafter, either to serve me or the commonwealth in any place of trust ; no, not so much as that of a constable. Therefore, I leave it to you, my lords, to find some such way as to bring me out of this great strait, and keep yourselves and the kingdom from such inconveniences. Certainly, he that in his con- science thinks him guilty of high treason, may condemn him of misdemeanor.* This speech was delivered at the suggestion of the Earl of Bristol and Lord Savile, who, if they had been Strafford's most subtle enemies could not have devised for him an act of greater disservice. Even in his last pathetic letter to his master, among other outpourings of the heart, he records his wish that his Majesty might have been pleased to spare " that declaration on Saturday last."f But the well-intentioned act was then irrevo- cable the privileges of Parliament had been violated ; the King, to save the most arbitrary of ministers, hac dared to disregard all Parliamentary rules, had endea- voured to prevent the Peers from sanctioning a Bil passed by the Commons ; and the unanswerable questions must have risen upon the minds even of Strafford's bes * Journals of the House of Lords. t Clarendon says that the King took this imprudent step by the advice of Lord Say, and despite a request from Strafford that he would not do that which would assuredly be to his prejudice. History of the Rebellion, I. 201. The autho- rity for the two other Peers being the advisers of this proceeding, is the Queen's Chaplain. See his letter, Rushworth's Trial of Stra/ord, 751. The Peers very justly objected, that " If his Majesty might take'noticeof what Bills were passing in either House, and declare his own opinion, it was to forejudge their counsels, and was the greatest obstruction of justice could be imagined." 1641.] CHARLES THE FIBST. 95 friends among the Peers ; " Why is this breach of our privileges ? why endeavour to check the free exercise of our votes ? why not wait to exercise his own pre- rogative and reject the Bill if we pass it ? " "The Commons returned to their House in great malcontentment, and Mr. Pym, lest they should break out in some rash distemper, advised the House to adjourn till Monday, without speaking of any purposes. His counsel was followed."* The intervening day unfortunately was the Sabbath, which, instead of being considered by Strafford's enemies a day of rest from the " way of blood," gave them an opportunity of rousing the people clamorously to demand the life of " the great delinquent." Even White- locke confesses that this was the case. " This day, being Sunday," he says, " from some pulpits was preached the necessity of justice upon some great delinquents now to be acted"\ " And the next day," this is his record of the consequence of these addresses, " an armed rabble numbering 5 or 6000 assembled in Palace Yard, and took possession of the entrances to the House of Parliament, stopping every carriage, with hideous cries for Justice and Execution." These words became the cry of the rioters, and were made a kind of test for every Peer Baillie's Letters, I. 351. t Whitelocke's Memorials, 43. The Court was occupied this day in celebrat- ing the marriage of the King's eldest daughter, Princess Mary, to the Prince of Orange. " The Prince of Wales and Duke of York led her to the chapel, con- voyed with a number of ladies of her own age, of nine and ten years, all in cloth of silver. The Prince of Orange went in before, with the ambassadors, and his cousins, Tremouille and Nassau. The King gave him his bride. Good Bishop Wren made the marriage. At night, before all the Court, they went to bed, in the Queen's chamber. A little after the King and Queen liail bidden the bridegroom good night, as their son, he, as it was appointed, arose and went to his bed in the King's chamber." aiUie"s Letters, I. 351. 96 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. as he arrived. " The Lord Steward (Earl of Arundel) arriving, some of the most insolent stepped up, demanding of him " Justice and Execution," and adding " Justice we have already ; we desire execution, and will have it." He replied that " They should have justice, if they would have patience ; " but they rejoined, " No, we have had, already, too much patience : longer we will not stay, and before you part from us we will have a promise of execution." He told them he was going to the House for that purpose, and that he would endea- vour to content them : " whereupon some of them cried out, ' We will take his word for once ;' and so, with difficulty enough, he got to the House."'* The Peers continued sitting until twelve o'clock, and then most of them returned from the House by water, but a few, among whom were the Earls of Holland and Bristol, undauntedly again entered their carriages. When the first named, a courtier and Lord Chamber- lain, was recognised by the crowd, their cries were redoubled ; but some running up to the coach of the other said " For you, my Lord of Bristol, we know you are an apostate from the cause of Christ, and our mortal enemy. We do not crave justice, therefore, from you ; but shall shortly crave justice on you and your false son, the Lord Digby." Some of them more violent even than the rest traitorously threatened, " If we have not Strafford's life, we will have the King's ;" whilst others, little thinking they were preserving them for the respect of future ages, posted lists of those who had voted in the House of Commons against the passing of the Bill of Attainder, entitling each list " These are Straffordians, Nalson, II. 188. UMl.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 97 betrayers of their country," and adding as a commen- tary ; " These and all other enemies of the common- wealth should perish with Strafford."* The House of Commons was not behind in promoting the popular agitation ; and even the House of Lords sustained them by joining in signing a protestation, afterwards circulated throughout England, with the significant intimation, that those who refused to sub- scribe it, would be noted as disaffected to the Parlia- ment. The preamble of this protestation declares, as facts, such circumstances as it was known would kindle the popular fury the increase of Popery, the dangerous practices against Protestantism, that " even during the sitting of Parliament, endeavours were being made to subvert the fundamental laws," with vague allusions to " wicked councils, practices, plots, and conspiracies ; " the sufferings of the people from illegal taxations ; jealousies fomented ; the Popish army in Ireland ; two other armies consuming the very bowels of the nation ; * Nakon, II. 188 ; Parl. Hist. IX. 288. The following are the names that were thus basely held up to public execration. It is true that fifty-nine really comprised the minority, but only fifty-six were thus posted ; whilst Nalson and Rushworth enumerate two or three less ; of the fifty-six, one or more were erroneously inserted, as in the case of Sir John Strangeways, who was not in London : Lord Digby, Lord Compton, Lord Buckhurst, Sir Thomas Fan- shaw, Sir Robert Hatton, Sir Edward Alford, Sir Nicholas Slanning, Sir Henry Slingsby, Sir William Portman, Sir Thomas Danby, Sir George Wentworth, Sir Frederick CornwaUis, Sir William Carnaby, Sir Richard Winn, Sir Gervase Clifton, Sir W. Widdrington, Sir Peter Wentworth, Sir William Pcnnyman, Sir John Strangeways, Sir Patricius Curwen, Sir Richard Lee, Mr. Gervase Holies, Mr. Sidney Godolphin, Mr. Cook, Mr. Coventry, Mr. Kirton, Sergeant Hyde, Mr. Taylor, Mr. W. Weston, Mr. Griffith, Mr. Scawon, Mr. Bridgeman, Mr. Fettyplace, Dr. Turner, Mr. Pollard, Captain Price, Mr. Trevanion, Mr. Jean, Mr. Edgecumbe, Mr. Ben Westou, Mr. Selden, Mr. Alford, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Herbert, Captain Digby, Captain Charles, Dr. Parry, Mr. R. Anmdel, Mr. Newport, Mr. Holbom, Mr. Nowcl, Mr. Chicheley, Mr. Mallory, Mr. Porter, Mr. White, Mr. Warwick. VOL. H. II 98 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. and an endeavour to bring one army against the Parlia- ment. To thwart these designs, the protestation pledged the subscriber to defend " the doctrine of the Church of England," the King, the power and privilege of Parlia- ment, and the rights and liberties of the subject. " The bishops have put their hands to it," says Baillie, " and we like it all the worse," because it implied, that by maintaining the doctrine of the Church of England, they understood that Episcopacy was to be sustained. It is now quite clear that many of the particulars in that preamble were based on truth. There is no doubt, from existing documents, that the Court of France was pressed to make an armed demonstration in favour of the royal prerogative. " The good King and Queen," said the confessor of the latter, writing to Mr. Mon- tague, at Paris, " are left very naked ; the Puritans, if they durst, would pull the good Queen in pieces. Can the good King of France suffer a daughter of France, his sister, and her children, to be thus affronted 1 Can the wise Cardinal (Mazarine) endure England and Scot- land to unite, and not be able to discern, in the end, it is like they will turn head against France 1 A good stirring ambassador might do good here."* It is not probable that the Court of France would have been hurried into an invasion of England to save the life of a peer, but it is evident that hope even lingered in that direction. * This letter was written by Father Phillips, May 6, 1641, and was inter- cepted by the Parliament. Mr. Montague is described by Clarendon as " much trusted by both their Majesties, and was thought to have a very good place in the favour of the Q,ueen Regent (of France), and in the opinion of the Cardinal." Mr. Pym, at a conference with the House of Lords, on the 4th of May, told them that " the French were drawing down their army in all haste to the sea-side." 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 99 More active measures were taken amongst Stratford's own countrymen for the same purpose. The army at York, we have seen, in a letter already quoted, were daily becoming more friendly to him, and as clamorous for pay, as the country people (on whom the soldiers were billeted,) became more distressed, and more urgent for remuneration. These, and other matters of public in- terest, are so fully commented upon in the letters which follow, that the series is inserted without interruption, though by so doing we somewhat outrun the current of events. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY SINGULAR GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, BARON OF CAMERON, AT HIS LODGINGS, AT THE SARACEN'S HEAD, IN KING STREET, WESTMINSTER. MOST NOBLE LORD, THOUGH I suppose my lines unnecessary, if not troublesome to your lordship, that hath all actions represented by clearer intelligences ; yet my affection, which is in continual motion towards your lordship, must still assume some pretence to present me to your lord- ship, seeing I cannot yet get out of this troublesome country to give my personal attendance, which I have much desired. By the last post I intended to have writ, but hearing of a letter from your lordship, which Mr. Lawson had sent home to my house, thinking I had been gone home, I delayed till Mr. Mauleverer* went, who now returns to the Parliament. Probably this was Sir Thomas Mauleverer, member for Boroughbridge. He was one of the High Court of Justice, and signed the death-warrant of Charles the First. H2 100 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Since your lordship's letter, which Mr. Lawson brought down in March, there hath been a muster taken of this army, and all the companies viewed, both by the Muster-master General or his deputies, and by some select gentlemen of the country. I cannot well judge why the gentlemen were joined in that service, unless it were to discern and make a certain computa- tion what money was due to the country for billet, and how much to every village. This, if it were intended, I fear is not so exactly certified, but that many par- ticular persons, and some whole villages will be losers, either through ignorance or neglect of constables ; or because that many soldiers who, at the time of that muster, were either dead or run away, were, before their death or running away, kept for many weeks by their hosts, who are not yet paid, nor like to be hereafter, if it have not been very cautiously certified. For the number and strength of the army, it is evident to your lordship, the certificates being all returned to you by those that mustered them. Yet your lordship, who hath seen service abroad, could not but observe the ways by which commanders use to help themselves upon the like occasions ; and your lordship will easily believe that the like acts have been used here, and indeed it cannot be prevented, if they list to attempt them, without insufferable distaste be given to the commanders. Upon that muster they had a month's pay ; and it seems some information is given to the Lord General (Earl of Newcastle) that the country billetters had not their due paid out of it by the captains, which may in some particular places happen, because that month's pay was for the month ending 8th January, and since that 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 101 time many companies have been necessitated to remove into other quarters ; and now the hosts where they are billeted expect payment out of this pay, and complain if they have none : and on the other side, the old hosts that kept them in December, if they do not rightly understand the case, and send for the month's billet, may peradventure be neglected by some par- ticular captains, and so occasion just complaint. But I perceive the country think themselves generally wronged in this, that the captains do pay them only after the rate of two shillings and sixpence a week for each soldier's billet, whereas three shillings and six- pence was promised and expected ; and this will also cause a just and great complaint, for in the whole the difference will amount to a very great sum of money. Since that muster taken, they have been all fearful of disbanding without pay ; and that fear begot the letter sent us by Captain Chidley ; and greater dis- tempers were likely to arise, insomuch that many men feared they would have given their men free quarter in the country, and there were rumours spread abroad that the Scots intended to possess themselves of York- shire, and some probable causes of the report were dispersed with it, so that many of the soldiers judged it a providence to seize upon York and Hull, to keep out the Scots. These clouds swelled bigger by some inquiry made among the captains, to understand how they stood affected in these dangerous times, which was at first supposed to be from the King, but in the end discovered to be upon some private man's directions, and peradventure out of a needless curiosity. But these grounds occasioned a general consultation of the 102 THE FAIEFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. commanders at York, this Assize-week, where most part of them were ; and what resolutions it might have brought out is not known to me, for very happily they met with advertisement that the Parliament hath provided 120,000/., which is speedily to come down to pay the commanders in full, and the surplus of pay due to the common soldiers, besides the billet due to the country, which I perceive cannot yet be paid. This care and providence of the Parliament hath settled those fluent humours of the soldiery, and dispersed those mists which the country feared would have fallen upon them in bitter showers ; and the expectation of the Portugal voyage doth not a little conduce to the quieting of many of their spirits. Now, my lord, if the army be disbanded and the billet-money left unpaid, there is no question but many men will be fearful of losing it, yet to continue them here without pay till subsidies can be raised to pay the billet, will in the mean time double the charge, and leave the country still in the same state it is, that is, unpaid ; and, what is worse, constrain them to bear the army still upon trust, which truly they cannot with- out utter ruin, for the face of the war which hath but looked on us, doth already unsettle the industry of the country; and the continuance of it in this manner with an unpaid army, which is an enemy to all countries, will quite dishearten the laborious subject, and invite the looser sort to follow the ways that will protect them in spoil. And therefore the continuance of any com- panies at all must be avoided, if the felicity of the subjects, and the wealth of the land, be intended ; for certainly, this kingdom is yet of such a frame and 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 103 constitution, as cannot admit of armies nor war within it, without hazard of destruction. And the people here do generally of the two evils choose the less ; and so they will all declare, if it be put to them, that it is to have both the armies (English and Scottish) disbanded, and stay for the billet till the Parliament can provide for them. Yet certainly it wiU be a great hindrance to many families (I mean the forbearance of the billet), for when the soldiers came first, many poor people and alehouse keepers of small stock were willing to entertain them, in hope of benefit ; and now they have run out their own stock, but are deeply engaged to others, both for corn, malt, flesh, and other articles. In that regard it will not only be needful that a proclamation come down to assure the people of the time and manner of their payment, but also that some monies be taken up, either of the rich trading towns in this county and other parts of England or else at London, and with it to discharge one-half of the billet to enable the poorer sort this summer in their vocations, and encourage all men else with hopes of true payment of the remainder at Michaelmas. And then the number of subsidies, which I perceive must be eight at least, will at first seem a terrible charge to the country, but of them there is an unavoidable necessity, to which ah 1 men must submit, and this country* must bear its share, unless your lordship, with the rest of your assistants, can make the House sensible of the great loss generally sustained by the insolvencies of the army, and in that regard procure the country to be wholly exempted from paying In many other places Mr. Stockdalc uses the word " country " instead of " county," which is here intended. 104 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. the four last subsidies. Or, if that be impossible to be obtained, then to get the business so ordered, that before any subsidies be paid here, the country may receive the billet-money the better to enable them to pay ; for the billet is indeed for the most part due to the subsidy-men who are forced to credit the, poor hosts, and they to credit the soldier. And though the Ship-money be condemned by both Houses, and entry peradventure made of their judg- ment, repealing their former judgment against the subject in Mr. Hampden's case ; yet I conceive it would give great satisfaction to the common people, and all men else in general, and be an encouragement to them in paying their subsidies, if an act declaratory were passed in the Parliament, and published in print; for the subjects declare against that and all other the like charges hereafter. And I assure your lordship, it will be no small encouragement to the subject, to see justice done upon that great engine the Lord Strafford, who hath in a manner battered down their laws and liberties, and levelled them with the most servile nations. His friends are all hopeful and almost confident of his deliverance, yet methinks it is impossible that good language and elocu- tion can wipe off the guilt of his crimes. Rich apparel makes not beauty it only dazzles weak sights. Injus- tice and corruption have been punished in this land with death, and certainly oppression and tyranny in such a high strain as they are charged on him, are offences of a transcendant nature, and deserve punish- ment (if any there were) greater than death, and confiscation of estate. The country generally, and 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 105 especially those well affected in religion, are sensible that to bring him to trial for his offences hath already cost them GOOjOOO/.* and now (your lordship will con- ceive) if he should by any artifice escape a deserved censure of the crimes proved against him, the people will be extremely discontent and murmur against it ; and, besides, it is hoped that the confiscation of his estate and others that are delinquents, will either pay the Scots or stop some other gap made by these turbulent times. Upon Wednesday the 21st of April, we have appointed to meet, and assess the subsidies here in Claro, of which I shall give your lordship further account by the next. In the mean time I hope your lordship will pardon these tedious lines ; and I shall wish much increase of honour and all happiness to your lordship, and remain, Your lordship's faithfully devoted servant, THOS. STOCKDALE. Wth April, 1641. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY ESPECIAL GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, BARON OF CAMERON, AT HIS LODGING IN KING STREET, AT THE SIGN OF THE SARACEN'S HEAD, WESTMINSTER. MOST NOBLE LORD, YOUR lordship's letter of the 4th of May came to me in Lancashire, where I then was about the bring- ing home of my wife and children, which I have done, in hope that the army would have been disbanded at the end of the month which concluded 1 6th May : and * The expense of maintaining the two armies. 106 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. then leaving my family at home, my resolution was pre- sently to have taken my journey to London. But now beyond our expectations, we find the army continued here for a new month ; and the soldiery, so very impe- rious, as my wife will by no means consent to have me leave her alone amongst them. No argument can remove her fears, so that I am now hopeless of seeing your lordship at London (which I much desire) until the army remove. I received with much joy the protestation of the House sent to me by your lordship, and do most heartily join myself in it, as a matter mainly conducing to the pre- servation of our religion and state. I was always of opinion, and so I expressed myself to Mr. Bryan Stapleton and some others, well affected, before the Par- liament begun, that such an association must be" made, both to prevent the breach of the Parliament, and also to distinguish the subjects' affections ; and now I am full of hope that we shall enjoy our religion and laws inviolate, seeing we resolve not to suffer them to be altered. I am persuaded the whole kingdom doth willingly embrace the protestation, the Catholic party only excepted, and I think also it will decline the number of them ; for in Lancashire I was told by some of the ministry there, that divers recusants of mean estate did already resort to the church, who had ab- sented themselves for many years. I could not impart the protestation to Sir Henry Goodrick till my return from Lancashire, but I have now been with him ; and he tells me he likes it well, and will join in it. He showed me that he had received it printed by some directions from your lordship, for upon the paper his 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 107 name was written with your lordship's character.* The exceptions against it are of no moment ; and if some order were sent to have it publicly tendered to all man- ner of people, in churches or some such other assemblies, it would be generally embraced ; and a list of the refusers' names should also be made up at every meeting, that so the strength of the adverse faction might appear. Now the Earl of Strafford is removed out of the way, I suppose the other business of the kingdom will receive freer passage and quicker dispatch ; and amongst the rest, that great question about ecclesiastical discipline and government of the Church by bishops, &c. I hear the House inclines to remove, or at least to reform them ; and the King (as it is said) is nice in accepting their temporalities ; and therefore I think it would be an act worthy of that great council, to redeem the tithes from the laymen that hold impropriations, and to give them those lands of bishops, deans, and chapters, in lieu of them, and bestow the tithes upon the Church again. I am persuaded those lands would be sufficient to repurchase ah 1 the tithes, and then the ministry would be well provided of maintenance, if an equal division be con- trived of the parsonages, because they differ much in value. Upon Monday last my wife and I were invited to dine at Harry Benson's, and we went, and there met Sir Francis Trapps, Mr. Robert Trapps and his wife, Mr. John Plumpton and his wife, and a captain of his regi- ment, and Mr. William Hill, that hath relation of service * The Goodricks of Ribstone Hall were great sufferers for their loyalty. The Sir Henry here mentioned died in the July following. His son was after- wards Lieutenant General of Ordnance, and Envoy from Charles the Second to the Spanish Court. 108 THE FAIEFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. to your lordship. After dinner I perceived Harry Benson having got Mr. Hill apart, begun to bluster out that the town of Knaresborough were about to petition the Par- liament against your lordship, touching some monies raised for the trained soldiers of that town, for which a lay (ballot) was cast, and your lordship signed and subscribed some directions to the lay-bill. I coming accidentally to the discourse, wished Mr. Hill (who seemed moved with it) not to trouble himself, for I conceived it a matter of no importance ; and that if Mr. Benson should attempt anything in it, I would procure more hands of the town to subscribe a petition in contradiction, (declar- ing that the town was not grieved with any such matter, nor did not complain of it,) than he should procure to subscribe his request, with which Mr. Benson was something moved, but passed it over in a jesting fashion. What he shall attempt I will counterwork, if I hear of it any more. But however, though he never move further in it, I apprehend the proposing such matter to proceed from an ancient cankered ill affection in him to your lordship. 4 '' The next week we meet about the * Henry Benson did not profit by his enmity to Lord Fairfax ; for he was expelled from the House by a vote, on the 2nd of the November following, and declared unworthy and incapable of ever sitting in Parliament, for selling Protections to men who were not his household servants. The rapid changes at this time in the representation of Knaresborough are rather particular. Mr. Benson's coadjutor was Sir Henry Slingsby, Bart., who, in the words of his memo- rialist, " after fourteen weeks' attendance in the stormy atmosphere of Parlia- ment, returned to the superintendance of his buildings and other domestic avocations," and does not appear to have taken his seat again, for he was voted, September 6, 1 642, unfit for Parliament, because he neglected its duties, and had signed an offensive petition. In his place, Mr. Stockdale, the writer of the above letter, seems to have been elected. The successor of Mr. Benson was William Deerlove, Esq., but his election was declared void, and Sir William Constable, Bart., was returned in his place. 1641]. CHARLES THE FIRST. 109 taxing of the two later subsidies ; the other two, for the most part, are collected in this wapentake. The collector told me the last week, that he had then above 400/. ready to pay to Mr. Metcalfe of Leeds, by whom he returns his moneys to London ; the rest he may perad- venture be longer in gathering, because the most solvent men have paid already, and the remainder is either due from ill paymasters, or absentees, who will pay much in certificates. For the advancing of our subsidies here I hold it no charge at all to the country, being done with equality amongst ourselves, and all other parts of the kingdom proportionably advanced ; for as the subsidy is greater, so it will come seldomer, and fewer subsidies will serve to supply the occasions of the state ; but if we should here begin to advance before the kingdom do the like in every place, we should make ourselves to bear their burthen : and howsoever, these parts of the country must now be favoured, for the burthen they sustain at this instant is grievous and chargeable, which I know your lordship and your worthy assistants do well consider, and will get redressed in due season. I shall here conclude these lines, wishing unto your lordship much increase of honour and happiness, and am Your lordship's Most faithfully devoted servant, THOMAS STOCKDALE. 27tk May, 1641. 110 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY ESPECIAL GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX. MOST NOBLE LORD, I NEGLECTED writing to your lordship the last week, upon a report of your lordship's coming home, which was spread in the country ; but sending on Friday last to enquire of the certainty from your servant, Mr. Lawson, my man brought me your lordship's of the 8th of this month, which, though it robs me of my hopes of seeing your lordship, yet it enricheth me with the assurance of your lordship's welfare, which to us, your servants in these parts, is a jewel of no small price, and dearly affected. Upon Monday, the 2nd of June, we taxed to two last of four subsidies in Claro ; and yesterday we delivered the estreat to Francis Day and William Hardisty, two of the forest, whom we have made head collectors jointly. Mr. Ingleby took upon him to make up the books for these two subsidies, and by his account, they amount to 482/. 9s. 2d. The two former subsidies, of which Sir Henry Goodrick made up the books, did amount, by his account, to 485 4*. So that your lord- ship will perceive they do not amount to so much as heretofore hath been raised in Claro ; yet, I see it is easy to raise them to the ancient height, when the soldiers shall be taken off us, and the rest of the king- dom shall consent to raise their shares generally to the like proportion. Upon Monday last, being the 14th of June, I received from Mr. Ingleby the order from the Parliament, and the letter from your lordship and NM1.] CHARLES THE FIRST. Ill Mr. Bellasis,* concerning the soldiers' billet due to the country. They had till that time wandered in the south parts of the West Riding, and nothing done in them that I could perceive ; for they came to me without any direction or appointment for effecting the service. So I sent them immediately to Mr. Marwood, with whom they had not been till then ; and I writ to him, desiring a speedy meeting to order that service ; but he was not to be found, so my man left them with Mrs. Marwood, and I never heard from him until yesterday. We met, and Mr. Ingleby also, and made warrants to the head constables to cause the petty constables, with assistance of some of the ablest inhabitants in every constabulary, to make up a true certificate of the names or numbers of officers and soldiers, and of what regiment they were, that have been billeted with any of the inhabitants of their constabularies, respectively, the year last past ; and what is due and unpaid for their diet at that day they make certificate, according to the agreement or promise of the captains or soldiers when they were first received by the country ; and to bring them us at Burrowbridge, on Monday next. For I could not persuade Mr. Marwood to meet at Knaresborough, because he hath business into the North which drew him that way ; and I thought it convenient to have the assistance of a Justice of Peace in it ; and there is none I could rely on but himself. We rather fell upon this course, not joining with the commanders, because I perceive the captains are in every place making up the * Henry Bellasis, Esq., was returned with Lord Fairfax, to represent the county of York. He was disabled from sitting in Parliament, September 6, 1 642, having joined the Royalists. 112 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. billets, and call both the hosts and soldiers to them, but do not call us to join or assist in the service, although the order in Parliament imports that they ought to have joined with us in it ; so they declining us, we think it duty both to the House of Parliament and our country, to endeavour our neighbour's indemnity. We long to see the armies speedily disbanded, to prevent mutinies and other ill consequences of an idle, undisciplined, and unpaid army ; for I know your lordship hears how they have murdered Captain Wythers at Hull, and taken the block-houses to secure themselves, till they constrain a pardon for their barbarous fact ; and ah 1 parties of the country have the same occasion to fear the like mischiefs that hath befallen Hull. We are generally most confi- dent of the care of the House to ease the country, though we know you meet with impediments in so great and important a work, both from the right hand and from the left ; but the delay begets panic fears in those which have no other direction but some rumour to guide their opinions ; so that many say we shall not be eased of the army this summer. Our Parliament man of Knaresborough (Mr. Benson), hath been here above eight weeks ; it seems there is no great want of his assistance in the House. The last week I met him, and asked him what he had done in the petition for the town about their military charges. He told me that the town let the matter rest ; and that he was the only man that dissuaded them from pro- ceeding in it ; so I conceive he finds it will amount to nothing, and therefore waives the pursuit of it. I have got copies of some letters of his which I intend to show your lordship, as soon as I can have the happiness to see Ifi41.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 113 you, either there or here ; that if they will conduce to any good purpose, there may be use made of them, though truly, in my own opinion, I find not much exception that can be taken at them. By the next post, or sooner, if we can get fit convey- ance, your lordship shall receive the certificates touching the billet-money in this wapentake. In the mean time, I present my humble thanks for your lordship's many and noble respects bestowed on me, that am, perpetually, Your lordship's Most faithfully devoted servant, THOS. STOCKDALE. June 18, 1641. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD THE LORD FAIRFAX. MOST NOBLE LORD, THE last week, by the post, I acquainted your lordship with the progress of the order from the Parlia- ment for certifying the billet-money ; and upon Mon- day last we met at Burrowbridge, and there the country brought us in certificates, which were so lame and im- perfect, as are unfit to be returned to the House. In some of them neither captains, colonel, nor number of soldiers mentioned, nor what time the billet-money was due for ; and the constables that brought them were in many places, so ignorant, as they could not instruct us in such things as we demanded and thought neces- sary for the service, so that I think we shall be con- strained either to call them again, or else advise with the commanders to rectify the errors. To that purpose VOL. II. I 114 THE FAIEFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Mr. Ingleby and myself went to Ripon yesterday, but missing of Sir Jacob Ashley,'"" we writ to him, to under- stand if any direction were come to supersede the former, whereby the commanders were appointed with our assistance to make certificates of the billet-money due to the country ; or if he thought it fit, to give them directions to that purpose. To which I even now re- ceived his own answer, that he and Sir John Conyers, and the paymaster, have already sent letters to the gen- tlemen of the country, and published orders, which he supposed we have seen, (though indeed I never saw them,) and therefore, he needs give no new order in that business. I perceive the fear, that this way should be intended in nature of a private muster to discover the strength and number of each company, hath caused some oppo- sition in returning the due numbers of soldiers in some places : and for the rates of diet, I find that the coun- try generally do not exceed the rate of 2s. 6d. the week, unless it be in very few towns, and in places where captains put soldiers to be billetted by such per- sons as were not willing to provide them diet ; and there the party, by the captain's order, pay 3s. 6d. a week to the soldier in money, which, in my opinion, ought to be repaid the full sum, though it be some- thing opposed in Knaresborough by the captain and soldiers. What is due for drink or such like voluntary credit, we do not intend to certify, unless the host and * This officer had then the command of the English army, and was devoted to the King. He was a thorough soldier, had served in the Netherlands and Sweden, and remained firm in his allegiance under every reverse. He was created Baron Reading by Charles. He died in 1651. I fill.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 115 soldier both agree to it. And what is due by the cap- tains and officers, unless it be in some few places, we do not certify, because it is opposed by the captains, and in particular of that kind, one Captain Crofts of the Lord Newport's regiment came to us at Burrow- bridge, and there did so threaten them of Stavely about that particular, as they durst neither give us certificate of that, nor of any other demands ; and we that sat to receive the certificates did not escape his menacing lan- guage. And Captain Kirton, another of my Lord Newport's regiment, in a menacing manner told them of Usborne, that demanded allowances for necessaries and billet taken by himself and his officers, that if he did not restrain his company, they would come and pull down the town. And seeing the exact certificate cannot yet be made up, I have extracted a brief of all the billet-money, which I here enclosed send, and I hope it will serve in some reasonable manner to give satisfaction to your lordship and Mr. Bellasis, and any other whom you shall think necessary to make it known unto, for the good of the country. For I suppose some direction must be given to make stay of so much out of each commander's pay as is due to the country for them ; wherein this abstract will be a reasonable good direction till the larger certificate be made up, which shall be as speedily as we can. And in the meantime, I make tender of my observances to your lordship, and remain, Your lordship's Most faithfully devoted servant, THOMAS STOCKDALE. 2&th Jwnt, 1641. i 2 116 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Before I sealed up this letter I received your lord- ship's of the 22nd of June, and am not a little afflicted to hear of your lordship's indisposition, in that which I pray heartily may be speedily restored. I could wish your lordship the benefit of the fresh air and recreations of the country, if the presence of the army here did not occasion so many distempers, as it would allow your lordship little quiet. But yet I think it would much conduce to your health, if your lordship should retire to Windsor or Hartford for a while, until the malady were settled and the humour abated which now afflicts you. The close air in London, and your lordship's sedentary course in Parliament, are both of them enemies of jour health, and must for a while be avoided. 1641.J CHARLES THE FIRST. 117 CHAPTER IV. Goring's Plot The King tampers with Hyde Mr. Percy implicated Efforts to save Stratford Attempt to effect his escape Peers linger over the Bill of Attainder It is passed The King's consultations with the Bishops and others Dr. Juxon's faithful advice Strafford's Letter to the King The Queen presses for his execution Charles gives his assent Consequent resignation of his Councillors The People surprised at the consent The King's extreme sorrow The consent announced to the Parliament Copy of the Bill of Attainder The King's weak attempts to save Strafford Consults Denzil Holies Writes to the Peers Their answer unfavourable The King's consent communicated to Strafford His fearless preparation for death His farewell Letters to his Secretary, and Sir G. Ratcliff His Letter of forgiveness to his Judges His last Letter to his Son Arch- bishop Usher attends him His anxiety for his friends Wishes to have a parting interview with Laud The morning of his Execution Progress to the Scaffold The closing scene His Character and Habits. THE " inquiries made among the captains to under- stand how they stood affected," noticed in the last Chapter, though made through private channels, had their origin from the Court, and probably were con- nected with that negociation, or conspiracy, which had for its object Strafford's rescue. This plot, usually known as Lord Goring's, because he was the chief evidence, so implicated many of the royal household, that both Houses united in addressing the King and requesting his command that none so employed should leave this country " without leave from his Majesty, and with the humble advice of Parliament, until the 118 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641 examinations were perfected." The King consented to this request ; and if no other proof of guilt existed, it is enough to justify grave suspicion, that Mr. Henry Percy, Mr. Henry Jermyn, Sir John Suckling, Mr. William Davenant, Captain Palmer, Sir Edward Wardour, and Captain Billingsley, immediately absconded. Mr. Percy, brother to the Earl of Northumberland, in this as in many other plots and efforts for the preserva- tion of Strafford, was the primary instigator. He began by winning an easy conversion in Mr. Hyde, the future Lord Clarendon, who tells us that " whilst things were thus depending, one morning, when there was a con- ference with the Lords, and he was walking in the House of Commons during its temporary adjournment, Mr. Percy came to him with a message that the King wished to speak with him, and would have him that afternoon to come to him." After some coquetting, Mr. Hyde promised to be at the palace at the hour appointed, and had a private interview with Charles. It could not be expected that Mr. Hyde should have left a record of all that passed, but he has told us enough to convince us that he obtained his price. The King thanked him for his past services, " discoursed of the passion of the House, and of the bill then brought in against Episco- pacy, asking him ' whether he thought they would be able to carry it ? ' to which Hyde answered, ' he believed they could not ; at least that it would be very long first/ ' Nay/ replied the King ; ' if you'll look to it, that they do not carry it before I go to Scotland, when the armies shall be disbanded, I will undertake for the Church after that time.' * Well then,' said Hyde, ' by the grace of God, it will not be in much danger,' and so 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 119 they parted, the one a proselyte to the Court, and the other ' very gracious.' " * * Clarendon's Autobiography, 42. Mr. Hyde was speedily called upon to advocate the Court's wishes ; for he tells us that, " In the afternoon of the day when the Conference had been in the Painted Chamber upon the Lord Presi- dent's Court at York, (April 26), going to a place called Pickadilly, (which was a fair house for entertainment and gaming, with handsome gravel walks with shade, and where were an upper and lower bowling-green, whither very many of the nobility and gentry of the best quality resorted, both for exercise and conversation,) as soon as ever he came into the ground, the Earl of Bedford came to him, and after some short compliments upon what had passed in the morning, told him ' he was glad he was come thither, for there was a friend of his in the lower ground, who needed his counsel.' He then lamented 'the misery the kingdom was like to fall into, by their own violence and want of temper, in the prosecution of their own happiness.' He said, ' This business concerning the Earl of Strafford was a rock upon which we should all split, and that the passion of the Parliament would destroy the kingdom : that the King was ready to do all that they could desire, if the life of the Earl of Strafford might be spared : that his Majesty was satisfied that he had proceeded with more passion in many things than he ought to have done, by which he had rendered himself useless to his service for the future ; and therefore he was well content that he might be made incapable of any employment for the tune to come, and that he should be banished, or imprisoned for life, as they should choose ; and that how difficult a matter soever he found this to be, he should not despair of it, if he could persuade the Earl of Essex to comply ; but that he found him so obstinate, that he could not in the least degree prevail with him. That he had left his brother, the Earl of Hertford, (who was that day made a Marquis) in the lower ground, walking with him, who he knew would do all he could ; and he desired Mr. Hyde to walk down into that place, and take his turn to persuade the Earl of Essex to what was reasonable, which he was very willing to do.' * He found the Marquis and the Earl walking there together, and no other persons with them ; and as soon as they saw him, they both came to him ; and the Marquis, after a short salutation, departed, and left the other two together, which he did purposely. The Earl began merrily, in telling him, that he had that morning performed a service which lie knew he did not intend to do that by what he had said against the Court of York, he had revived their indignation against the Earl of Strafford, so that he now hoped they should proceed in their Bill against him with vigour, (whereas they had slept so long upon it), which he said was the effect, of which he was sure, he had no mind to be the cause.' Mr. Hyde confessed, ' he had indeed no such purpose, and hoped that somewhat he had said might put other thoughts into them, to proceed in another manner upon his crimes : that he knew well that the cause of their having slept so long upon the Bill was their disagreement upon 120 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. This negociation concluded, Mr. Percy immediately after appears prominently in the Goring plot, and of this we have his own narrative in the form of a letter to his brother, which Clarendon says was thus obtained. Mr. Percy, instead of leaving England immediately upon the discovery of the plot, lingered at a small port on the coast of Sussex, near a house belonging to his brother, and was attacked and severely wounded by the country people when he endeavoured to escape. His life was the point of Treason, which, the longer they thought of would administer the more difficulties. But if they declined that, they should all agree that there were crimes and misdemeanors evidently enough proved, to deserve so severe a censure as would absolutely take away all power from the Earl of Strafford that might prove dangerous to the kingdom, or mischievous to any particular person to whom he was not a friend.' " He shook his head and answered, ' Stone-dead hath no fellow ; that if he were judged guilty in a prcemunire, according to the precedents cited by him, or fined in any other way, and sentenced to be imprisoned during his life, the King would presently grant him his pardon and his estate, release all fines, and would likewise give him his liberty as soon as he had a mind to receive his service, which would be as soon as the Parliament should be ended.' And when Mr. Hyde was ready to reply to him, the Earl told him familiarly ' that he had been tired that afternoon upon that argument, and therefore desired him to continue the discourse no longer then, assuring him he would be ready to confer with him upon it at any other time.' " Shortly after, Mr. Hyde took another opportunity to speak freely with him again concerning it, but found him upon his guard, and though he heard all the other would say, with great patience, yet he did not at all enlarge in his answers, but seemed fixed in his resolutions ; and when he was pressed 'how unjustifiable a thing it was for any man to do anything which his conscience informed him was sinful ; that he knew him so well, that if he were not satisfied in his own conscience of the guilt of the Earl of Strafford, the King could never be able to oblige him to give his vote for that Bill, and therefore he wondered how he could urge the King to do an act which he declared to be so much against his conscience, that he neither could nor would ever give his Royal assent to that Bill ; ' the Earl answered more at large, and with some commotion, (as if he were in truth possessed with that opinion himself,) ' that the King was obliged in conscience to conform himself and his own understanding to the advice and conscience of his Parliament,' which was a doctrine newly resolved by their divines, and of great use to them for the pursuing their future counsels." 