Bought with the income of the William C. Egleston Fund I9A/ Wg-^-tiWiRl-cSSWW!*. THE COURT AND TIMES OF CHARLES THE FIRST; OONTAININO A SERIES OP HISTORICAL AND CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS, INCLUDING MEMOIRS OF THE MISSION IN ENGLAND OF THE CAPUCHIN FRIARS IN THE SERVICE OF HENRIETTA MARIA, AND A VARIETY OF OTHER PARTICULARS NOT MENTIONED BY OUR HISTORIANS. Cranficn'beD from fije ©rtstnalsi IN THE 'BRITISH MUSEUM, STATE PAPER OEEICE, AND PRIVATE COIiliBCTIONS, BY THOMAS BIRCH, D.D. iUTHOB OF " MEMOEIALS OF THE EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH," EDITOR OF "tHURLOE'S COLLECTION OF STATE PAPERS," ETC. NOW FIRST PUBLISHED FROM HIS MSS. BEQUEATHED TO THE BRITISH MUSEDM. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. IL LONDON : HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1849. LETTERS CONTAINED IN THE SECOND VOLUME. Beaulieu, Mr., to Sir Thomas Puckering, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 13, 23, 34, 43, 47, 49, 51, 65, 67, 101, 104, 105, 111, 117, 122, 126, 127, 136, 138, 154, 156, 157, 166, 167, 168, 173, 175, 179, 180, 183, 184, 188, 190, 199, 200, 203, 206, 215, 216, 217. Dorchester, Lord Viscount, to the Earl of Carlisle, 1. Gresley, Sir George, to Sir Thomas Puckering, 14, 16, 17, 22, 35, 36, 118, 136, 139, 145, 165, 181, 182, 191, 193, 194, 199, 223, 225, 232. Harsnett, Dr. Samuel (Archbishop of York), to Sir Henry Vane, 37. ISHAM, Mr. Justinian, to Paul D'E-wes, Esq., II. Jackson, Rev. Arthur, to A. Bo-wnest, Esq., 286. Laney, Dr. Benjamin, to the Rev. John Cosens, 19. Mead, Rev. Joseph, to Sir Martin Stuteville, 8, 13, 24, 26, 27, 30, 40, 43, 48, 50, 52, 59, 60, 62, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 74, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 85, 89, 93, 95, 97, 99, 102, 104, 119. Norgatb, Ed-ward, Esq., to Robert Read, Esq., 284'. Paget, Justinian, Esq., to Mr. Tremyll, 227. Paget, Justinian, Esq., to James Harrington, Esq., 222. Paget, Justinian, Esq., to Dr. Charles T-wysden, 225. PoRY, John, Esq., to Sir Thomas Lucy, 188. Pory, John, Esq., to the Lord Brooke, 184, 195, 204. PoRY, John, Esq., to the Rev. Joseph Mead, 54. Pory, John, Esq., to Sir Thomas Puckering, 89, 106, 111, 122, 127, 132, 1.40, 148, 151, 158, 161, 168, 176, 212, 218. RossiNGHAM, Edward, Esq., to Sir Thomas Puckering, 228, 233, 237, 241, 244, 249, 252, 253, 256, 259, 263, 266, 270, 273, 277, 281. THE COURT AND TIMES OF CHARLES THE FIRST. [The -writer of this letter, whose acquaintance the reader com menced in the outset of his political career as Dudley Carleton, was now at the zenith of his greatness. The credit with which he had acquitted himself in his embassy to Holland, in a period of great difficulty, had obtained for him the honours of the peerage, and the post of secretary of state. He was subsequently engaged in many important negociations ; but, as a statesman, was too completely identified with the court to create for him self a durable reputation. His letters and speeches convey indi cations of talent, but are in no slight degree tinctured with prejudice, for he was determined to view every thing through a courtly medium, which, presented to him by such arbitrary agents as Buckingham and Laud, could not avoid filling his mind with false impressions. He was, however, spared the sight of the troubles with which this false policy afflicted the nation, for he died in 1631-2.] Lord Viscount Dorchester to the Earl of Carlisle. Court, this 19th December, 1628. I cannot make a better entry into a secretary's place* 'which his majesty hath conferred upon me, than by paying your lordship the first fruits of my letters, as they are the first I write in that qliality, not by commandment, for your servant hath his despatch already by other hands, but out of a due respect to your person and service, with VOL. II. B 2 THE COURT AND TIMES OF acknowledgment of many and very weighty obligations renewed unto me, when I had the honour last to see you at the Hague, when you gave me the comfortable assurance of his majesty's gracious intentions towards me. And as I have been true to your lordship, according as you en joined me, not to take knowledge thereof to his majesty, or any other, I must be as true to myself in retaining always a grateful remembrance, and rendering your lord ship my most humble thanks for those good offices, which I very well know how to value. We now expect your lordship's return hither with ex pedition ; and though affairs (I mean such as are foreign) may be pressed to a resolution by intervening ministers, and delay may draw on danger, I see no other likelihood but that they will attend your lordship's coming. God direct them to the advancement of his cause, and the king, our dear master's honour and service. Meanwhile, our domestic businesses continue in the same train, which I advertised your lordship by two several letters (one by Mr. Wood, the other by one of your gentlemen) ; that they were entered into upon the late change. Every one walks within the circle of his charge, and his majesty's hand is the chief, and in effect the sole directory. The parliament is like to hold at the appointed day, the 20th ofthe next month; and all things, by his majesty's personal order in council, as well as in church as common wealth, are provisionally so disposed, that he may the better hope for a fair and loving meeting with his people. As well in this regard as all others, I very much wish and desire your lordship's presence here amongst us, know ing how much your fresh experience, joined to that of long continuance, can contribute to affairs both at home and abroad. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thormis Puckering, Bart. London, December 24, 1628. I have this day received yours of the 20th of this month ; for answer whereunto, all that I can present to CHARLES THE FIRST. S your consideration concerning the holding of the parlia ment at the time appointed is, that hitherto I can per ceive no motion to the contrary ; and that the general voice and opinion goeth to the confirmation thereof, not only because we are already come within the time, that by orderly course the despatches should be made for the countermanding or putting off of the sarae, whereof hitherto we hear no speech at all, but also because of some particular passages observed and interpreted to tend to the preparation of a parliament. As, namely, that which I wrote unto you in my last, of the stopping and suspend ing of the Spanish treaty; and, likewise, the speeches used by sorae at the council-table, for the maintaining the true religion against the growing Popery and Socinianism, which the new Bishop Montagu the first broacher thereof, by writing in this country, hath now, by a late letter of his written to the Archbishop of Canterbury, plainly dis claimed from. As also that the said archbishop is now reinstated in his majesty's favour ; by whose appointment there is a private convocation of sorae selected clergymen held at his house at Lambeth, for the repressing of those errors ; which thing I, for my part, do think be not only advisedly but also really intended by his majesty. Touching the captains that have been examined about the last unfortunate journey to Rochelle, seven of them that have been found faulty are comraitted to the Mar- shelsea; and the king seemeth to be much offended with them. But how or whether they will be further proceeded against, I do not know. Of the other captain and sol diers that have been in that expedition, there is especial care taken to have them paid their due, afore the king's servants or any other can receive any penny. For any other prize of the Plate fleet made or brought in by the Hollanders, I do not hear. Neither do I as yet hear of raore than of three ships that is safely come into Holland ; the rest lying as yet upon the coast, in expecta tion either of some more favourable weather, or of more ships out of Holland for their safe convoy, they being waited for by fifteen or twenty Dunkirkers, which are not like to let them pass without some scuffling. But of any B 2 THE COURT AND TIMES OF stay raade here of that fleet, I have not heard hitherto ; only it hath been reported, that they had made large offer to the king to be wafted home by his ships. For the Muscovian ambassador's errand, I do not hear nor conceive it to be other than about the ordinary raatter of trade and intercourse between our raerchants and thera, the said ambassador himself being oue of that profession. We are here put in some hope, that the queen is with child, she having some signs thereof, but a little longer time will make it better known. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, December 31, 162S. I cannot hitherto discover any cause to recant that which I have therein written concerning the holding of parliament, which I find rather confirmed hy that there hath been order to have those robes and furnitures fetched from Windsor, which are to serve for the parliament, although it is true that there hath been great and stormy labouring to hinder it. One Captain Guy, of Bristol, hath made a rich prize upon the Spaniards, but not upon the Plate fleet ; neither is the said prize as yet brought in. Mr. Porter, who was gone into Spain about the peace, being lately come back in a Spanish ship, which was run aground by Burford, in Dorsetshire, and there broken in pieces, though without the loss of any man, was so roughly handled at his landing, that they not only took from him and those of his company all that they had, but stripped him and them of all their clothes, and left them so naked many hours afore they could afford them any harbour or courtesy, although he cried out to thera he was the king's servant. But, upon the receipt of a warrant, despatched away from thence, he hath been since, and tbe Spaniards better entreated and respected, and is now hourly expected at court with two Spanish gentlemen, that are. coming along with him under the name of travellers, the rest of the passengers being bound, as they say, for Dunkirk. At CHARLES THE FIRST. 5 Hieir coming, we expect to see whether the Spanish treaty be as forward as the French, which, by a courier that came on Monday last from France to the Venetian am bassador, we hear to be in a fair way of speedy conclusion, the King of France finding himself so engaged (as the courier reporteth) against the King of Spain not only for the quarrel of Mantua, but also of Genoa, which hath cast itself into his protection, having shaken off that of Spain, and expelled, as he saith, the Spanish ambassador out of the town, that he is now sending three great armies over into Italy, the one under the command of the Marquis of Coeuvre (called now the Marshal D'Estrees), by the Switzer's country, another commanded by the Marshal de Crequi, through the Duke of Savoy's dominions, who giveth them free passage, and the third by sea, under the Duke of Guise's command, for the assisting and maintain ing of Genoa. Which being so, I make no doubt but that shortly, God willing, both we and the French Pro testants shall have a good peace with France. My Lord of Carlisle is at the Hague, and daily now expected here, and Sir Thoraas Roe with him. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 7, 1628-9. Herewith I send you a declaration made by his majesty, in consequence of the convocation held at Lambeth about the maintaining of the true [faith] against the errors lately crept into the church ; which I thought to let you see before your coming up to the parliament; of the holding whereof at the time appointed there is no more doubt made. And it were to be wished that it had been sooner, for the preventing or suppressing of the difference growing daily more and raore between the king and the subjects, about the matter of tonnage and poundage, through the obstinate resolution of some merchants which refuse to pay it ; so as within these three days, to free themselves from the customers' hands and compulsion, they went, with two or three hundred armed men, aboard their ships, and brought from thence great store of merchandize. 6 THE COUllT AND TIMES OF namely, currants, to land, which they had already laden upon carts, to carry them to their private houses ; but that they were forced by the customers' stronger hand to let them be brought back to the Custom House, where they are kept till the duty be satisfied. In the mean time, it hath not a little troubled the council to see those bold refractory courses used by the subjects to the open contemning of the king's authority, from the vindicating whereof from such violent and direct attempts, I think there will be order taken to have some of the chief attempters clapt up, until the difference be fully cleared and settled in the parliament. The peace Avith France, as I hear, doth still go forward underhand, as well by the intervention and ministry of the States', as of the Venetian ambassadors. But of the Spanish treaty I can say no more than I have done hy my last, though Mr. Porter be now within these two days corae to the court frora his journey into Spain. My Lord of Carlisle is now daily expected here out of Holland. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Tliomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 14, 1628-9. Because I raade accounts that you would have repaired hither this week, to be at the beginning of parliament, I did intend to have forborne writing any more for this time unto you. But your letter, which I received this day, doth invite me to resume the pen again, which at this present hath only two short but material points to represent unto you. The one is, the advancement of our peace with France, which, as I understand by credible reports and probable conjectures, is now brought so for ward, that the difference which it did chiefly stick at about the queen's household, is, in a manner, accommodated; his majesty being content for the pubhc good to readmit into her service some of those servants of hers that were sent away ; but of what sort, or how many, I do not yet understand ; only I am persuaded they will be few, besides some number of priests. But now, because his majesty is CHARLES THE FIRST. 7 engaged in honour by the late duke's manifesto, published in the Isle of Rhe, to see those of the religion righted in their grievances, I suppose because the King of France is stiff not to have them mentioned in his treaty with England, that his majesty doth protract the conclusion thereof, till he see them first, to have assured their particular peace, which they are now in hand withal. The second point that I have to present unto you, is of the joyful assurance we have now of the queen's being 'with child. Monsieur de Ventelet, one of her chief ser vants among the French, being this day departed into France, to carry the news thereof to the queen mother, though, for my part, I am of opinion that the same is not the only errand ; but that he goeth about the business of the peace also. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 21, 1628-9. I make no doubt but that you have had ere this the doleful news of the Prince of Bohemia's unfortunate death, who, going with his father from the Hague to Arasterdam to see the ships of the West India prize, was drowned by the way in the Haarlera Sea, with nineteen persons more of their company, by the unhappy encountering of their boat with another that was stronger, laden with beer, whereby, being splitted, it was presently filled up with water, and sunk ; and the murthering boat, having a fair wind, would have left them all there; but a skipper of the king's boat being gotten into it, did with his dagger threaten death to the master thereof, if he would not pre sently to save the King of Bohemia, to whom a cable being cast, he was by that means saved, together with a woraan and a lackey that took hold thereof with hira. But the poor prince, though he was hoisted up by the gentlemen that were in that distress with him to the top of the mast, and the other boat, as it is reported, did what they could to save him, yet he could not be found till the next morning, that they came back to seek his body, which was found embracing the pole that was lapped in his cloak, » THE COURT AND TIMES OF and his cheek fastened by the frost to the said pole. Which deplorable accident hath been such a wind to the poor father's and mother's hearts, as, it is much feared, that together with the present indispositions of their bodies, (she being newly brought to bed, and he much bruised and distempered with that miserable accident) it may endanger their lives. The king hath been much grieved with the hopeful and towardly prince, and hath put all his court into mourning for him ; and is now sending Sir Robert Carey to the King and Queen of Bohemia to condole with them in his name for that heavy affliction. He was