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 121 saved with difficulty, and all the ports being narrowly watched, he was conveyed back to London, and found a refuge in Northumberland House. " The Earl being in great trouble how to send him away beyond the seas after his wound was cured, advised with a friend then in power, and who innocently enough brought Mr. Pym into the council, who over-witted them both, by frankly consenting that Mr. Percy should escape into France, upon condition that the Earl first drew from him such a letter as might by the party be applied as evidence of the reality of the plot."* Clarendon adds, that this caused a lasting quarrel between the brothers, but it is difficult to believe that Mr. Percy would have written such a detail, which he must have often repeated verbally, if he did not know that he was to purchase safety by this treachery to his friends. In this letter Mr. Percy narrates that he began plotting with Wilmot, Ashburnham, Pollard, and O'Neil, the three first members of the House of Commons, all officers of the army, and discontented that certain monies raised for their troops should have been diverted to pay the Scotch. The measures they had in view were to sustain Episcopacy, retain the Irish army until that of Scotland was disbanded, and to settle liberally his Majesty's revenue. " This being all im- parted to the King by me," says Mr. Percy, "I per- ceived he had been treated with by others concerning some things of our army ; which agreed not with what was purposed by me, but inclined a way more sharp and high, not having limits either of honour or law. I told the King he might be pleased to consider with Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, I. 212. 122 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. himself which way it was fit for him to hearken unto ; for us, we were resolved not to depart from our grounds : we should not be displeased whosoever they were ; but the particular of the designs, or the persons we desired not to know, though it was no hard matter to guess at them. In the end, I believe the danger of the one, the justice of the other, made the King tell me he would leave all thoughts of other propositions, but ours, as things not practicable ; but desired, notwithstanding, that Goring and Jermyn, who were acquainted with the other proceedings, should be admitted amongst us. I told him I thought the other gentry would never con- sent to it, but I would propose it ; which I did, and we were all much against it. But the King did press it so much, as at the last it was consented unto, and Goring and Jermyn came to my chamber. There I was appointed to tell them, after they had sworn secresy, what we had proposed, which I did. "But before I go into the debate of the way, I must tell you, Jermyn and Goring were very earnest Suckling should be admitted ; which we did all decline, and I was desired by all our men to be resolute in it, which I was, and gave many reasons. Whereupon Mr. Goring made answer, he was engaged with Mr. Suck- ling for his being employed in the army ; but for his meeting with us, they were contented to pass it by. Then we took up again the ways which were proposed ; which took great debate, and theirs differed from ours in violence and height ; which we all protested against, and parted, disagreeing totally, yet remitted it to be spoken of by me and Jermyn to the King ; which we both did; and the King, constant to his former 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 123 resolutions, told him these ways were all vain and foolish, and he would think of them no more. I omit one thing of Mr. Goring : he desired to know how the chief com- manders were to be disposed of ; for if he had not a condition worthy of him, he would not go along with us. We made answer, that nobody thought of that : we intended, if we were sent down, to go all in the same capacity we were in. He did not like that by any means, and by that did work so with Mr. Chidley, that there was a letter sent by some of the com- manders to make him Lieutenant General ; and when he had ordered this at London, and Mr. Chidley had his instructions, then did he go to Portsmouth, pre- tending to be absent when this was working. We all desired my Lords of Essex and Holland ; but they said, ' If there were a general, they were for Newcastle.' They were pleased to give report, that I should be General of the Horse, but I protest, neither to the King, nor any else, did I ever so much as think of it. My Lord of Holland was made General, and so all things were laid aside."* It is needless to follow the proofs of this plot fur- ther. Colonel Goring's evidence coincided with that of * Rushwortli, V. 256. The address sent by some of the officers, through Captain Chidley, had been seen and approved by the King. Clarendon, 1. 192. It had been also sent to the magistrates of Yorkshire. See Mr. Stockdale's Letter, p. 101, and contained an offer to march to London, for the suppression of those tumults which interrupted the free proceedings of Parliament. It was a movement evidently intended in favour of Strafford. In this it failed ; but Mr. Stockdale says it was suggested by a fear that they should be disbanded without their arrears of pay being forthcoming. Their petition certainly pre- vented this ; for they immediately received a most soothing letter from Mr. Lentliall, the Speaker, and very shortly after a good instalment of the money due to them. Parl. Hist. IX. 304. 124 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Mr. Percy ; the minor plotters were imprisoned or escaped ; but the chief sufferer was the King. * The dis- covery of these covert efforts demonstrated that whilst he appeared to yield to the votes of the Parliament, he was secretly seeking for strong means to counteract them. It made the Parliament stern and distrustful, and in every case, especially that of Strafford,' confident of success ; because they felt that since he condescended to secret contrivances to thwart them, he had not the moral courage to exercise his prerogative, and to carry out his convictions, by refusing assent to their measures. One of those secret contrivances to save Strafford, was a plan for introducing a hundred soldiers under Captain Billingsley, into the Tower, which was discovered by three women who had permission to satisfy their desire of seeing the Earl, by peeping through the key-hole of his prison-room. He was then talking with Captain Billingsley, and arranging about the departure of the ship, on board of which he was to be conveyed. This being communicated to the Lieutenant of the Tower, * Nalson's Collections, I. 273. Of the plotters it need only be further noticed, that Henry Jermyn was a great favourite with the Queen, was her Master of Horse, and was married to her after the death of Charles the First. His services will be frequently noticed. Colonel Goring was the eldest son of Lord Goring, Governor of Portsmouth, who survived him. Mr. Wilmot was Commissary to the army, and eldest son of Lord Wilmot. Sir John Suckling, the Poet, and the would-be soldier, has been already noticed. Colonel Ashburnham was member for Hastings, and a constant attendant upon the King, even to his death. Sir Hugh Pollard was member for Beralstone ; and, together with Mr. Percy, was expelled the House, Dec. 9, 1641, for being concerned in this plot Daniel O'Neil, "an Irishman and a Papist," was a Groom of the King's Bed- chamber, and had long been a royal favourite. Clarendon's Autobiography, 129, &c. Wilmot, Ashburnham, Pollard, and O'Neil, were committed ; but were soon either bailed or allowed to escape ; for it was not yet an offence to obey the King's directions as to the movements of his troops. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 125 Sir William Balfour, put him upon his guard, so that when Captain Billingsley brought a warrant from the King for his admission with a hundred soldiers into the Tower, Sir William refused to obey the mandate. Thus frustrated, StrafFord himself addressed the Lieu- tenant, professing that he would not attempt to escape without his privity, but that if he would consent to obey the warrant for his removal to another place of confinement, during the journey he would contrive to escape, and that Sir William should at once receive 22,000/, and have an advantageous alliance for his son. These offers could not tempt the sturdy Scotchman to a breach of duty, and all attempts at escape from that time appear to have ceased. * Charles professed that he only wished to strengthen the garrison of the Tower, but the most credulous royalist could scarcely have believed the plea. The Lords were in no haste to pass the Bill of Attainder, nor would they have done so, probably, if the judges had not delivered it, as their opinion, that the Earl's offences amounted to treason, and that the bill was a legal course of proceeding, f Still, either deterred by the tumults and petitions of the people, or unable to arrive at a conviction of his innocence or guilt, nearly one-half of the Peers who had been present during the previous course of the proceedings, were absent when the bill for death was passed. Only forty-five were in the House on the 7th of May, when the bill was Rushworth's Trial of Strafford, 746 ; Whitelocke, 44. t Ibid. 44. The words of the judges, delivered by Lord Chief Justice Bramp- ston, were, " That they were of opinion upon all which their lordships had voted to be proved, that the Earl of Strafford deserved to undergo the pains and forfeitures of High Treason, by law. Part. Hist. IX. 307. 126 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. read a third time ; of these, no more than twenty-six voted for it, nineteen being in the negative,* and it was passed whilst " the good people were still crying at the doors for ' Justice.' " f Only one hope now remained to Strafford and his friends, and that might well be an assured one ; for in public, before the assembled Houses, and in a letter to the Earl himself, the King stood pledged not to consent to his death. Let us see how long Charles struggled to preserve his honour and his friend. The bill passed the Lords on the 7th of May. On the 8th, being Saturday, the two Houses united in pressing for a speedy decision, and the King replied that at ten o'clock of the Monday morning, May the 10th, but one day being proposed to intervene, " he would be at the House of Lords, in order to give his assent ! " | These are the very words. The resolution to assent was arrived at, then, on the 8th, or words mean nothing ; and all the consultations on the 9th must have been to obtain carminatives for his conscience, a conscience already resolved to be silenced not, as is usually supposed, to hear reasons why he should consent to the sacrifice. That 9th of May was the Sabbath-day, the day of all others on which a King might have rested from a work of blood but Charles required no delay. He assembled his Privy Council, and suggested the scruples he enter- tained against the Bill of Attainder ; to which they replied, " There was no other way to preserve himself and his posterity, and, therefore, he ought to be more tender of the safety of the kingdom than of one person, * Whitolocke, 43. f Clarendon's History, I. 201. J Parl. Hist. IX 310. 1641.] CHAELES THE FIRST. 127 however innocent." "* Not one of the Council interposed a contrary opinion not one was honest enough to say that evil ought not to be done to secure a certain, much less a merely hoped-for good : none were fearless enough to point out that, even if the Stuart dynasty ceased, England need not share in the fall ; and that he was base indeed who would pronounce the doom of his faithful friend, to save for himself the bauble of a crown ! But Charles was no weakling, and his own brain and his own heart, for he had a kind heart, must have suggested these truths of commonest household morality. Yet, he shrunk from the sacrifice he turned to the judges for their opinion, but he complained that " their dubious answers did not ease him of his scruples," for he seems not to have sought for encouragement to be just. The bishops, with but one bright exception, were not more faithful than the judges, for they met him with the casuistical query, "As your Majesty refers your own judgment to your judges, and it lies on them if an innocent man suffer, why may not your Majesty so satisfy your conscience in the present matter ; and, though in your own mind not satisfied, let the blame lie upon them who sat upon the tribunal of life and death ?"f The Bishop of London, Dr. Juxon, saw the fallacy of this comparison ; he knew, and the King knew, the cases attempted to be drawn as parallel, were divergent from their commencement ; for in Strafford's case, he had him- self heard the evidence, and had publicly declared that Clarendon's History, I. 220. t The four Prelates who thus suggested were Archbishop Usher, and Bishops Morton, Williams, and Potter. Hacket' a Life of L. K. Williams, 161. Usher did not persuade the King to assent to the Bill. See authorities in Bitxj. Brvt. 128 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. he felt it was inconclusive. Dr. Juxon, therefore, told him, without any reservation, that if unsatisfied in his conscience, he ought not to give his consent to the bill, whatever might be the consequences of his refusal. * It was to avoid this sound morality that the subtle Bishop of Lincoln, and ex-Lord Keeper, Dr. Williams, suggested, that a " distinction existed between a man's public and private conscience ; and that Charles's public conscience, as a King, might not only dispense with, but oblige him, to do that which was against his private conscience as a man ; that the question was not, whether he should save the Earl of Strafford, but whether he should perish with him ; that the conscience of a King to preserve his kingdom, the conscience of a husband to preserve his wife, the conscience of a father to preserve his children (all which were now in danger), outweighed abundantly all the considerations which the conscience of a master or a friend could suggest to him, for the preservation of a friend or servant." Well might Clarendon exclaim that these arguments were " unprelatical and ignominious," t teaching as they do, that villainy of the deepest die is permissible in order to serve the interests of a people, or even of a wife, or a child. The Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Pembroke, even perverted Scripture to his purpose, telling the King, as Joab told David, that in grieving over this matter, he shamed the faces of his servants, and showed that he loved his enemies, and hated his friends. J Nalson, II. 192. f Clarendon's History, I. 202. J 2 Samuel, xix. 5 8. Nalson quotes, l>y mistake, 2 Chronicles. Dr. Wil- liams and the Bishop of Durham seem to have coincided in the " ignominious " advice ; for the King told his Secretary, Sir Edward Walker, that it was not Archbishop Usher, and that Dr. Juxon maintained " his stout opinion against it." Walker's Discourses, 360. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 129 Dr. Juxon's warning induced the King to falter in his resolution : he hesitated from the consent he had promised to the Parliament ; and he dismissed his councillors, with instructions to attend him again in the evening. In the interval, the following letter appears to have reached his hands, though dated a few days previously : * MAY IT PLEASE YOUR SACRED MAJESTY, IT hath been my greatest grief in all these troubles, to be taken as a person which should endeavour to represent and set things amiss between your Majesty and your people, and to give counsels tending to the disquiet of the three kingdoms. Most true it is (that this, mine own private condition considered) it had been a great madness (since through your gracious favour I was so provided), as not to expect in any kind to mend my fortune, or please my mind more, than by resting where your bounteous hands had placed me. Nay, it is most mightily mistaken ; for unto your Majesty it is well known, my poor and humble advices concluded still in this, that your Majesty and your people could never be happy till there were a right understanding betwixt you and them ; and that no other means were left to effect and settle this happiness but by the counsel and assent of your Parliament ; or to prevent the growing evils of this State, but by entirely * Cobbett's State Trials, III. 1516 ; Clarendon, I. 202. The date of the letter must have been mistaken by the transcribers, for Sir G. Ratcliff says it was not written until the Friday preceding the King's assent That Friday was May 7. Stra/onFs Lettert, II. 432. VOL. ii. K 130 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. putting yourself in this last resort, upon the loyalty and good affections of your English subjects. Yet such is my misfortune, that this truth findeth little credit ; yea, the contrary seemeth generally to be believed, and myself reputed as one who endeavoured to make a separation between you and your people : under a heavier censure than this, I am persuaded no gentleman can suffer. Now I understand the minds of men are more and more incensed against me, notwithstanding your Majesty hath declared, that in your princely opinion I am not guilty of treason, and that you are not satisfied in your conscience to pass the bill. This bringeth me in a very great strait : there is before me the ruin of my children and family, hitherto untouched in all the branches of it with any foul crime. Here are before me the many ills which may befal your sacred person and the whole kingdom, should yourself and Parliament part less satisfied one with the other than is necessary for the preservation both of King and people. Here are before me the things most valued- most feared by mortal men, life or death. To say, Sir, that there hath not been a strife in me, were to make me less man than God knoweth my infir- mities make me ; and to call a destruction upon myself and young children (where the intentions of my heart at least have been innocent of this great offence), may be believed, will find no easy consent from flesh and blood. But with much sadness I am come to a resolution of that, which I take to be best becoming me, and to look upon it as that which is most principal in itself, which doubtless is the prosperity of your sacred person and 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 131 the commonwealth, things infinitely before any private man's interest. And therefore, in few words, as I put myself wholly upon the honour and justice of my peers, so clearly, as to wish your Majesty might please to have spared that declaration of yours on Saturday last, and entirely to have left me to their lordships, so now, to set your Majesty's conscience at liberty, I do most humbly beseech your Majesty for prevention of evils which may happen to your refusal, to pass this bill, and by this means to remove (praised be God), I cannot say this accursed, but (I confess) this unfortunate thing, forth of the way towards that blessed agreement, which God, I trust, shall ever establish between you and your subjects. Sir, my consent shall more acquit you herein to God, than all the world can do besides. To a willing man there is no injury done ; and as by God's grace I forgive all the world, with a calmness and meekness of infinite contentment to my dislodging soul, so, Sir, to you I can give the life of this world, with all the cheerfulness imaginable, in the just acknowledgment of your exceed- ing favours, and only beg that in your goodness you would vouchsafe to cast your gracious regard upon my poor son and his three sisters, less or more, and no otherwise, than as their (in present) unfortunate father, may hereafter appear more or less guilty of this death. God long preserve your Majesty. Your Majesty's most faithful and humble subject and servant, STRAFFORD. Tower, May 4th, 1641. K-2 132 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. This letter was made known to the Council on their assembling in the evening, and it furnished a fresh argument to some, that the Earl's consent to be sacrificed absolved the King from any scruple that remained."'' It is just possible that there may have been minds and hearts so indurated, so dead to every generous feeling, and to the dictates of justice, as to believe in the sound- ness of this argument. But all who were there assembled could not have been in nature so brutish. Juxon, we are told, was silent, but that silence must have been to the King more eloquent than words, and without sug- gestion from another must have wrung from his heart the truth, that no consent of the innocent can justify his destroyer, and that no plea can save from abhorrence him who allows a death undeserved to secure his own safety and advantage. It has been said, perhaps with truth, that at this agonising moment, whilst the balance yet trembled in suspense, the Queen's intreaties prevailed, and that her voice tremulous with grief, and her intreaties for a deci- sion to save her children, preponderated over justice, honour, and noble feeling. Be this as it may, at nine o'clock of the evening of that Sabbath-day, Charles, giving utterance to this genuine feeling, " My Lord of Strafford's condition is now happier than mine," signed a commission, empowering three of his Court to give his consent to his noble servant's death-warrant the Bill of Attainder ! f Those who urged the King to this unworthy and * Clarendon, I. 202. t Cobbett's State Trials, III. 1518 ; Strafford's Letters, II. 432. The Com- missioners were the Earl of Arundel, (Lord Steward) ; the Earl of Pembroke, 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 133 sinful act, insulted his understanding when " they com- forted him with the circumstance ' that his own hand was not in it.' " * a circumstance that could have yielded no consolation to the torturing reflection that he had permitted death to be inflicted on his faithful friend, because that death might benefit himself and his family. It is a damning spot upon the memory of the King, a spot covered, but not obliterated by his own blood ! His ablest advocates have found no better plea for him than that he yielded to " importunity and necessity " necessity ! that Procrustic plea by which, some few years subsequently, he was himself consigned to the scaffold and the headsman. Let no one deprecate the weakness and the crime of Charles, however, without admitting every extenuation to mitigate the indignant feeling which naturally arises against him in every generous heart. Let it be remem- bered that he was afterwards bitterly punished for this and all his errors ; that the hope to appease the clamour and remove danger from those dear to him, was a powerful temptation ; that the advice of nearly all his coun- cillors was most base, and that his own repentance was bitter, sincere, and endured to his dying hour. No event in history more powerfully demonstrates the futility of that policy, which permits recourse to criminal measures for support, than this consenting of Charles to the execu- tion of Straftbrd. The consequences were totally the reverse of those intended to be produced. Its first notable result was that it destroyed the confidence of the (Lord Chamberlain) ; and the Earl of Manchester, (Lord Privy Seal).Naltoti, II. 195. Hackett says, " On a Sunday, May 9, he signed the indefinite conti- nuance of the Parliament and Stratford's execution with the same drop of ink A sad subject ! and as I find it so I leave it." Life of Williams, 162. Clarendon, I. 203. 134 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. King's friends ; for when they saw that no security could be founded upon his promises, but that his pledged word and his conscience were disregarded when his own inter- ests were urgent, they naturally inferred that no safety could be assured to themselves. Consequently, Lord Cottington resigned the Mastership of the Wards, and was succeeded by Lord Say ; Bishop Juxon retired from the office of Treasurer, which was put into commission ; the Earl of Newcastle declined the Preceptorship of the Prince, which was given to the Marquis of Hertford, and the Earl of Pembroke retired from the Lord Chamber- lainship, making way for the Earl of Essex.* Instead of conciliating the people, the King's sacrifice of his friend undoubtedly drew upon him their con- tempt ; for it is one of many illustrations afforded by our national annals, that Englishmen never view but with disgust any individual who shrinks from suffering to preserve his honour. " That the King should be in- duced to consent to the execution of the Earl," says Whitelocke, "was admired (wondered at) by most of his subjects, as well as by foreigners." But the most sorrowful consequence to the King must have sprung from within his own breast. From the moment of that consent, self-respect must have been lost that loss for which not the adulation of the universe could compensate ; and he has left on record the confession that the " still small voice " was cease- lessly in his ear, and keeping ever fresh the torture of self-condemnation. " God of infinite mercies," are the words of his own prayer, "forgive that act of sinful compliance, which hath greater aggravations upon me ' Whitelocke, 44 ; Heath's Chronicle, 20. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 135 than any man ; since I had not the least temptation of envy or malice against him, and by my place should at least so far have been a preserver of him as to have denied my consent to his destruction. Lord, I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me." * As the "sinful concession" was an endless source of contrition to the "King, dispirited his friends, and disgusted the people ; so did it also speedily gain to him the woful experience, that acquiescence to an unjust demand only leads to farther requisitions. By asking it the demandant incurs a degree of guilt ; each addition of guilt brings its addition of fear, and every such fear is restless until the injured party is deprived of the power either to recover his right or to revenge his injury.f Even Pym looked only at the future when he heard of the King's consent, for his exclamation was " What ! has he given us the head of Strafford ? then he will refuse us nothing ! " The Commissioners allowed not an hour to elapse that they could prevent, before they announced to the assembled Parliament the King's consent. On the Monday morning, early, they took their seats between the throne and the woolsack, and, having announced the purpose of their coming, the Commons were directed to be summoned. Mr. Maxwell, Gentleman Usher of the Lords, full of the importance of his message, hurried * Eikon Basilike, 2. One of the Harleian MSS. is a letter from the King to the Queen, (No. 6988, fol. 10G), in which he speaks equally repentantly " I sinned against my conscience, for the truth is, I was surprised with it instantly after I made that base, sinful concession. I hope that God will accept of my hearty repentance." t Sir P. Warwick's Memoirs, 163 ; Life of Selden, 255. 136 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. to the Commons, totally forgetful of all the usual forms. Without his insignia of office, and without waiting to knock for admission, he burst into their presence. He was immediately commanded to withdraw and to attend with more decorum, but the intelligence was too gratify- ing to the members to allow them to take more serious notice of his informal intrusion.""" The Commons at once attended, and "the Clerk of the Parliament delivered, kneeling, the Commission whereunto the bills were annexed.f The Lord Privy Seal then declared to both Houses that the King had an intent to have come himself, but some important occasions had pre- vented him, and so his Majesty had granted a Commis- sion for giving his assent to these two bills. This was delivered to the Clerk of the Parliament, who carried it to his table and read it ; which being done, the Clerk of the Crown read the titles of the bills, and the Clerk of the Parliament pronounced the royal assent to them both severally." J * Rushworth, V. 262. f The other Bill was for the permanency of the Parliament. J Nalson, II. 195. The following is a copy of the Earl's Bill of Attainder : " Whereas the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of the House of Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, have, in the name of themselves, and of all the Commons of England, impeached Thomas Earl of Strafford of High Treason, for endeavouring to subvert the ancient and fundamental laws and government of his Majesty's Realms of England and Ireland, and to introduce an arbitrary and tyrannical government against law in the said Kingdoms ; and for exer- cising a tyrannous and exorbitant power over and against the laws of the said Kingdoms, over the liberties, estates, and lives of his Majesty's subjects ; and likewise for having, by his own authority, commanded the laying and assieging of soldiers upon his Majesty's subjects in Ireland, against their consents, to compel them to obey his unlawful commands and orders, made upon paper petitions, in causes between party and party, which accordingly was executed upon divers of his Majesty's subjects in a warlike manner, within the said realm of Ireland ; and in so doing did levy war against the King's Majesty and his liege people in that Kingdom : And also, for that he, upon the unhappy 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 137 The King repented of his criminal pusillanimity the moment he had consented to the Earl's death ; yet, Stuart-like, he dared not carry out his repentance. He sent for Denzil Holies, whose sister Strafford had mar- ried, and met him with the poltroonly question, " What can I do to save the Earl 1 " The reply was that which could alone be suggested by one who wished the King to do right, remembering that the blessed prerogative of dissolution of the last Parliament, did slander the House of Commons to his Majesty, and did counsel and advise his Majesty that he was loose and absolved from the rules of government, and that he had an army in Ireland, by which he might reduce this Kingdom ; for which he deserves to undergo the pains and forfeitures of High Treason : " And the said Earl hath been also an incendiary of the wars between the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland : all which offences have been sufficiently proved against the said Earl upon his impeachment. " Be it therefore enacted, by the King's most excellent Majesty, and by the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by authority of the same, That the said Earl of Strafford, for the heinous crimes and offences aforesaid, stand, and be adjudged and attainted of High Treason, and shall suffer such pain of death, and incur the forfeitures of his goods and chattels, lauds, tenements, and hereditaments of any estate of freehold or inheritance in the said Kingdoms of England and Ireland, which the said Earl, or any other to his use, or in trust for him, have or had, the day of the first sitting of this present Parliament, or at any time since. " Provided that no Judge or Judges, Justice or Justices whatsoever, shall adjudge or interpret any act or thing to be treason, nor in any other manner than he or they should or ought to have done before the making of this Act, and as if this Act had never been had or made. " Saving always, unto all and singular persons and bodies, politic and corporal, their heirs and successors, others than the said Earl and his heirs, and such as claim by, from, or under him, all such right, title, and interest, of, in, and to all and singular, such of the said lands, tenements, and hereditaments as he, they, or any of them, had before the first day of this present Parliament, any tiling herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. " Provided, That the passing of this present Act, and his Majesty's assent thereunto, shall not be any determination of this present sessions of Parliament, and all bills and matter whatsoever depending in Parliament, and not fully enacted or determined. And all Statutes and Acts of Parliament which have their continuance until the end of this present Session of Parliament, shall remain, continue, and be in full force, as if this Act had not been." 138 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. mercy appertains to the Crown, as well as the sterner one of justice. Holies answered, that if the King pleased, since the execution of the law was in him, he might legally grant the Earl a reprieve. Holies further sug- gested, that Strafford should send him a petition for a short respite, to settle his affairs, and to prepare for death ; and that the King, with the petition in his hand, should go to the Parliament, and lay it before both Houses, accompanying it by a speech, such as Holies suggested. To this the King assented, and Holies im- mediately proceeded to influence his friends, by "assuring them, that if they saved Lord Strafford, he would become wholly theirs, in consequence of his first prin- ciples ; and that he might do them much more service by being preserved, than if made an example upon such new and doubtful points." Holies so succeeded that he believed if the King's party had co-operated, the Earl would have been saved. This, however, they did not do, being deterred from such a course by finding the Queen averse from it ; and it was said, that she persuaded the King to send the letter to the Houses by the Prince of Wales, and to add that mean postscript, which was no less than an abandonment of the whole attempt.* The letter, entirely in the King's own handwriting, was in these words : MY LORDS, I DID yesterday satisfy the justice of the kingdom, by passing the Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford : but mercy being as inherent in and * Burnet'B History of his Own Times, 19, Ed. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 139 inseparable from a King as justice, I desire, at this time, in some measure to show that likewise, by suffering that unfortunate man to fulfil the natural course of his life in a close imprisonment ; yet, so that if ever he make the least offer to escape, or offer directly or indirectly to meddle in any sort of public business, especially with me, either by message or letter, it shah 1 cost him his life, without further process. This, if it may be done without the discontentment of my people, will be an unspeakable contentment to me. To which end, as in the first place, I by this letter do earnestly desire your approbation ; and to endear it the more, have chosen him to carry it, that of all your House is most dear to me ; so I desire that, by a conference, you will endeavour to give the House of Commons con- tentment : likewise assuring you, that the exercise of mercy is no more pleasing to me, than to see both Houses of Parliament content, for my sake, that I should moderate the severity of the law in so important a case. I will not say that your complying with me, in this my intended mercy, shall make me more willing, but certainly it will make me more cheerful, in granting your just grievances : but, if no less than his life can satisfy my people, I must say, Fiat justitia. Thus again recommending the consideration of my intentions to you, I rest, Your unalterable and affectionate friend, CHARLES E. If he must die, it were charity to reprieve him till Saturday.* llushworth's Trial of Stratford, 758. 140 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. A more unkingly letter never flowed from a monarch's pen. Its form and the infant bearer rendered it, it has been said, more a domestic than a royal communication, and we have been asked to view favourably the tenderness which it betrays of a sorrowing friend seeking for an equal affection. But no man reflecting that a question of life or death was at issue, can permit for an instant such a plea to make his judgment waver. If he allow the consideration to be entertained that the King loved the culprit, then must it make him still more stern in repre- hending that monarch who confessing his consciousness, " that mercy was as inherent and inseparable to a king as justice/' yet puled and asked permission for its exer- cise, instead of nobly daring to give a few more hours to his well-tried friend before he allowed him to be taken forth to death. Twice did the Peers read that letter; " and after serious and sad consideration," (the emphasis is Rush- worth's,) they resolved to depute fourteen of their num- ber, humbly to signify, that "neither of the two intentions expressed in the letter could with duty in them, or with- out danger to himself, his dearest consort, and the young princes their children, possibly be advised." Charles allowed the deputation to urge no more ; his heart was full, and true sorrow cannot be diffuse ; " What I in- tended by that letter was with an ' if/ " said the King " if it may be done without discontentment of my people : if that cannot be, I again say the same as I writ, Fiat jmtitia. My other intention, proceeding out of charity for a few days' respite, was upon certain in- formation, that his estate was so distracted that it neces- sarily required some few days for settlement thereof." 1641.1 CHARLES THE FIRST. 141 The Lords were prepared for this ground on which to found the plea for delay, and at once replied, that " the House purposed to be suitors to his Majesty, for favour to the Earl's innocent children, and if he had made any provision for them that the same should not be voided." This was in accordance with the King's wishes ; but unwilling to prolong the painful interview he arose to withdraw. As he moved towards the door the deputation offered to return to him his suppli- catory letter, but he bade them retain it, adding, " My Lords, what I have written to you I shall be content to have registered by you in your House. In it you see my mind : I hope you will use it to my honour." * Thus ceased all exertions, or rather the expression of the wish for it was no more to save Strafford from the scaffold. Let us turn to consider in connected detail, whether the Earl bore himself worthily, and whether he tri- umphed over that keenest of all trials abandonment to undeserved death by those we have loved and served. Late in the evening of that day, May 10th, on which the King consented to the Earl's death, he sent to him by Mr. Secretary Carlton, the intelligence of that dire abandonment. No memorial remains of the words in which the message was directed to be imparted ; nor can we conceive the language in which a monarch could dictate a message of such mingled misery, dishonour, * Rushworth, V. 266. The Peers composing the deputation were, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Prh-y Seal, the Earls of Bath, Essex, Dorset, Salisbury, War- wick, Cambridge, March, Bristol, Holland, and Berkshire, Viscount Say and Sele, and Lord Wharton. Parl. Ilist. IX. 317. The House resolved, the same day, May 1 1, to be suitors to the King for the Countess of Strafford, her family, and the Earl's creditors. 142 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. and humiliation. We are told, but it defies belief, even by Charles's worst maligners, that Carlton was directed when speaking of the King's having yielded, that he was to assign as his chief motive " the Earl's consent"* in that noble and pathetic letter, which might have made even a coward resolute to save him ! It is not possible, that Charles, infirm of judgment as he was, could have been so mean and cruel as needlessly to aggravate the bitterness of his friend's fate : even his inadvertency was not such as to allow him, when he bade the Earl prepare for death, to add the wormwood, that he had brought that fate upon himself. Strafford might well doubt the truth of the announcement ; but Carlton again assuring him that indeed it was so, he rose reverently from his seat, and with eyes raised to the only unfailing source of mercy, and with hand pressed upon his heart, gave utterance to the truly apposite comment, "Put not your trust in Princes, nor in the sons of men, for in them there is no salvation." It has been said, but surely without reason, that this exclamation was inconsistent with the magnanimity which dictated his noble letter to the King ;f for Straf- ford may have been willing to die for his sovereign's advantage, and yet have been astonished, as all must have been, that the King should assent to the sacrifice of "his most faithful servant." It was an astonishment in * Whitelocke's Memorials, 44. f D'Israeli's Commentaries on Charles the First, IV. 198. Sir Dudley Carlton, the King's Deputy on this trying occasion, was a nephew of the states- man who had been so much employed both by Charles and James, and who bore the same names. The uncle had been Secretary of State; but it is doubtful whether the nephew was more than Clerk of the Privy Council, which is, perhaps, all that was intended by Saunderson and Whitelocke, who speak of him as Secretary." Wood's Fasti Oxon. I. 270. Hf 11.1 CHARLES THE FIRST. 143 which friends and foes, natives and foreigners, all shared, and must have come with augmented force upon the victim, in whose cabinet rose up in judgment this letter : STRAFFORD, THE misfortune that is fallen upon you by the strange mistaking and conjuncture of these times, being such that I must lay 'by the thought of employing you hereafter in my affairs ; yet I cannot satisfy myself in honour or conscience without assuring you, (now in the midst of your troubles,) that upon the word of a King, } T OU shall not suffer in life, honour, or fortune. This is but justice, and therefore a very mean reward from a master, to so faithful and able a servant, as you have showed yourself to be ; yet it is as much as I conceive the present times will permit, though none shall hinder me from being Your constant faithful friend, CHARLES R.* Whitdiall, April 23, 1641. No fear of death mingled with the Earl's emotion. The time was indeed short for preparation, for he was to die within forty hours after that interview with Carlton ! Yet, brief as was that interval, it brought to him no confu- sion ; but all was characterised by the calm dignity of a Christian, anxious to fulfil his parting duties as a friend, a husband, and a parent. His " ancient chaplain," Dr. Carr, and the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr. Usher, -were early with him on the following day, and as the one has left on record that " the Earl was the most severe judge of himself he ever knew ; and that, beyond his natural Strafford'B Letters, II. 416. 144 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. strength, he had great humility and charity towards his enemies," so the other has borne similar testimony that his last hours were " most Christian, most magnanimous," and that " a whiter soul " never passed away to him that gave it.* Next to his spiritual exercises, the care of his family engrossed his attention, and the following letters, the inditing of which must have occupied a large por- tion of his last day, testify sufficiently that his anxieties were not centred upon self. To his faithful secretary and friend, Guildford Slingsby, he wrote as follows f : " I WOULD not as the case now stands, for anything, you should endanger yourself, being a person in whom I shall put a great part of my future trust ; and, there- fore, in any case absent yourself for a time, yet so as I may know where you are, and therefore send your man back, that I may know whither to direct anything I have to impart to you, and that presently ; and after that, let your man come as little about this place as may be. Your going to the King is to no purpose I am lost ; my body is theirs, but my soul is God's ; there is little trust in man. God may yet (if it please Him) deliver me, and as I shall (in the best way He shall enable me unto) prepare myself for Him, so to Him I submit all I have. The person you were last withal at Court, sent to move that business we resolved upon, which if rightly handled, might perchance do some- thing ; but you know my opinion in all, and what my belief is in all these things. I should by any means advise you to absent yourself, albeit never so innocent, as you are, till you see what becomes of me ; if I live, * Strafford's Letters, II. 432 ; Rawdon Papers, 84. t Rushworth's Trial of Strafford, 774. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 145 there will be no danger for you to stay, but otherwise keep out of the way till I be forgotten, and then your return may be with safety. I mean, indeed, to leave you one in trust for my children, and thank you for your readiness to look after it. " Time is precious, and mine I expect to be very short and therefore no part of it to be lost. God direct and prosper you in all your ways ; and remember there was a person whom you were content to call master, that did very much value and esteem you, and carried to his death a great stock of his affection for you, as for all your services, so for this your care towards me all this time of my trial and affliction ; and however it be my misfortune to be decried at present, yet in more equal times, my friends (I trust) shall not be ashamed to mention the love to their children, for their father's sake. "Your affectionate friend, " STRATFORD." To his Irish Secretary, and fellow-prisoner, Sir George Radcliff, he thus replied, in answer to his farewell consolatory note. DEAR GEORGE, MANY thanks I give you for the great com- fort you give me in this letter ; all your desires are freely granted ; and God deliver you out of this wicked world, according to the innocency that is in you. My brother George will come to you, and show you such things as in this short time I could think of, imperfect as they are, and therefore I wholly submit all to be ordered as shall amongst you be thought most meet ; VOL. ii. i. 146 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. and if the debts cannot otherwise be discharged, the lands in Kildare may be sold. The King saith he will give all my estate to my son ; and so sends me word by my Lord Primate. God's goodness be ever amongst us all, this being the last I shall write, and so Blessed Jesus receive my soul ! I leave to your care that you trusted ; that if you find the estate will bear it, to raise the portions of my daughters, according as was intended by my will.* To his judges he thus charitably wrote : " SEEING it is the good will and pleasure of God, that your Petitioner is now shortly to pay that duty which we all owe to our frail nature ; he shall in all Christian patience and charity, conform and submit himself to your justice, in a comfortable assurance of the great hope laid up for us in the mercy and merits of our Saviour, Blessed for ever ! Only, he humbly craves to return your lordships most humble thanks for your noble compassion towards those innocent children, whom now, with his last blessing, he must commit to the protection of Almighty God ; be- seeching your lordships to finish his pious intentions towards them, and desiring that the reward thereof may be fulfilled in you, by Him that is able to give above all we are able to ask or think ; wherein I trust the honour- able House of Commons will afford their Christian assistance. And so, beseeching your lordships charitably to forgive all his omissions and infirmities, he doth very * Whitaker's Radcliff Correspondence, 226. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 147 heartily and truly recommend your lordships to the mercies of our Heavenly Father, and that for his good- ness he may perfect you in every good work. Amen. " THOS. WENTWORTH." To his only son this last of his letters was devoted, and it deservedly stands acknowledged as one of the best examples of parental admonition : MY DEAREST WILL, THESE are the last lines that you are to receive from a father that tenderly loves you. I wish there were a greater leisure to impart my mind unto you ; but our merciful God will supply all things by his grace, and guide and protect you in all your ways, to whose infinite goodness I bequeath you ; and therefore, be not dis- couraged, but serve him, and trust in him, and he will preserve and prosper you in all things. Be sure you give all respect to my wife, that hath ever had a great love unto you, and therefore will be well becoming you. Never be wanting in your love and care to your sisters, but let them ever be most dear unto you ; for, this will give others cause to esteem and respect you for it, and it is a duty that you owe them in the memory of your excellent mother and myself; therefore, your care and affection to them must be the very same that you are to have of yourself. And the like regard must you have to your youngest sister ; for, indeed, you owe it her also, both for her father and mother's sake. Sweet Will, be careful to take the advice of those friends, which are by me desired to advise you for L 2 148 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. your education. Serve God diligently morning and evening, and recommend yourself unto him, and have him before your eyes in all your ways. With pa- tience, hear the instructions of those friends I leave with you, and diligently follow their counsel ; for, till you come by time to have experience in the world, it will be far more safe to trust to their judgment than your own. Lose not the time of your youth, but gather those seeds of virtue and knowledge which may be of use to yourself and comfort to your friends for the rest of your life. And that this may be better effected, attend there- unto with patience, and be sure to correct and refrain yourself from anger. Suffer not sorrow to cast you down ; but with cheerfulness and good courage go on the race you have to run in all sobriety and truth. Be sure, with an hallowed care, to have respect to all the commandments of God, and give not yourself to "neglect them in the least things, lest by degrees you come to forget them in the greatest : for, the heart of man is deceitful above all things. And in your duties and devotions towards God, rather perform them joyfully than pensively ; for God loves a cheerful giver. For your religion, let it be directed according to that which shall be taught by those which are in God's Church, the proper teachers, therefore, rather than that you ever either fancy one to yourself, or be led by men that are singular in their own opinions, and deliglit to go ways of their own finding out ; for you will certainly find soberness and truth in the one, and much unsteadiness and vanity in the other. The King, I trust, will deal graciously with you, 1C41.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 149 restore you those honours and that fortune which a distempered time hath deprived you of, together with the life of your father ; which I rather advise might be by a new gift and creation from himself, than by any other means, to the end you may pay the thanks to him without having obligation to any other. Be sure to avoid, as much as you can, to inquire after those that have been sharp in their judgments towards me ; and I charge you never to suffer thought of revenge to enter your heart : but be careful to be informed who were my friends in this prosecution, and to them apply yourself to make them your friends also ; and on such you may rely, and bestow much of your conversation amongst them. And God Almighty, of His infinite goodness, bless you, and your children's children ; and His same goodness bless your sisters in like manner, perfect you in every good work, and give you right understandings in all things. Amen. Your most loving father, T. WENTWORTH. Tower, this Mth of May, 1641. You must not fail to behave yourself towards my Lady Clare, your grandmother, with all duty and observ- ance ; for most tenderly doth she love you, and hath been passing kind unto me. God reward her charity for it ! And both in this and all the rest, the same that I counsel you, the same do I direct also to your sisters, that so the same may be observed by you all. And once more do I, from my very soul, beseech our gracious God to bless and govern you in all, to the saving you in the day of His visitation, and join us again in the 150 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641 communion of His blessed saints, where is fulness of joy, and bliss for evermore ! Amen. Amen.* Archbishop Usher remained with the Earl until night- fall, and then at his desire repaired to the King to present to him some few dying requests for the advan- tage of his friends. Those friends were Dr. Bramhall, Bishop of Derry ; the Irish Chancellor, Sir John Loftus ; and Lord Lowther, all of whom were then suffering imprisonment in Ireland, for their known concurrence with and friendship to Strafford. The King at once granted those petitions ; and in Usher's pocket- almanac, under the date of May llth, were found, after his death, some other memoranda, entitled, " What the King wisheth me to deliver unto my Lord Strafford tomorrow." These were the utterance of con- science, wishing to justify and mitigate that which was indefensible. Usher was to tell the Earl that Charles "would never have given passage unto his death if the King's own life only were hazarded thereby," and that even his execution could not be deferred without extreme danger : that his entire estate should be enjoyed by his widow and children ; that it should be under the management of any one he might appoint ; and that if his son proved of sufficient ability he should be specially employed and preferred. Strafford had asked for some favour to be shown to his friends, Lord Dillon and the Earl of Ormond, and the King promised that the first should be employed, and that the second should have the Garter, about to be vacated by Strafford's death, f * Stafford's Letters, II. 416. f Ibid. II. 418. 1641.J CHARLES THE FIRST. 151 When his sorrowing friends were taking their farewell on the last night, Strafford sent for the Lieutenant of the Tower and besought him, " If it were possible, that he might speak with the Archbishop," Laud, his fellow- prisoner. Balfour replied, that he dared not permit the interview without permission from the Parliament. " Why, Master Lieutenant," rejoined Strafford, " you shall hear what passeth between us : it is not a time either for him to plot heresy, or for me to plot treason." Balfour, however, was firm, explaining that his orders were strict and specific, but that he would forward a petition from the Earl to the Parliament. " No," replied Strafford, " I have gotten my dispatch from them, and will trouble them no more. I am now petitioning a higher court, where neither partiality can be expected, nor error feared. " " But, my lord," he added, turning to Dr. Usher, " what I should have spoken to his Grace of Canterbury is this : you shall desire him to lend me his prayers this night, and to give me his blessing when I go abroad tomorrow ; and to be in his window, that by my last farewell, I may give him thanks for this and all other his former favours." And so they parted for the night. * No friendly hand, like that of Herbert's in the chamber of Charles, has left to admiring posterity the record of Strafford's last night. We may justly regret this, without being open to sarcasm for our morbid love of the sorrowful ; because no object tends more to increase affection for our fellow-creatures, than the spectacle of man rising superior to suffering and adversity. Though we have no chronicle of that night of trial, we may justly * Rushworth's Trial of Strafford, 762. 152 THE FAIKFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. conclude that it afforded no contrast to the triumph of the morning. On that morning, seeing the Tast multitude which was assembled on Tower Hill to witness the execution, Sir William Balfour requested Strafford that he would con- sent to be conveyed to the scaffold in a coach, for fear the people should rush upon him and tear him to pieces ; but the dignified reply was, " No, Master Lieutenant, I dare look death in the face, and, I hope, the people too. Have you a care that I do not escape, and I care not how I die, whether by the hand of the executioner, or the madness and fury of the people. If that give them better content, it is all one to me."* So he proceeded to the place of blood on foot, and so firm was his step, so erect his pos- ture, so undismayed his look, that it was said by some of the spectators that he moved on more like a general with his army to a triumph than like a culprit to his death. Yet there was no unbefitting expression on his features ; the brow, naturally severe, we are told by an eye-witness, was now mild ; and though there was " a dejection becoming contrition for sin," yet the expression of unaffected, undaunted courage was still paramount. * In Cooke's " Speeches and Passages of this Parliament," published in 1641, is a speech said to have been delivered by Strafford, " in the Tower, to the Lords ;" but it is beyond doubt a fabrication written by some Puritan of the tune, to neutralise the effect upon the public mind, of the Earl's noble bearing and speech upon the scaffold. It is a mere dull sermon, confessing and aggravating his own guilt, and justifying the Parliament. There is (p. 221) even a thrust against the King and the House of Lords " Let no man trust either in the favour of his Prince (or) the friendship and consanguinity of his Peers " but there is nothing against his obdurate pursuers, the Commons. In " Somers' Tracts," 7. Coll. IV. 449, is another speech of Stafford's, said to have been intended by him to have been spoken on the scaffold, but that he was " inter- rupted." It is evidently a forgery, and only worthy of being added to " the last Hying speeches " customarily cried about our streets after an execution. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. Balfour had mistaken the character of an English mob assembled to see a great man die a martyr to opinion. They were silent, respectful, sympathising, but there was no cry, much less a hostile movement, as he traversed the road from the Tower Gate to the scaffold, as taking off his hat and bowing to each side he saluted them as. he passed.* It is true the sides of the road were lined by soldiers of the Trained Bands, but they were not required so far as the keeping of order was concerned. The Earl set forth from his prison-chamber between the hours of ten and eleven, preceded by the Marshal's men, the Sheriffs' halberdiers, the Buffetiers or Warders of the Tower, and next before him one of his retinue, his gentleman-usher in mourning and bare-headed. Strafford also was " clad in cloth of black," but it was not without design, probably, that he that day " had white gloves upon his hands." He was followed by others of his attendants, also in mourning ; by Dr. Usher and other divines, the Sheriffs of London, the Earl of Cleveland ; his brother, Sir George Wentworth ; and other friends.f Close to his own prison-room was that of Laud, and * Rushworth's Trial of Strafford, 773. At "a modest computation" there were one hundred thousand persons assembled on Tower Hill, " yet as he went to the scaffold they uttered no reproachful or reflecting language upon him." Although the mob showed no symptoms of triumph, offered no insult to add to the Earl's suffering, yet his death was acceptable to the people, as an earnest that the ways of despotism were closed. Bonfires and other demonstrations of rejoicing were exhibited in London and its vicinity, " and many that came up to town to see the execution rode in triumph back, waving their hats, and with all expressions of joy through every town they went, crying, ' His head is off ! His head is off P " Sir P. Wancick's Memoirs, 164. t Cooke's Speeches, &c., 226 ; Rushworth, 759. 154 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. the Archbishop, to gratify his friend's wish, was at the window waiting his coming forth. Strafford bowed and approaching to the wall beneath the window, said, " My lord, your prayers and your blessing." Laud lifted up his hands in the act of bestowing both, but his heart was too full to permit him to speak, and overcome by his feelings he fell back into the arms of his attend- ants.* The Earl passed on, but turned once more to look upon his ancient friend, and waving his hand, commended him to that judgment where " no error is to be feared," adding, "Farewell, my lord ! God protect your innocency." Having ascended to the platform of the scaffold, he advanced to each of its side rails, and bowed to the multitude. Turning to his assembled friends, he began taking his leave of them, and observing Sir George Wentworth's extreme agony of grief, he said with a cheerful voice " Brother, what do you see in me to deserve these tears ? Doth any indecorous fear betray in me a sense of guilt, or my innocent boldness any atheism ? Think, now, that you are accompanying me the third time to my marriage-bed. Never did I throw off my clothes with greater freedom and content than in this preparation for the grave. That stock (pointing to the block) must be my pillow, here shall I rest from all my labours. No thoughts of envy, no dreams of treason, jealousies, or cares for the King, the State, or myself, * Baker's Chronicle, 511, continued by Milton's nephew, Edward Phillips. We quite agree with Daines Harrington, in thinking this work, so far as relates to the Stuart period, much better than it is usually estimated. Dr. Laud, when noticing to Dr. Whimberley this last interview with Strafford, said he had shown unbecoming weakness-; but by God's assistance, when he should come to his own execution, which he expected, the world should see that he was more sensible of the Earl's loss than of his own. Nalson, II. 202. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 155 shall interrupt this easy sleep. Therefore, brother, with me, pity those who, contrary to their intention, have made me happy. Rejoice in my happiness rejoice in my innocence." He then addressed himself generally to those assembled, saying, " I hope you think that neither the fear of loss, nor love of reputation, will suffer me to belie God and my own conscience at this time, when I am now in the very door going out, and my next step must be from time to eternity either of peace or pain. To clear myself before you all I now solemnly call God to witness that I am not guilty, so far as I can understand, of the great crime laid to my charge ; nor have I ever had the least inclination or intention to damnify or prejudice the King, the State, the laws, or the religion of this kingdom ; but with" my best endea- vours to serve all, and to support all. So may God be merciful to my soul !" * He made this declaration upon his knees, but, rising up, requested the people to be patient, whilst he declared himself upon the same points more fully, though he still addressed himself especially to those with him upon the scaffold. He said " My Lord Primate of Ireland, and my lords, and the rest of these noble gentlemen, It is a great comfort to me to have your lordships by me this day, because I have been known to you a long time, and I now desire to be heard a few words. " I come here, my lords, to pay my last debt to sin, which is death, and through the mercies of God to rise again to eternal glory. Nalson, II. 199. 156 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. " My lords, if I may use a few words, I shall take it as a great courtesy from you. I come here to submit to the judgment that is passed against me. I do it with a very quiet and contented mind ; I do freely forgive all the world ; a forgiveness not teeth-outwards (as they say), but from my heart. I speak in the presence of Almighty God, before whom I stand, that there is not a displeasing thought that ariseth in me against any man. I thank God, I say truly, my conscience bears me wit- ness, that in all the honour I had to serve his Majesty, I had not any intention in my heart, but what did aim at the joint and individual prosperity of the King and his people, although it be my ill-hap to be misconstrued. I am not the first man that hath suffered in this kind ; it is a common portion that befals men in this life. Righteous judgment shall be hereafter. Here we are subject to error, and misjudging one another. " One thing I desire to be heard in, and do hope that for Christian charity's sake I shall be believed. I was so far from being against Parliaments, that I did always think Parliaments in England to be the happy constitu- tion of the kingdom and nation, and the best means, under God, to make the King and his people happy. As for my death, I do here acquit all the world, and beseech God to forgive them in particular. I am very glad his Majesty conceives me not meriting so severe and heavy a punishment, as the utmost execution of this sentence. I do infinitely rejoice in it, and in that mercy of his, and do beseech God to return him the same, that he may find mercy when he hath most need of it. I wish this kingdom all prosperity and happiness in the world. I did it living, and now dying it is my wish. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 157 " I profess heartily my apprehension, and do humbly recommend it to you, and wish that every man would lay his hand on his heart, and consider seriously, whether the beginning of the people's happiness should be written in letters of blood. I fear they are in a wrong way ; I desire Almighty God, that no one drop of my blood rise up in judgment against them. I have but one word more, and that is for my religion. " My Lord of Armagh, I do profess myself seriously, faithfully, and truly, to be an obedient son of the Church of England ; in that Church I was bom and bred ; in that religion I have lived, and now in that I die. Pros- perity and happiness ever to it! " It hath been said I was inclined to Popery ; if it be an objection worth the answering, let me say truly from my heart, that since I was twenty-one years of age until this day, going on forty-nine years, I never had thought or doubt of the truth of this religion ; nor had ever any the boldness to suggest to me the contrary, to my best remembrance. " And so being reconciled to God, through the merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour, into whose bosom I hope shortly to be gathered, to enjoy eternal happiness, which shall never have an end, I desire heartily to be forgiven of every man, if any rash or unadvised words or deeds have passed from me, and desire all your prayers. And so, my lord, farewell, and farewell all things in this world. " The Lord strengthen my faith, and give me confi- dence and assurance in the merits of Christ Jesus. I trust in God we shall all meet to live eternally in Heaven, and receive the accomplishment of all happiness, where every tear shall be wiped from our eyes, and sad 158 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. thoughts from our hearts ; and so God bless this kingdom, and Jesus have mercy on my soul !" * At the conclusion of this address he shook hands, " and took a solemn leave " of all his friends who were around him, and, having done so, added " Gentlemen, I would say my prayers, and I intreat you all to pray with me and for me." He then knelt down by a chair, on which his chaplain had placed the book of Common Prayer, and the Psalm which StrafFord selected was that most appropriate one in which David pleads not only for forgiveness to himself, but for his enemies and his coun- try, f Having prayed for nearly half-an-hour, concluding with the Lord's Prayer, he rose from his knees, and again calling to him Sir George Wentworth, he said, " Brother, we must part ; remember me to my sister, and to my wife, and carry my blessing to my eldest son. Charge him from me that he fear God and continue an obedient son of the Church of England ; that he approve himself a faithful subject to the King ; and tell him that he should not have any private grudge or re- venge towards any concerning me ; and bid him beware of meddling with church-livings, for that will prove a moth and canker to him in his estate ; and advise him to content himself to be a servant to his country as a justice of the peace in his own county, not aiming at higher preferment. Carry my blessing also to my daughters Anne and Arabella ; charge them to fear and serve God, and then he will bless them. Not forgetting my little infant, that knows neither good nor evil, and * Rushworth, V. 265. t Strafford's Letters, II. 433. The Psalm was the Twenty-fifth. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 159 cannot speak for itself ; God speak for it and bless it ! I have now nearly done. One stroke will make my wife husbandless, my dear children fatherless, my poor servants masterless, and separate me from my dear brother, and from all my friends ; but let God be to you and to them, all in all." Proceeding now to undress, he said " I thank God I am no more afraid of death, nor daunted with any dis- couragements arising from any fears, but do as cheer- fully put off my doublet at this time, as ever I did when I went to bed." Having removed his doublet, wound up his hair, and drawn over it a white cap to retain it from rendering the stroke of the axe less effective, he desired the executioner to be called, replying to his request for forgivenes "I forgive you and all the world." He then knelt down by the block, Dr. Usher kneeling on the one side, and Dr. Carr on the other ; and, after praying a short time, "he spoke some few words softly, having his hands lifted up, and closed between those of his chaplain." Lying down upon the scaffold, to place his neck upon the block, he told the headsman that he would first " try the fitness of the block," before he laid down his head finally. Having done so, and before resting again upon the block, he said to him, " I will give you warning when to strike, by stretching out my hands." Doing this immediately afterwards, he was decapitated with one blow of the axe.* Rushworth's Collections, V. 269. His body was embalmed and removed for interment in York Minster. He had been thrice married, his first wife being Margaret Clifford, sister to the Earl of Cumberland, by whom he had no issue ; the second, Arabella Holies, sister to the Earl of Clare, by whom he had one son and two daughters ; and the third, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Godfrey Rhodes, having issue one son and one daughter. 160 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. " Thus fell/' says his adversary Whitelocke, " this noble Earl, who for natural abilities, and for improvement of knowledge by experience in the greatest affairs, for wisdom, faithfulness, and gallantry of mind, hath left few equals." With that opinion coincided Cardinal Richelieu, for his comment on the intelligence was " The English are so foolish that they would not let the wisest head among them remain upon its own shoulders." * We will give one more full and unflattering character of this most influential statesman of his time, and then leave the subject but not its consequences ; for with Strafford's fall commenced the utter ruin of the Royalist cause. It is the conviction . of this fact that induced us to trace its details with so much minute- ness, and this, (added to the insight which it affords into the manners of the times,) has led us to insert the following, from the pen of his closest intimate, Sir George Radcliff. " In the managing of his estate and domestical affairs, he used the advice of two friends, Charles Greenwood, f and George Radcliff, and two servants, Richard Morris, his steward, and Peter Man, his solicitor. Before every Term they met, and Peter Man brought a note of all things to be considered of ; which being taken into con- sideration, one by one, and every one's opinion heard, resolution was had and set down in writing, whereof his lordship kept one copy, and Peter Man another. At the * Sir P. Warwick's Memoirs, 162. Evelyn, in his " Diary," says, "I beheld, on Tower Hill, the fatal stroke which severed the wisest head in England from the shoulders of the Earl of Stafford ; whose crime, coming under the cognizance of no human law, a new one was made, not to be a precedent, but his destruction to such exorbitancy were things arrived." f Mr. Greenwood, was a Yorkshire clergyman. IV^W/Z^/c'' /is: /?/(/<> frtS/l. 1641.1 CHARLES THE FIRST. next meeting, an account was taken of all that was done in pursuance of the former orders, and a new note made of all that rested to be done, with an addition of such things as did arise since the last meeting, and were requisite to be consulted of. His whole accounts were ordered to be made up twice a year, one half year ending the 20th of. September, the other the 20th of March : for by that time, the former half-year's rents were commonly received, or else the arrears were fit to be sought after ; it being no advantage either to the tenant or landlord to suffer arrears to run longer. " He never did anything of any moment, concerning either political or domestical business, without taking advice ; nor so much as a letter written by him to any great man, of any business, but he showed it to his confidants, if they were near him. The former part of his life, Charles Greenwood and George Radcliff were consulted with ; and the latter part, Christopher Wan- desford came in Charles Greenwood's room, Charles Greenwood desiring not to be taken away from his cure. They met almost daily, and debated all businesses and designs, pro et contra. By this means, the Earl's own judgment was very much improved, and all the circum- stances and probable consequences of the things consulted were discovered and considered : a course which some great men have practised, and which is very efficacious to make a wise man, even though he advise with much weaker men than himself; for there is no man of ordi- nary capacity, that will not often suggest some things, which might else have been let slip without being ob- served : and in the debatings of things, a man may give another hints and occasions to observe and find out VOL. ii. M 162 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. that which he that speaks to it, perhaps, never thinks on ; as a whetstone, which cannot cut itself, does make a knife sharper. "He was exceeding temperate in meat, drink, and recreations. He was no whit given to his appetite ; though he loved to see good meat at his table, yet he eat very little of it himself: beef or rabbits were his ordinary food, or cold powdered meats, or cheese and apples, and in moderate quantity. He was never drunk in his life, as I have often heard him say ; and for so much as I have seen, I had reason to believe him ; yet he was not so scrupulous, but he would drink healths, where he liked his company, and be sociable as any of his society, and yet still within the bounds of temper- ance. In Ireland, where drinking was grown a disease epidemical, he was more strict publicly, never suffer- ing any health to be drunk at his public table, but the King's, Queen's, and Prince's on solemn days. Drunkenness in his servants was in his esteem one of the greatest faults. " He loved hawking, and was a good falconer ; yet in his latter days he got little time to see his hawks fly, though he always kept good ones. He played excel- lently well at primero and mayo, and for company sake, in Christmas, and after supper, he would play some- times ; yet he never was much taken with it, nor used it excessively, but as a recreation should be used.* * Primero was a fashionable game. " I left him at Primero with the Duke of Suffolk," says Shakspeare (Henry VIII. act iv. sc. 5). And the Marquis of Worcester, in his " Century of Inventions," suggests knots to be so arranged in the fingers of a pair of " white silk gloves," that, when playing Primero, " the sixes, sevens, and aces, which the player discarded," may be easily remembered. Mr. Duchat, in a note to the 22nd Chapter of the 1st Book of Rabelais, gives directions for playing this game. 1641.J CHARLES THE FIRST. His chief recreation was after supper, when, if he had company which were suitable unto him, that is, honest cheerful men, he would retire into an inner room, and sit two or three hours, taking tobacco and telling stories with great pleasantness and freedom ; and this he used constantly, with all familiarity in private, laying then aside all state, and that due respect which in public he would expect. " He loved justice itself, taking great delight to free a poor man from a powerful oppressor, or to punish bold wickedness, whereof there are sundry instances to be given, both at York and in Ireland. This lost him some men's good will, which he thought to be better lost than kept upon those terms. One person of quality, whom he had severely punished at York, came to be one of his judges in the Lords' House, and there did him all justice and favour (as the case then stood) in his last troubles ; who therefore deserves to be honoured, especially by us that had relation to him.* " He was exellently well studied in that part of the English laws, which concerns the office of a justice of peace ; insomuch as one of the Judges of Assize, a great lawyer, was well pleased to learn his opinion in a matter about the poor, and the statutes made concerning them. By constant attendance at the Star Chamber for seven years together, he learned the course of that court, and many directions for his carriage towards the public. This was a most pleasant and useful employment for a young gentleman in those days, who is likely to have any part in the government of his country. " He bore a particular personal affection for the King ; * Probably Lord Savile. M2 164 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. and lie was always a lover of monarchy, although some that have observed him in former Parliaments thought not so ; but they little knew with what respect and kindness King James had used him ; for as certainly that Prince thought him no enemy to his power. It is true, he was a subject, and sensible enough of the people's liberties ; and he always thought that regal power and popular privileges might well stand together ; and then only they were best preserved, when they went hand in hand, and maintained one another. He always disliked the abuse of regal authority to the oppression of subjects, for private ends and interests ; yet it being most hard and difficult to keep the interests of the King and people from encroaching one upon another, the longer he lived, his experience taught him that it was far safer that the King should increase in power, than that the people should gain advantages on the King.* " His prudence and diligence are best shown by the government of Ireland, wherein he never undertook any business that he would give it over till he had finished it. He was constantly at work himself, and set out able instruments in every kind proper for his assistance : to them he gave little rest, still calling on and encouraging them to be doing, and to give accounts of what they had done, and rewarding plentifully all that deserved * This is a weak attempt to defend Strafford's tergiversation ; and we must remember that in pleading for him the writer was, by implication, shielding himself. Ratcliff, and another relative, Wandesford, most conveniently were converted at the same time that Strafford was won from thinking that monarchy is an institution intended for the benefit of the people. They all once concurred in maintaining that the King cannot rule without Parliaments, nor without the control of the laws they have sanctioned. The Laws," said Strafford, when in the House of Commons, " are not acquainted with Sovereign Power." 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 165 it. If those he employed were diligent and dexterous to dispatch the King's business, they needed not study for suits for themselves ; his watchfulness and bounty would prevent them, wherein I could give a multitude of instances.* " In the compass of seven years, whereas the King's revenue in that kingdom before he came thither had fallen every year short above 20,000/. of defraying the public charge, he brought the King's revenue not only to pay all, but to yield about 60,000/. yearly above all payments ; and it was in a growing condition, still increasing. He discharged the King's debts there, which were great, nearly 8000/. He got restored to the Church, lands and tithes sacrilegiously interverted, about 30,000/. in yearly value. He brought in all the laws in England into force to his time, (except several penal laws, which are commonly snares to the people, rather than producers of any reformation,) so as the Irish and English might live together as one people. He inde- nizened all the ante-nati Scots which were born before Queen Elizabeth's death : a favour of very great advan- tage to that nation, which it may be hoped some of that nation will consider, and remember how some of their countrymen reputed that benefit. He saw the army complete, duly paid, duly clothed, and duly exercised, whereof his own eyes every year were his witnesses. He secured the seas from piracies, so as only one ship was lost at his first coming, and no more all this time ; whereas every year before, not only several ships and goods were lost by robbery at sea, but also Turkish * Strafford gave the leading features of his own character in one sentence " I despise danger I laugh at labour." Stratford's Letters, I. 80. 166 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. men-of-war usually landed and took prey of men to be made slaves. By this means and other encouragements of merchants, trading did increase to full treble of what it was formerly ; and for every ton of shipping which he found in Ireland, he left an hundred tons, as may be particularly shown by a list of all the shipping found and left in every harbour of that kingdom. In the mean time, he caused the merchants to pay their customs more duly than they had done, whereof many incorporations were more sensible and displeased at it, than the great security and benefit which they received in their trading did recompense, in their apprehension. But the whole kingdom' felt the benefit, inasmuch as all lands through- out Ireland increased near double in yearly value and rents within the compass of these seven years ; inso- much that it was generally observed that Ireland never lived in that tranquillity, and plenty, and liberty from oppression, and other blessings that made a nation flourish, as it did under his government. That all people should be satisfied, it is impossible ; but when the complaints of discontented persons are duly heard and considered, they will very easily be answered by any that knew those times. " He was naturally exceedingly choleric, an infirmity with which he had great wrestlings ; and though he kept a watchfulness over himself concerning it, yet it could not so be prevented, but sometimes upon sudden occasions it would break forth. He had sundry friends often admonished him of it ; and he had the great prudence to take in good part such admonitions : nay, I can say that I, one of his most intimate friends, never gained more upon his trust and affection than by this 1641.] CHAKLES THE FIRST. 167 freedom with him, in telling him of his weaknesses. For he was a man and not an angel ; yet such a man as made a conscience of his ways, and did endeavour to grow in virtue and victory over himself, and made good progress accordingly. * " He was defamed for incontinence, wherein I have reason to believe that he was exceedingly much wronged, f I had occasion of some speech with him about the state of his soul several times, but twice especially, when I verily believe he did lay open unto me the very bottom of his heart. Once was, when he was in a very great affliction upon the death of his second wife ; and then for some days and nights I was very few minutes out of his company. The other time was at Dublin, on a Good Friday, (his birth-day) when he was preparing himself to receive the blessed sacra- ment on Easter-day following. At both these times, I received such satisfaction, as left no scruple with me at all, but much assurance of his charity. I knew his ways long and intimately ; and though I cannot clear him of In mitigation of our reprehension of Stratford for his extreme irritability, we shall do well to remember that he had to exert his mind to an unwonted degree, whilst suffering from two complaints tending more than any other to produce acerbity of temper gout and a calculous disorder. t Both Strafford and the Countess of Carlisle were much belied, if their intercourse was Platonic. His regard for her interests would strike any one, even ignorant of the reported intrigue ; for whatever embarrassments pressed upon the Irish Treasury, he always took care that she should not suffer. Strafford Letters and Sidney Papers. The Countess was one of the most beautiful women of her time ; and when a widow, or, as Waller then happily described her, " A Venus rising from a sea of jet," she became, according to Sir Philip Wai-wick, the inamorata of Pym. Leaving the gay Cavaliers for the more rational Puritans, " she frequented their sermons and took notes." Warwick'* Memoirs, 204. 168 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. all frailties (for who can justify the most innocent man V) yet I must give him the testimony of conscientiousness in his ways, that he kept himself from gross sins, and endeavoured to approve himself rather unto God than unto man, to be religious inwardly and in truth, rather than outwardly and in show, "I need say little of his eloquence and abilities in speech. Both Houses of Parliament in England, and the Star Chamber and Council-table there, as also the Presidential Court at York, and the Council-chamber, and Star Chamber and Parliament in Ireland, and as much as any of these, his last defence at his trial in Westminster Hall before the King, Queen, Lords, House of Commons, and multitudes of auditors of all sorts, are most full and abundant witnesses hereof, to omit his private and public letters, which showed that he writ as well as he spoke. This perfection he attained first by reading well-penned authors in French, English, and Latin, and observing their expressions ; secondly, by hearing of eloquent men, which he did diligently in their sermons and public speeches ; thirdly, by a very great care and industry, which he used when he was young, in penning his epistles and missives of what subject soever ; but above all, he had a natural quick- ness of wit and fancy, with great clearness of judgment, and much practice, without which his other helps of reading and hearing, would not have brought him to that great perfection to which he attained. I learned one rule of him, which I think worthy to be remem- bered. When he met with a well-penned oration or tract upon any subject or question, he framed a speech upon the same argument, inventing and disposing what 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 169 seemed fit to be said upon that subject, before he read the book ; then reading the book, compare his own with the author, and note his own defects, and the author's art and fulness ; whereby he observed all that was in the author more strictly, and might better judge of his own wants to supply them. " But amongst all his qualities, none was more eminent than his friendship, wherein he did study and delighted to excel ; a subject wherein I can worst express myself, though I have most to say, and greatest scope to enlarge myself : for I cannot think of it without remembering what I lost in his death ; a treasure which no earthly thing can countervail : such a friend as never man within the compass of my knowledge had ; so excellent a friend, and so much mine. He never had anything in his possession or power, which he thought too dear for his friends : he was never weary to take pains for them, or to employ the utmost of his abilities in their service. No fear, trouble, or experience, deterred him from speaking or doing any thing which the occasions of his friends required. He was never forgetful, nor needed to be solicited to do or procure any courtesy which he thought useful for or desired by his friends. He spent eight years' time, besides his pains and money, in solicit- ing the businesses and suits of his nephews, Sir George and Sir William Savile : going every term to London about that only, without missing one term in thirty, as I verily believe : and all this, merely in memory of the kindness which had passed between him and his brother- in-law, Sir George Savile, then deceased. The Lord Balti- more, and the Lord Keeper Coventry, both of them on their death-beds gave him a most singular testimony of 170 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. their sense of his most constant kindness and industrious promoting of their interest at the Court, above the ordinary course of Court friendship. How he bestirred himself in an arbitration between the Earl of Arundel and Surrey, and Philip Earl of Pembroke, wherein he was named on the Earl of Arundel's part, the particulars are more than I can well set down ; and the conse- quence thereof I am very willing to forget. It will be too long for me to design to express the obligations his kindness laid on particular men. There are very many that have cause to remember them, and they or their posterity enjoy the fruit thereof. In fine, he did not seek friendship with all men ; but where he desired inti- macy, his kindness did appear much more in effect than in words. He never failed where he did profess friend- ship ; yet the time was, when he might have secured himself from the great opposition raised against him in Parliament, if he would have consented to have done, and forborne to have done, some things, concerning some whom he accounted his friends, which some men would not have scrupled at : and God knows whether he was repaid again with the like kindness and fidelity." 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 171 CHAPTER V. The Parliament attacks Laud Puritans too strong for him Sir E. Bering opens the attack Case of Mr. Wilson Mr. Grimston denounces Laud Denzil Holies impeaches him Committed to the Tower Sir F. Windebanke attacked and flies His memoir Sir H. Vane, his co-secretary Lord Keeper Finch threatened His defence Impeached, but escapes to Holland Subsequent life Sir G. Ratcliff and Judges assailed Sir R. Crew Misconduct of the Bishops Letter of Sir F. Fairfax Petition for a University at Manchester Strafford's Trial Exclusion of the Bishops from power Lord Fairfax's property Charles careful of Church govern- ment Dr. Wren and eleven other Bishops impeached Root and Branch Bill Division of opinion relative to them Popular Riots Bishops' lives endangered They absent themselves from Parliament Their Protest Charles communicates it to both Houses Twelve Bishops imprisoned for High Treason Arguments for excluding them from Parliament Counter- arguments Bishops Hall and Latimer differ Recal of Prynne and others Abolition of Star Chamber and other Courts Charles recapitulates his concessions Queen of Bohemia and the 1'alatiuate Letter of the Countess Lewenstein Charles Fairfax King proposes to visit Scotland Fears of the Commons Rumoured Designs Mutinous conduct of the Army Letter of Charles Fairfax Petition against serving as Jurors Letter of Mr. Stockdale Oppressive conduct of the Soldiers Levying Subsidies Peers exempted Three Regiments disbanded Mr. Hyde Chairman of Bishops' Committee Earl of Holland appointed to disband the Army Letter of Mr. Stockdale Course of proceeding Sir J. Astley Sir J. Conyers Billet-money Dishonesty of the Officers Visitors to Harrow- gate Spa Disputed Accounts Misdemeanour of Returning Officer for Knaresborough Billet-money due from one Regiment National Debt Alarm of Commons Money borrowed by them Levy a Poll Tax Letter of Mr. Stockdale 111 conduct of the Judges Ship-money Review of the Poll Tax Increase of Recusants Proposal of Tax for Suppression of Irish Rebellion. LOOKING back upon the contest which had been carried on between the Parliament and the King, from the beginning of the reign to the day of Strafford's execution, extending over a period of sixteen years, we 172 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. are at once struck by the progressive advance made by the former towards the attainment of their objects. Adapting their weapons to every new emergency, addressing themselves with consummate skill and sleep- less vigilance to the evasive shapes into which the royal despotism glided from session to session, never compro- mising a fraction of their demands, standing always firmly on their privileges, and faithfully resisting the encroachments of the throne at all hazards, and in the face of an authority which possessed and exercised the prerogative of extinguishing their deliberations, the Parliament steadily pursued their purpose, until at length they succeeded in bringing one great culprit to the block. The punishment of Strafford may have exceeded the measure of his offences, the prosecution may have taken the colour of vengeance ; but higher considera- tions intervene at this distance of time to guide us to a more comprehensive judgment on these transactions. The matter at issue was of deeper interest than that of the exact justice dealt out to an individual under circumstances of unprecedented pressure and alarm, or the temper with which an impeachment for high treason against the rights of the people was conducted by their long suffering and much outraged representa- tives. The liberties of the country were at issue between the Crown and the Parliament, and were in peril at every step of the conflict. It is quite consistent with the enlightened patriotism of the present age to commiserate the fate of Wentworth, and to admit at the same time the controlling necessity, involving the existence of the constitution itself, under which this proceeding and all other extreme measures of the 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 173 Commons, were so strenuously carried to their con- summation. Previous Parliaments had done, and could do, little more than assert popular principles and fall by them. They presented a series of popular martyrdoms. Buck- ingham triumphed over them to the last. Their power had not acquired the requisite concentration to enable them to grapple with him successfully. The career of the King had been a career of impunity, fretted, no doubt, by constant impediments and unwearying pro- tests ; yet still showing a vitality which it often seemed hopeless to oppose. But the constancy of Parliament lived down all obstacles. If hitherto they had been unable to accomplish tangible results, they had system- atically prepared the public mind to expect them. They had developed public opinion. They had organised the moral strength of the country. They had clearly expounded the practical grievances under which the people were suffering, had fearlessly dissected the illegal and arbitrary conduct of the King, denned the bounda- ries, then ill-understood, of constitutional right, and, without being able to effect an impression upon the force arrayed against them, sustained as it was by fear and venality, by old superstitions and hereditary resources they had blocked up the passage to its farther progress. Above all things they had strengthened the faith of the people in the justice and ultimate triumph of their cause, by proving to them that there were steadfast and resolute men in the breach, ready to defend it to the last extremity. And now came the time for action. The whole pro- ceedings of the Parliament that doomed Strafford to 174 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. the death, were distinguished by an energy of move- ment such as had never before been exhibited within its walls. Not satisfied with eloquent speeches, and courageous declarations, they decided every question they discussed. Their resolutions reached all the con- spicuous abuses of the time; Ship-money was denounced as a violation of law and the rights of property ; patentees and monopolists were expelled from the house ; and the judges were protected in the discharge of their functions. To have stopped with the prosecu- tion of Strafford would have left greater evils unre- dressed behind ; and the course which they had thus so auspiciously begun, they determined to pursue with a promptitude and firmness which filled the secret cham- bers of Whitehall with dismay. The next delinquent upon whom they seized was Archbishop Laud. Laud was the foremost man amongst the advisers of the King, who insisted upon increasing the powers of the throne and the prelacy. He was the first to be swept away by the irresistible tide of reform. He had made war upon the Puritans, a term of contempt which was used so indiscriminately as to embrace a large majority of the whole population. The Court doctrines on these matters were well expressed by Sir Benjamin Rudyard " Under the name of Puritans all our religion is branded, and under a few hard words against Jesuits, all Popery is countenanced" But the Puritans were too strong for Laud, and he had now to meet the consequences of his infatuated policy. The impending storm was ominously shadowed forth by Sir Edward Bering,* within a week after the Par- * Parl. Hist. II. 662. Sir E. Bering was a Knight of the Shire for Kent. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 175 liament assembled ; and about a fortnight later, Sir Edward renewed his denunciation of the archbishop, in language still more menacing and explicit.* Not a solitary voice was raised in the archbishop's defence ; and on the 1 6th of December the Convocation and its canons were condemned by the House. On the 18th a committee, embracing all the leaders of the House, reported through their chairman, Mr. Grimston, that Laud was " like a busy, angry wasp, his sting in the tail of everything, and that it was not safe that such a viper should be near his Majesty's person." f Mr. Denzil Holies was then com- missioned to impeach him at the bar of the House of Lords ; and that prelate not offering a word of defence, was committed to the custody of the Usher of the Black Rod, and finally to the Tower.J The committal of Laud was followed by fresh proofs of the activity of Parliament. The next officer of state assailed by the House of Commons was Sir Francis Windebanke, "the very broker and pander " of Rome, who in terms still coarser was denounced by Mr. Grimston. Sir Francis was one Though an opponent of the Court and Ecclesiastical misrule, he was a Royalist ; was expelled from the House in 1641 ; raised and commanded a regiment of horse for the King ; was deprived of all his estates, and died in poverty at a farm-house once his own, at Surrenden, in Kent. His death occurred in 1644. * Parl. Hist. II. 671. t Nalson's Collections, I. 691. Abuse seems to have been an acknowledged figure of rhetoric in those days, and " Viper " a favourite term of reproach. The King, in dissolving a former Parliament, spoke of the Opposition members as " vipers," who must expect to be crushed. J There is this entry in his " Diary " : " March 1st, I went in Mr. Maxwell's coach to the Tower. No noise till I came to Cheapside ; but from thence to the Tower I was followed and railed at by the apprentices and rabble in great numbers, to the very Tower gates, where I left them ; and I thank God he made me patient." 176 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. of the Secretaries of State, and the charges preferred against him were, that he exercised his official power to protect and promote the interests of the Papal religion. The truth of the accusation is admitted even by the friendly Clarendon, who says that " he was, indeed, an extraordinary patron of the Papists." * Either by design or accident he was allowed to escape, for being ordered to withdraw from the House whilst the charges were in debate, he retired to the Committee-chamber, and, finding no further notice was taken, he hastened to his own house, and fled the same night " in an open shallop" to Calais. Clarendon intimates that the charges would have implicated Sir Henry Vane, whom the Commons desired to shelter, which seems to favour the suspicion that the House connived at his escape ; a suspicion slightly strengthened by the subsequent conduct of the Commons, who, being summoned to attend the Peers just as they were about to enter upon the charges, afterwards adjourned their deliberations without again referring to his case. The Lord Keeper Finch was next assailed, and * Clarendon's History, I. 142. Windebanke had become Laud's intimate friend whilst fellow-students at St. John's, Oxford ; and Laud, duly estimating his pliable character, obtained for him the secretaryship vacated in consequence of Sir Dudley Carlton's death. This was in 1 632. Laud's Diary. Windebanke returned to England, and endeavoured to effect a reconciliation with the King ; but the latter refusing to see him, Windebanke again retired into France. He died at Paris, in 1646. His eldest son was a gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Charles the Second. His second son was shot for traitorously surrendering Blechingdon House to Cromwell ; and the third, a physician, was patronised by Cromwell, when Protector. Wood's A thence Oxon. In a letter to the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Pembroke, he declares that he considered the Church of England "pure and orthodox ;" but he does not declare whether that Church was Protestant or Papist. Saunderson says that Windebanke died " a professed Roman Catholic ;" but Whitelocke says that it was only so " reported." 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 177 he boldly demanded to enter upon an anticipatory de- fence, before any charges were preferred against him. That defence was eloquent and specious, but the House were not to be won over by his eloquence from the memory of his conduct as its Speaker, as Chief Justice in the case of Ship-money, and in the enlargement of the Forest. " Had not this syren so sweet a tongue," said the member for Wigan, Mr. Rigby, " he could not have effected so much mischief ;" and his concluding words prevailing, " Let us not be so pitiful as to be remiss ; not so pitiful in judgment as to have no judgment," Lord Falkland was directed to carry up to the Lords an impeachment against "John, Lord Finch, Baron of Fordwich, and Lord Keeper." This was on the 21 st of December, and having a timely warning, he, like Winde- banke, passed into exile, and like him, writing to the Earl of Pembroke, protested his innocence. He appears to have remained concealed for a few days in England before he commenced his flight ; for he says " I am now at the Hague, where I arrived the last day of last month (December), and where I purpose to live in a fashion agreeable to the poorness of my fortunes." Some other civilians, but of minor importance in the ranks of the absolutists, such as Sir George Ratcliff, * ParL Hist. II. 698. The friends of this unprincipled man in the House of Commons continued the debate as to his impeachment until the Peers had risen, so that he could not be secured that day. Clarendon's History, I. 141. This gave him time to escape. He remained in exile about eight years ; and paying a heavy fine, was then allowed by Cromwell to return. He suffered himself to be drawn from his retirement near Canterbury, to be one of the judges for the trial of the regicides, and so conducted himself as to die detested by all parties. His death occurred at the close of 1660. No greater proof of his baseness need be remembered than his consenting to have Sir Robert Heath displaced, and to succeed him, that the levying of Ship-money VOL. II. N 178 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1640. the Irish Secretary and relative of Strafford, and six of the judges who had declared the levy of Ship-money legal, by their judgment against Hampden, were also added to the number of the impeached. It is sufficient thus briefly to notice these impeachments, as demon- strative of the sweeping determination with which not only the reversal of every unconstitutional act was pursued, but to bring punishment upon those co- operating to inflict the wrong. But whilst the House of Commons thus sought to deter by punishment, they were not unmindful to pro- mote and to encourage by their votes of approbation and reward those who had asserted popular rights. The reparations to Sir John Eliot and his fellow-suf- ferers have been already noticed ; yet another act of justice deserves remembrance, because, as was truly but quaintly said by its advocate, Denzil Holies, " Reward and punishment are the two legs that justice walks on ; but reward is her right leg, the more noble and the more glorious." This was said in asking the Peers to join in a petition to the King for some mark of special favour to Sir Randall Crew "that good old judge/' who had been displaced from the Chief Justiceship of the King's Bench, because he refused to pronounce in favour of one of the King's unparliamentary loans. * might be more efficiently enforced. That event, and Sir John Banks's apostacy for the Attorney Generalship, on the death of Noy, were thus noted at the time by some Westminster Hall wit : Hoy's (Noah's) flood is gone, The Ba/riks appear ; Heath is cut down, And Finch sings there. * This application was inopportune, for Charles was not likely at that mo- ment to reward those who had opposed his will, and whom he had condemned. 1640.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 179 Before we pass from the consideration of these pro- ceedings of the Commons against the recreant judges, it deserves to be remembered, that whilst they sought for punishment on their want of integrity, they did not forget to obtain for that integrity a better security hereafter. It is usual to attribute to Charles the merit of altering the tenure by which the judges held their places, but that praise has been misdirected to him, for it is attributable to the House of Commons. On the 15th of January, 1641 for even the very birth-time of this salutary safeguard of the due administration of justice deserves to be recorded Charles assented that for the future this clause, " Quamdiu se bene gesserint," might be inserted in the patents of the judges, instead of "Durante bene placito." Charles assented, but the proposition emanated from the House of Commons, and a committee had waited upon the King to suggest and to advocate the change. * The misconduct of the bishops came next under the consideration of the House ; misconduct so strongly marked, involving them so deeply with secular affairs, that the besom of reform, in sweeping over the offenders, was directed quite as much against the existence of Episcopacy, as against the evil-doings of individual bishops. The opinions of men, even among the most moderate of reformers, at that time, may be gathered from the following letter : Sir R. Crew died in 1642 ; and though his descendants enjoy the dignity of a Baron, it was not conferred for any merit possessed by their most worthy ancestor. * Parl. Hist. II. 702. The statutes, 13 Wm. III. c. 2, and 1 Geo. III. c. 23, did little more than ratify this first suggestion of the Long Parliament, for securing the independence of the judges. N 2 180 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. TO MY VERY LOVING BROTHER, MR. HENRY FAIRFAX, AT ASHTON-UNDER-LINE. GOOD BROTHER, I HAVE received your letter, and in it a a petition for an university to be erected at Manchester, which cannot be done but by a bill in Parliament. The charge will be great about one hundred marks ; and the effecting what is desired will be very uncertain. Those well affected to the now universities (which include, indeed, every member of our House,) will be in danger to oppose this. I should be most glad to have such a bill pass, as beneficial not only to that, but all the northern counties. I shall advise with the knights and burgesses of that county, and go the way they shall think fittest ; but I much fear a happy issue of it, especially now that the House has made an order to entertain no new matter till some of those great and many businesses we have grasped be ended, the chief whereof are my Lord Lieutenant's trial, this day only entered into, which is like to hold one week ; the next will be my Lord of Canterbury's trial, and with that, Episcopacy and Church-government (I hope not the liturgy, which many shoot at) ; and we have gone no farther in that as yet than to vote in these words : " That the legislative and judicial power of Bishops in the House of Peers is a hindrance to the discharge of their spiritual function, prejudicial to the commonwealth, and to be taken away by Bill." This Act is framing, and does exclude not only them, but all clergymen from power in the Star Chamber, Council Board, 1641.] CHAKLES THE FIRST. 181 Commission of Peace, and all civil courts. The next charge will be against the Judges, for subverting the laws of the land ; into which we are not yet entered ; nor can we hope for half that time of sitting which will be requisite to make examples of offenders in the several kinds. For the other part of your letter, you desire to know what I will .grant out of the whole estate unto you and children. Truly, brother, you must give me leave (so long as you think a third part or any whit of it due by law or reason, considering the will of my dear father,) to forbear a signification of what I will grant ; nor can your own or my sister's coming (as you write) to move friends to intercede, prevail more with me than yourselves are able without any such friends. I intend, if it please God, to be very shortly in the country, wearied with much toil, and infirm in this evil air, where I shall be glad to see my sister and you ; and the rather to invite you, my brother and sister Constable, now lodged at the Pear-Tree, in the Covent Garden, have promised to come down with me, and stay this summer in the country. She has her health much better than her husband. My cousin Aske and his wife remember them to you. I think neither of them will come down. He is in his lodging again in the Temple, and in reasonable practice. Thus, with my best wishes to yourself and my sister, I rest, Your very affectionate brother, FER. FAIRFAX. King-ttreet, this 22d of March, 1640. (N.S. 1641). Charles was wisely sensitive and wary when con- sidering any proposed change affecting Church govern- 182 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. ment. He believed it to be the best of ecclesiastical establishments ; and he now felt, when too late, that, by endeavouring to force it upon his Scottish subjects, he had endangered its very existence in England. With the wish to avoid, if possible, even any proposal con- flicting with his belief, he told both Houses in a confer- ence with them at Whitehall, that although willing to remove all innovations in the Church, yet that he made a great difference between reformation and alteration : " I am for the first/' said the King ; " I cannot giv way to the latter. I will not say that bishops may not have over-stretched their power, or encroached upon the temporal ; which, if you find, correct and reform the abuse, according to the wisdom of former times. Yet, by this, you must understand, that I cannot con- sent for the taking off their voice in Parliament : " a declaration which was drawn from the King by the popular clamour, " that bishops should be no more than ciphers, if not clear done away." * The House of Commons were not idle or dilatory in dealing with the Episcopal Bench. On the 18th of December, Laud was impeached ; on the day following the Bishop of Ely, Dr. Wren, was held to bail on " certain informations of a high nature ; " f and only a few months after, Serjeant Wylde impeached them and eleven other bishops at the bar of the House of Lords, in the following terms : that they " did contrive, make, * Parl. Hist. 11.711. t Ibid. 682. Hampden heralded the charges to the House of Lords"; and Mr. Grimston, with an attempt at wit too vulgarly obvious, said, after enumer- ating several other ecclesiastics, that " the Wren was the least of those birds, yet one of the most unclean." For eighteen years Dr. Wren was most unjustly detained, without a trial, in the Tower. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 183 and promulge several constitutions and canons ecclesias- tical, containing in them divers matters contrary to the King's prerogative, to the fundamental laws and statutes of the realm, to the rights of Parliament, and to the property and liberty of the subject."* These were only attacks on individual prelates ; but an active opinion and spirit were abroad, not only that the holder of a spiritual office should have no political employment, but that all ecclesiastical dignities were contrary to the doctrines of Christianity. The House of Commons inclining to both these opinions resolved that for any bishop or clergyman to be in the commis- sion of the peace, or to have any judicial power, was a hinderance to his " spiritual function and prejudicial to the commonwealth." In furtherance of this resolution a bill was passed and sent up to the House of Peers, not only restraining them from such " intermeddling in secular affairs," but also taking from them their right of voting as members of the Legislature. This was re- jected by a large majority, but the House of Commons renewed the attack in a form so extirpatory of all " archbishops, bishops, their chancellors and commis- saries, deans, archdeacons, and other ecclesiastical officers," that it received the very appropriate title of "the Root and Branch Bill" Upon no question was there a more evenly balanced * Rushworth, V. 359 ; Purl. Hist II. 896. Besides Laud and Wren, the other bishops impeached were Walter Curie, Bishop of Winchester ; Robert Wright, of Coventry and Lichfield ; Godfrey Goodman of Gloucester ; Joseph Hall, of Exeter ; John Owen, of St. Asaph ; William Piers, of Bath and Wells ; George Coke, of Hereford ; William Roberts, of Bangor ; Robert Skinner, of Bristol ; John Warner, of Rochester ; John , of Peterborough, and Morgan Owen of Landaff. 184 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. division of opinion than upon this. The Court party and the leaders of the reformers were far from being unanimous. The Earl of Essex was in its favour because " seldom was anything carried directly opposed to the King's interests, by reason of the number of the bishops, who, for the most part, unanimously concurred against it." * Nathaniel Fiennes, young Sir Harry Vane and Hampden, coincided with the Earl, but Pym and Denzil Holies were opposed to such a change in the constitution of the Legislature. Even Hyde and Lord Falkland, " who had never been known to differ in the House," took opposite sides, f The union of opinion was not more perfect outside the walls of Parliament, for, although the rabble, making a stand before Whitehall, cried out "No Bishops! No Bishops !" and although their rage against them went so far that they threatened to pull down their lodgings, and it became necessary to close and guard Westminster Abbey ; Bishops were assaulted, and the Archbishop of York was rescued with difficulty ; yet these were the ebullitions of none but the rabble, who with as much reason shouted subsequently for the death of the King and the abolition of the House of Lords. It is true, a petition from the City of London, sustained by fifteen thousand signatures, aided the cry for " No Bishops ! " but nineteen county petitions, with one hundred thou- sand signatures attached, pleaded for the maintenance of Episcopacy. * Clarendon's History, I. 184. f Ibid. 185. J Neal, II. 356. It is needless to enumerate the adverse Petitions. Oxford- shire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, &c., petitioned against Episcopacy ; Oxford University, Rutland, Cheshire, and others in its favour. Nation's Collections, II. passim. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 185 Tliis division paralysed the attempt to pass the measure through the Parliament, and for that time it was abandoned ; but the London mob prevailed in the mode peculiar to those who have more physical than moral power. The friends of Charles, however, hastened the success of the mob by arming themselves, and forming a guard ab.out Whitehall " with more formality and ceremony than upon a just computation of all distempers was by many conceived seasonable."* A table was kept for the entertainment of these indiscreet loyalists, comprising officers of disbanded regiments, and students of the Inns of Court, spirits not likely to refrain from collision with an abusive mob ; indeed, Clarendon relates that this was the consequence. Warm with indignation at the daily insolencies of the rabble, words of high contempt and scorn were interchanged; and blows, more serious than from the unarmed hand, were not long in following. Each party set up a dis- tinguishing war-cry, and this gave birth to the epithets "Roundhead" and "Cavalier;" the first being applied to " the rabble, contemned and despised," and the other to those " looked upon as servants to the King." f The House of Peers gave directions to the sheriffs to provide constables, and suppress the meetings ; but some of the House of Commons, including Pym, de- clined to co-operate in this " protection" of free parlia- mentary discussion, by observing, that "they must not discourage their friends, it being a time when they must make use of all." Others, with better judgment, called for the adoption of measures to put down those who, " begirting the house, would prescribe what laws should * Clarendon, I. 267. t Ibid. ; Ludlow's Memoirs, I. 21, (Ed. 1698.) 186 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. be enacted, and what persons should be prosecuted."* The mob, however, prevailed, and the Bishops dared no longer venture to attend the Parliament. " The rout," says Bishop Hall, " did not stick openly to profess that they would pull us in pieces. Messages were sent down to them from the Lords, but they still held firm both to their place and their bloody resolutions. It now grew to be torch-light, and the Marquis of Hertford told us we were in great danger, and advised us to take some course for our safety." The terrified prelates sought for advice, but none more comfortable was offered than that they should remain all night in the House ; " for," added the Mar- quis, who, with some others, seems to have revelled in increasing the terrors of these aged divines, " these people vow they will watch you at your going out, and will search every coach for you with torches, so that you cannot escape." At length, some in the coaches of popular noblemen, " and the rest, some of them by their long stay, and others by secret and far-fetched passages, escaped home. v f Thus driven from Parliament, it would have been wisdom in them to have remained quiet until this po- pular effervescence had subsided, but they presented a " Petition and Protestation," " an unadvised act," ob- serves Whitelocke, " pleasing to their adversaries, being a way prepared by themselves for setting them aside, and removing them from the House of Lords." J Parl. Hist. II. 988. f Bishop Hall's Hard Measure." $ Whitelocke's Memorials, 51. Twelve bishops signed it : The Archbishop of York, and the Bishops of Durham, Lichfield, Norwich, St. Asaph, Oxford, Bath and Wells, Hereford, Ely, Gloucester, Peterborough, and Llandaff. l. Hist. II. 994. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 187 In that Petition, after stating that they had been "several times violently menaced, affronted, and assaulted by multitudes of people, in their coming to perform their service in Parliament, and lately chased away, and put in danger of their lives," they protest that " they dare not sit or vote in the House of Peers," and that all Acts passed or that shall be passed in their absence, "since the 27th of this instant, December 1641," are " null, and of none effect." Charles grasped the Protest and communicated it to the Peers, by the hands of his Lord Keeper, for it kindled a hope, opened a prospect to him that he might make void under a legal pretext the statutes forced upon his acceptance. This hope was fallacious and the prospect a mirage, for all, even their friends, were exasperated at this idle attempt to embarrass the public measures, and only one voice was heard to plead for them, expressing a conviction that they were more worthy of cells in Bedlam than in the Tower.* Some of the courtiers, indeed, saw in it a divine inter- position in their favour, and that "it was the finger of God." If it were so, that finger pointed the way to the bishops' prompt destruction, for "the House of Commons took very little time to consider the mat- ter," (we quote the words of Clarendon,) "but, within half an hour, they sent up to the Lords; and, without further examination, accused all who had signed the Protestation of high treason. By this means the whole * Clarendon's History, I. 275 9. That ill-advised Protest was the hasty suggestion of Dr. Williams, Archbishop of York ; and according to Bishop Hall, in his " Hard Measure," was hurried to the House of Peers without their consent 188 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. twelve of them were committed to prison, and remained in the Tower till the bill for the putting them out of the House was passed ; which was not until many months after."* The advocates of these changes employed argu- ments coinciding with those offered by Lord Say and Sele. They argued that " he who has an office must attend upon its duties, especially this of the ministry, according to the practice of the Apostles. There never was, nor will be, men of so great abilities and gifts as they were endued with, yet they thought it so inconsistent with their callings to take places of judi- cature in civil matters and secular affairs and em- ployments, that they would not admit even of the distraction that a business, far more agreeable to their callings than these would cast upon them, and they give the reason of it in the sixth chapter of Acts. ' It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.' Again, when they had directed their disciples to choose men fit for that business, they insti- tuted an office for taking care of the poor, lest they should be distracted by it from the principal work of their calling ; adding this statement how they intended to employ themselves : ' But we will give ourselves con- tinually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.' Did the Apostles, men of extraordinary gifts, think it unreasonable to be hindered from giving themselves continually to preaching the word and prayer, by * Clarendon's History, I. 278. There were various other changes voted at this time by the House of Commons, such as the Act for the abolition of Deans and Chapters, Archdeaconries, Prebendaries, and Canonries, and investing their lands in feoffees; the rents to be applied to the fitting support of "preaching ministers," and the reparation of churches. Parl. Hist. II. 838 77. 1C41.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 189 taking care for the tables of the poor widows 1 and can the bishops now think it reasonable, or lawful, for them to contend for sitting at the council-table ; to govern states ; to turn statesmen instead of churchmen ; to sit in the highest courts of judicature, and to be employed in making laws for civil polities and government ? " Their proper excellency is spiritual ; the denial of the world, with its pomp and preferments, and employ- ments. This they should teach, and practise ; but when they, on the contrary, seek after a wordly excel- lency, like the great men of the world, and to rule and domineer as they do, contrary to our Saviour's precept, ' It shall not be so amongst you ; ' instead of honour and esteem, they bring upon themselves, in the hearts of the people, that just odium which they now lie under ; because the world concludes that they prefer a worldly excellency, and run after it, and contend for it, before their own. " Although the Pope be cast off, yet now there is another inconvenience, no less prejudicial to the king- dom, by bishops sitting in the House of Peers ; and that is, they have such an absolute dependency upon the King that they do not sit there as freemen. That which is requisite to freedom, is to be void of hopes and fears ; but for the bishops, it is not likely they will lay aside their hopes, greater bishoprics being still in expectancy : and for their fears, they cannot lay them down, since their places and seats in Parliament are not invested in them by blood, and so hereditary ; but by annexation of a barony to their office, and depending upon that office ; so that they may be deprived of their office, and thereby of their places, at the King's pleasure. 190 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. " They do not so much as sit here dum bene se gesse- rint, as the judges now have their places granted them ; but at will and pleasure ; and therefore, as they were all excluded by Edward the First as long as he pleased, and laws were made excluso clero, so may they be by any King, at his pleasure in like manner. "Antiquity is no good plea for their being legislators, because that which is by experience found to be hurtful, the longer it has done hurt, the more cause there is now to remove it, that it may do so no more. Besides, other irregularities are as ancient, which have been thought fit to be redressed ; and this is not so ancient but that it may truly be said, non fuit sic ab initio. Being estab- lished by law is not insuperable, for the law-makers have the same power and the same charge to alter old laws that are inconvenient, as to make new that are neces- sary. It can be no breach of privilege of the House ; for either estate may propose to the other, by way of bill, what they conceive to be for the public good ; and they have power, respectively, of accepting or refusing. There are two other objections which may seem to have more force, but they are capable of these answers. The one is, ' That if we may remove bishops, the next change may be to remove barons and earls.' But the reason is not the same ; the one, sitting by an honour invested in their blood, and hereditary, which, though it be in the King to grant alone, yet, being once granted, he cannot take away ; the other, sitting by. a barony depending upon an office which may be taken away ; for if they be deprived of their office, they sit not. And their sitting is not so essential ; for laws have been, and may be made, they being all excluded ; but 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 191 it can never be showed, that ever there were laws made by the King and them, the lay-lords being excluded. The other objection is, ' That the exclusion of bishops alters the foundation of the House of Lords, and inno- vations which shake foundations are dangerous/ But, if there be an error in the foundation, when this shall be found, and the master-builders be met together, they ought rather to amend it, than to suffer it to run on still, to the prejudice and danger of the whole structure. " But the presence of bishops is not fundamental to the House, for it has existed without them, and yet done all that appertains to its power, they being wholly ex- cluded. Now that which has been done for a time at the King's pleasure, may be done with as little danger for a longer time ; and, when it appears to be fit and for public good, not only may, but ought to be done altogether by the supreme power." Arguments like these are more specious than solid. There is no inconsistency in a bishop participating in an assembly providing ordinances to deter others from evil, and for their encouragement to do well. Such a func- tion is compatible with occupations the most holy, and is, indeed, well becoming those whose particular duty it is to provide that the laws of men shall be consonant with those of the great Lawgiver of Christianity. Yet bishops may defend their legislatorial positions upon other grounds. " They have the same right to sit in Parliament," said Selden, " as the best earls and barons ; that is those that were made by writ, If you ask one of these why they sit in the House, they can only say that their fathers and grandfathers, &c., sat there before Parl. Hist. II. 807. 192 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. them. And so say the bishops, He that was a bishop of this place before me, sat in the House, and he that was a bishop before him, &c. It is true the titles of the first are inheritable, whilst those of the second are not, yet that takes not away the bishop's right. The bishops were not barons because they had baronies annexed to their bishoprics, for few of them had : besides few of the temporal lords had baronies ; but they are barons, because they are called by writ to the Parliament, and bishops were in the Parliament ever since there was any mention or sign of a Parliament in England. You would not have bishops meddle with temporal affairs, think who you are that say it. If a Papist, they do in your Church ; if an English Protestant, they do among you ; if a Presbyterian, you allow your lay-elders should meddle with temporal affairs as well as spiritual. Besides, all jurisdiction is temporal, and in no Church but they have some jurisdiction or other. " The question then will be reduced to majus and minus ; they meddle more in one Church than in another. To take away the bishops' vote, is but the beginning to take them away ; for then they can no longer be useful to the King or State." * If to these considerations are added the facts, that from education, experience, and profession, bishops must be among the best informed, and probably among the most virtuous of the nation ; that they are less likely to be slavish admirers of the King, because they are elected for life, and their children are not heirs to the dignities they may acquire ; and that if they did not sit in Parliament they might in Convoca- tion ; the most ingenious may be puzzled for an excuse * Table Talk : Bishops in Parliament. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 193 to justify their exclusion from among the councillors of the nation. Some who object to their admission among those councillors seem to forget that bishops are parti- cularly appointed to superintend the discipline of the Church ; that its temporal welfare is another of their appropriated cares. Others seem to expect, that they should be exclusively careful in spiritual affairs ; and to think that a man dedicated to God may not so much as, when he is required, cast a glance of his eye, or some minutes of his time, or some motions of his tongue, upon the public business of his King and country. " Those," said good Bishop Hall, (who for his virtues and eloquence has been called the English Seneca,) " that expect this from us, may as well, and upon the same reason, hold that a minister must have no family, or, if he have one, must not care for it ; yea, that he must have no body to tend, but be all spiritual. My lords, we are men of the same composition with others, and our breeding hath been accordingly. We cannot have lived in the world, but we must have seen it, and observed it too ; and our long experience and conversation, both with men and books, cannot but have put something into us for the good of others." * * Parl. Hist. II. ; Life of Selden, 228. Though we are not unfavourable to the Bishops forming a portion of the National legislature, which ought to embrace some of each class most probably indued with deliberative wisdom, yet no character is more obnoxious than a busy political prelate. Bishop Latimer had so great a distaste for this character, that he would have restricted his order entirely to their sacred duties. His words are as forcible as quaint " Ye that be Prelates look well to your office, for right prelating is busy labouring and not lording." Instead of attending to their duties, he continues " they are other- wise occupied, some in Kings' matters, some of the Privy Council, some to furnish the Court, some are Lords of the Parliament, some are Comptrollers of the Mint Is this their calling? I would fain know who comptrolleth the devil at home in his parish (or diocese) while he comptrolleth the Mint ? " Latimer's Fruitful Sermons, 13. Ed. 1635. VOL. II. O 194 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Although the Parliament does not appear to have succeeded in obtaining any mark of honorary distinction for Sir Randall Crew, they took care that other just claims more urgent for redress should be effectually regarded. Prynne, Bastwick, and Burton, were re-called from their solitary imprisonments, " conducted into London by many hundreds of horse and foot in great pomp and defiance of justice," * and " thorough " means were adopted to prevent the recurrence of atrocities like those to which they had been subjected. The Courts of Star Chamber, of High Commission, of the Forests, of the Earl Marshal, of the Stannaries, of the Lord President of the North, and of the Bishops, were all abolished. They were courts in which, in degrees more or less oppressive, the judge's discretion was the law, and they all came within the measure of that condemnation, unsparingly poured out upon one of them by Clarendon, when he said " Such confusion has this ' discretion ' produced, as if discretion were only one remove from rage and fury ; no inconvenience, no mischief, no disgrace that the malice, or insolence, or animosity of those presiding had a mind to bring upon the people, but, through the latitude and power of this ' discretion,' the poor people have felt. This ' discretion ' has been the quicksand swallowing up their property their liberty." f Those iniquitous courts, those most mischievous instru- ments of tyranny, which allowed political and private * Whitelocke's Memorials, 37. The subject was brought to the notice of the House by petitions from their respective wives and friends ; as were the cases of Lilburne and Leighton, with similar success. Rushwwth, V. 20. They were restored to their professional positions, from which they had been degraded, and recompensed for their sufferings as far as money could recompense them. The Earl of Strafford's children were also restored, in blood, by statute, and his lands settled for their benefit. Parl. Hist. II. 828. + Parl. Hist. II. 828. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 195 feeling to sharpen or to direct the sword of justice, were all swept away, though Charles lingered in giving his consent to part from two of the most powerful of them, and ineffectually sought to justify his delay by thus recapitulating the reforms to which he had previously assented, as if the removal of one evil were a justification for retaining another : "I hope you remember I have granted that the judges shall hold their places, quamdiu bene se gesserint. I have bounded the forests, not according to my right, but according to the late customs. I have established the property of the subject, as witness the free giving up, not the taking away, the Ship-money. I have established, by Act of Parliament, the property of the subject in Tonnage and Poundage ; which never was done in any of my predecessors' times. I have granted a law for a triennial parliament ; and given way to an Act for the securing of monies advanced for the dis- banding of the armies. I have given free course of justice against delinquents. I have put the laws in execution against Papists. Nay, I have given way to every thing that you have asked of me ; and, therefore, methinks, you should not wonder if, in some things, I begin to refuse : but I hope it shall not hinder your progress in your great affairs, and I will not stick upon trivial matters, to give you content."^ At the same time that the King thus assented to the Bills in question, he mentioned the steps he was taking in behalf of his sister, the dowager Queen of Bohemia, who still remained a widow and an exile, as noticed in * Parl. Hist. IT. 8/56. 02 196 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. the following letter. Her son, Prince Charles, at that time the Palatine, was in London suing for aid ; but, in one of his notes to his mother, he observes, " this violence of the House of Commons for the extirpation of the bishops, root and branch, will keep back my business."* TO SIR FERDINANDO FAIRFAX. MY LORD AND DEAR FATHER, SINCE my last I have seen sometimes your son,t but he comes so seldom to the Hague I do extremely quarrel with him, for I know your lordship does allow him enough to live amongst the best com- pany, and that would be many ways for his advantage. Those great obligations I have to your lordship make me thus free, and wish for some occasion wherein I might express the gratitude I owe you. This place affords little news : you have all with you ; may it end happily, and that kingdom flourish as it hath done ! This ought to be the prayer and wish of us all. The Prince of Orange is gone into the field, and wishes the return of those officers who are in England. I doubt not but your lordship hath seen his son, the young Prince, who begins the world with a greater fortune than could have been imagined; but he is as good as pretty, which makes him worthy of enjoying so great a Princess.J I know your lordship wisheth so well to the Queen my mistress Bromley's Royal Letters, 119. t Charles Fairfax. He was then a Colonel in the service of the States, and had sailed from Hull to join his regiment in 1639. J The Prince Royal of Orange, at this time in England, married a daughter of Charles the First, 2nd May, 1641. 164 l.J CHARLES THE FIRST. 197 and all her's, that you will be glad to hear of their health, and wish them more happiness than this world affords them ; but things may change, for to God there is nothing impossible. I dare not importune your lord- ship with idle discourse ; I know how much your mind and actions tend to doing good, and the serious affairs you have now in hand ; it will be more content to me than your lordship can imagine, that I live in the memory and favour of you and yours, and that you are all as well as is heartily wished by, my lord, Your most humble servant and daughter, F. LEWENSTEIN. Hague, the 14 s. d. The country hath not brought us in as yet any cer- tain account other than for five months, which was about . . v< r . , . . . 530 The paymaster upon an account given into him by Captain Treswell, hath defaulted for the country for six months ...... 584 7 1 Lieutenant Colonel Fielding's company. The country hath brought us in account by which they challenge to be due to them . . 114 But the commanders do not agree to it, so they are about to make a new account more perfect. The paymaster upon accounts given to him by the officer of that company hath defaulted for the country . 93 15 Sergeant Major Berries company. The country's account signed by the officers of that company amount to . . . . . 345 11 11 Which is defaulted by the paymaster for the country. Captain Dawson's company. The country's accounts signed by the captains' amount to ....... 265 15 4 The paymaster hath defaulted from him for the country no more but ..... 220 6 2 Captain Monnyn's company. The country's accounts signed by the captain amount to 287 1 6 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 219 The paymaster defaults from him for the country, s. d. no more but . . , ... ..-.. . .. . 242 14 8 Captain Smyth's company. The country demands 268 2 9 Which is defaulted by the paymaster. Captain Payn's company. The country demands 268 2 3 Which is defaulted by the paymaster. Captain Langley's company. The country hath not yet brought in their accounts, but I hear there is more due unto them than the paymaster hath defaulted, which is . 268 11 3 Captain Walthall's company. The country demands by account signed by the captain 188 16 5 And they demand also, which the captain con- fesseth is due to one Walker for billet-money . 800 Of which there is defaulted by the paymaster . 188 16 5 Captain Bosomne's company. The country demands by accounts signed by the captain 287 3 1 The paymaster defaults for it . . . . 283 3 1 Captain Green's company. The country demands . . . . 239 16 2 Which the paymaster hath defaulted. Captain Watson's company. The country demands by accounts signed by the captain and his officers . . . . . 315 2 3 The paymaster hath defaulted only . . 266 4 10 Captain St. John's company. The country demands by accounts signed by the captain 247 5 The paymaster deducts only . . . 238 18 2 " By these particulars your lordship will perceive, that the captains have gotten much of the country moneys into their hands, which if the Lieutenant Colonel do 220 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. not cause them to repay, then order must be given to stop so much out of the captains' personal entertain- ment for the three months, yet resting unpaid to them ; but I cannot yet set down either certain sum to the country's demands ; nor to the errors of the defalca- tions : the next week I think we shall make it more certain ; and Mr. Ingleby and I shall both join in rectifying it." In the present days of systematic taxation, and after such a long familiarity with its pressure, its annoyance, and its productiveness, it is difficult to comprehend the exertions, the delays, and the contrivances to which the Parliament in 1641 was compelled to submit before they could obtain the monies requisite for satisfying the Scotch Commissioners, the two armies, and the arrears due to those on whom they had been billeted. A private subscription was actually raised, to which the Peers contributed 5,000/., for the purpose of quieting the soldiers by the month's pay, noticed by Mr. Stockdale, but it was necessary to send with it an intimation that money would soon be speedily forwarded for discharging the entire balance due.* In the December of 1640, two subsidies were ordered to be levied " for the relief of the King's army and the Northern Counties ;" two more subsidies for the general service of the State ; and during the May following a further sum of 400,000/., was ordered to be raised "for the great and pressing affairs of the kingdom." This being found insufficient, Tonnage and Poundage was ordered to be levied, together with " other sums payable * Parl. Hist. X. 303. 11.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 221 upon merchandise imported and exported." A propo- sition was made, but rejected, for rendering Spanish money current, to avoid the delay of its re-coinage. * It is amusing to observe, accustomed as we now are to a National Debt of eight hundred miUions, the per- turbation of the House of Commons, occasioned by the following Balance Sheet of the National Finances. The examination of " these great sums " had been con- fided to a special committee, and the chairman of this committee, the member for Beverley, Sir John Hotham, reported thus : " The Parliament undertook to pay the Army and Garrisons upon 10th of November last, which, to the 29th of June, is Eight months and seren days ..... 412,050 For disbanding, a month's pay . ... 50,000 462,050 The King's army hath had of this .... 150,000 Remains due to the King's army 312,050 * Among the Fairfax MSS. is the following note of one day's Parliamentary proceedings, connected with these and other contemporary matters : " Tuesday, the 1 9th of January, 1 640 (N.S. 1 64 1 .) The last week, one of the Scottish demands was read to the House of Commons, the total of which (besides what they are willing to bear themselves) is five hundred and fourteen thousand, one hundred twenty-eight pounds, and nine shillings, for damages and losses which they desire may be raised out of the incendiaries the Bishops and Recusants. This day was appointed by the House of Commons to take the same into consideration. They have uow sat almost all the day, about the charge to make good the accusation of High Treason against the late Lord Keeper, was by the House of Commons delivered to the Lords last week, and by that, it is collected, that the charge against the six Judges in question will be much of the same nature, but the same is not yet resolved upon. There is three-score thousand pound in providing to send down for the relief of the King's army. The business about the Court of York is put off for a time." 222 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. The Treaty, from which time we pay the Scots, begun October 16th, which, to 29th June, is 8 months and 24 days ....... For Shipping . "\ " . V" V' . Total due to the Scots is . , The Scots have had .... *> Remains due to them, Shipping and Pay . . Due to the King's army, e contra Total due to the King's army and the Scots 216,750 4,000 220,750 105,000 115,750 312,050 427,800 To the Scots must presently be paid of the Brotherly Assistance Money ...... 80,000 And there must be, within fifteen days, in Yorkshire, else the sum will every day increase . ... 507, 80( 587,80( To pay this great sum we yet but know of From the old Customers From the new Customers From the City ^ .... And a month hence from the old Customers 100,00( 15,00( 40,00( 50,0( 205,0( So that all the money we have yet in view being gone, we are to provide . ..... 382,80( If the country trust the Billet, and the Officers, from a Captain upwards, be at half-pay, it is thought it will amount to . . 60,00( Which taken out of the sum, will rest 322,80( 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 223 For the money provided by Subsidies, and otherwise, the State is conceived to be thus : Upon the first six Subsidies . . . . , . 300,000 Upon the last . " . ' 400,000 Upon the old Customers 150,000 Upon the new 15,000 Total is ... 865,000 The two armies have already had . ... 255,000 Remains 610,000 There was owing to the Scots, besides this, 220,000, for which security must be given them.* This announcement absolutely struck terror into the members assembled ; the prospect of national bank- ruptcy, and a vision of mutinous troops advancing upon the metropolis, made them almost frantically active. More than half a million to be paid within fifteen days was a difficulty which required the aid of the entire monied interest of London. An order was therefore forth- with passed, " That all the merchant-adventurers in town should have notice to attend the committee for raising money, in order to borrow so much of them as would serve the present occasions, at 10 per cent, interest." This panic was a rare harvest for the gentlemen of Lombard Street, but the Rothschilds of that period knew then, as well as now, how to deal when "the money-market became tight." It was found that no sacrifice could be too great to enable them to escape ra- pidly from their terms of accommodation with the Scotch, and even the obnoxious impost of a Poll and Income Cess combined was proposed and adopted for the purpose. Parl. Hist. II. B41. 224 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [L641. In these days of inequitably levied Income Tax, it is not without interest to know how our forefathers par- celled out the infliction. It was resolved, with some minor modifications, that every English or Irish Duke should pay ..... 100 ,, Marquis ...... 80 Earl 60 ,, Viscount 50 Baron 40 Baronets and Knights of the Bath . . . . 30 Knights . . . 20 Esquires ......... 10 Gentlemen that have 100?. per annum . . . . 50 Every Bishop ,.,;",. . . .. '> ... 60 Every Dean 40 Canon Resident ........ 20 Archdeacons . . . . . . . . 15 Chancellors and Commissaries . . . . . 15 Prehendary . . . . . . . . 10 Every Parson, whose living is 1001. per annum . . 50 Lord Mayor of London . . . . . . 40 Aldermen . . . . 20 Aldermen's Deputies . . . . . . . 15 Common Councilmen . . .... 50 Master and Wardens of the twelve Companies . . . 10 Every one of the Livery thereof ..... 50 Master and Wardens of the other Companies, and such as have fined for Master or Warden . . . 50 Every one of the Livery . . . . . . 210 Every Freeman of the twelve Companies . . . 10 Every Freeman of the other Companies, except Porter and Waterman ....... 10 Every Merchant Stranger being a Knight . . . 40 at Sea 10 1 at Land , . . . . 50 English Merchants at Land, not free .... 50 141.] CHAELES THE FIRST. 225 Factors . , , .. :.-.; . r , ,. . .20 Handicrafts-men, Strangers, per poll . > , . . . 02 If Housekeepers ........ 4 Sergeants at Law . . . . . . 20 King's Sergeants ....... 25 King, Queen, and Prince's Counsel . . . . . 20 Doctors of Law and Physic . . . . . 10 If Papists 20 Every Man of 100? 50 Every Man of 501. per annum . . , . . . 20 Every one that can dispend 201. per annum . .05 All other persons above sixteen, (such as receive alms only excepted,) to pay sixpence per head. Recusants double in all.* Allusions to these various details of " the ways and means," and of the proceedings rendered necessary for supplying the latter, have been noticed in some of Mr. Stockdale's letters, and others will be found in those which follow : TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE AND MY MOST NOBLE LORD THE LORD FAIRFAX OF WESTMINSTER. MY LORD, YOUR lordship's letters, which Mr. Clapham sent me on Monday last, surprised me with unexpected joys ; first in giving me the wished testimony of your lordship's welfare ; and next, that I live in your lord- ship's noble thoughts, and in that degree, to be worthy to receive your commands. For the excellency of your lord- ship's merit doth not only engage me with the rest of this country in a general bond of observation, but your special favours bestowed on me and mine, do oblige me and them in more particular devotions to your lordship * Parl. Hist. II. 842. VOL. II. Q 226 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. and all your noble family ; and therefore your lordship may rest assured that I shall, both with diligence and cheerfulness, attend whatsoever you shall be pleased to give me in charge. That which your lordship recom- mends to me touching your own particular, doth appear to be most reasonable, being compared with others of most eminent estates, seeing the Act now passing doth not burthen your honour, as the former did.* And I am persuaded the rest will be of the same opinion, wherein I shall give your lordship more exact account hereafter. I understand every day by continual advertisement and general report, that the great council, where your lordship now assists, proceed with a noble resolution and constancy in the vindicating of their country's liberty, lately most dangerously wounded and even at the last gasp of life by the treachery of her judges, who being fathers of the law, ought to have been her pro- tectors. I know you will find too many other great persons who have been favourers and furtherers of thes6 violations of law and liberty, and that many have been sharers in the profit, who do all of them deserve heavy fines and other brands of ignominy. But if all the judges escape with life, and none of them suffer ultima supplicia, I fear your clemency will be more memorable than your justice in that case. In one of the grievances of the kingdom (the Ship- money) I was a sufferer both in matter and manner ; but it was in Sir John Hotham's sheriffwick ; against whose rigorous and undue proceedings although I have just cause of complaint, nevertheless, observing him * Subsidy Act, 23rd December, 1640. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 227 now a zealous patriot of his country, both in point of religion and liberty, the edge of ray quarrel to him- wards is abated. Yet methinks the head constable, Hardcastle, in whom I know no virtue, unless it be his drinking, that can merit favour, were now fit to be ques- tioned for his most disorderly and exorbitant behaviour in that disservice of the King's. For, besides mine and many other particular men's cases, to whom his office, and the strictness of warrants in that business, did enable him to do wrong, he did apparently break all customs and rules settled for ordering and proportion- ing the charges that are laid upon the country, taking off part of the burthen where he favoured, and laying double the proportion in other places where he dis- affected, which is a tacit argument of corruption, and howsoever, an insufferable sauciness in an inferior officer. But for my own part, I shall sit down with patience of the wrong, if other men of more judgment and greater interest in the country, be content to pass it by. For the letters of intelligence from the party (Derelove) your lordship writes of, there hath been much speech here, and a copy of one of them was procured and sent up to the House, and put into the Speaker's hand. His son is now lately come down, and saith his father is cleared of the crime, by the testimony of some good friends in the House, which it seems is not fully so. I have seen two or three of them he sent to my neighbour you mention ; and I have one which he writ to myself: and truly, in my own opinion, they contain nothing more than one friend may lawfully impart to another ; unless it be crime to write to a recusant. Yet there may be more than is discovered to me, and therefore I will have both open Q2 228 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. ears and eyes that way, and if I find anything material your lordship shall speedily hear from me. The neigh- bours vent suspicious language of his affection to that faction, and my imagination tells me something is not right ; but unless the wrong can be made apparent, it is vain to question it. I fear my many and impertinent lines have tired your lordship with reading, yet I must usurp your patience to tell you, that I hope to wait upon your lordship at London, as soon as I can get my wife and children home, who are still in Lancashire, where they stay until the ways mend, and the weather grow warm ; and now I conclude, wishing to your lordship much increase of honour, and all other happiness, your lordship's faithfully devoted servant, THOS. STOCKDALE. 28th January, 1640. (N.S. 1641.) TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, AT WESTMINSTER. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIP, YESTERDAY I received from Mr. Robert Benson a printed order made in Parliament dated 29th November, and with it the printed form of a certificate touching the poll-money which the order directs to be made. But in the order there are no express directions that the commissioners should make a review, or new assessment of any person ; although they shall conceive that they were formerly underrated in the taxation of the poll-money. And your lordship knows that the commissioners of this Wapentake of Claro, have already taxed, collected, and paid all the poll-money, as it was 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 229 first assessed, and we have acquittances from the sheriff for it all, unless it be some very small sum in Ripon, which I think Mr. Ingilby hath by this time gotten and paid over to the last sheriff. Now, seeing there is a new order made which seems to import a review of the work, I desire [your lordship to explicate the sense of the House in these two points : first, whether it be intended that we who are the commissioners should meet again, and call the country together to make a new assessment or tax, where the former is defective, (for which there is no warrant expressed in the order, as I conceive it) ; or whether the commissioners only are to meet, and make such a certificate as is ordered by the House, of which the model is sent us in print to guide us in the work : secondly, when such a certifi- cate is made up, I desire your lordship to instruct me, to whom it is to be sent ; whether to some special persons or committees appointed there to receive them by order of the Parliament, or to the sheriff of Yorkshire. Upon your lordship's resolution of these two parti- culars I shall send to the other commissioners to meet, which till then I forbear, lest we run into error. And I suppose your lordship doth not forget that Staincliff and Ewbank have paid nothing at all to the poll-money, nor is it likely that they will tax it upon this order, without a special commission under the great seal from my Lord Keeper. I hear of no order yet come into the country to restrain the daily concourse of recusants ; indeed the forces they are able to make out are not much considerable, yet their consultations may conduce to the prejudice both of Church and Commonwealth. 230 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Divers of the best families of them in these parts have left their own habitations, and are come to live at York ; as Tankard, Conyers, Cholmeley, and others. Methinks the Popish Rebellion in Ireland, should be an apt occasion thereupon to move the King to grant the two thirds of the recusant lands in England towards main- tenance of the war for suppressing them in Ireland. And that being once settled in such a course, the work would be more facile to obtain the King's consent to an Act of Parliament, that those revenues should be perpetually employed to other public and politic uses of the State ; annexing provisoes of restitution when the recusants shall, in such a limited time, conform themselves in religion. I will now conclude your lord- ship's trouble of reading, with the tender of my due observances to your lordship, and I am Your lordship's faithfully devoted servant, THOMAS STOCKDALE. 23rd December, 1641. CHARLES THE FIRST. 231 .CHAPTER VI. The King's resistance to be expected Encroachments of the Parliament Pym's hints against the Peers and King Bill for u the Perpetual Parlia- ment " Proposed amendment of the Lords All parties blameworthy Mutual distrust Charles resolves to revisit Scotland Reason assigned by him Parliament anxious for delay Real intentions of the journey The Protestation The King unscrupulous Warrant to the Marquis Hamilton Intrigues with the Covenanters Letter of Lord Wariston The King's efforts to win the Scotch Commissioners Earl of Rothes Montrose's ambiguous letter The Plotters' proposals to the King Letter of the King to the Earl of Argyle Military preparations The King leaves London for Edinburgh Want of money Attendants on the King His conduct at York Earl of Holland's report The King arrives at Edinburgh His base conduct Act of Oblivion Abandons his friends Pardons his opponents Abolishes Episcopacy The Incident Promotes the chief Covenanters Episcopal property confiscated Covenanters ungrateful The King's return to England Letter of Mr. Stockdale Knaresborough Election contested William Derelove Sir William Constable Sir Henry Slingsby The King at York Knighthoods conferred Sir Philip Stapleton Committee attend- ing the King Re-establishment of a Court at York Its Trained Bands Establishment of a Northern University Manchester and York compete Letter of Rev. Henry Fairfax Counter-Petitions. No one can contemplate the sweeping reforms, the progress of which has been glanced over in the preceding Chapter reforms urging the King to resistance by curtailing his power, and restraining the instruments of arbitrary government, without anticipating that some effort would be made by him to stay the current of change, and to recover some of his lost authority. The force of circumstances, the "pressure from without," had compelled him gradually to give ground, and at length to abandon, in rapid succession, most of the 232 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. strongholds of despotism. But it was not to be expected that a monarch, nursed as he was in the creed of Divine right, should relinquish the sweets of unbridled authority without making some desperate efforts, open or con- cealed, to get them back again. And it must be admitted that the Parliament, in their eager desire to curb this particular despot, had suffered themselves to be carried away into some extraordinary encroachments upon the just prerogatives of the Crown. They demanded that all ministers of State should be discharged, and that the King should commit "his own business, and the affairs of the kingdom, to such councillors and officers as they, the Parliament, might have cause to confide in." By this demand they struck at the appoint- ment of the King's household as well as that of his public ministers. The Bill for the continuance of the Parliament sub- verted the prerogative in a still graver matter ; and Charles must have felt himself driven to the last extremity when he gave his assent to a measure which annihilated the irresponsible control he had originally asserted over the very existence of Parliament. That assent was given simultaneously with the assent to Strafford's death, and truly was it said by one who saw the ink scarcely dry upon the signatures, " The King has passed one bill against his most faithful servant, and the other against himself." The Peers endeavoured to diminish the force of this bill, by an amendment limiting its duration to two years, or some other time ; but the Commons persisted, and the bill was passed, by which it was declared that the Parliament then sitting should not be dissolved or adjourned without the consent of both 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 233 Houses. The Royalists, with some truth, called it " The Act for the Perpetual Parliament."* That these measures involved inroads upon the Exe- cutive, which, if drawn into precedents, would be attended by serious damage to the machinery of the Constitution, cannot be denied. But it must be remembered that the Constitution was not distinctly marked out at that time ; that the Executive had usurped some of the most im- portant functions of the Legislature ; and that the Com- mons were fighting a battle for the future liberties of the country, the fate of which depended upon the restric- tion of the King's authority, and the security of their own independence. By these excessive measures, they neither declared nor sought to establish any general principles. Such measures were purely defensive ; forced upon them by the urgency of the occasion, and adopted to enable them to found, upon an imperishable basis, those popular rights which are now the safeguard and the glory of England. That this warfare between the Parliament and the King ultimately hurried both parties into excesses which had been better spared, may now, perhaps, be conceded, when, removed from the passions and the dangers of the time, we come to view the conduct of these affairs with historical impartiality. But the waters once let loose, it was not so easy to stay their course. Neither party had much choice of alternatives in the long run. Until he had committed himself too far to recede, it had always been in the power of the King to mitigate the hostility of the Commons by yielding to their legitimate demands. It was his constant refusal to hear their prayers that * Clarendon, I. 204. 234 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. inspired them with so much distrust, when he was com- pelled to grant some terms at last. The grace which was refused to respectful entreaty and conceded only to compulsion, was not likely to be productive of amity or confidence. They justly suspected the sincerity of his compliances, and looked upon him as a retreating enemy, who was only watching some treacherous opportunity to return to the attack. Throughout the whole struggle, it will have been seen how perseveringly the King maintained the assertion of arbitrary power, and how steadily the Parliament clung to the great principle upon which they had stood from the first. The Commons always put forward the redress of grievances as the indispensable condition of supply : the King always responded " supply first, redress of grievances afterwards. " This was a case which admitted of no compromise. There was no middle course by which the difference could be adjusted. One or the other must surrender in the end. The Parliament had been made to feel the insecurity of their tenure. They had been capriciously called together, and capriciously dismissed. They had been treated on all occasions with contumely and arrogance ; summoned only to be insulted, and dissolved without a shadow of justifiable pretext. Now when attention is recalled to the fact, that in the existence and indepen- dence of the Parliament lay the sole hope of the people, and that out of doors the popular force, scattered and divided, was incapable of presenting an effectual resist- ance to the exorbitant tyranny of the monarch, it will cease to be a matter of surprise that this Parliament, as it gradually gathered strength, should have sought, by 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 235 all the means in its power, to fortify its position and preserve itself, as the depository of the will of the people against the wanton assaults of the King. So far from censuring the Parliament for the measures of self- protection they adopted, we should rather, looking dis- passionately at the circumstances in which they were placed, applaud the - extraordinary caution and forbear- ance with which they acted. Driven from their chamber of deliberation, stripped of their legislative functions, and sent back, over and over again, to detail to their constituents the wrongs which had been inflicted through them upon the whole people, it could not have produced much astonishment if they had excited the country to open rebellion. But they wisely avoided an agitation which could only have ended in the ruin of the great cause they had in hand. They strictly limited themselves to the use of the means which the Constitution reposed in their discretion ; and by the final triumph of their efforts they bequeathed to posterity the most remarkable example of fortitude and sound patriotism on record in the annals of the world. To that Parliament, which sat for a period of eleven months, England is more largely indebted than to the most important victories over despotic authority achieved by similar means, or even by revolution itself ; an opinion enforced by the highest authority.* The catalogue of the benefits it wrought, includes the redress of innumer- able grievances connected with the administration of the Law and the Church ; the abolition of the Star Chamber and the Commission Courts, the declaration of the right of the Commons to sanction the collection of Tonnage and Poundage, the condemnation of Ship-money, and * Mackintosh, V. 275. 236 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. the passing of the Triennial Bill. The labours of all former and succeeding sessions sink into insignificance in comparison with the prodigious results of this memor- able eleven months of the Long Parliament. The King betrayed his malignity against the Par- liament in a variety of sinister ways, when he could no longer show it openly with safety. Whoever was obnoxious to the Parliament needed no other passport to Court favour. Many instances have been already cited many more might be accumulated. Lord Digby, Sir Philip Warwick, Mr. Hyde, had no sooner opposed the measures of the Parliament, than they were received into the confidence of the King. The breach was widening; but the Commons, always on the alert, noted every motion of the opposite party, and were too wary to be cajoled or surprised. They had no faith in the most solemn concessions of the King. They knew that there was a mental reser- vation behind, and that he secretly designed, if oppoi tunity permitted, to violate every engagement extortec from his fears. It was with such an intention that he resolved to make a second visit to Scotland, and the intrigues which tracked his progress, abundantly justifiec the jealousy with which the Commons regarded th? step. They remonstrated against it, and even hinted at interposing their authority to prevent it. " If his Majesty," they said, " would be pleased to stay his journey into Scotland until the 10th of August, if then he shall be pleased to take his journey, this House shall submit unto it." * But his Majesty persisted equally against the wishes of the Commons and the Covenanters, and the advice of the Bishop of Lincoln, who told him * Parl. Hist. II. 853. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 237 to beware of the Scots, as they would undoubtedly reveal to the Parliament any secret overtures he might make to them. His proper place, the bishop thought, was " near Parliament, in order to watch its movements, and corrupt its members." In spite of all opposition, however, by the Parliament, an opposition to which in other matters apparently far more fraught with important consequences he had already yielded, the King resolved to proceed to his Scottish capital. He would not even condescend to assuage their jealousy by waiting until the two armies had been disbanded ; and no one for an instant could believe, that the reason publicly assigned by Charles for his now adhering to time and purpose, was any- thing more than a veil for some secret design. He said he was pledged by proclamation to be at the opening of the Scottish Parliament by a specified day ; but he had been similarly pledged at the Treaty of Berwick, and might, as in that and other instances, have excused the breach of pledge, and have opened the Parliament by his Commissioner. Indeed he confessed there was some other reason for his fixed resolution in this matter, inasmuch as that when farther pressed to postpone his journey, he added, " A prefixed time is set for my going into Scotland, and there is an absolute necessity for it : I do not know but that things may so fall out, but that it (his stay) may be shortened."* Vague and mysterious words like these were not calcu- lated to allay the fears and suspicions of the House of Commons ; indeed, they naturally increased their anxiety and watchfulness. They begged the Peers not to adjourn ; * Parl. Hist. II. 856. 238 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. they continued to sit even on the Sunday, being the day next preceding the King's departure ; hastened in every way the dispersion of the troops, and appointed a committee of their own members to attend, or rather to be spies upon Charles during his absence. There are many evidences, besides those already quoted, which show that the King's journey was undertaken for other objects than that of opening the Scotch Parliament ; but two may suffice. They are taken from the letters of Secretary Sir Edward Nicholas to the King, whilst absent on that journey, with the King's comments upon the passages appended. Writing to Charles, at Edinburgh, September the 10th, 1641, he said : " If your Majesty overcome all difficulties there, and make firm to you your good people of that king- dom, I believe it will not be difficult for you to put all things here in good order at the next recess." Upon the margin of which the King wrote " You may now say confidently in my name that they are." * On the 29th of the same month, the Secretary again wrote : " Whatsoever the news be that is come hither amongst the party of the Protesters,! they are observed to be * Nicholas Correspondence ; Evelyn's Memoirs, II. 18. The words in italics are emphasised in the original. f " The Protesters " included the whole of the House of Commons and a large portion of the gentry of England. By this name Sir Edward Nicholas desig- nates those who subscribed to a Protestation alluded to in more than one of Mr. Stockdale's Letters, and which had been sanctioned by the Parliament early in the May of 1641. The following is a copy : " I, A. B., do, in the presence of Almighty God, promise, vow, and protest, to maintain and defend, as far as lawfully I may, with my life, power, and estate, the true Reformed Protestant religion, expressed in the doctrine of the Church of England, against all Popery and Popish innovations, and according to the duty of my allegiance to his Majesty's royal person, honour, and estate ; as also the power and privilege of Parliament, the lawful rights and liberties of the subjects, and every person that maketh this Protestation in whatsoever he shall do iu the lawful pursuance of 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 239 here of late very jocund and cheerful, and it is conceived to arise out of some advertisements out of Scotland, from whose actions and success they intend (as I hear) to take a pattern for their proceedings here at their next meeting." Upon which the King's marginal comment is " I believe before all be done that they will not have such great cause for joy."'"" " The difficulties" intended to be overcome, and the " little cause for joy" to the Protesters, the opponents of Episcopacy, intended by the King's journey into Scotland, were to be effected by granting concessions to, and establishing a favourable party among, the Scottish Covenanters. This intrigue had been foment- ing in London whilst their commissioners were in attendance upon Strafford's trial, and bargaining for the payment of their army ; but it was an intrigue commenced two years before, had been successful in bringing over to the royalists Montrose, one of the Covenanting Lords, and had been pursued with a use of means in which honour and veracity had been set totally at defiance. The Marquis of Hamilton had been an agent em- ployed in negociating with the Covenanters, and so regardless of all moral restraint was he directed to be in the transaction, that he considered it absolutely necessary to obtain a pardon previously to his proceeding the same : and to my power, as far as lawfully I may, I will oppose, and by good ways and means endeavour to bring to condign punishment all such as shall by force, practice, counsel, plots, conspiracies, or otherwise, do anything to the contrary in this present Protestation contained. And further, I shall, in all just and honourable ways, endeavour to preserve the union and peace betwixt the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and neither for hope, fear, nor other respect, shall relinquish this promise, vow, and protestation." Parl. ffitt. II. 777. * Nicholas Correspondence, II. 28. 240 THE FAIKFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. in this affair. Of this, one of the most unique docu- ments in political diplomacy, the following is a copy : [Private Warrant from King Charles the First to the Marquis of Hamilton, to converse with the Covenanters.] TO OUR RIGHT TRUSTY AND WELL-BELOVED COUSIN AND COUNSELLOR, THE MARQUIS HAMILTON. WE do by these Presents not only authorise, but require you to use all the means you can, with such of the Covenanters as come to Berwick, to learn which way they intend the Bench of Bishops shall be sup- plied in Parliament ; what our power shall be in eccle- siastical affairs ; and what further their intentions are. For which end you will be necessitated to speak that language, which, if you are called to an account for by us, you might suffer for it : These are, therefore, to assure you, and, if need be, hereafter to testify to others, that whatsoever you shall say to them, to discover their intentions in these par- ticulars, you shall neither be called in question for the same, nor yet it prove any ways prejudicial to you ; nay, though you should be accused by any thereupon. C. R.* Berwick, July 17th, 1639. ] The intrigue thus begun, had been successfully pursued during the negociations for peace at Berwick, and had been followed up in London, as we have observed, with some of the Scotch Commissioners. Promises of payment to the army whilst the Parliament were straitened for means, were opportunely given ; but in addition to this appeal to their avarice, threats were held out of excepting some from the promised Act of * Hardwicke State Papers, II. 141. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 241 Oblivion, and honours were held out to others. These overtures were not without effect ; for the Earls of London and Rothes, Lord Dunfermline, and Mr. Alexander Hen- derson, did not turn a deaf ear to the suggestions of the tempter. Nor were these the only aids to his purpose which the King sought in his second Scottish visit, for he hoped to acquire evidence against some of the opposition leaders in the English Parliament ; evidence to sustain an impeachment for their traitorous intercourse with the Scottish Covenanters, and evidence of the encour- agement given to their invasion. Strafford had proposed this impeachment, but had been frustrated by his prompt arrest. No other evidence is required of the various purposes entertained by the King, than is afforded by this letter from one of the Scotch Commissioners : LORD WARISTON TO ADAM HEPBURN OF HUMBIE. LOVING BROTHER, SINCE my writing my last with the same bearer, and closing it yesternight, I had occasion this morning to speak with M., and after, by his advice, with the King, to whom I told my mind freely of the dangers and inconveniences he might draw upon him- self, by discussing his actions, and forcing men for their defence to look over old practices, not so expedient for him. Ecvoneravi animam meam to him, and that for others ; because, as for myself, I told him that I defied all the world that could lay to my charge any treasonable intention against his person and crown ; and renewed my offer to go in chains with my accuser to Scotland. His mind seems to be on some projects here shortly VOL. II. It 242 THE FAIEFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. to break out : he is certainly put upon this to stick on the Act of Oblivion, both for to save Traquair, if he grant it, or to ensnare any English whom he appre- hends to have had any intelligence with us, if he grant it not. Afternoon we met all with him ; he read to us a fair answer anent the Council and Sessions, and for the rest, told us that he had given as fair answers already as he could, and fairer nor otherwise he would but pads causa. He told us that he himself would get as much of our money, and security for the rest, if the Parliament would not presently end our business ; that he had thought on ways how to get it ; that they professed their business depended on them, and from words of this kind to make us jealous of them. He told that if the Parliament of Scotland would prorogue themselves to some Diet again, which he is confident they will do, he will assuredly go home himself and settle the business ; he has said this, and sworn it too unto us, except some impediment occur that he knows not of as yet ; that he hopes to get his business ended here : then he fell on the Act of Oblivion. We read the information, which I sent to you within a letter to Mr. Alexander Colville. He raged at it, and called us Jesuitical. Then he cried and swore that if they excepted any, he would except some also ; and this he declared over and over again, and professed his hope that the Parliament would be of the same judgment. We answered, in reason, from our inability to pass from what the Parliament had appointed, and from his granting the same already in the treaty. I must tell you my mind of all this business : for aught I can learn 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 243 from any hand, both this plot of reserving some of us, and this plot of causing the King to declare his intention to go home to Scotland, is only to terrify us to pass from Traquair, and is suspected (I will say no more, nor accuse any man) to come from some of our own number, with Traquair's advice. And albeit it were a reality, that not only processes should be reserved against us, but also we were laid fast, I cannot but must write it again to you, for the exoneration of my own conscience ; there- fore no such thing ever ye harbour so base a thought as to be thus threatened and dung (forced) from the Parliament's pursuit of incendiaries, which, injure, (for those that are named by the Parliament, and especially Traquair, protested against that in the last prorogation) neither we, nor ye there, can do, or have power in law to do. Some amongst us would terrify us with this project of the King's own presence, as able in Scotland to reverse all that is done, except the acts of the Assembly, and to gain such a party in Scotland, as to put honest men in hazard. God forgive them who put such hopes in the King's head, albeit in reality I do not, nor do others more under- standing, believe, that the King has any intention (for all that is said) to go in person to Scotland. Let us again be enjoined to do our duty, and show your firm resolu- tion the rather to follow forth the incendiaries for these very motions by the King, and stops to the treaty, as to preserve that business safe to the Parliament ; and let them do then what they please, after we have done our part. And I will profess plainly, that before ever I con- descend to the passing by of these incendiaries now, till the Parliament determine, I shall rather consent to the B2 244 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. King's reserving a thousand of our number. Haste up your answer to us, and show this and my former letter to General Leslie, Cassilis, Lindsay, and Sir John Meldrum. Be sure this letter meet me not again, only tell them the news, or read it to them. I am sure I am in as great hazard and 'as much feared and hated both by Traquair, as any of our number, here or there ; but I thank God I know not what it is to be feared in this business, while I do my duty. Look to your army, and be on your guard ; if they could get an opportunity to rub an irreparable affront on you, paper bonds would be soon broken ; if they find you circumspect, it is thought their designs will be hitherwards. There is some motion, as I hear, of the King's desire to adjourn the Houses for ten days, on pretext of the festival-days ; but, as I hear, the Lower House will not adjourn. To- morrow they give up their bill of treason to the Lords. There is some of our articles anent the peace debated in the Upper House, and likely to be agreed. My lord Dunfermline has been twice or thrice with the King ; Mr. Alexander Henderson was a long time with him. God forgive them that invent such projects or tricks (for I think they shall be found empty boasts) to bring so evil an instrument for his reputation, to the dishonour of the kingdom. I will not say that any of them, or any other of Traquair's servants, have projected this to the King ; I dare not say it, because I know it not, but I am sure sundry have said it, and some others suspect it ; howsoever, God willing, some of us (albeit we should be left alone, and be never so calumniated) shall return home with this testimony of our own mind, that we have adhered to our instructions from them that sent us, and 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 245 I believe every one will say as much for himself. God guide the business right, keep you stout in your direc- tions to us, and circumspective to your intestine hypocrites and foreign enemy. After reading this for my exoneration to Balmerino, send it to him within your own, that he may thereby waken his lawyers to be the more diligent and intent. In haste, Your loving brother, WARISTON.* 2 1st April, at night. If there needed any evidence to sustain this, it may be found in the letters of another commissioner, Principal Baillie. Soon after his return to Scotland, writing to his cousin he says : " Before I came from London, his Majesty's voyage for Scotland was resolved ; upon what grounds is but only conjectured. My lord Rothes was become a great courtier, f The Queen began to speak honourably and affectionately of our nation, and in sound earnest to think of her convoying the King to Scotland. It was thought the hearty agreement and fully satisfying of our needlessly irri- tated land, would be a sovereign help (remedy) of the continual harsh rencounter of the English Parliament. Besides, as it appeared afterward, about that time Walter Stewart's information had come to the King, giving probable assurances for convicting Hamilton and Argyle of capital crimes, if the countenance of a present King might favour the accusers." J * Dalrymple's Memorials, II. 124. t Death prevented the Earl of Rothes being any assistance to the King in Scotland. He died at Richmond, near London, on the 23d of August, 1641. J Baillie's Letters, I. 388. In another letter, dated June 2, 1641, relating to 246 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. The determination of the King to abide by his resolu- tion, and the anxiety of the Parliament to induce him to suspend his journey, were not abated by the following mysterious document, entitled "Instructions," intercepted in the course of transmission from the Earl of Montrose to the Lords Napier, Kerr, and others : INSTRUCTIONS. " 1. To give advice above [in England] how necessary it is that R. [the King] do come to the Plantation [Parliament]. 2. That Honores [Officers of State] be kept till it be seen who served him best. 3. That Honores be not bestowed by the advice of the Elephant [Hamilton], for fear he crush the R. 4. To assure R. that R. and L. [Religion and Liberty] being granted, he will be powerful to crush the Elephant 5. Not to let R. drink water, except he promise not to cast up again. 6. That R. be present in person in the Proclamation [the Parliament] to countenance his own security."* his wife that he is returning to Scotland in a ship, having in her " the King's wines and beer," he adds, " Show to my lady, (Montgomery, daughter of the Earl of Rothes), and to her only, that my lord, her father, is like to change all the Court ; that the King and Queen both begin much to affect him ; and if they go on, he is like to be the greatest courtier either of Scots or English. Likely he will take a place in the bed-chamber, and be h'ttle more a Scottish man. If he please, as it seems he inclines, he may have my Lady Devonshire, a very wise lady, with 4000Z. sterling a-year. The wind now blows fair in his top-sail. I wish it may long continue ; but all things here are very changeable." Ibid. 354 ; Clarendon's History, I. 219. And so they proved in this instance, though in a mode differing from that in the mind of Baillie. The Earl lived to be marked as an apostate from the Covenanters, but not to receive the price which bought him. * Rushworth, V. 290. The words within [brackets] arc supplied to explain what was believed to be the genuine meaning. 1641.] CHARLES THE PIBST. 247 This paper recent discoveries demonstrate to have come from a confederacy of the Scotch nobles and gentry then collectively called " the Plotters," concerning whom we have these particulars : " About the end of the year 1640, and beginning of 1641, Montrose and Napier, who had quitted the army committee in disgust, and returned to Scotland, were in the habit of supping together with a few friends, when the affairs of the nation were anxiously but temperately discussed. The party generally included, besides these two noblemen, Sir George Stirling of Keir, and Sir Archibald Stewart of Blackball, a Lord of Council and Session, married to Stirling's sister. Soon after Christ- mas of the year 1640, Colonel Walter Stewart, already mentioned, being on his way to Court, Blackball took him to Montrose's lodgings to supper, where he met Lord Napier, Keir, and Colonel Sibbald. After this last had left the party, the remaining five retired to the Earl's bedchamber, where a conference was held, the substance of which, as well as of another between the same individuals when supping at Merchiston on the following night, was thus noted by Lord Napier himself : " * The Earl of Montrose, Lord Napier, Sir George Stirling of Keir, and Sir Archibald Stewart of Blackball, Knights, having occasion to meet often, did then deplore the hard estate the country was in ; our religion not secured, and with it our liberties being in danger, laws silenced, justice, and the course of judicatories, ob- structed, noblemen and gentlemen put to excessive charges above their abilities, and distracted from their 248 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. private affairs, the course of traffic interrupted, to the undoing of merchants and tradesmen, moneyed men paid with faylies (failures) and suspensions, and, be- sides these present evils, fearing worse to follow, the King's authority being much shaken by the late troubles knowing well that the necessary consequences and effects of a weak sovereign power are anarchy and con- fusion, the tyranny of subjects, the most insatiable and insupportable tyranny of the world, without hope of redress from the prince, curbed and restrained from the lawful use of his power, factions and distractions within, opportunity to enemies abroad, and to ill- affected subjects at home, to kindle a fire in the State which hardly can be quenched (unless it please the Almighty of His great mercy to prevent it) without the ruin of King, People, and State. " ' These sensible evils begot in them thoughts of remedy. The best, they thought, was, that if his Majesty would be pleased to come in person to Scotland, and give His people satisfaction in point of religion and just liberties, he should thereby settle his own authority, and cure all the distempers and distractions among his subjects. " * For they assured themselves that the King giving God His due, and the people theirs, they would give Caesar that which was his. While these thoughts and discourses were entertained among them, Lieutenant Water Stewart came to the town, who was repairing to Court about his own business. Whereupon it was thought expedient to employ him to deal with the Duke of Lennox (being a Stewart, and one that was oft at Court, they thought, but were deceived, that he was well 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 249 known to the Duke) to persuade his Majesty's journey to Scotland for the effect aforesaid. This was the lieu- tenant's employment, and nought else ; although there was some other discourses to that purpose in the bye ; as, that it was best his Majesty should keep up the vacant offices* till his Majesty had settled the affairs here ; and the lieutenant proponed this difficulty, that our army lay in his way, and that his Majesty could not in honour pass through them ; to which he got this present reply, that our commissioners were at London ; if the King did not agree with them, his Majesty would not come at all, but if he did agree, the army should be his army, and they would all lay down their arms at his feet. " ' There is no man so far from the duty of a good subject, or so void of common sense, as to quarrel this matter. But the manner is mightily impugned, and aggravated by all the means that the malicious libeller can invent.f " It is bonum," says he (no man is so impudent as can deny it), " but it is not bene ; and therefore ' the Plotters/ for with that odious name they design them, ought to be punished with loss of fame, life, lands, goods and gear, and be incapable of place, honour, or preferment," a sore sentence any man will think, after the matter be well tried and discussed.' " The Offices of State, some of which were vacant in Scotland in consequence of the revolution there. + Referring to the criminal libels, drawn up in 1641, against Montrose and Napier, at the instance of the Lord Advocate, but most probably composed by Wariston. J Original MS. in Lord Napier's handwriting, in the Napier Charter Chest Xapiei-'s Life of Montrotc, 151. 