a prince so admirable, both for his natural parts and learning in those young years, being but fifteen years old, as that the eyes and hopes of all the afiiicted party were already fixed upon him. But God's ways are not our ways ; neither are his thoughts our thoughts ; neither doth he ever want means to hring his purpose to pass. My Lord of Carlisle, who arrived here at length the last week, brought this doleful news with him, having been the first that acquainted the Queen of Bohemia with it. He hath been every day since his arrival very private with the king ; but all is kept so close, that there is little known as yet of his manifold negociations. He hath had very great honour done hira everywhere, especially at Venice, and hath brought an extraordinary rich present from the Duke of Savoy ; and, araong the rest, a sword V worth, by report, ten thousand pounds sterling. With him there is a gentleman corae from the Duke of Savoy. But now, sir, being at this present sent for for the king's service, I am forced abruptly to break off here, only this I cannot orait, that the parliament began yesterday at the appointed time. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, the last day save one of the wet and unhappy January, 1629. On Friday last week his majesty reconciled my Lord of Holland and my Lord Carlisle, and with his hand joined CHARLES THE FIRST. 9 theirs, with this protestation, that whosoever should go about to dissolve that knot, he himself would be his enemy. Besides, my Lady of Carlisle is restored to the queen's bedchamber ahd into her favour; and one Mrs. Smith, a servant of her majesty's, and one that by her loud tongue had kindled these coals of discord, turned out of service ; many of the queen's goods being found to be purloined and ' concealed among hers ; besides that she had been famous both in France and here for other than virtuous qualities. On St. Stephen's day, the lords justices of Ireland being in Dublin, sent to the archbishop of that see and the Bishop of Kilkenny, and to the mayor and sheriffs of the town, to apprehend a popish bishop and some friars and priests that were publicly celebrating mass there. They did so ; but, leading thera through the streets, their faction rescued the bishop, and had like to have stoned our Protestant Archbishop of Dublin and Bishop of Kilkenny to death, and some say Kilkenny is since dead. The lords justices thereupon raised a power, and appeased the mutiny, and possessed ten houses, where mass was used to be said, with soldiers, and so dispersed the priests and friars out of the town. Whereupon, a Franciscan soon after hanged him self in his own girdle, being, as you know, a cord ; and another friar, of some other order, hanged himself in the night out at the street. It seems they failed of some ex pectation by this attempt, or could not bear a success so contrary as was the driving of the exercise of their religion quite out of town. This is the true relation, and not as others told it ; some, that the Archbishop of Dubhn was slain ; the Earl of Cork, one of the justices, made to fly to save his life ; others, that the primate of Armagh was slain by two Jesuits, or friars, who, when they had done, likewise slew themselves to escape torture, &c. Thus some related ; but it was partly false, and partly mistaken, as you may collect by the true relation aforesaid. I saw a letter, written on Thursday this week, wherein was verbatim thus : — " The judges of the King's Bench have declared their opinion against the gentlemen, viz., that their crimes are within the cognizance of that court ; else, say they, the king must call a new parliament for the 1 0 THE COURT AND TIMES OF punishraent of a parliaraent raan, if he corarait murder m parliament time. 2. They allege raany precedents: among the rest, that Plowden, in Queen Mary's time, had said some words against the queen's dignity in parliament, and was fined for the same in the King's Bench, 3. Said the judges, the acts of the whole body of the parliament are not questionable in an inferior court ; no, nor the act of a member thereof, so far as he does aught as a member of that body ; but else they are, as said Sir Nicholas Hyde, * If I should on this bench strike a man, I were punishable at the sessions; because, when I strike, I do deponere personam et officium judicis, and break the king's peace.' Some of the gentlemen's counsel said, among other things, that they were as ambassadors frora their several boroughs, and therefore not punishable, unless they had violated, jm.s naturce or gentium ; which the attorney-general jeered at. The judges will proceed to sentence next Monday." Thus that letter, wherein there seeras some defect in the rela tion, which we look to receive in a more perfect manner to-day frora another hand. The sarae author adds, that the matter about prohibi tions was that Thursday to be heard at the council-table. That Sir Henry Yelverton* was dead; death giving him but two days' warning, and supposed he died of an apoplexy. But I think I heard of his death long before this, unless that were a false report. Of the Spanish am bassador, what he does, I can hear nothing. Some say his commission is not yet come ; and that thereupon our arabassador was sent to, to stay at Lisbon till he heard farther frora hence. Of the Isle of Providence, christened by Sir Benjamin Rudyard, I shall inform you as soon as I get any perfect relation. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thom,as Puckering, Bart. London, February 3, 1629. My letters will afford you but a poor entertainment at this time, it having almost no other subject but the con firmation of the former advertisements, especially in the 1 Formerly attorney-general, and at last one of the justices of the Common Pleas, in which he died, 24th January, 1629-30, at his house in Aldersgatu Street CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 1 continuance of the complaints of the English merchants, and of his majesty's ambassador in their behalf, for that they can get no manner of justice in France for the resti tution of their ships and goods. And although the officers there can allege no colour of justice for the detention thereof, yet they refuse to restore them, because, say they, there is no right done nor satisfaction given to the French in England. In the raean tirae, it is feared lest this mis understanding may grow to a farther unkindness and mis chief between the two nations, considering what causes of jealousy are given besides by these great preparations that are made for the sea in France, against the which we are likewise preparing here some number of good ships to be presently set out, and taking order to have the whole fleet in a readiness to meet with any foreign attempt. Another discontentment they have here against the French, for their furnishing the Spaniards with great quantity of corn out of Bretagne. In Scotland, there hath been some broil of late by the renewing of the deadly feuds between some of the great houses. Here Sir Walter Long was brought this day into the Star Chamber, for having at the last election which was made for the parliaraent left the sheriff hood, which was then in his hands, to becorae a burgess of the said parliament. But the determining of the cause is put off till Friday next. No news as yet from Sir Francis Cotton since his arrival at Madrid, nor any thing done here by Don Carlos Colonna. The Marquis of Hamilton is come back out of Scotland. Mr. Justinian Isham to Paul D'Ewes, ^ Esq., at Stow Langton, in Suffolk. London, March 5, 1628. I am sure you are desirous to hear of our late parlia ment's proceedings, which, had they been better, I should have been more desirous to have written them. On Monday last, Mr. Speaker ^ was appointed by the ' Father of Sir Simonds D'Ewes. 2 Sir John Finch, a mere creature of the court. He was stigmatized by his own kinsman, Sir Peter Hayman, as " the disgrace of his country, the blot of a noble family, and whom posterity will remember with scorn and disdain !" 12 THE COURT AND TIMES OF king to signify to the Lower House that the parliament was adjourned until the 10th day of this month. But as the speaker began to deliver his message, the gentlemen, foreseeing what he was to say, commanded him to be silent. Whereupon, as he was about to go out of the house, they plucked him back by force, and held him in his chair. So locking the door to themselves, they laid the key upon the table ; which done, after divers speeches by sundry men spoken, with a general voice they proclaimed that none should give tonnage and poundage ; and also, that they were traitors to the king and state, who either favoured Arminianism or popery,' as Bishop Laud, said one, as my lord treasurer, said another ; every one parti cularizing whom he thought fit. But my lord treasurer's second son being a parliament man was much commended for a modest speech which he forthwith raade in the de fence of his father. In the mean time, the king sending two or three messengers one after another unto them, they were kept out, the doors not suffered to be opened. Thus they, some saying one thing, some another, some ready to take their swords in their hands, continued in this distrac tion, until they perceived that they could conclude of little or nothing. So opening the door to go out there stood a sergeant-at-arms sent frora the king ready to enter ; who was no sooner seen than they rushed all out, and carried him away before them in the crowd. It is said, that a Welch page hearing a great noise in the house cried out, " I pray you let hur in, let hur in, to give hur raaster his sword, for they are all fighting !" The proclaraation came out yesterday for dissolving the pariiament. Sir John Elliot, Mr. Selden, and Mr. Coryton, ' The articles of the protest in which the House concurred were •¦ 1. Whoso ever shall seek to bring in Popery, Arminianism, or other opinions, disagreeing from the true and orthodox church, shall be reputed a capital eneray to this kingdom and commonwealth. 2. Whosoever shall advise the taking of tonnage and poundage not bemg granted by parliament, or shall be an actor or instrument therein shall be reputed a capital enemy to this kingdom and government. 3. Whatever merchant or other person shall pay tonnage and poundage, not being granted by parliaraent shall be reputed a betrayer of the liberties of England, and an eneray to the same " The reader may reter with advantage, for a full account of this stirring act in the great political drama that was being performed before the nation, to the JournaLs of both Houses of Parliament for this date, Whitelock, p. 12; RushworU,, vol. i., p. 655 • Disraeli, vul. ii.,p. 253; andLingai-d, vol. ix.,p. 292. ' L •' • CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 S are said to be committed. There is also a speech, that some in the higher house should accuse one another of treason. ^ Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, March 22, 1628-9. All our town and colleges are shining at this present 'with bonfires, our bells ringing, and for joy the queen's with child. I hope you received my yesterday's. The chief news since is of the French army gotten over the Alps in Pied mont by a way never till now essayed ; the manner also strange, as by rolling great round pine trees down the hills, to harden the snow ; and then slid down upon it, they and their baggage and all. The army is between thirty and forty thousand men, and besieges Susa. They are said to be very joyous at court for this news, as being for this year freed from all fear of the French invasion. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, May 13, 1629. Hoping you are safely come to your house with my lady your wife, and all your company, I will begin to send my weekly salutations thither unto you, which for the present shall go accompanied with the welcome message of the peace between this crown and France, published on both sides on Sunday last, the fj of this month, which was here performed with sound of trumpets by two heralds, assisted with the two sheriffs of London, who first proclaimed it at Whitehall Gate, and then in the city, and the next day ' In dissolving the parliament, the king allowed his vindictive feelings against the more patriotic members to betray themselves. " It is far from me," he said, " to judge all the House alike guilty, for there are there as dutiful subjects as any in the world ; it being but some few vipers among them that did cast this mist of undnti- fulness over most of their eyes." The vipers were almost immediately summoned before the privy council: and they bore the distinguished names of Selden, Elliot, Holies, Hobart, Hayman, Coriton, Long, 'Valentine, and Stroud : of course, this pro ceeding was merely preliminary to their being sent to prison ; and the short-sighted persecution which they severally endured forms one of the most discreditable fea tures in the history of their sovereign. 14 THE COURT AND TIMES OF again, to wit, on Monday raorning, before Westminster Hall ; a copy of which proclamation you shall herewith receive. Some few bonfires were made here and there for it ; but without any public order, and also without any great demonstration of public joy expressed, but only by the Venetian ambassador, the mediator of the peace, who had many fireworks before his house. I raake no doubt but in France, though they seem to have the advantage upon us, they have been as glad in their hearts of this reconcilement, which they have as rauch and more need of than we. In the mean time, sir, you may hear afore this letter comes into your hands, the unexpected, most doleful news that we have had frora Greenwich this day of the queen's being suddenly brought to bed, as I hear, through a fright, of a dead prince, about two ofthe clock at night, which hath plunged the court and the city into a great grief, and dis appointed the hopes and expectations of raany. I do not yet know the true circumstance of this unhappy accident : only it may be a cause to add fears to our sorrows, that Chamberlain's help was used in her majesty's labour ; if we are yet assured that her person, God be thanked, is, after such distress, in a reasonable good disposition. Mr. Stroud and Mr. Long ' having sued their Habeas Corpus, have been, after sorae further delays used by Mr. Attorney, put off till Saturday next. For the matter of trade, we are still labouring at court to make it go forward. Yesterday, the French raerchants were before the Lords about it, and are to give up their answer on Friday next. Sir George Gresley,^ Bart., to Sir Thos. Puckering, Bart. Essex House, May 28, 1629. My occasions falling out to keep me in town this vaca tion, I cannot but for your many courtesies acquaint you ' Two of the imprisoned members. 2 He was created baronet May 12, 1611, being then seated at Drakedrow in Derbyshire. He was member for Newcastle-under-Line in the parliament whir-h began March 17, 1627-8. CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 5 with which occurrences, as I can upon the sudden call to mind. And first concerning the proceedings against the parliament prisoners in the Star Chamber on Whitsuntide : the attorney-general having informed the Lords that, instead of their answers to the bill of coraplaint, he had received pleas and demurrers against the power of that court to question any thing done in parliaraent, only Sir Peter Hay man • had answered to every part of the bill, and denied the charge thereof, yet joined in the demurrer against the jurisdiction of the court. Whereupon it was ordered by the court that the two chief justices should consider of the bill and demurrers, and so to deliver their opinion of the validity thereof on Friday next. The chief justices, especially Richardson, desiring the rest of the judges might be joined with them, it was answered that the lord chief baron should be only added to them ; but the rest to be called as assistants to consult and advise with them, but not otherwise. Now it is said that Judge Crooke is gone out of the town, that the chief baron will not meddle in the business, and that the two chief justices are resolved to return the censure thereof back again to the Lords. Sir Peter Hayman hath so much enlargement for his ample answer, as Mr. Attorney termed it, as a confinement to his chamber, or for his health's sake to go into the country, so that he have one of the keeper's of the Gate house's men to attend him : but my foolish opinion is, that for all this show of favour he shall be censured as soon as any of the others. The courtiers brag more of the merchants' condescend ing to trade than is cause : for though some have shipped away cloths that did lie upon their hands, yet it is said some of the same men deny to buy or send away more until the judges have delivered their opinions of the law fulness thereof. Captain Pennington is appointed by his majesty to go presently to sea with two of the king's ships and three of his whelps ; the project and voyage yet unkno'WTi, but most conjecture for the Elbe. Here is talk of changing of officers, and Sir Randolph Crew to be master of the ' One of the prisoners. 