250 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Copies of letters from some of those "Plotters" to the King are still existing in the Napier Charter Chest and elsewhere, and though neither the originals nor their contents could be clearly traced, yet sufficient was known to cause the writers to be imprisoned and put in peril of their lives. The knowledge of this was another reason for the King's firm determination not to forego, nor even to delay, his journey; and, when at Edinburgh, this made him equally firm not to return until he had rescued the prisoners from their peril. So much was discovered, that the King could not venture to deny that he had addressed replies to the letters he had received from " The Plotters," and his acknowledgment of the fact is contained in this letter to the Earl of Argyle : ARGYLE, I AM informed that one Lieutenant Colonel Stewart, employed here (as it is said) by the Earl of Montrose, has deponed something of his dealing with Traquair, and that by him I should have given assurance of disposing of some vacant places, to such persons as were joined in a late bond with the Earl of Montrose ; thereby insinuating that my journey to Scotland was only desired and procured by Montrose and Traquair, and likewise that my intent therein is rather to make and further parties, than to receive from and give contentment to my subjects. Now since that (by the grace of God) I have resolved of my journey to Scotland, it makes me the more curious (anxious) that my actions and intentions be not 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 251 misconceived by my subjects there. Therefore, in the first place, I think fit to tell you, that I intend my journey to Scotland for the settling of the affairs of that kingdom according to the articles of the treaty, and in such a way as may establish the affections of my people fully to me ; and I am so far from intending division by my journey, that I mean so to establish peace in State, and religion in the Church, that there may be a happy harmony amongst my subjects there. Secondly, I never made any particular promise for the disposing of any places in that kingdom, but mean to dispose them for the best advantage of my service, and therein I hope to give satisfaction to my subjects. And as for my letter to Montrose, I do avow it, as fit for me to write, both for the matter, and for the person to whom it is written, who, for anything I yet know, is no ways unworthy of such a favour. Thus having cleared my intentions to you as my particular servant,* I expect that, as occasion may serve, you may help to clear those mistakes of me which upon this occasion may arise. Lastly, for the preparation of my coming home, I do rather mention it to show the constant resolution of my journey, than in any doubt of your diligence therein, and so I rest, Your assured friend, CHARLES R.f Information of these northern plots, all having for their object the establishment of a power countervailing * Argyle was a L'rivy Councillor. t Letters of the Argyle Family, printed in 183f), and given to the Maitland Club. 252 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. that of the English Parliament, was speedily com- municated to them, and strengthened their determination to adopt the measures of security already noticed. But they proceeded still further, and obtained a guard for the protection of themselves, and petitioned the King that the whole of England, especially the northern counties, might be placed in a posture of defence. * In accordance with this request, Hull and other of the northern towns were supplied with ammunition, and the Trained Bands were ordered to be exercised. Those of Yorkshire were not omitted, and Lord Fer- dinando Fairfax, who now sided with the popular party, had one regiment placed under his command. The following letter relates to some of the consequent arrangements. SIR WILLIAM FAIRFAX TO FERDINANDO LORD FAIRFAX. MY LORD, YOUR letter came too late to my hands for me to return your lordship thanks by that post. I shall ever acknowledge it for a great honour ; and the more, because I know your lordship is very much employed in Parliament business, and may very ill spare so much time as to write to your friends. I shall be glad to hear what your lordship hath done concerning the Anisitye petition, f We much need commissioners, as you know very well, and I hope will so satisfy the House. I am very willing to accept the company, since it is in my lord's own regiment, for I very much honour * Rushworth, V. 291. f A Liberty attached to the City of York. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 253 his lordship ; and I pray you, my lord, let him know so much, which, since I am resolved to settle myself in this county, I cannot but think it my duty to do it the best service I can, and therefore, if your lordship think fit to get me put in commission for the West Riding, I shall endeavour to perform what I am able, and acknow- ledge your lordship's favour. So I take leave to rest, Your lordship's humble servant, WILL. FAIRFAX. * From Stecton, 15th July, 1641. My wife was brought to bed of a daughter, the last week ; she remembers her service to your lordship. On taking leave of the Parliament, the King com- mended the preservation of the kingdom in peace during his absence to its care, and departed for Scotland on the 10th of August. It was intended, at one time, that the Queen should have preceded him some few days, and, tarrying at York, there have awaited his return from Scotland, f This intention was abandoned, pro- bably so soon as the Parliament's jealousy of even the King's passage through the army there was observed ; and it was then proposed that she should visit the Continent, for the alleged purpose of recruiting * Sir W. Fairfax, killed at Montgomery Castle, in 1 644. t Bromley's Royal Letters, 121. Even after the King's arrival at Edinburgh, and when he was losing no single opportunity of complaisance to the Presby- terian party, a report was circulated that the Queen would join him at Edinburgh. Sir Patrick Wemyss, writing from Edinburgh to the Earl of Ormonde, in October, 1641, says, " There is a whispering that the Queen is to be sent for, and that she is willing to come without having either priest or friar with her." Carle's Ormonde Correspondence, I. 8. 254 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. her health at Spa. This plan was also abandoned, upon a remonstrance from the House of Commons, expressing their morbid jealousy of the movements of every papist ; and some restraint upon the proposed excursion must have arisen from the total deficiency of money to meet the attendant expenses. So great was this deficiency, that, although the Parliament pressed for the return of the Queen Mother (the Dowager Queen of France), to that country, yet she was obliged to delay her departure, the Parliament finding that there were no funds to defray the cost of her journey. Charles directed the Queen to raise some money upon his collar of rubies, and a report of her negociation with Sir Job Harby shows that even here some difficulties arose, for even that part of the royal property had been already pledged and sent into Holland, without the King's knowledge.""' The King's attendants on his journey to Scotland were his nephew Prince Charles, the Elector Palatine ; the Duke of Lennox, lately created Duke of Richmond ; and the Marquis of Hamilton. They travelled with the King in his coach, and reached York about the 14th of August. It would have been only honourable conduct, and worthy of a King who had openly professed an anxiety for the disbanding of the army, if he had passed its lines without any covert communication with the troops. Charles, however, did not consider himself bound to abstain from any course that might aid him to recover the uncontrolled exercise of supreme power, and there is little reason to doubt that he now endeavoured to * Nicholas Correspondence, 32, 34, &c. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 255 negotiate with the army, through some of its leaders, to aid him against the Parliament. Clarendon endeavours to mystify this passage in our history, and to attribute to the Earl of Holland unworthy motives : but the truth, divested of all misrepresentation, appears in the fact, that the Earl, as a man of honour, in his capacity of General and agent for disbanding the army, felt it to be his duty to report to Parliament, through the Earl of Essex, " that he found there had been strange attempts to pervert and corrupt the army, but he doubted not he should be able to prevent any mischief." * It must be remembered, in judging of this transaction, that the information came to the Earl of Holland from two staunch royalist officers, Sir Jacob Astley and Sir John Conyers, and that the Queen immediately insisted upon the Earl's dismissal from office at Court.f The King passed on to Edinburgh, and no enemy, however malignant, could devise a course of action more calculated to establish an indelible appearance of base- ness and want of principle upon his Majesty, than that pursued by him during his stay in the northern capital. Only one object seems to have been kept in view, the establishment of a party to sustain him in a struggle against the English Parliament ; and to effect this, he pursued that most impolitic and self-delusive of all measures the neglect of old tried friends, in order to bribe and win over those who have been uncompro- mising foes. This was the usual Stuart policy, ending, as it ever ends and deserves to end, in general mistrust, and an abandonment by all. Those who are bribed, cannot feel confident that they shall not in their turn * Clarendon's History, I. 230. t Ibid. 234. 256 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. be abandoned, when no longer found of use ; and the well-affected are tempted to desertion and shaken in loyalty, by observing that the richest preferment is reserved to debase and make converts of enemies. Even whilst the King pursued this course of cor- ruption in Scotland, the inevitable effect was apparent around him ; " He had not one counsellor about him but the Duke of Lennox, and very few followers who had either affection to his person or respect for his honour." ~* Yet if " affection" and " respect" could have been pur- chased from the Covenanters, Charles ought to have been environed with both. He had passed an Act of Oblivion justifying all their opposition, and whilst it actually ex- cepted the Earl Traquair and some others of the King's friends, pardoned all the Covenanters, and declared the proceedings of their Assembly and "Tables" to be no less than " the effects of their duty to the King and according to the law of the land." He had even assented to an Act declaring " the Government of the Church by Arch- bishops and Bishops to be contrary to the Word of God," though only the year previously had seen him in arms to force them upon the Scottish people ; and to the Lords of the Secret Council and to the Parliament of Scotland he granted the power of appointing magistrates and all the great officers of State. As the King granted "whatsoever they (the Cove- nanters) were pleased to present to him concerning Church or State," so he does not seem to have hesitated in conniving at means the most illegal and violent for removing those out of the way whom the Covenanters * Clarendon, I. 243. "541.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 257 mistrusted. Hence arose that designed outrage, known in Scottish History by the title of "The Incident." Writers favourable to Charles have endeavoured to envelope this proceeding in mystery, but the facts which are unimpeachable and sufficient proofs of its truth are, that the Earls of Montrose and Crawford, with other leaders of the Covenant, desired to have the Mar- quis of Hamilton and the Earls of Argyle and Lan- erick " removed ; " the mild term by which murder, if necessary, was described. A plan was devised for seizing them in the palace and hurrying them away on board ship, and the plan was communicated to the King. If he did not acquiesce in the design, at all events he did not communicate it even to that one of the intended victims whom he had always professed to trust, and who had been his companion from London to the Scottish capital. The plot was opportunely betrayed and the intended victims escaped. The details of the plot were published, and the King, despite the earnest en- treaties of Secretary Nicholas, dared not venture upon any particulars, much less to contradict those details. Yet the three doomed nobles were all immediately after- wards elevated in rank, or otherwise promoted, but no one will venture to conclude that this was for any other reason than to assuage their just resentment. * The above outline may be verified by reference to five authorities, all having conflicting biasses. Clarendon, I. 236 ; the Earl of Lanerick in the Hardwick State Papers, II. 299 ; the evidence before the House of Commons, Rushworth, V. 421 ; Baillie's Letters, I. 392 ; and the Nicholas Correspondence in Evelyn's Memoirs, II. 40, &c. Charles, in a note to Sir E. Nicholas, shuffles from giving a written account, by saying " I was the less careful to send a perfect relation of this business, because I sent one of whose discretion and knowledge I was and am so confident, that I thought his discourse of the busi- VOL. II. S 258 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. As the King appears to have been at least passive when the opponents of the Covenanters were to be removed, so was he most active personally to advance and gratify these by every means within his power, for, as Clarendon concluded, " he conferred honours on per- sons according to the capacity and ability they had in doing him mischief." The Earl of Loudon, " who had been principal manager of the Rebellion," was made Lord Chancellor ; General Leslie, who had led on so successfully the Covenanters against the English, was raised to the Peerage, as Earl of Leven ; Lord Ormond, the second in command, was made Earl of Calendar ; Archibald Johnston (afterwards Lord Wariston), was at the same time " made content with knighthood, a place in the Ses- sion, and 200/. pension ;" upon Mr. Henderson was con- ferred "the Deanery of the Chapel, and some four thousand marks a-year ;" Sir Alexander Gibson was made Lord Clerk Register. " For the Treasury, since it could not be gotten to Argyle, it was agreed to keep it vacant till the King might be gotten down ; and, in the meantime, after the English fashion, to serve it by a commission of five, two of Hamilton's friends, the Chancellor Argyle himself, and the Treasurer-depute."* The bishops ness, as having been an eye-witness, would have satisfied more than any written relation." M An eye-witness " could not say whether the King knew of the intended violence ; and no unbiassed judge will conclude otherwise than that Charles did not wish the truth to be known. If so, will any one believe that the truth was to his advantage ? * Baillie's Letters, I. 396. Sir Patrick Wemyss, who had journeyed to Edin- burgh, on admission from the Commander of the Army in Ireland, the Earl of Ormonde, saw how affairs were progressing, and wrote thus to him, in a letter, dated September 25, 1641 : I am certain your coming to his Majesty at this time would have been most acceptable, for there is never a nobleman with him 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 259 being abolished, the lands and endowments of their sees were scrambled for by the laity without the remotest regard to any vested right which might be presumed to require their dedication to ecclesiastical purposes. This was as praiseworthy in the estimation of the Covenanters, as it was distasteful to Clarendon and his friends, who declared " that the King seemed to have made that pro- gress into Scotland, only that he might make a perfect deed of gift of that kingdom, which he could never have done so absolutely without going thither. And so, having nothing more to do there, he began his journey towards England about the middle of November."" We may readily believe, that as the King journeyed to Scotland for the purpose of establishing a party in his favour, he only showered those gifts of titles and domains upon individuals whom he had reason to believe would in that mode merit them. It may be, too, that some of the recipients of that bounty, as Clarendon states, had promised services which they never performed, and had given pledges which they subsequently broke. This is probable, for he who is base enough to accept a bribe, thereby assures us that of the English or Irish, but Dillon, who is a great courtier, if he could make use of it. What will be the event of these things, God knows ; for there was never King so much insulted ovfr. It would pity any man's heart to see how he looks ; for he is never at quiet amongst them ; and glad he is when he sees any man that he thinks loves him ; yet he is seeming merry at meat. Henderson is greater with him than ever Canterbury was. He is never from him night nor day. It had gone hard with the Marquis (Hamilton) if he had not fallen in with Argyle, who will bring him off." Carte's Ormonde Correspondence, I. 4. Thia testimony is enough to demonstrate how his English Council slirunk from the course which Charles was pursuing. If it had been honourable, he would have invited the attendance of his English courtiers, and they would not have allowed the occasion for such a reflection, that not a single English councillor was with him. Clarendon, I. 244. s 2 260 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. he is base enough to betray him by whom he has been tempted ; and, therefore, Charles may have had ample grounds for his reproachful enquiry of Scotland : " I have granted you more than ever King granted yet, and what have you done for me T They gave a practical reply a few years after, by delivering him up to those who were seeking for his life ! The King left Edinburgh for England on the 18th of November, "yet he made no such speed as was expected, for he stayed at York some days, and was long ere he came to the Parliament/' * His stay at York, and other contemporary events are noticed in the following letters. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, BARON OF CAMERON, IN WESTMINSTER. MY LORD, WE have had the election this day of a new burgess in Harry Benson's place : the faction raised by Mr. Benson carried it in number of voices from Sir William Constable, for they were thirty-three, and Sir William Constable had but thirteen. But when the election was made, and all men polled, I demanded of John Derelove (who is substitute-bailiff this day) that he would make return for us tfrftt had elected Sir William Constable, and I alleged that the election of William Derelove was illegal, because he is deputy- steward and judge of the court, and therefore the bur- ghers durst not give their voices for fear of him ; and ours being a legal election ought to be returned, which * Baillie's Letters, I. 396. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 261 the said bailiff denied to do. So we staid our company together, and made an indenture and sealed it, electing Sir William Constable, which we have sent by Sir Wil- liam Constable ; which is as far as I can now relate. What shall be done by the sheriff I cannot write ; but some friends of Sir William Constable's must take order that there may be a caveat entered to keep William Derelove out until the matter be examined, and when it shall appear that Mr. Derelove is deputy-steward and bailiff, and deputes his brother for this time, to make himself capable of election, then I hope the inden- ture which we have sealed for Sir WiUiam Constable will be received and he be admitted into the House. It will appear that he is deputy-steward and bailiff in the Queen's Court, for his patent is sealed with the Queen's great seal kept by her Chancellor, and is of record here, and needs no other proof. And he is a man of no estate ; we know not here of any thing he hath, either lands or goods, save only his office ; and it is against reason that he that hath nothing of his own to give should have power to give away other men's estates or any part of them, which you know the Par- liament hath, of which he would be a member.* My time gives me no more scope ; I must here conclude, and always remain, Your lordship's faithfully devoted servant, THOS. STOCKDALE. \2thNwember, 1641. Your lordship and I do divide the blame and malice From the Journals of the House of Commons, under the date of March 1 !>, 1642, we learn that Mr. William Derelove's election was declared void, and Sir William Constable as duly elected. 262 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. of putting out Henry Benson and opposing William Derelove's coming in, and I am sore threatened for it. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, BARON OF CAMERON, IN WESTMINSTER. MOST NOBLE LORD, UPON Friday last I gave your lordship a con- fused relation of our more confused election at Knares- borough, and of my public protestation against the illegal choice made by the greater part of the burgesses who elected William Derelove their steward and bailiff. Since which time I have heard nothing from Sir Wil- liam Constable nor any other, what success he had with the sheriff, nor how he hath returned the indenture, which we sealed and delivered to him, testifying our election of him. I then wished him to return it to the Parliament, in case the sheriff refused to return it with the writ ; and I doubt not but the other election of William Derelove being examined will appear illegal and contrary to the order of the House ; and so Sir William Constable shall be admitted, and the other shut out. The business was ill carried from the beginning, else we should have had all the voices of the town for Sir William Constable. But Sir Henry Slingsby sent word on Saturday to Henry Benson that he was put out of the House, and on Sunday writ to him a letter to the same purpose ; and thereupon Henry Benson, and his sons, the Dereloves, spoke to all the boroughmen on Sunday morning for their voices, which they (being 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 263 then ignorant of the cause) did promise to William Derelove ; and so Sir Henry Slingsby by that unad- vised intelligence deprived both himself and all men else of power to help Sir William Constable ; for of the thirteen voices that elected Sir William Constable there were but two of Sir Henry's tenants, whereas he ex- pected above thirty voices of his dependants.* Now that which rests to be done, if it be not already done, is to make it apparent that Derelove's election is illegal, and not to be allowed for these reasons, viz., first, William Derelove is both bailiff and steward of the borough, and hath jurisdiction of judicature over the townsmen, so that none of them dare give their voice freely against him, as many have declared, because he vexeth and oppresseth his opposites. The patent granted by the Queen making him bailiff and steward, you will find in the Queen's Court upon record ; for it is under her great seal kept by her Chancellor. The next exception is, that if Henry Benson were unworthy, then of necessary consequence William Dere- love must be so also, he being the same man, only passing under another name, and dressed in other clothes, for he is his son, and hath his daily maintenance and * Sir Henry Slingsby never lost an opportunity to serve the Royalist cause, to which he was devoted in life, and for which he died. Charles the First showed him marked favour ; and the bed in which that monarch slept at Sir Henry's seat, the Red House, near Marston Moor, is still preserved. He raised six hundred men, horse and foot, at his own expense, and led them in the cliief actions of the Civil War. At its close his estates were sequestrated, and himself imprisoned, at Hull ; but even there he conspired to aid the restoration of his Royal master ; and was beheaded for this under the Protectorate, in 1658, together with Dr. John Hewit. He sat as member for Knaresborough in the Long Parliament, until he was voted disabled, for refusing to leave the King at Oxford, and attend in his place. 264 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. dependance on him alone, and is guided by him in all his actions. And if Henry Benson were thought to give intelligence to the recusants, then this man will do the same, and grant protections too ; for besides the families of Plumpton, Trapps, and Tankard of Branton, with whom he is observed to keep strict intelligence, I hear he was lately with the Lady Emely, the widow, who is held an active Papist, and of a potent family. And for his estate, we know he is not worth sixpence in the world, but is maintained by his father-in-law's arts, and hath neither lands nor goods in possession nor expectation of descent ; and it is not consonant to reason, that he who hath nothing at all of his own to give, should be enabled to give away other men's estates. If he had been the heir of any gentleman's house, or had been a man of any judgment or under- standing, we should not have distasted him nor grudged him the honour to sit in that most honourable assembly ; but we know him extremely poor and needy, and a man of mean parts and shallow capacity, and besides, he is bred in the base ways of his father-in-law, who hath already been censured by the House. The last excep- tion against the election of Derelove is, that he being bailiff and steward of the borough, did for that day sub- stitute his brother, John Derelove, to be bailiff; for this only end, that he himself might seem capable of the place of burgess ; and I conceive he hath not power to substitute a bailiff, and if one, yet not so many substi- tutes, for his other brother Thomas is also a substituted bailiff under him, and so is one Thomas Wakefield ; and if he have power to substitute so many, yet John Dere- love, who took upon him that day to execute the place 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 265 and return the writ, is not capable of office, being but twenty years old in May last. I doubt not but these exceptions, rightly managed, will stop his entry into the house, and make way for Sir William Constable. The next matter to be taken into consideration, is, how to ease the town of their insufferable bondage under Benson, the Dereloves, and William Conyers ; for they are all officers by deputation, or take upon them so to be ; for I hear they do all of them take upon them ordinarily to administer oaths, which I think runs them into prsemunire ; but what authority they have, your lordship will best understand upon view of their grant, of which a copy must be taken out. Many other abuses they commit, to the wrong both of the Queen their mistress and the subjects, in levying and receiving monies which they never pay nor account for : the guilt of which may haply have caused them to send Thomas Derelove up to London, either to surrender their old grant, and take it again in another name, so to avoid forfeiture : he went to London on Monday was se'nnight. But a caveat must be entered that they transfer not the place from one to another, until it be examined whether their miscarriage have not already forfeited their in- terest ; and then the next thing to be done is, to think upon an able and honest man to exercise the place, for whom a new grant must be procured, upon their avoidance ; which will be effected by a commission to examine their actions ; and, if it be necessary to have some particulars of their abuses, whereon to ground the commission, I shall collect and send them up, upon your lordship's signification. 266 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. They have two arguments to justify their election of Derelove. First : That Sir Henry Slingsby, when he was bailiff and steward, was elected burgess. Second : That recorders are ordinarily elected. I say to the first, that, if a man steal a horse and escape because no man questions him, it shall not justify another man that steals and is arraigned for it. And for that of the recorder, he is only chosen by the mayor to be an assistant, as I conceive ; and hath no jurisdiction of judicature, as the bailiff and steward have. The exceptions they take at Sir William Constable, are, that after the election made and the indenture sealed, he caused us who gave our voices with him, to dine with him at his inn ; and they say that he spoke against the Common Prayer-book ; and their saucy attorney, Nixon, who hath yet paid no poll-money, gives him the phrase of " Puritan" in most despiteful manner and language. As I hear these things I am bold to recommend to your lordship ; wherein I hope your lordship will show your care of the public affairs of your country which are concerned in them. Other matter I forbear to trouble you withal at this time ; yet I must tell you that the King comes to York on Saturday next, and that Sir Philip Stapleton is already gone southwards from hence,* both which I know your lordship hath heard before. * Sir Philip Stapleton was member for Boroughbridge at this time and con- tinued so until the year 1647, when a charge was brought against him by Sir Thomas Fairfax, on which he retired into France, and died there the same year. He had married a daughter of Sir John Hotham. Clarendon describes Sir Philip as " a proper man, of a fair extraction ; but being a branch of a younger family, inherited but a moderate estate, about five hundred pounds a-year, in Yorkshire. According to the custom of that county, he had spent much time in 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 267 I much desire to hear what becomes of the insur- rection in Ireland by the Papists, and what is resolved by the Parliament touching it. And this I have the more desire to understand perfectly, because my wife's friends are so much concerned in it. And something must be done touching the recusant party in England, who may be feared to give secret encouragement, if not help, to the recusants of Ireland. When I had written thus far, I was told that Harry Benson begins now to abate of his confidence, that William Derelove's election will be allowed by the Parliament. But he saith that if it be not, yet Sir William Constable shall not have it ; but that he will put it upon a courtier, (meaning the place of burgess), because I shall not have my ends, whom he terms his enemy. I will here conclude your lordship's further trouble at this time, and wishing much increase of health and honour to your lordship, I remain, Your lordship's faithfully devoted servant, THOMAS STOCKDALE. 19th of November, 1641. those delights which horses and dogs administer. Being returned to serve in Parliament, he concurred with his neighbours Hotham and Cholmondeley, being much younger than they, and governed by them in the prosecution of the Earl of Stratford ; and so was easily received into the familiarity of that whole party. In a short time he appeared a man of vigour in body and mind, and to be rather without good breeding than incapable of it ; and so he quickly outgrew his friends and countrymen in the confidence of those who governed." By " those who governed," is intended the Parliamentary leaders ; and they deputed him, with three other members of the Commons, and two members of the House of Peers, to be a committee, attending and watching the proceedings of the King in Scotland. The other members of the committee who were appointed were, Nathaniel Fiennes, Sir William Armyn, John Hampden, Edward Lord Howard 268 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, BARON OF CAMERON, IN WESTMINSTER. MOST NOBLE LORD, UPON Friday last I received your lordship's letters, which have in some measure settled my confi- dence, that our factious election at Knaresborough will be rejected ; and, if Sir William Constable be not admitted upon this election made of him, yet at least we shall have a new day for it ; but truly I think, if any new writ come before these great officers (stewards and bailiffs) be removed, we shall have much opposition to any fair election. The only help must be to give us timely warning, that we may prepare our friends and wellwishers, that they may not be surprised or forestalled, as they were at the last election, by Henry Benson and his sons. The just exceptions against their holding the office will be very many ; and I think our exception is, that, at the last election, and since that day, the court was held by John Derelove, who is not yet twenty-one years of age, and therefore, I think, not capable of judica- ture ; and yet I understand that, within this week, and since Derelove was elected burgess, there have been arrests made by warrants issued in the name of William Derelove, which shows that he is still both steward and bailiff. of Esrick,and the Earl of Bedford ; but the nobleman last named did not accom- pany them into Scotland. They reported faithfully to the House the events as they arose, and only came away just in advance of the King, as noticed in the above letter. Clarendon't History, \. 235 ; Rushworth, V. 376. 1641.J CHARLES THE FIRST. 269 Upon Monday last, William Derelove set forwards to London, and it was said his father Benson also ; but I perceive he is still at home, and his noted friends do still resort to him, and I am privately told that he hath taken a chamber with Mrs. Duncombe, in Crake Castle, and intends to lurk there till the storms be past, for she is his special friend. Upon Tuesday last, Thomas Derelove came home from London. What advantage he hath made of his employment there is kept secret, yet the townsmen of Knaresborough are already possessed with an opinion that all goes well on Henry Benson's side : such skill is on their party to delude, and such sottishness on the other side to credit them. I suppose the King is come to London before this time. On Monday last he left York : he knighted Mr. Strickland, Mr. Barwicke, Mr. Thomas Nocliff, the Mayor of York, and Sir John Goodricke, who was a baronet before. His Majesty promised to favour the petition for a new court at York, and to take off 4000 of our Trained Bands. Both those graces may as well prove obnoxious as profitable in my conceit. First, for the court, if it admit appeal, other than for injustice, and that to the Parliament only, it will entangle the country as it did heretofore in double troubles. And for the Trained Bands, I confess our county stands double charged, in proportion with all other counties of England, which is a most unequal burthen, and this they have endured ever since 1588 ; but for my part, I think it would conduce more to the safety of the kingdom to double the Trained Bands in all other counties, and leave ours as it stands now, unaltered. For I hold it more safe 270 THE FAIEFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. for the kingdom to be defended by Trained Bands (whose soldiers have all of them interest of their own to encourage them), than by pressed or hired men who are always more at the devotion of the Sovereign or generals, and more easily diverted from effecting those ends for which they are pretended to be raised, which is the common safety, as was of late very easily to be discerned. But I lose myself and tire your lordship with these extravagancies, which I hope your lordship will pardon, and thereby engage me so much the more to be, Your lordship's most faithfully Devoted servant, THOMAS STOCKDALE. 26th November, 1641. Before proceeding to the consideration of the events immediately consequent upon the King's return, and which precipitated England into the distress and horrors inseparable from Civil War, we will consider one or two transactions which occurred during the period over which we are passing, and with respect to which, the Fairfax MSS. impart fuller information than has hitherto been made public. One of these, the establishment of a northern univer- sity, has been incidentally mentioned, and now that one is established at Durham, it is not without interest to learn that two centuries ago York and Manchester com- peted to obtain a similar benefit and distinction ; and to know now upon what grounds they pleaded for such a foundation. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 271 COPY OF A LETTER TO FERDINANDO, LORD FAIRFAX, SENT MARCH 20TH, 1640. (1641, N. S.) MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIP, I HAVE here inclosed some propositions lately made at Manchester, in a public meeting there, concern- ing an university ; which, if you please to consider what good it may bring to our whole North, and other parts ; what glory to the Parliament to be the founder of that, and what honour to your lordship to be chief agent in it ; posterity may bless you, and the work itself will speak that the like hath not been in England (if Cambridge be the last), not of two thousand years. Your lordship's ever faithful and loving brother and servant, HENRY FAIRFAX. The petition inclosed to Lord Fairfax with the fore- going letter, was this : TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE HIGH COURT OF PARLIA- MENT, NOW ASSEMBLED, THE HUMBLE PETITION OF THE NOBILITY, GENTRY, CLERGY, FREEHOLDERS, AND OTHER INHABITANTS OF THE NORTHERN PARTS OF ENGLAND, HUMBLY SHOWETH, THAT whereas the want of an university in the northern parts of this kingdom, both in this and former ages, hath been apprehended a great prejudice to the kingdom in general, but a greater misery and 272 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. unhappiness to these countries in particular, many ripe and hopeful wits being utterly lost for want of education, some being unable, others unwilling, to commit their children of tender and unsettled age so far from their own eyes, to the sole care and tuition of strangers : We therefore humbly crave leave to offer unto your pious care and wise consideration the necessity of a third university, and the convenience of such a foundation in the town of Manchester, for the future advancement of piety and good learning amongst us. First. In all humility we submit unto your grave judgments the consideration of the great distance of both universities from us ; many parts of the countries wherein the petitioners are inhabitants lying above two hundred miles from Oxford or Cambridge, few under one hundred, insomuch that divers gentlemen are in- duced to send their sons to foreign universities, or else to allow them only country breeding. Secondly. The great charges of the other universi- ties, necessarily occasioned by the multitude of scholars; the dearth of provisions, the want of fuel and scarcity of lodgings, forcing many men of indifferent and com- petent estates, able enough to maintain their children in another convenient place of the kingdom, either to debar them of university breeding, to make them servitors, or, at best, to allow them only two or three years' mainte- nance, and then to provide them of a country cure, or which is worse, without any degrees, without university learning, to procure them holy orders, and so obtrude them upon the Church, which (we speak from sad expe- rience) hath occasioned many ignorant and unlearned ministers amongst us. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. Thirdly. The great hopes we have that from hence might issue able and learned men, laborious pastors and teachers, to convince and discourage Papists, and other superstitious people, who, for want of able scholars, daily take growth, and increase to the great hindrance of piety and true religion. Fourthly. The. charitable intentions of these coun- tries in general, more especially of some private gentlemen therein, who intend to be liberal benefactors for the pro- vision and bringing up of the poor scholars of these parts, which now are either lost or burdensome to the other universities. This, therefore, we apprehend, might be a great ease, and no dishonour to them ; a blessing to us, and a benefit to the commonwealth, which otherwise will lose the gratuities of these gentlemen they solely intending to bestow their munificence in this pious work, and no other. Fifthly. The honour that might hence arise to these parts of the kingdom, which, by reason of their distance from the Court and universities, have suffered a double eclipse of honour and learning. Sixthly. We crave leave to certify that we appre- hend Manchester to be the fittest place for such a foun- dation, it being almost the centre of these northern parts, a town of great antiquity, formerly both a city and a sanctuary, and now of great fame and ability, by the happy traffic of its inhabitants, for its situation, pro- vision of food, fuel, and buildings, as happy as any town in the northern parts of the kingdom. To all this we add the convenience of the college there already built, both large and ancient, and now, as we understand, intended to this purpose by the piety and munificence of VOL. ir. T 274 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. the Right Honourable James Lord Strange, a noble encourager of this great work. Upon these and what other grounds your greater wisdoms and judgments may dictate unto you, we humbly beseech you to take into consideration the necessity of this great and pious business. Manchester encountered an opponent in the city of York, the superior claims of which were sought to be established in the two petitions following : TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE HIGH COURT OF PARLIA- MENT, NOW ASSEMBLED. The Humble Petition of the Nobility, Gentry, Clergy, Freeholders, and other Inhabitants of York, HUMBLY SHOWETH, THAT your Petitioners are bold to represent the sense they have of the want of a university in these parts, which doth extend as well to the present prejudice, as also the future disabling of a great part of the kingdom in the knowledge of Arts, and learned endowments ; but hath a more powerful influence upon these Northern Counties next adjacent, where many choice wits have been made abortive by some clouds of ignorance, for want of that so complete education, which so great distance, as also the dearness of the southern academy, hath debarred many parents to be- stow upon their children ; some being unable to defray so great a charge, others altogether unwilling to confer the sole care upon such as are so absolute and remote 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 275 strangers to their acquaintance. And therefore your Petitioners humbly desire to offer unto your more learned judgments, the necessity of another university, and the many subsequent conveniences for such a foundation in the City of York. First. Because many of your Petitioners' habitations are one hundred jniles, and some two hundred, from Oxford or Cambridge, by reason whereof many gentle- men send their sons unto the Scotch universities, or only unto country schools, whereas, if there were one settled so conveniently as at York, it might in pro- bability invite many out of Scotland unto it. Secondly. Because the great confluence of students unto Oxford and Cambridge doth so exceedingly advance the prices of all manner of provisions which are useful for the life of man, that not many men (unless of good ability and considerable estates) are able to maintain their sons with education there. Thirdly. It is much observed that Popery hath increased far more in these parts than in the south, and that one great concurring cause is supposed to be the want of able and industrious ministers, and men of eminency for piety and parts, who being placed amongst us, might not only inform the younger, but give such instructions as might (by God's blessing upon their endeavours) convince the most superstitious, and so consequently render these places far more happy to the future than they have been in former ages. Fourthly. That the whole kingdom, as well as these parts, might thereby receive some honour by the addition of this third university ; Scotland having long gloried in that happiness as to enjoy the literature T2 276 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. of four ; viz. Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrew's, and Aberdeen. Fifthly. That we instance some few, rather than seek to enumerate all the conveniences which the City of York doth commodiously at this day enjoy as proper for accoutring a university there, we do humbly offer to your grave judgments : that it is very near the centre of these northern parts; being a very ancient and famous city, supported by the strong pillars of commerce and trade from many foreign kingdoms, as also neighbouring counties, by means of the navi- gable River Ouse, and no place cheaper furnished with food, raiment, or fuel for fire of all sorts, as sea-coal, pit-coal, wood, and turf; having in it a college already well endowed (the Bedron) not yet impropriate, with a large hall for the readers, and good convenient lodgings for the students ; also divers other fair houses, of late the dean and prebends', which, though now in lease, may in time expire, and remain unto some pious uses : also having another college, founded by St. William, in King Stephen's time, which though now in another fee, is thought may be redeemed by worthy benefactors. And lastly, there is the benefit of a library, some- time the most famous in Europe, but being burnt about that time the university of Paris was founded, it may now again be made to flourish by the help of charitable persons. Wherefore your Petitioners humbly desire you will vouchsafe for these, and what other more weighty reasons your learned wisdoms shall adjudge more fit, to take your Petitioners' suit into your serious con- sideration, and which we hope the King's Majesty, 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 277 by your mediation, may with willingness approve. The happy compliance wherein, we shall pray the God of Heaven so to bless, that it may be a work most accept- able to Him, profitable to His Church, and pleasing to all good men in the advancement of piety, truth, and righteousness. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORDS AND COMMONS NOW ASSEMBLED IN PARLIAMENT. The Humble Petition of the Inhabitants of the County and City of York, and of the Northern Parts of the Kingdom of England, SHOWETH THE earnest and humble desires of your said Petitioners, that by the justice, wisdom, and favour of this high and Honourable Court, there may be liberty granted, and some means allowed and appointed for laying a foundation of a university, college, or colleges in the city of York, for the education of scholars in arts, tongues, and all other learning that may render them fit for the discharge of the ministerial function in the Church of God, to His glory and the honour and advantage of these and other parts of the kingdom. In which desire, that your Petitioners may not seem rash or unreasonable, they offer these ensuing consi- derations : First. That howsoever the kingdom enjoys the benefit and blessing of two most famous universities, which, as they are so, we still hope they shall continue the glory of Europe ; yet we humbly conceive that they are not 278 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. commensurate to the largeness and necessity of the kingdom, which appears by the deplorable want of a learned and faithful ministry in very many congregations, which, for want of scholars or choice of scholars, are betrayed to the ignorance of illiterate men, through whom that sad proverb is fulfilled upon us : " The blind lead the blind, and both fall into the ditch." Secondly. As we the inhabitants of the northern parts of the kingdom find the share in this common want and calamity to be very great, insomuch that we have been looked upon as rude and almost barbarous people in respect of those parts, which, by reason of their vicinity to the universities, have more fully partaken of their light and influence, so we cannot but be importunate in this request ; in which, if we may prevail, we hope it will be a special means of washing from us the stain of rudeness and incivility, and of rendering us (to the honour of God and this kingdom) not much inferior to others in religion and conversation. Thirdly. We humbly declare, that many of us who would most gladly offer up our children to the service of the Church of God, in the work of the ministry, and should hope to accomplish our desires, if a cheaper and more convenient way of education in point of distance were allowed us, cannot fulfill our wishes in that behalf, in regard of the distance and dearness of the southern universities, whose charge we are by continual impo- verishment rendered daily more unable to bear. Fourthly. "We cannot but apprehend it as very neces- sary not only to the good of these parts, but to the peace and happiness of the whole kingdom, that all possible care be had of reforming the northern parts now abounding 1641.] CHARLES THE FIKST. 279 with Popery, superstition, and profaneness, the fruits of ignorance, that they may not remain a seminary or nursery of men fit to be instruments of any irreligious and unreasonable design for the overthrow of religion and liberty ; which reformation cannot be expected with- out a learned and painful ministry, which we almost despair of being supplied with from the south, whither we send many scholars, but find vestigia panca retror- sum* and those for the most part such as others have refused. Fifthly. We humbly represent York as the fittest place for such a work in regard of its healthful situation, cheapness of victual and fuel, which howsoever by the late and present pressures upon the country now grown dearer, we hope shall recover the former rate and plenty if God shall vouchsafe us the blessing of peace ; some good degree of civility, the convenient distance of it from the other universities and the borders of the kingdom, the advantage of a library which is there already, and convenient buildings for such an use. Upon these considerations, your Petitioners humbly desire it for the foundation of so good and necessary a work (though the revenues of the archbishopric, dean, dean and chapters, be disposed of for other public uses,) this high and Honourable Court would be pleased to allow, and appoint the place which is commonly called the Bedron, now a college of vicars-choral and singing-men, with the maintenance belonging to the Corporation, as also, what other revenues they, in your favour and wisdom, shall think most fit. And we doubt not but by the blessing of God, the diligence and bounty Few ever retrace their steps. 280 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. of men well affected to religion and learning, this work may be brought to such perfection, as may tend very much to the honour of God, the happiness and advan- tage, not only of these northern parts, but of the whole kingdom. * * In another petition, with similar clauses, is added, " There is a printer already there" (at York). lb>41 -] CHARLES THE FIRST. 281 CHAPTER VII. The King's efforts to establish a Scottish Party Its consequences Jealousies against the Roman Catholics Letters from Mr. Stock dale Proposals for exterminating the Roman Catholics Forfeiture of their estates Number of Roman Catholics in Claro Knaresborough .Election Pardon of Irish recusants The Declaration of the Parliament Musterings in the Counties King discharges the Parliament's Guard Review of Poll Tax Lieutenancy of the Tower Levy of Troops for Ireland Plot sus- pected Sir William Constable's ill health Jealousy between the King and Parliament Yorkshire Billet-money Proposed Narrative of Irish Massacre. THE efforts of the King to establish a countervailing interest in Scotland could not be concealed from the English Parliament, under the pretence that, by yielding to the Presbyteries, he was complying with the Parlia- ment's wishes. His intrigues and purposes were all revealed to the Parliament Committee, and by them communicated to the House. Those efforts, embracing the abandonment of his friends, the promotion of his opponents, and the abolition of Episcopacy, had the unavoidable consequence in England of disheartening his supporters, and of encouraging those who opposed his despotism, whilst, at the same time, it more than ever aroused their distrust. As Charles did not scruple to pander to the Puritans for aid, the Parliament justly concluded that he would have as little repugnance to enlist in a similar manner the Papists in his cause. 282 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. The House of Commons knew full well the corres- pondence maintained by the Queen with France, in which she sought for aid from that, her native land. The cor- respondence of her confessor, Father Phillips, urging the same claim, had been intercepted. Rosetti, the Pope's nuncio, had been concealed in London, and clung to his mission until it was known that warrants were issued for his apprehension. * Lord Crawford, a more than sus- pected Papist, had been at the bottom of the plot for seizing Hamilton and Argyle. The Irish massacre of the English Protestants broke out during the King's absence in Scotland, and the report was not wanting that these movements were all in unison. Just at this time also, the King, contrary to the directions given whilst he was with the Parliament in .London, ordered the disbanding of the Berwick garrison not to be pro- ceeded with. The consequent jealousies, and some of the remedies suggested, are noticed in the following letters : TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY ;GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, BARON OF CAMERON, IN WESTMINSTER. MOST NOBLE LORD, I HAVE heretofore made bold to impart to you my conceptions ; that the conditions which by the statutes are given to the recusant party, have neither wrought that good effect upon them in point of reforma- tion, as was expected, nor (as they are used) do they in any way conduce to the securing of the kingdom against their machinations and attempts to introduce alteration * Rushworth, V. 300, &c. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 283 in the Church and political government : and, therefore, I think it worthy of consideration how the Parliament may settle some new course to be held by that party, which may in probability produce better effects in re- forming their religion ; and, howsoever, in securing the Church and commonwealth against their power to attempt innovation in either. I have heard some propound to have them all put to the sword, which, methinks, is a counsel better becoming a Turk than a Christian. Others propound their banish- ment ; which advice, methinks, tastes not of policy. For it is well known to the world, what ill effects the like counsel hath wrought to the Crown and State of Spain, that practised the like course upon the race of the Moors. Our own laws, with some little alteration (which time hath discovered is more than necessary), may happily work that much desired conclusion of their reformation, or at least, in time wear them out. It appears, that giving the two-third parts of each recusant's estate to the King, doth not much enrich the Crown, and yet it unites the recusant party in too strict bonds of dependency upon the sovereignty, and so co- operates with it to advance the regal power beyond the right bounds, in proportion with the subjects' legal liberties. And therefore a new Act of Parliament should be passed, transferring those two-tlu'rd parts of recusant estates from the Crown, to be after this manner managed : First, an exact survey-inquisition to be taken, by select commissioners, of all recusant estates in lands or monies, and two-third parts of them seized and absolutely taken away out of their power and 284 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. managing, and the true improved rents and profits thereof, as they are or may be let by the owners, to be yearly answered and paid by the tenants and occupiers thereof, to the use of the commonwealth. To this end it will be requisite to have three public banks or receipts to be erected ; one in the south, another in the north, and another in the west ; and the officers attending these banks or receipts to be appointed by the Parlia- ment, from time to time, and to make their accounts to the Parliament, and to such others as they shall depute for taking of those accounts. And for the monies arising out of this two-thirds of their estates, which will every year be a very vast revenue, I conceive it would be a good policy that the officers of the banks should let them out at interest upon good securities ; and all the monies coming in for interest, to be employed for the use of the commonwealth and safety of the king- dom, either in maintaining shipping, providing armies and munitions, and making fortifications and magazines for arms. And the manner of employing these interest- monies to continue from time to time, as the Parliament shall think fit. Every year this bank will increase ; and so the interest will increase, and be able to defray much of the public expenses of the kingdom, for the common safety. Now for the principal monies thus received for rents and put forth to interest, there must be exact accounts and records kept of them as they come in every year ; and the names and pedigrees of the families to whom they belong must be exactly registered. And in the Act of Parliament, it will be good to insert a clause, that when any of that family (to whom any part of 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 285 those monies and revenues ought to have been due, if they had been Protestants) shall conform themselves to our religion ; if it be the heir, he shall have the two-third parts of his lands or other patrimony restored to him. And if it be any of the younger brothers or sisters, that at any time shall conform themselves, they shall have a certain proportionable share of the rents delivered to them out of the public bank, to make a competent por- tion for them, according to the proportion of rents received and paid into the bank out of the lands of their house or family ; and the remainder of the rents of that family to go forward at interest for the use of the com- monwealth, until the rest of the younger children shall conform themselves. And there must be clauses and provisoes in the Act of Parliament, that if any heir of the family, or any younger brother or sister shall pretend conformity in religion as aforesaid, and by that means come to get the two-third parts of the land or other patrimony, or any portion of the rents out of the bank, and shall afterward relapse into Popery ; that then the whole estate, patrimony or portion, of him or her so relapsing, shall escheat to the use of the commonwealth for ever, to be employed in the uses aforementioned. And if none of the family shall, in three descents, conform themselves in religion, then the whole sum of rents received, and the two-third parts of the patrimony seized, shall escheat to the use of the commonwealth for ever, to be employed in the uses aforementioned. Many other considerations are to be had for con- straining an integrity in those that manage this work, and keep the banks and receipts of money. But this 286 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. confused relation will give your lordship a model of the frame ; and if your lordship find the House inclining to entertain it, I shall then take more pains to polish it fit for their view; my affections being sincerely bent to serve the Church and State in what I am able : and for the present, the late conspiracy and insurrection in Ire- land must give us warning to prevent the like in this land. The storehouses of munitions must be guarded with some extraordinary care ; and every county should have some person deputed in nature of a Lieutenant General, to whom all persons should resort for direction, in case any commotion should happen ; and some order of Parliament or proclamation to be issued, restraining the Popish party from conversing together, or travelling further than the next market-town. And where any person of that profession is conceived to be of dan- gerous intelligence, or able to contrive, or act a mischief, his person should be restrained ; for although I think they of themselves are not able to do much hurt, yet I fear there are other humours in the body politic of this state, that are made fluid, and will move with them when there shall be opportunity. In this wapentake where I live, there are 532 recusants of one sort or other that pay poll-money to the subsidies ; and it is not amiss to examine all the subsidies' rolls through the kingdom returned into the Exchequer, that a calculation might be made of their number and power. Of other matters I shall write to-morrow, if I get leisure, for it is like to be a troublesome day ; the new burgess is to be elected at Knaresborough, for which William Derelove stands, and intends by faction to carry it ; of which I shall give your lordship account 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 287 hereafter.* In the meantime I wish much increase of happiness to your lordship, and remain, Your lordship's faithfully devoted servant, THOMAS STOCKDALE. 11 th November, 1641. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, AT WESTMINSTER. MOST NOBLE LORD, UPON Wednesday last, Sir John Goodrick and I met at Knaresborough, to take Mr. Hardcastle the head-constable's account, who tendered to us only a note of the sum total of certain estreats, made by the Justices of Peace ; but neither charging himself with any particular receipt, nor discharging himself; other- wise than in general words, saying he had paid all he had received and more, and that the country was indebted to him. We were not provided to charge him with anything, excepting he would charge himself; and therefore we were forced to dismiss him at this time, until the quarter sessions ; and seeing he will not make up his own charge, I know no other way, but to issue warrants to all constables to bring in accounts, what they have paid to him, at any time, since his entry, and then examine how he acquits himself of it. If your lordship know either any other more certain or speedy course, or any particulars wherewith he is chargeable, I desire to be directed by your lordship, * The result of this election of a burgess in the place of Mr. Henry Benson, expelled for selling Protections to persons who were not his domestic servants, has been noticed already. See p. 260. 288 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1C41. and we shall proceed accordingly. I suppose he ought to account for all Ship-money which he assessed, and to give account why he did not observe the Justices' rates in taxing thereof ; and for money received of the county for the King's carriage, for setting forth soldiers, for pay of soldiers, provisions of arms and magazines, and for other extraordinaries, as well as the Justice' and ordinary assessments. It is said, that William Wyncop, of Knaresborough, who was last collector of the Ship-money, hath a good sum in his hands of that money, which, methinks, it is reason he should account for; and let it be employed for some general good, or else restored to the parties. Mr. Bateson, the school- master of Knaresborough, whom Henry Benson and his faction have brought in and placed there, contrary to the Charter and rules of foundation, ought to be removed and a more conformable man placed there ; for he teacheth many recusants' children, whom he suffers to be absent from church, contrary to the canon; and he speaks against reducing the communion-table to stand east and west, and sundry other matters that render him justly suspected not to be sound in his religion. Sir Francis Trapps and others of the feoffees for the school are recusants, and six of the feoffees are dead and their places void, and no meeting to elect others in their stead ; and here is William Roundell and Peter his son, that will not meet unless Sir Henry Slingsby write to them. If they would all meet and elect six new feoffees that are conformable, the school- master might be displaced, and a fitter man put in. I perceive there is some expectation that the King will pardon the recusant rebels of Ireland, which in 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 289 my weak judgment is rather an act of clemency than providence : for though some say, that sovereignty and reformation of religion are inconsistent together, yet I am confident that advantage might now be taken upon this revolt, both to make a more perfect settle- ment of religion, and also to advance the sovereignty in matter of revenue.; and likewise in a good measure to recompense the expense of the English nation, whose subsidies are like to defray the charge of the wars, and therefore deserve a share in the conquest. But in this point the English-Irish, now about London, will not advise ; no, nor the State of Ireland, I fear, least it may concern themselves. Howsoever, if it proceed to a war, the sending of money into Ireland must be avoided ; for by it the rebels (being master of the field) shall be maintained, and maintain themselves with arms that foreigners shall furnish. Provender, apparel, victuals, and munitions must be provided, and the King's army furnished with them from his storehouses and magazines ; and no silver coin sent into that king- dom, but some base coin of copper must be made and sent over, which for a time must be current, and decried again upon the settlement of peace.* The Declaration of the Parliament comes forth very seasonably, because the Anti-parliamentarian faction begin to extenuate the fruits of their long session. I hope I shall have a copy of it from some hand, for I much desire to see it. And I think it were necessary * Mr. Stockdale's idea of treating the recusant rebels in this dishonest mode, was in unison with the intense bigotry then pervading all sects. To differ from another in religion was to announce, probably, that each considered the other without the pale of the ordinary humanities of life. VOL. II. U 290 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. to print a bill of the names of all those who voted for the printing and publishing of the Remonstrance or Declaration, and also of those who voted against the publishing of it, that the country may take notice of their friends, and know how to elect better patriots hereafter. I hear that strict watches and some musters and trainings are kept in some counties. If it be for any doubt of the recusant party, I think we have as much need of caution in that point as any county in England; yet no direction is come hither, that I know. If your lordship conceive it requisite, I hope you will cause some seasonable directions to be given herein. Henry Benson keeps close in his own house, and the recusants daily resort to him ; and I am persuaded he will profess himself of their religion, and hath some hopes of employment that way, from the Queen's side. I hear for certain that Sir Henry Ludlow is his great friend still. There should be an honest able man speedily placed in the place of steward and bailiff at Knaresborough ; and seeing Roger Dodsworth is not in the way, I hope your lordship will name a man worthy of the place, or put in some to exercise it for the present, until a more fit choice be thought upon. Here is a rumour at Knaresborough of a new election, and Henry Benson hath sent about the town ; but I hope we shall first have a new bailiff. I fear I have wearied your lordship with reading; now I will conclude, and am Your lordship's faithfully devoted servant, THOS. STOCKDALE. 3rd December, 1641. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 291 Your lordship's letters even now received, make me doubt that William Derelove shall be admitted to sit in the House before the election be examined, which seems to relish either of some extraordinary favour, or else the very active labouring of friends. For though some bailiffs and stewards may peradventure have been admitted sometimes ; yet I think it was only in place where they had no competitors, and so no exception taken at them. And there are other considerable exceptions against Derelove, all which are more aptly examined before his admission than after. Sir William Constable tells me this day, that his patent of office contains a farm of the profits of the place at 20/. rent, which must of necessity occasion great oppression, seeing he only reaps the benefit ; and being judge, it will be conceived he will decree whatsoever may advan- tage himself. I wish I had sight of the copy of his patent, that I might enquire of such abuses, as the form of his patent hath encouraged him to commit, in hope to escape undescried. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, BARON OF CAMERON, IN WESTMINSTER. MOST NOBLE LORD, THE last week's report has filled this country with astonishment, and fears of some disaffection seeming to arise between the King and Parliament, his Majesty having been so long time absent in Scot- land, and now, at his return, not to vouchsafe his pre- sence to countenance that most honourable assembly, t-2 292 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. but declare rather some misapprehension of them, by commanding the discharge of their guard. We hope and pray for a better unity, and we think that both the affairs of Church, the Crown and commonwealth, do require it. And truly, if speedy and unanimous resolutions be not taken to limit the recusant party, and restrain the increase of sectaries at home, and to suppress the growing rebellion in Ireland, it is much to be feared that our happy peace will soon change into a chaos of miseries that threaten to fall upon this empire, which God avert. Our town of Knaresborough is filled with report that their burgess, Derelove, is to be admitted, as soon as a Lord Steward is appointed, who may give him the oath, which is the only bar that keeps him out, for on Monday last came some letters from him by Mr. Norton, as I hear, wherein Derelove writes to Harry Benson that Mr. Alderman Hoyle, of York, assures him of his admittance when once his oath is taken, notwithstand- ing the objections against him, which are (as he writes) only his being steward and bailiff of the town, and that he is a man of no estate : and he saith that Alderman Hoyle tells him that his father is not disabled to sit in any future Parliament, but that being elected, he is capable of it. The letter hath raised their spirits, which hitherto have drooped in suspense of his ad- mittance ; and, truly, I cannot yet think that he, Derelove, is capable of being burgess, considering the orders in Parliament in former like cases. But if it be a fate that especially attends this borough, to send up men to serve for it who must live upon the employ- ment, then we must all submit to fate. These matters 1641.J CHARLES THE FIRST. 293 are the object of this week's progress with us, which shall conclude these lines. I wish to your lordship long continuance of health, and increase of honour, and am, Your lordship's faithfully devoted servant, THOS. STOCKDALE. Wth December, 1641. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, IN WESTMINSTER. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIP, SINCE my last, wherein I desired some resolu- tion touching the review of the poll, I have seen the order made in Parliament, dated 9th September, 1641, and a letter from the Speaker to Sir Thomas Gower, our sheriff, which have resolved me in those points for which I troubled your lordship ; and I think upon Monday next we shall meet at Wetherby Sessions, and then resolve of a convenient day for assembling this wapentake. And I hope every man will show himself willing to rectify the gross contrivances of the assessors, where they shall be discovered, that the pressing occasions of the State, which concerns us all alike, may be supplied with equal contributions. And truly, if the well-affected subjects in the country do but view and consider the indefatigable endeavours of the gentlemen employed and entrusted for them in that House, and the great benefits that we and our posterity are like to enjoy by them, it cannot choose but induce us all to comply in a sincere pursuit of those services which shall be enjoined us by that honourable assembly. But I know that even 294 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. there, you are sensible of a spirit that operates with much vigour in matters tending to the injury of the purity of religion and legal liberty of the subjects ; and I doubt not but you know the same spirit works in the country, as well as in the Court, and draws a party with it. This clashing in the House, between the Lords and Commons (if it be not speedily reconciled) will beget the like distances in the country ; yet I doubt not but that the right shall in the end prevail, if the favourers of it continue constant. I only fear that this discountenancing and turning out of the well-affected officers may discourage the generality in their per- severance. It will rest principally upon the labours of that House, to encounter and overthrow those councils which persuade the placing of unworthy men where the King is pleased to displace others : yet if good men be placed in such eminent places of trust, the peril is less. I have not heard that ever the Lieutenancy of the Tower was placed upon a desperate person, but for some desperate design. The King's goodness will, I hope, hearken to the advice of his Commons, which is the major and more infallible part of his great councils, especially in those things wherein a considerable number of his nobles do join with the Commons. I perceive his Majesty hath published an Answer to your peti- tion, which in my conceit doth little weaken what you have declared only in the point of councillors : it may give occasion to you to name the persons faulty, and their crimes, which your modesty, in the Petition and Remonstrance, hath not declared. And in these levies for Ireland there must be great care taken to send over commanders well affected in religion, lest 1642.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 295 they may be made use of to ends contrary to the good intentions of the Parliament. I wish the Scottish succours were landed in Ireland, to give countenance and strength to the afflicted and miserable party of the Protestants ; for it is visible that our English succours are like to move slowly, such power have the Popish party in the councils and designs of this State. Some great plot they have in hand, though secretly carried ; for it is reported that here are dubious words cast out, like those about London, wherein the Papists pray con- tinually for good success, but in what it is not known ; and other like words of doubtful construction : that before long time there will be some great alteration, which I hope shall not be for the advantage of that profession. The insurrections of the apprentices (as all ungoverned multitudes) are of very dangerous conse- quence ; but God, who works miracles, can, out of such violent actions, bring comfortable effects ; which I beseech Him grant to this much distracted empire : and truly, the like and much more violent tumults in Ireland, for unjust and irreligious pretences, seem to give warrant and precedent to an opposite irregularity of the same nature, which is for just and religious ends in this kingdom. The last week I sent Sir William Constable such proofs as he desired, to justify his petition against Derelove's election. Amongst others, some were to prove that he did exercise the place immediately before and presently after the election. If he need more par- ticulars than I have already sent him, he may instance, that about fourteen or twenty days before the election, my cousin, Tom Vavasour of Newton, came to William 296 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1642. Derelove, and desired warrant to arrest Mr. Christopher Townley (then in Knaresborough), and Derelove himself carried Vavasour to his office (as he termed it), and there writ and subscribed the process, and delivered them to him, and took his fees as bailiff and steward for the arrest. They make proud boasts amongst this deluded people what great friends William Derelove hath in Parliament and Court ; and William Conyers saith, that if William Derelove be rejected, yet he will be elected ; for one of them, he saith, will have it. But they are neither worthy of the place, nor worth so much labour as they impose upon your lordship in reading their follies. I still hope that when Sir William Constable shall appear in his own cause, his opposite's unworthi- ness will then appear more visibly to the House. He set forward this last week, and I hope is safely arrived at London before this day, which I should much rejoice to hear, for we had extreme ill weather when he set out, which agrees not with the weak constitution of his health. If the cold weather were once past, I am resolved to take a journey to London, to wait upon your lordship. I hope about February the natural tempests of the weather, and the political tempest of the State, will be more spent, and the season incline to more serenity, of which I much desire to be a spectator ; and if the fate of England deny me that happiness, yet I hope I shall at least see your lordship in health, which will be no small joy to me, that am Your lordship's faithfully devoted servant, THOMAS STOCKDALE. January 7th, 1641. (N. S. 1642.) 1642.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 297 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, AT WESTMINSTER. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIP, THE last week's post brought us such heavy news, as hath caused great fear and sadness in the well affected subjects ; and, on the contrary, has much rejoiced the Papists and others that were ill affected, who all hope for advantage by such distractions of the State. And my conceit is, that it is a mere plot and stratagem of the Jesuit party, to set a jealousy between the King and the Parliament ; now at this instant to hinder their conjunction to repress the Popish rebellion in Ireland, that so that party may have opportunity to become absolute masters of that whole kingdom, and constrain the King and State, either to undertake a most dangerous and chargeable reconquest of the country, or else to grant them pardon, with free exercise of religion, and restitution of all lands planted with English Protestants ; and by that means make it impossible ever to plant the reformed religion there again. On Tuesday last, there were some directions showed me, sent to our new sheriff, from your lordship and Mr. Bellasis, for return of the country's billet, where it is wanting, for these parts. I sent your lordship, about three weeks' since, the copy of that taken by Mr. Ingilby and myself, which I hope came to your lordship ; yet, to prevent the country's loss, I shall join with Mr. Ingilby and send another copy. Nevertheless, I would gladly know whether that which I sent did 298 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1642. come to your lordship's hands or not, because of my letter wherein it went inclosed. On Tuesday next we have appointed to meet about the review of the poll, in which I fear we shall find much backwardness, because it is generally divulged here that no part of England have yet made any review. I desire your lordship would be pleased to let me know if any parts of the South have yet reviewed that cess, and whether their reviews be returned into the House or not ; and it will encourage us to go on with more confi- dence in the work. On Monday last, the quarter-sessions were held at Wetherby, where the business held us two days ; no matter of great moment coming to the court : the busi- ness was for the most part of petty differences. Yet one thing fell out which I will make bold to impart to your lordship : I had sent William Warwick, of Knares- borough, to the jail at York, for suspicion of coming money, being treason, and some other suspicions charged on him. His wife bringeth a petition to the sessions, and in it desires that the Bench would bail her husband. The justices all of them denied to grant it, as a thing without their commission. Nevertheless, Robin Benson and his clerks in their chamber on Monday in the evening, without direction of the justices, take three sureties bound that Warwick shall appear at the assizes ; and then they make an order of court in name of the justices then holding sessions, directed to the jailer to deliver William Warwick, and sent it away for his delivery by those who solicited it ; having neither hands nor consent of any of all the justices then at sessions : being Sir John Goodrick, Mr. Stanhope, Mr. Hopton, 1642.J CHARLES THE FIRST. 299 Mr. Marwood, and myself. Mr. Benson is a great friend of Warwick's ; and, peradventure, Warwick may be acquitted upon his trial, for it is a difficult matter to find any man guilty of that kind of crime ; yet, how- soever, it was a high presumption in Mr. Benson, being only a minister of the court, to do such an act, without and contrary to the vote of the Bench. I do the rather acquaint your lordship with this, because I have observed in some matters of late, Mr. Benson hath run in an opposite course to your lordship, and now you may consider whether or not he have deserved blame in this act. In my conceit it would much conduce to the strengthening and fortifying the resolutions of the Pro- testants against the Papists, and their attempts in England, to have a book published and dispersed in print, containing all the true and certain advertisements and relations which have come to the Parliament, or the Lords of the Council, touching the slaughter and murder of the Protestants in Ireland, and the cruelties exercised upon them by the Papists ; for I find that the daily resort of the distressed Protestants of Ireland who come hither driven from their habitations by the Papists, do animate the people here against the Popish party, and make them distaste them exceedingly, which is one good effect of many evils. I wish this week's advertisement may bring us some good inclination of the general affairs there, and in particular of your lord- ship's good health, which is much desired by Your lordship's faithfully devoted servant, TIIOS. STOCKDALE. January \ltfi, 1641. (N.S. 1642.) 300 THE FAIKFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1642. We have somewhat departed from chronological order by including in this Chapter the entire of the foregoing letters ; but we have done so for the purpose of con- sidering, without interruption, the series of important events, which occurred in such rapid succession between the King's arrival in London from Scotland, and his final separation from the Parliament. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 301 CHAPTER VIII. Change in the King's manner His improved position Scotch Party Irish Papists London Royalists King's sanguine expectations King's entrance into London The Festivities, Procession, &c. Refuses a Guard to the Parliament The Remonstrance Detail of grievances and their remedies Stormy Debate upon it Protestation against its being printed Falk- land and Cromwell Remonstrance presented to the King Its importance His three chief Advisers Hyde declines the Solicitor Generalship Pre- pares a Reply to the Remonstrance House of Commons make efforts to relieve Ireland Rebels apply for peace Impressment of Soldiers Peers and Commons differ King commits a Breach of their Privileges Jealousy of his military control Suspicious movements Parliament again applies for a Guard Faithless reply of the King Tumults First application of the term " Round-head " Private plotting to seize the five members Letter from Mr. Stockdale Value of Strafford's York- shire Estate Progress of the Moderate Party King attempts to seize the five members Captain Langrish and the Countess of Carlisle give timely warning Narrow escape of the members The King's Address Outrageous conduct of his attendants Consequences of this violent and illegal proceeding This violence suggested by Lord Digby Queen coincides with him Probable Motives The King's advisers disheartened. ALL contemporary authorities afford us testimony, that from the day of the King's return to England from his last sojourn in Scotland, the tone of his intercourse with the Parliament had an acerbity and sternness which had never before characterised it. No other authority need be quoted than Mr. Hyde, who, in more than one paragraph of his memoirs, relates the frequent occasions he had to regret and to moderate " its sharpness." * To detect the cause of this change requires no great perspicacity, for it was the alteration * Clarendon's Autobiography, 53, &c. 302 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. to be expected in a mind so constituted as was that of Charles, when he perceived, or believed that he per- ceived, his power once more in the ascendant, and that he might venture to exhibit the ill-feeling he so long had been compelled to conceal. He had been retreating slowly, reluctantly, doggedly, but the time appeared to be now come for recovering what he had been obliged to yield, and he could not resist the incli- nation to vent his spleen even before the time for attack had arrived. Charles was persuaded that he had established a friendly connection with the predominant party in Scot- land he intimated as much in his marginal replies to Sir Edward Nicholas, as we have observed, and that per- suasion gave birth to the first sentence of the address, with which he met his English Parliament " I have left that nation (the Scotch) a most peaceable and con- tented people, so I was not deceived in my end." * The Papists in Ireland, too, were in arms ; and though their sanguinary massacres involved all English Protestants, yet if they took part with either of the two great contending parties in England, that aid would be given to the King and Queen, who had all the English Papists among their supporters, certainly not to the Puritans, who hated them with the hatred of zealots, and who waged a persecution against even the painted glass and church pictures, which savoured of their ritual. We may estimate this sectarian feeling from the facts that the sober-minded Mr. Stockdale recommended the confiscation of all property belonging * Parl. Hist. II. 966. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 303 to Roman Catholics, whilst some proceeded so far as to advocate retaliation upon them for the Irish Massacre. * England, also, gave signs that the fickle breath of popular favour was veering from the Parliament to the Royalists. The Lord Mayor of London had led forth its citizens to welcome the King on his return, and " moved with great indignation to see the City so corrupted by the ill artifices of factious persons, had attended upon his Majesty at his entrance into the City, with all the lustre and good countenance it could show, and as great professions of duty as it could make, or the King expect."f Sanguine in magnifying every gleam of returning influence, Charles did not merely accept it as an omen of brighter days, but as a signal that victory sat upon his helm. He showed this by a course of conduct not to be mistaken. He did not stand alone in his opinion. " Many people," (we are quoting the words of a truthful contemporary,) " many people, ill-affected to the Parliament, gave it out, in ordinary discourse, (non ignota loquor, it is a known truth) that the City was weary of the Parliament's tedious proceedings, and would be ready to join with the King against them. Whether it begat the same opinion in the King I cannot tell, but certainly some conceived so, by actions which immediately followed, expressing a greater confidence against the Parliament than before." J Most certain is it that the civic welcome was attended with unwonted demonstrations, and such * A commission was issued to certain parties, empowering them to destroy crucifixes and other public decorations having reference to Roman Catholic ceremonies. f Clarendon, I. 254. t May's History of the Parliament, II. 18 ; Breviary of the Civil War, 36. 304 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. expressions of active devotion as might have dazzled one who had a clearer view of the probable future than was characteristic of Charles. Attended by the Queen, his children, and the chiefs of his household, he approached London from Theobalds, on the 25th of November. From Stamford Hill, the sheriffs, with a body of javelin men " in scarlet cloaks and feathered hats/' guarded the royal cortege to Kingsland, from whence " through the fields into Moorgate, the banks were cut down, and bridges with planks set up for the better passage" a provision not a little needed at that season, and in those times of "roads marvellously bad." At the entrance of the fields was pitched the Mayor's tent, in which were assembled the nobility and civic authorities, waiting to kiss the hands of their Majesties, "joying the King's happy return," and to weary him with an address more than long enough for that season, so unpropitious for out-door exhibitions. That address, however, among others which equally bespoke the hopes he cherished, contained this sentence : " I can truly say from the representative body of your City, from whence I have my warrant, that they meet your Majesty with as much love and affection as ever citizens of London met with any of your royal pro- genitors, and with as hearty a desire to show it fully."""" Charles seized gladly on the promise of aid in the leading sentence of his speech, replying "Now I see that all these tumults and disorders have only risen from the meaner sort of people, and that the affections of the better, and main part of the City, have ever been loyal and affectionate to my person and government." * Rushworth, V. 429. 1641.] CHAELES THE FIRST. 305 The Lord Mayor and Recorder were knighted on the spot ; and the King mounting his horse, then rode in procession to a festival in the Guildhall. The cavalcade was gorgeous, and far too lengthy to be particularised ; but among "the city bravery" were "citizens in velvet coats with chains of gold, well- mounted, to the number of five hundred, two and two, selected out of the companies, who were distinguished by several trumpets and horsemen wearing the ensign of each company at the head thereof, every man having his footman in suit and cassock, with ribbon of the colours of his company." The aldermen, "on festive deeds intent," were there of course, with trumpeters, pursuivants, gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, noblemen, and all the usual panoply ; and the streets from Moorgate to Temple-bar were lined by the livery companies in full costume, " with their several banners and ensigns ;" and, as a superlative demonstration of aldermanic joy, " the conduits, as his Majesty passed, ran claret wine." The feast concluded, more knighthoods were bestowed ; and the Court passed on, " attended by the whole city to Whitehall." The concord, however, seemed so full and heartfelt, that the outpouring on this occasion did not suffice to give the loyal citizens relief. So a week subse- quently, the authorities waited upon the King, thanked him for the honour he had conferred upon them, and besought him to spend his Christmas among them, because such " residence would give a good quickening to the retailing trade, and by consequence to the mer- chant." This request was grateful to the King, and readily granted ; but it was still more gratifying to hear from the civic authorities the assurance that " some late VOL. II. X 306 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. disorders about Westminster," occurring since his return, did not arise from " the body of the City, or the better sort of citizens," but from " the meaner sort of people " of its suburbs.""" Emboldened by the assurances he had received, con- fident that in every division of the kingdom his cause was in the ascendant, Charles lost not a day before he evinced the bolder front he proposed to turn towards the Parliament. On the 26th of November, the very day after his arrival in London, he ordered the guard about the Houses of Parliament to be withdrawn. They petitioned in vain for them to be restored, but could obtain no further acquiescence, than that " some of the Trained Bands (of the City) should wait upon them for a few days," and the monition was added, that "when Parliament should desire of him any extraordinary thing like this, and what appears of ill consequence, that they give him such particular reasons as might satisfy his judgment, if they did expect their desires to be granted."f This tart reply did not conclude the negociation, for the spirit of discord was between them, and the Commons persisted in their application, giving as their " particular reasons," such facts connected with his Majesty's late proceedings in Scotland, the Irish Rebellion, and rumours from abroad "that there should be a great alteration of religion in a few days, and that the necks of both the Parliaments should be broken," which though failing to alter the King's resolve, could not fail to be annoying and exasperating ; especially, as they added this some- what more than petition, that " to have a guard of any * Rushworth, V. 433. f Parl. Hist. II. 941. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 307 other (than the Earl of Essex) not chosen by them- selves, they can by no means consent to ; and will rather run any hazard than admit of a precedent so dangerous both to this and future Parliaments." '* The reasons they urged were powerless to convince the King ; so the guard was withdrawn ; but the Commons, nothing daunted, proceeded in their onward course to render the King yet more powerless. Indeed, it was impossible for them to remain passive, now that Charles was gathering strength and allies, regardless of the sacrifices by which they were purchased. A Remonstrance some months before had been in agitation, but had been allowed to sleep until the King's proceedings in Scotland, and the efforts of the royal- ists in the City became known. The preparation of that Remonstrance, to warn the people from a relapse to the misrule from which they had been rescued was then re- vived. " It came forth," as Mr. Stockdale observed, "very seasonably, because the Anti-parliamentarian faction began to extenuate (depreciate) their long session." t The Petition which accompanied that Remonstrance asked Charles to consent to the removal of bishops from Parliament, and that he would be pleased to employ no one in the great offices of the State but such as the Parliament " may have cause to confide in." The Remonstrance itself gathered together, in one series, and in strong vituperative language, every instance of misgovernment and despotism since the King's accession to the throne. The employment of the fleet against Rochelle ; " the expenseful and suc- cessless attempt upon Cadiz ;" the wars and paci- * Part. Hist. II. 942. t See p. 289. 308 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. fications with France and Spain, "without consent of Parliament ;" the abrupt dissolutions of that portion of the legislature ; the extortion of money by Privy Seals, Knighthood-money, Ship-money, Monopolies, and other illegal modes ; the disregard to the Petition of Right ; the breach of Parliamentary Privilege by the arrest of the members of the Commons ; the death of Sir John Eliot, "by the cruelty and harshness of his imprisonment/' " his blood still crying for vengeance, or repentance of those ministers who at once obstructed the course of justice and mercy ;" the cruelties of the Star Chamber and other illegal courts ; the displacing and overawing of the judges ; the pricking of sheriffs for political purposes ; the emigrations to America to avoid the tyranny which oppressed these realms ; the perversion of the pulpit to be an instrument of State ; the attempted enforcing of Episcopacy upon Scotland, its ruinous consequences, and the attempts of some to change the nation's religion, were all pourtrayed with unmitigated asperity, as well as the benefits arising from, and the opposition to, the Parliament's successful efforts for their removal.* No more striking proof of the increasing strength of the royalist party can be adduced than the debate upon that Remonstrance. It was only carried by the votes of 159 opposed by 148 ; and the contest was prolonged to a length which was then unprecedented. Mr. Hyde and the Court party argued that it was unnecessary and unseasonable, for the grievances were removed, and the King only just returned from consenting to reforms in the sister kingdom. But the opponents of * Parl. Hist II. 943964. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 309 the royalists replied, that the danger of being deprived of all the good they had now so hardly won was imminent, " if great care and vigilance were not used to disappoint some counsels which were still entertained.