1 G THE COURT AND TIMES OF wards, if his brother Sir Thomas will let him give money for it. Sir Henry Vane' is returned, and for his good service, which is yet kept secret, is to be comptroller, and ray Lord Saville to take his ease in the country, being an old man. Mr. Wainsford to be cofferer in Vane's place. The Earl of Danby is discontent, and desires to go as ambassador into France, in that he shall not be deputy of Ireland as he was promised. Sir Thoraas Edraondes hath sold his crown office to one Willis, a lawyer of the Temple, for £6000, and goes ara bassador to France, out of a hope at his return to be lord V'^deputy of Ireland. But the truth is, the Lord of Falkland and the lord treasurer are to raatch two of their children together, and thereupon the Lord Falkland to continue lord deputy still. The painter ^ that comes frora Brussels and Dunkirk to treat of peace with Spain, they say is arrived here. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering. Essex House, June 4, 1629. First, for the Star Chamber, it was ordered, that Mr. Attorney should have leave to mend his information against the parliament-men in point of the prefixed day of the period of the parliament ; and that the gentlemen should have liberty to alter their pleas and demurrers ; or else to make new answers within eight days, in that their counsel urged that such alteration of the information might make that sufficient which now they held insufficient. Besides, that point was the ground of the pleas and de murrers they had now put in. It was, likewise, further ordered, that if my lord chief baron ^ could not be at the debate of the business, which was to be before the judges on Tuesday last, by reason of his being sick of the gout, that then two chief justices* should report their opinion of ' Ancestor of the Dukes of Cleveland. He figured prorainently in the political history of the time, filled the highest offices in the State, and was ultimately princi pal secretary of state; but, being unhandsomely treated by the crown, and dismissed from his employment, sided with the parliament. -The celebrated Rubens. ' Sir John Walter. * Sir Nicholas Hyde and Sir Thomas Richardson. CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 7 their pleas and demurrers upon Friday or Saturday next ; if so be they could be made by that time ; the which 1 think they will not be. The news of Essex is, that in Whitsun week Judge Crooke was sent thither, with a commission of oyer and determiner and of martial law, and thereupon called a privy sessions, and hanged one woman and three men, for breaking house in Maldon openly in the day-time, and taking only some corn, and the woman saying, " Come, my brave lads of Maldon, I will be your leader, for we will not starve." The report from France is, that the king hath of late put all the Protestants of a town of Languedoc, as I take it, named Parnas, or such a like name, to the sword. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering. Essex House, June 10, 1629. Mr. Lyttleton ^ so played his prize in the stating and arguing of our parliament-men's case at the King's Bench bar, on Friday, the first day of the terra, that he hath won eternal praise, but seeraed so to displease Mr. Attor ney General,^ that he denied to argue against that he said in the gentleman's behalf, either the next day, according to his own promise and rule of the course the last day of the last term, or to appoint any certain day, saying, he hoped he should not be denied the privilege of his place, to plead last, which he would perform at his best leisure, having at present too many weighty businesses lying on his hands. Whereupon, the court gave a rule for him to argue upon Tuesday following, if he could be ready ; if not, upon the Saturday after that. Saturday, the second day of the term, being appointed for the delivery of the two chief justices' and the chief baron's opinions concerning the gentlemen's demurrers in the Star Chamber, there was a great appearance of the lords and privy counsellors, and a great expectation what ' Afterwards lord keeper, and a peer. ^ gir Robert Heath. VOL. II. C 1 8 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the issue would be ; but proved, as my lord chamberlain was pleased to term it, the second part of England's joy ; for they only met, and sat in the court awhile, and rose again, without doing anything. Only the two chief justices informed the court that they had spent three forenoons in hearing the counsel on both sides, and two afternoons in conferring with the rest of the judges ; but had so many rolls and precedents to look over, that they were not yet ready to report their opinions thereof, but would do it so speedily as possible they might. Upon Tuesday last, the gentlemen's keepers, notwith standing Mr. Attorney's message to the contrary, brought them to the King's Bench bar, when Mr. Selden demanded censure of the court. The judges answering that Mr, Attorney was absent, and beginning to put cases, he re plied, that it was in their power to give Mr, Attorney what time they pleased to argue ; and that they came not to dispute cases, but, in short, to receive justice of the court, which was, either to be bailed, which every one of them had ready, and named them ; or else to have Habeas Corpus, or a rule