* Every art, we now know, was employed by each party to obtain a majority, yet so satisfied were the reform party of a. victory, that they ridiculed the idea of a protracted debate. When postponed at the desire of Lord Falkland, for the purpose of being entered upon early in the day, Oliver Cromwell, " at that time little taken notice of," asked him his reason, " for that day would quickly have determined it ;" and upon Falkland replying " it would take some debate," Cromwell retorted, " A very sorry one." On the following day the debate commenced, and continued " with much passion " from nine in the morn- ing until after midnight, and was carried in favour of the remonstrance by the small majority just named. Hampden then proposed that it should be forthwith printed, which " waked the war anew," and " produced a sharper debate than the former." " At three of the clock in the morning," says the member for Radnor, Sir Philip "Warwick, " I thought we had all sat in the valley of the shadow of death ; for we, like Joab's and Absalom's young men, had caught at each other's locks, and sheathed our swords in each other's bowels, had not the sagacity and great calmness of Mr. Hampden, by a short speech, prevented it, and led us to defer our angry debate until the next morning." f Clarendon, I. 246. f Warwick's Memoirs, 202. The proposal to print was then lost, by 124 in opposition to 101 ; but was carried on the 14th of December, by 135 ayes against only 83 noes. 310 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. The fury with which the House was excited was exasperated by the consciousness actuating both parties that upon the publication of the Remonstrance alone depended its public influence. It was not a Bill, therefore the concurrence of the Peers was needless ; but it was an appeal to the people. Hyde, with more warmth than reason, argued that the printing was not lawful, and, as he believed it would be productive of mischief, if the vote for printing were in the affirma- tive, he should ask permission to record his protestation against it. Mr. Jeffrey Palmer " a man of great repu- tation and much esteemed in the House," followed in the same course ; but others of the same party, " with- out distinction and some disorder/' cried out together, " We protest We protest." This is Clarendon's account, and we may accept it as truth, since it is to the disadvantage of himself and friends. It was at this moment that Hampden moved the adjournment ; and as they retired from the House, Lord Falkland roused Cromwell with the query, "Well, has there been no debate ? " Cromwell replied that " he would take his word another time," adding in a whisper, " if the Remonstrance had been rejected, he would have sold all he had the next morning, and never have seen England more/'* He did not stand alone in that * Clarendon, I. 247. Mr. Palmer was committed to the Tower for his pro- test, and conduct contrary to the rules and privileges of the House. Even Hyde narrowly escaped a similar fate ; and if any one deserved so sharp a reproof, he was the most entitled to the visitation. The protest, in case of necessity, had been a preconcerted measure ; for Sir E. Nicholas, writing to the King, on the day of the debate, November 22, said, " The Commons have been in debate ever since twelve at noon, and are at it still, being now near twelve at midnight. I assure your Majesty there are divers in the Commons' House that arc resolved to stand very stiff for rejecting that Declaration, and if they pi-evail not, then to protest against it." Evelyn's Memoirs, II. 80. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 311 resolve, for it would have been a demonstration that the Court party was prevailing, and then England would have been no place of safety for the Roundheads. The motion for the order to publish was lost by a small majority, but a resolution was passed to the effect that it might be printed by a special order of the House ; an order which was soon after given. On the 1st of December, the Committee appointed by the House of Commons, reported that they had pre- sented the Remonstrance to the King on the previous evening at Hampton Court. * Sir Edward Deering had been selected to present it, but declined from even accompanying the Committee, and that duty devolved upon Sir Ralph Hopton, an ardent royalist. When brought into the presence of the King, they knelt, but he commanded them to rise, and then listened without comment to the Remonstrance, until that portion was read denouncing a malignant party about his person, who designed to effect a change in the established reli- gion, which Charles denied with more energy than courtesy, hoping " the devil might take " any one who purposed such an alteration. The reading concluded, the King inquired whether the House intended to pub- lish that Remonstrance, and the answer being undecisive, he added " I suppose you do not expect a present answer to so long a petition ; but this let me tell you," (and it was a fact totally irrelevant, but weakly intro- duced as a remembrance of his improved power,) "I have left Scotland well in peace : they are well satisfied * The committee were, Pym, Sir Symon Dewcs, Sir Arthur Ingram, Sir James Thynn, Sir Henry Bellasis, Lord Gray, Sir Christopher Wray, Lord Fairfax, Sir Ralph Hopton, Sir Ricliard Winn, Sir John Corbet, Sir Edward Deering, and Sir Arthur Haslerigg. Ihwhworth, V. 436. 312 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. with me and I with them, and though I staid longer than I expected, I think if I had not gone, you had not been so soon rid of the army. I shall give you an answer to this business with as much speed as the weight thereof will permit/' Charles was right in his estimate of that manifesto. It was indeed a weighty and startling catalogue of evils and despotic acts to which he had clung, and of cruel- ties and tyranny exercised in order to retain the power of repeating them. It exhibited in a concentrated form the faults and calamities incident to absolute monarchy ; and by showing how the power to re-iterate those calamities had been restricted, presented in most strong and most favourable contrast the safeguards and the blessing of a government more balanced by popular influence. If there had been no House of Commons, all the oppression would have yet weighed down and shackled our liberties and energies. Charles was with good reason anxious that this black roll should not be unfolded to the public eye. But his anxiety could not delay its publication, and, as his only resource, a plausible reply was agreed to be issued, though a satisfactory answer was hopeless. His three principal advisers were now Lord Falkland, Sir John Culpepper, and Mr. Hyde, three seceders from the ranks of his opponents ; and it is curious, as well as big with instruc- tion, to observe that they, as well as others of his best advisers and staunchest adherents, in adversity as well as in brighter seasons, were furnished by the popular party.* Had their advice been followed, free * Lord Falkland was Secretary of State ; Sir John Culpepper, Chancellor of the Exchequer ; Earl of Essex, Lord Chamberlain ; St. John, Solicitor General ; Lord Savile, Treasurer ; Littleton, Lord Keeper ; and Herbert, Attorney General. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 313 as it was from faction as from despotism, the blood of England would not then have been poured out in domestic warfare, nor would Charles have died upon the scaffold. Mr. Hyde held no official appointment. The Solicitor Generalship had been pressed upon his acceptance both by Charles and his Queen ; but Hyde's hearty reply of " God forbid ! " was sustained by too many cogent reasons to be over-ruled. It was true, that St. John, who held the office, was not a character " that would ever do much service, but he would be able to do much more mischief if removed ; * and Hyde, unconnected with office, would be more free to act, and more above suspicion of being actuated by the duties of his appoint- ment. Not that it was possible for him to escape from being known as one of the King's most trusted advisers. It could not be concealed for any length of time, that upon every consultation, Charles never decided how to act until he had ascertained " whether Ned Hyde was of that mind."f His friendship too, with Lord Digby, one of the most favoured, though not the most worthy of courtiers, was well known ; and at his lodgings Falkland and Culpepper met him in nightly council. Digby at this juncture coming to Hyde's house, the latter read to him an answer he had prepared to the Remonstrance of the Commons. That answer, we are told by its author, was written " only to give vent to his own indignation, but without the least purpose of communicating it, or that any use should be made of it ;" a statement difficult of credence, when we know that he was the King's most influential adviser, and the * Clarendon's Autobiography, 4C, folio edition. t Ibid. 51. 314 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. LI 641. one to whom he looked for the preparation of all his public papers.* Whatever might have been the intention, Charles prevailed over Hyde, though " it might prove ruinous to him," to allow the answer to be published as if emanating from the King ; and thus commenced that war of pamphlets in which the encounters were at the least as numerous and quite as vindictive as those between the same partisans in the field. The " Answer " was read to the King's Council, and being approved by many, and opposed by none, it was published as " with their advice." Its author may be pardoned for observing "that the King's service was very much advanced by it ;" but any one who now bestows upon it a perusal, will certainly coincide with the less biassed contemporary, Mr. Stockdale, that " that answer doth little weaken what you (the Parliament) have declared."! It contains no defence of former mis- rule, no confession of improved laws, but declares that "in few words, we shall pass over that part of the narrative." But it laments "as not the least of mis- fortunes," that the high prerogative advisers of the Crown had not been retained, though excepted to by the Parliament ; and it throws the blame upon the House of Commons, that the Irish Rebellion was not extinguished, inasmuch as they had refused to sanction the King placing himself for that purpose at the head of "ten thousand English volunteers." J The lamentation over the loss of friends, whether by exile or the executioner, was natural, and may be * Clarendon's Autobiography, 44, folio edition, t Sec p. 294. f Parl. Hist. II. 977. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 315 accepted with respect even in that unmitigated form of expression ; but no one of well-balanced judgment will condemn the Parliament for not furnishing Charles with 10,000 " volunteers," men by their mode of enrollment and officering devoted to himself, when they remember that within a very few months he raised his standard against the Parliament itself. It is not consonant with truth, though asserted by some, that the House of Commons delayed succour to the Irish Protestants, upon the pitiful pretext that the Peers thwarted them by objecting to the preamble of their Bill against impressment. The knowledge of the rebellion had reached Parliament on the 1st of November ; on the next day they ordered 20,000/. to be taken from the Treasury, and 8000 troops "to be speedily raised" for the service of Ireland, ships to be distributed round its coast, and magazines to be established for the same service. * Similar steps were taken to direct the aid from Scotland of 10,000 men for the same object, and on the 10th of the same month an additional 4000 infantry were ordered to be raised. The Irish rebels were fully cognisant of the approach- ing retribution, for they offered pacificatory terms, and on the 8th of December their application for peace on the basis of a free exercise of their religion was unani- mously rejected by both Houses ; they resolving, " That they would never give consent to any toleration of the Popish religion in Ireland, or any other of his Majesty's dominions." Instead of raising " volunteers " for the Irish expedi- tion, as proposed by the King, it was determined, Parl. Hist. II. P27. 316 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. according to former precedents, to impress men for that service. Impressment was an acknowledged evil, and one of the severest instruments in unparliamentary times, employed by our sovereigns to exile those obnoxious to them."* A bill was introduced, therefore, empowering the impressment of men ; but setting forth in its preamble, " that the King had, in no case, or upon any occasion but the invasion from a foreign power, authority to press the free-born subject ; that being inconsistent with the freedom and liberty of his person." This preamble would have received the consent of the House of Peers if the Attorney General, who, like his royal master, was advancing in courage, had not requested to be heard " on the King's behalf before consent was given to a clause so prejudicial to the King's prero- gative.'^ The Commons unadvisedly resented this interruption, and would soon have been compelled to pursue a more temperate course rather than leave Ireland without the requisite assistance, when the King, by another inconsiderate step, rescued them from their dilemma, and turned upon himself the indignation of both Houses. Acting upon the private advice of the Solicitor General, Charles went to the House of Lords, and summoning the Commons to attend, told the assembled members, that the necessities of Ireland were so urgent that he came " to commend earnestly the despatch of the expedition." To this no objection could be suggested ; but he thus proceeded, " Seeing there is a dispute raised (I being little beholden to him who- * This is no sui-mise. Mr. D'Israeli, in his " Curiosities of Literature," has given numerous instances. t Clarendon, I. 257. 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 317 soever at this time began it) concerning the bounds of this ancient and undoubted prerogative (of pressing soldiers), to avoid further debate at this time, I offer, that the bill may pass with a salvo jure, both for King and people, leaving such debates to a time that may better bear them." * Such a proposal, if suggested by one of his ministers in the course of debate, might have been as oil poured upon troubled waters ; but Charles, gaining no wisdom, taking no warning from experience, and disregarding the privileges of the Par- liament, thrust himself forward to direct its proceedings on subjects yet under debate. He had done so in Strafford's case, and now, as upon that occasion, reaped the same result. Throwing aside their animosities and strife, both Houses agreed in resolving " that the privileges of Par- liament were broken," and united in presenting a protestation to the King against such interferences. Charles replied to them with becoming spirit, by assuring them that he intended no breach of their privileges, but that he would ever uphold and protect them ; adding this counter-thrust, " We expect that you will be as careful not to trench upon our just prerogative, as we will not infringe upon your just liberties and privileges."f But the Houses were now unanimous upon the preamble; "so in the end," says Clarendon, " the King was compelled to pass the bill which they had prepared. "J * Parl. Hist. II. 969. t Rushworth, V. 457. Clarendon, I. 259. In the meantime the Parliament had not been dilatory in forwarding some succour to the Irish Protestants. Fourteen hundred men had been landed at Dublin, at the end of December, and early in January. May's Lonr/ Parliament, II. 33, &c. And Sir Richard Grenville, with Colonel 318 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. Another source of jealousy, now actively developed, sprang from the control over the military resources inherent in the Crown. Very sufficient cause for that jealousy existed, however, as it was to the Parliament that Charles, on more than one occasion, had looked for aid to that branch of his prerogative, in order to employ it against themselves. Even Clarendon tacitly admits, that if the King had been allowed to raise an army of Volunteers, " they would probably be more at his devotion than they (the Parliament) desired." He had removed from the Lieutenancy of the Tower Sir William Balfour, a man of honour, and not willing to be a courtier, to make room for Colonel Lunsford, " a man of decayed and desperate fortune," who had been one of the band of soldiers and law students carousing at Whitehall.* Military stores had been collected at Hull ; and a few days subsequently to Colonel Luns- ford's removal from his appointment, he had appeared in arms with Lord Digby, and to an assembled force of about one thousand men at Kingston, had given thanks to them in the King's name, telling them "that his Majesty had brought them out of London, to keep them from being trampled in the dirt."f Monk, followed in the next month with about two thousand more. At the same time it is certain that both the King and the Parliament were more attentive to their own rising contest than to the Irish outrages. The Parliament devoted some of the money intended for Ireland to warlike preparations nearer home ; but not until Charles had made hostile demonstrations in the north, and had withdrawn for his own use both arms and ammunition from the arsenals of Dublin. Other authorities intimate that the King, far from being anxious to put down the Irish rebellion, thinking it a diversion in his favour, " was long before he could be drawn to proclaim those murderers rebels ; and when he did so, by special command, there were but forty proclamations printed, and care taken that they should not be much dispersed." Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson, 75, Ed. 1808 ; May, II. 35. * Rushworth, V. 459. See p. 185. t Parl. Hist. II. 1039. Wood endeavours to ridicule this demonstration 1641.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 319 Seeing these attempts, the Parliament, on the last day of the year (1641) petitioned the King to grant them a guard, specifying that they wished it to be selected from the Trained Bands of the City, and under the command of the Earl of Essex, Lord Chamberlain. That they needed such a protection was demonstrated by the daily broils " occurring between the Palace Yard and Charing Cross," the combatants being the King's retainers and the mob, who sided with the Parliament. We adverted to these tumults, somewhat out of course ; for though they began earlier in the year, yet it was at this time that they were at their greatest height of dis- order and violence. At the earnest persuasion of the Lord Mayor, who warned the King that the apprentices of London would attempt to rescue the Tower from Colonel Lunsford's control, the latter was deprived of that command. * This was on the 26th of December, but as it was not generally known, the concourse of people at Westminster, on the following day, was even more numerous than had been lately usual. Their chief cry was " No Bishops ! No Bishops ! " And the Bishop of Lincoln, endeavouring to seize one of the mob, who was prominently clamorous, the people seized his lord- ship, and, without further injury, seem to have deafened him with the unpalatable cry. One David Hide was (Athence Oxon. II. 579) ;"but that it was a serious attempt to effect an armed interference for the King is sustained by the fact that as it was a failure, and the Commons assailed it in debate, Lord Digby fled to the Continent. Sir John Evelyn, when introducing to the Peers the articles of Digby's impeachment, said, there was proof of his enlisting soldiers for the King. State Trialt, II. 140. * Rushworth, V. 462. Some have ignorantly ridiculed these fears of the power possessed by the London apprentices. If they consult history, they will find that in those days of imperfect police they were a most formidable body. 320 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1641. prominent in coming to the ex-Lord Keeper's rescue ; and we notice this " reformado in the late army against the Scots," because his impromptu threat that " he would cut the throats of those Round-headed dogs who bawled against the Bishops/' was, according to Rush worth, "the first minuting of that term or compellation of Roundheads, which afterwards grew so general. " * Lunsford, smarting under his recent deprivation, was also there, with some thirty or forty armed friends ; and these drawing their weapons, attacked the appren- tices, "and some hurt was done." Reinforcements coming up " with swords, staves, and other weapons," the contest spread and became so violent, both in London and Westminster, that " the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs rode about all that night to appease the tumults ; the City gates were all closed, a strong watch set in every place, as well of men in arms as otherwise, and the Trained Bands raised the next morning for the safety of the City." Even " the King commanded some of the Trained Bands of Westminster and Middle- sex to be raised by turns to guard his royal person, with his consort and children, at Whitehall, where thenceforward a company or two continued their attendance day and night, by his Majesty's order."f Yet what did Charles venture to reply to repeated petitions of the Parliament for a guard ? " We are wholly ignorant of the grounds of your apprehensions ; and we do engage unto you solemnly the word of a King, that the security of all and every one of you from violence is, and shall ever be, as much our care as the preservation of us and our children."! Rushworth, V. 463. f Ibid. 464. + Ibid. 472. 1642.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 321 Charles ventured thus to reply thus to promise on the 3rd of January. No guard was afforded, and the most credulous will not believe for a moment but that the guard was withheld to avoid an interruption to his seizure of the five members of the Commons, which he attempted on the very following day.* This event is slightly alluded to in speaking of Lord Mandeville in the following letter, but it will require a more detailed narrative. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD, THE LORD FAIRFAX, IN WESTMINSTER. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIP, UPON Tuesday last we had a meeting here at Knaresborough, about the review of the poll, where Mr. Ingilby, Mr. Marwood, Mr. Tankard, and myself, met ; but Sir William Ingram nor Mr. Hopton, who had the body of the wapentake in charge, came not, nor Sir Richard Hutton, who was joined with me for Knares- borough Liberty ; his absence being occasioned by the office taken upon the Lord Strafford's attainder, for which he was a commissioner. I hear the office was found at Pontefract on Monday last, and his personal * We have good grounds for believing that the plot for seizing the five members had been some time in agitation, and that the Parliament had a hint of the intended outrage before the time of its perpetration. When the King refused to allow them a guard, they had halberts and other arms deposited in the House, for which there could be no reason, unless to guard themselves against some threatened attack. Lilly states positively that the attempt to seize the five members was one of the results of "private whisperings in Court, and secret councils held by the Queen and her party, with whom the King sat in Council very late many nights, all this Christmas, 1641." Afaserei't Select Tracts, I. 170. VOL. ii. y 322 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1642. estate valued at eighty thousand pounds, which was a vast mass of wealth to be extorted out of that employ- ment in Ireland. We that met at Knaresborough ac- quainted the constables and assessors with the cause of their being called together, and gave them charge to make an impartial review of their former assessments, and to make a more exact return to us upon Candlemas-day next. And we further declared that if they should not faithfully discharge their duties, we must not only certify their misdemeanors to the Parliament, who will inflict due punishment on them, but also that we ourselves must review their return, and impose arbitrary cesses where there should appear cause for it. The country seemed resolute in their former returns, and some answered that they could not nor would not alter them. Mr. Ingilby and I have renewed the certificate of the billet for Marquis Hamilton's regiment, and sent it inclosed in a letter by Peter Benson of Knaresborough, who sets forward to-morrow or Monday next. We still hear that the affairs there continue in a doubtful condi- tion, and that the height of violence against the Lord Mandeville, &c. is little abated;* though we conceive some hope is to be found in the mediation of six lords, nomi- nated to negociate in those differences. The great forwardness of the Londoners and southern men to * Lord Mandeville, better known as Lord Kimbolton, was one of the six members of the legislature impeached by the King. His lordship did not retire into the City, as did the five members of the Commons who were con- jointly impeached with him ; but he boldly demanded at once to be tried. If the Peers had been bound by the precedent afforded by Strafford's case, they ought to have committed Lord Mandeville to custody upon the general accusation ; but instead of doing so, they appointed the committee alluded to by Mr. Stockdale, to " consider of precedents and records." Eventually the King abandoned the impeachment. Nalaon, II. 812. 1642.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 323 protect the Parliament in its freedom and essence, is not a little comfort to all such here as do not prefer some other end before their country's liberty and reformation of religion ; and I think it is both convenient and seasonable now for all other remote parts of the kingdom to second those southern parts, in approving their proceedings, and petitioning his Majesty for his royal concurrence with that great council ; in the freedom whereof the liberties of all the subjects are involved. We hear nothing yet of Mr. Benson's deputy-burgess ; I suppose the House hath so many weighty matters in hand that it cannot attend him. I know of no protec- tions that Benson had granted until of late, and now I hear of six or seven, thereabout, and in time more will be discovered. I may not waste your lordship's leisure in reading. All the rest I will say is only this : I wish a prosperous issue to the noble and just endeavours of the Parliament, and much increase of health and honour to your lordship, and I am, Your lordship's faithfully devoted servant, THOS. STOCKDALE. January 2lst, 1641, (N.S. 1642.) I had almost forgotten to tell your lordship that on Tuesday last, about ten o'clock at night, one Stamford, a pursuivant, came into Henry Benson's house, to arrest him by some warrant, as I conceive, from the Parlia- ment ; but his intention being discovered, his wife, his sons, and family, fell on him, and beat the pursuivant, and would not suffer him to take Mr. Benson, who in the scuffle had the opportunity to escape, and now is removed as they say to some other place. Y 2 324 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1642. That rash attempt to seize the persons of the im- peached members precipitated into ruin the party which was gradually increasing in confidence and strength by the judicious aid of the King's new advisers, who wisely had sought to take advantage of, rather than to throw themselves into violent opposition to, the cur- rent of events. Time was befriending them. The moderate party in the Parliament, which in England always eventually prevails, was unfortunately weak, but had been gradually adding to its numbers, and their just fundamental principle was well expressed by a barrister (Mr. Smith), when he warned the House of Commons that " prerogative and liberty are both necessary to the kingdom, and, like the sun and moon, give a lustre to the nation, so long as they walk at their equal distances, but when one of them ventures within the other's orbit, like those planets in conjunction, they then cause a deeper eclipse." The influence of this party of moderators, and the natural results of a continued progress in a course of reformation, gradually reduced the strength of the partisans of extreme change. The predominance of political reformers, in general, must be of temporary duration. Time usually reduces their numbers, until their party becomes a minority. Some will desert them because they act too rashly ; others will withdraw their support because they proceed with too little vigour ; a third section will grow weary of the constant efforts to improve ; and differences will weaken by division of opinion both in determining what is faulty and what is remedial. Thus, not agreeing among themselves, they fail before a less numerous, yet more 1642.] CHARLES THE fclRST. 325 united party ; until the deficiencies, which time will render apparent in all human institutions, or some violent outrage of the executive, again unites them to effect changes which must be unanimously admitted to be desirable.* That outrage the King, with suicidal rashness, now committed. On the 3rd of January, 1642, the Attorney General, Sir Edward Herbert, exhibited articles of im- peachment before the House of Lords, against Lord Kimbolton, Sir Arthur Haselrigg, Holies, Pym, Hamp- den, and Strode. It charged them with endeavouring to deprive the King of his regal power, and to exalt that of the people ; with attempting to render the army disaffected ; inviting a foreign invasion (that of the Scots) ; subverting the rights of Parliaments ; and encouraging tumults against it and the King. The Lords attended to the impeachment. The studies and trunks of some of the accused were placed under seal, and on the same day, but previously, the King sent a serjeant- at-arms to the Speaker of the House of Commons, re- quiring him to deliver up the five impeached members. The whole of this proceeding was a tissue of error. It was ill-judged to proceed at all ; it was illegal if the offences were committed by the accused in Parliament ; it was illegal to proceed against the five commoners, otherwise than by a trial by jury ; and the Peers acted illegally by entertaining the impeachment at all. With becoming resolution the House refused to deliver up its members so accused j but they were ordered to attend daily, and his Majesty was informed that his mes- sage should be considered, as it was of great consequence Life of Selden, 267. 326 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1642. and concerned the privileges of Parliament. Charles, however, did not require their advice ; he had resolved to adopt the suggestions of his own will. "Accord- ingly," says Rushworth, who was clerk of the House, and an eye-witness, " when the five accused members came this day (4th of January, 1642,) after dinner into the House, they were no sooner seated in their places, but the House was informed by one Captain Langrish, lately an officer in arms in France, that he came from among the officers and soldiers at Whitehall, and under- standing from them that his Majesty was coming with a guard of military men, commanders and soldiers, to the House of Commons, he passed by them with some difficulty, to get to the House before them, and sent in word how near they were come.* Whereupon, a certain member of the House (Pym), having also private intimation from the Countess of Carlisle, sister to the Earl of Northumberland, f that * Captain Langrish was evidently of the party, of which Lilly, the historian and astrologer, formed one. The latter says, " It was my fortune, that very day, to dine in Whitehall, and in that room where the halberts, newly brought from the Tower, were lodged, for the use of such as attended the King and the House of Commons. Sir Peter Wich, ere we had fully dined, came into the room I was in, and broke open the chests wherein the arms were, which frightened us all out that were there. However, one of our company got out of doors, and presently informed some members that the King was preparing to come unto the House." See Observations on the Life and Death of King Charles, (1651), in Baron Maseres's Select Tracts, (1815), I. 171. f This lady was a complete political partisan ; for Secretary Nicholas mentions her bringing information to the Court party. Evelyris Diary, &c., II. 24. However, in heart she was now attached to the Opposition. Sir Philip Warwick says that she was a busy stateswoman, at first attached to Wentworth, but at this period to Mr. Pym. He adds, that " she was become such a she- saint, that she frequented their sermons and took notes." Sir P. Warwick's Memoirs, 204. Sir Arthur Haselrigg says, " I shall never forget the kindness of that great lady, the Lady Carlisle, who gave timely notice." Burton's Diary, III. .93. CHARLES THE FIRST. 327 endeavours would be used this day to apprehend the five members, the House required them to depart forth- with, to the end that a combustion in the House might be avoided, if the said soldiers should use violence to pull any of them out. To this request four of them yielded ready obedience ; but Mr. Strode was obstinate, until Sir Walter Earl, his ancient acquaintance, pulled him out by force, the King at that time entering into the New Palace Yard, in Westminster.* As the King came through Westminster Hall, the com- manders, reformadoes, f &c., who attended him, made a lane on both sides of the Hall, through which his Majesty passed, and came up the stairs to the House of Commons, and stood before the guard of pensioners and halberteers, who also attended the King's person. J The door of the House being thrown open, his Majesty, accompanied only by Prince Charles, the Palatine, * Sir Arthur Haaelrigg states : " Some of us were in the House after the notice came. It was questioned if, for the safety of the House, we should be gone ; but the debate was shortened, and it was thought fit for us, in discretion, to withdraw. Mr. Hampden and myself being then in the House, withdrew. Away we went. The King immediately came in, and was in the House before we got to the water. Burton's Diary, III. 93. f Reformado An officer retained in a regiment after his company has been disbanded. J Mrs. Hutchinson says, that the guard which came with Charles to seize the five members consisted of about four hundred gentlemen and soldiers, armed with swords and pistols. Memoirs of Colonel ffittchinson, 76. This number is probably correct ; some authorities saying there were two hundred, and others five hundred. That the conduct of these armed men was outrageous is unde- nted, even by the King ; whose only plea in extenuation was a hope that he should not be prejudiced by the acts or speeches of his young and hasty attendants. They came to the very door of the House, and " thrust away the door-keepers," and would keep the door open, having their swords drawn, and " pistols ready cocked near the said door." One said, " I am a good marksman I can hit right, I warrant you." When some of the members arrived, and their attend- ants wished to clear a passage for them, these armed intruders expressed no greater deference than to say, " A pox take the House of Commons let them 328 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1642. entered, and as he passed up towards the chair, he cast his eye on the right hand, near the bar, where Mr. Pym used to sit, but not seeing him there, (for he knew him well,) went up to the chair and said, " By your leave, Mr. Speaker, I must borrow your chair awhile." Whereupon the Speaker came out of the chair, and the King stepped up to it. After he had paused by the chair awhile, and cast his eye upon the members as they stood up uncovered, not discerning any of the five members to be there, his Majesty spoke as follows : " GENTLEMEN, " I am sorry for this occasion of coming unto you. Yesterday I sent a serjeant-at-arms upon a very important occasion, to apprehend some that, by my command, were accused of high treason, whereunto I did expect obedience, and not a message ; and I must declare unto you here, that, albeit no King that ever was in England shall be more careful of your privileges, to maintain them to the uttermost of his power, than I shall be, yet you must know that in cases of treason no person hath a privilege ; and therefore I am come to know if any of these persons that were accused are here. For I must tell you, Gentlemen, that so long as these persons that I have accused, for no slight crime, come, and be hanged !" but did not remain satisfied with words, but disarmed some of the members' servants ; and expressed great dissatisfaction that the members could not be secured. Some inquired, " When comes the word ? " and it was inferred that if some preconcerted signal had been given, they would have slaughtered the members. Declaration of the House of Commons, IfiubancTt Collection, 39. 1642.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 329 but for treason, are here, I cannot expect that this House will be in the right way that I do heartily wish it ; therefore I am come to tell you that I must have them wheresoever I find them." The King then enquired of the Speaker, who was standing below by the chair, " whether any of those per- sons were in the House 1 Whether he saw any of them, and where they are ? " To which enquiries the Speaker, falhng on his knees, answered, " May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak in this place, but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here ; and I humbly beg your Majesty's pardon that I cannot give any other answer than this to what your Majesty is pleased to demand of me." " Well," continued the King, again addressing the House, " since I see all the birds are flown, I do expect from you that you will send them unto me as soon as they return hither. I assure you, on the word of a King, I never did intend any force, but shall proceed against them in a legal and fair way, for I never meant any other. " And now, since I see I cannot do what I came for, I think this is no unfit occasion to repeat what I have said formerly, that whatsoever I have done in favour, and to the good of my subjects, I do mean to maintain it. I will trouble you no more, but tell you I do expect as soon as they come to the House, you will send them to me ; otherwise, I must take my own course to find them." 330 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1642. The King having concluded his speech, retired from the House, which was in great disorder ; and many members cried out aloud, so as he might hear them, Privilege ! Privilege ! The House forthwith adjourned until the next day at one o'clock." * In consequence of this violent and illegal procedure, the Opposition party gained an ascendancy superior to that they had previously gained, and from which, indeed, they had been declining. The City was aroused again to declare and even to arm in their defence, and the feeling thus rekindled was communicated to and ex- pressed by the country. Four thousand of the Buck- inghamshire freeholders, Hampden's neighbours, rode to London, and expressed their readiness to die in defence of the Parliament. The Commons appointed a committee to sit within the precinct of London, protected by a strong guard of citizens, to decide finally upon the remonstrances and reports prepared by other sub-committees. Charles, however, persisted in the course upon which he had entered ; and on the following day, a proclamation was drawn up, directing the apprehension of the five mem- bers. The Lord Keeper, Sir Edward Littleton, refused to seal this proclamation ; consequently, it was pasted up at Whitehall-gate, but went no further, being a few days afterwards suppressed by order of the Parliament, upon pain of death, f Charles soon discovered the magnitude of the error he had committed, and in more than one written message, confessed to the House of Commons that it * Rushworth's Collections, V. 477 ; Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, I. 281 ; Autobiography, 46 ; Life of Selden, 270. t llarleian MSS. 4931, 67 d. 1642.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 331 was " a mistake/' and offered to make such reparation as was in his power, by recognising their privileges, so that there could be no similar unintentional transgres- sion in future. * But this repentance came too late ; and the King bitterly felt, as Racket quaintly ob- serves, " that he had been too forward to threaten others with the .sword of justice, when he himself wanted the buckler of safety." The first instigator of the outrage was Lord Digby, who " often thought difficult things very easy, and considered not possible consequences, when the proposi- tion administered somewhat that was delightful to his fancy, by pursuing whereof he imagined he should reap some glory to himself, of which he was immoderately ambitious." f The King, of all men living, was most unfit to have an adviser of such a temperament, for Charles was " easily inclined to sudden enterprises, and was as easily startled when they were entered upon." By what arguments Lord Digby prevailed with the King, it is now useless to enquire ; but it is not improbable, that after magnifying the strength of the royal party in Scotland, Ireland, and the City, by observing, and with truth, that all sober men were growing weary of such endless innovations, and that the members ("three parts of four " of whom were absent when the bishops were committed) "abhorred the proceedings;"! he added, that thus sustained, nothing more was required than by a coup d'ttat to deprive the Reform party in the House of their leaders, and that then the game would again be in the King's hands. This plan, we think, did not come upon Charles as a * Husband's Collection, ,56, &c. f Clarendon, I. 271. J Ibid. 279. 332 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1642. startling new device, for there is some evidence that the impeachment of the Parliamentary leaders had been in agitation before the King's last journey to Scotland, and that whilst there, he had been sedulous to acquire incul- patory evidence against them. Digby, however, did not rely upon his own unaided powers of persuasion, powerful as they were ; but he had previously communicated his plan to the Queen, and gained her advocacy in its favour. If she had not interfered, it is not certain that Digby would have prevailed with the King ; for we are told that Charles was wavering on the threshold of resolve, but was at length induced to make the plunge during a consultation in which the Queen employed this mingled reproach and menace " Go, poltron ! pull these rogues out by the ears, or see my face no more." * Though the King had hesitated, yet he appears before leaving the Queen to have been convinced of the good policy of the measure, for when parting from her he said, " that he was going to be the master, and that he hoped within an hour to return with more power than he possessed when now leaving her." The Queen had the same conviction, for when the hour had expired and Charles had not yet come back, she turned to the Countess of Carlisle, (who had frustrated the intended arrest) and said " Rejoice, for by this time, I trust, the King is master in his own state." f- By this one rash act, were all the efforts of months rendered unavailing, and all the provisions of his most * Memoirs de Madame de Motteville, I. 271. Sir Arthur Hasselrigg, one of the five members, made a confirmatory statement in the House of Commons. Burton's Diary, III. 93. t Memoirs de Madame de Motteville, I. 271. 1642.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 333 judicious advisers made of no effect. Every favourable opinion setting in for the King was reversed, and every adherent was weakened in his allegiance. Lords Essex and Holland, his Lord Chamberlain and his Groom of the Stole, refused to obey his mandate to attend upon him, " choosing rather to obey his writ whereby they were called to assist in Parliament about the highest affairs of England, than to obey his private command to come and attend at Hampton Court, alleging in excuse that their attendance in Parliament was truer service to him, as King, than any other could be." * Even Falkland, Culpepper, and Hyde, hesitated before they determined to continue in his service: the last-named statesman tells us that " they were so much displeased and dejected, that they were inclined never more to take upon them the care of anything to be transacted in the House ; finding that they could not avoid being looked upon as the authors of those counsels to which they were such absolute strangers, and which they so perfectly detested. In truth, they had then withdrawn themselves from appearing after in the House, but upon the abstracted consideration of their duty and conscience, and the present ill condition the King was in."f * May's History of the Parliament, II. 41. " For this the King, presently after, sent a messenger to demand the staff of the one, and the key of the other, being the ensigns of their offices, which they willingly resigned." It was by order of the House of Lords that they disobeyed the King's mandate ; but it is probable that they courted the order. Ibid. II. 47. t Clarendon, I. 284. 334 THE FAIRFAX CORRESPONDENCE. [1642. CHAPTER IX. The King deserted Lord Digby's Proposal Five members return trium- phantly to Westminster Charles leaves Whitehall previously Consequences of his withdrawal London Corporation and House of Peers still in favour of the King He retires to Windsor Lord Keeper refuses to give up the Great Seal Selden desired as his successor Skippon made Major General of City Militia Lord Digby and Lunsford at Kingston The Trained Bands of Sussex, Hampshire, and other counties called out Letters from Mr. Stockdale Order of the Parliament about the Magazine at York Petitions to the King and Parliament resolved upon Parliament change Commanders of Trained Bands Sir Thomas Fairfax in Yorkshire Collection of Poll-money Scotch Parliament offer to mediate between the King and the Parliament Parliament propose to remove the Bishops from Parliament, and to have the ordering of the Militia The Queen and Princess Mary journey towards Holland The King parts from them at Dover He consents to the exclusion of the Bishops from Parliament Sir John Culpepper persuades him Opinions on that measure The Parlia- ment's urgency relative to the Militia The King's firm rejection of their applications Ordinance relative to Lord Lieutenants The Parliament give a list King returns to Theobalds Parliament threaten to act without his consent Sir John Conyers succeeds Sir John Biron as Lieutenant of the Tower The King remains firm The Declaration by the Parliament Interview between the King and the Earls of Holland and Pembroke His asperity, and final resolve not to assent to their proposals His answer to the Parliament His warning that no one should obey the Parliament's Ordinances Consequent resolutions of Parliament Supreme power assumed by them Country sides with the Parliament Letters from Mr. Stockdale Yorkshire Petitions to the King and the Parliament The Protestation taken Derelove and the Knaresborough Election Calling out Yorkshire Trained Bands Copy of the Petition Signatures and accompanying offer Letter from Sir Edward Osborne Objects to the Petition Letter from Mr. Stockdale Petition misunderstood Riot about removing superstitious pictures Colours of the two parties Search for Priests and Arms A Counter-petition proposed Commission to raise money for Ireland Regret at the disagreement between the King and the Parliament King expected in Yorkshire Proposed publication relative to Trained Bands Members taking the Protestation Expected new election for Knaresborough. THE King was now without a single effective resource ; 1642.] CHARLES THE FIRST. 335 the people of the City were against him ; * petitions were flowing in a similar adverse spirit ; " it cannot be expressed how great a change there appeared in the countenance and minds of all sorts of people in town and country ;"f his friends who still clung to him were disheartened. He must have been even without the support of self-respect, for he knew that he had con- descended to prevaricate in his promise to the Com- mons ; and he had acted deceitfully and unfairly to * When the King found that the five members had escaped, and that they had sought for protection by withdrawing into the City, he resolved at once to apply to the civic authorities for their arrest. The house in Coleman Street, where the five members were lodging was well known ; and Lord Digby offered to head a party to drag them thence, alive, if possible, but dead, if the resistance needed. Charles declined this violent course, but went into the City, on the 5th of January, with no other escort than his usual attendants. No tumult accom- panied his progress ; but there were some cries of " Privileges of Parliament ;" and " one Henry Walker, an ironmonger and pamphlet-writer," more daring and violent than his fellow-citizens, " threw into his Majesty's coach a paper wherein was written ' To your tents, O, Israel ! ' " Rushworih, V. 479. Lilly says it was a recent sermon, of which that was the text ; and that some cried, " Sir, let us have our just liberties, we desire no more ;" to which the King replied, " You shall." At the Guildhall, Charles asked of the Common Council " their loving assistance, that they (the five members) might be brought to a legal trial." Of the reply we have no report ; but Mr, Lilly says, more signifi- cantly than elegantly, " Mum only could he get there." Observations on Charles,