of court de die in diem, to attend their censure to the contrary. Whereupon there was a rule granted for their appearance again upon Thursday, and so from day to day, as they desired. The same afternoon, the judges were all sent for to Greenwich, where the king alone, without any of his council being by, sent for them first, one by one, com raanding them to declare their opinion, what he might do in the Star Chamber business, without either fear or flattery ; for he desired to know the truth : and afterwards asked them all together; and, as the report goes, there was four against us, and eight with us ; of which one is turned Turk, and so reraain yet seven on our side, if the lord keeper and lord privy seal (before whom, this after noon, by command) persuade them not to the contrary. I had almost forgot to have told you, that Mr. Stroud was so bold as to ask the judges whether they would not bail a seditious priest, though not seditious parliament- raen, as they were charged to be ; and told them, that if CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 9 any of them should die in prison, their blood would be required at their hands.' There is a rumour of three new lords to be made for these eraployments. Mr. Humphrey May, to go deputy for Ireland ; Sir Francis Cottinghara arabassador into Spain ; and Sir Thomas Edraondes into France ; the last of which will be at his return out of France, if it be not done already. Dr. Benjamin Laney^ to the Rev. John Cosens.^ Winton House, June 25, 1629. Your congratulations and well-wishes do add rauch to my living, though of itself as good as my hopes and de sires, and as much as the service I am able to do in the church will fully employ ; though it receive no addition, which your hopes and kind wishes would provide for me. I am very glad, and rejoice with you, that God hath bestowed on you the best comforts of marriage in another son ; and long may he live, that you may enjoy thera. The tiraes raay seem to afford much news, yet no great matters have lately fallen out. There is great expecta tion of the success of the siege which the States of Hol land, &c., have laid against a town of great consequence in the Netherlands. The Spanish party, in fear of it, have wrought, besides their forces at hand, the bringing down of * * * out of Germany ; and for that purpose there is a peace concluded between the emperor and the King of Denmark : at least, it is so forward, that the commissioners ' It should be remembered, that the prisoners at their own suggestion brought their case before the judges, by a writ of Habeas Corpus, and sued to be discharged or bailed ; but the king, in the same spirit of wanton injustice that had deprived them of their liberty, anticipated thejudgmentof the court — which must have been in their favour, by placing them in the charge of the lieutenant of the Tower, with strict orders against their removal for any purpose. After a while, however, the king became more rational, and sanctioned their liberation on good bail and ample security for good behaviour : these conditions, as they inferred some offence in the prisoners, they would not accept ; and Charles next had recourse to his attorney general, who filed a criminal information against Eliot, Holies, and Valentine, who refused to plead to it, as they disclaimed the right of the Court of King's Bench to judge their conduct in parliament. Notwithstanding which, judgment was given against them, as will be seen in the sequel, as vindictively as subservient judges could render it. ' Afterwards bishop of Ely. 3 Prebendary, and afterwards bishop of Durham. C il 20 THE COURT AND TIMES OF of both sides have concluded it, though the emperor and the king have not yet set their hands to it. The nobility of both sides grow weary with the war ; and it is like enough to have an end between them. But what the rest of the confederates will do, I cannot tell, or whether they be included, or any of thera, in the peace. This will cause some alterations, however. I pray God it be for the best ; for all this is not a taking away, but a change of the war only to their best advantage. Sir Thomas Edraondes is gone ambassador into France, to finish the peace begun between them and us; which as yet is not gone beyond a cessation of arras ; nor so far neither on the French side ; for they have since done a great deal of spoil upon our Enghsh : but, according to their rautual consents, there must be account given of it. Our greatest home-business hangs still in suspense. The raerchants cannot be brought on to trade so freely as they were wont. Moneys come in slowly ; and you know then what inconveniences follow in the court, murmuring among the servants and against the chief officers: and now the lord treasurer with them is as ill as ever was any ; and every day, for a great time, the city hath removed him, and put the late-made Lord Wentworth in his place ; a thing never thought on by those that should indeed do it. And my Lord of London is also in the city made lord keeper. But all these reports are only to work jealousies and hatred upon their persons and dissensions with their friends. The gentlemen of the House of Commons, who were committed by his majesty, have followed the suit for their enlargement close; but, after long and often deferring judgment, towards the end of this terra, a little before it was expected that the judges would enlarge them, it pleased the king to remove them out of those prisons wherein they had formerly been, into others ; and so by that means their Habeas Corpus was avoided for the present; and now they must of necessity lie in prison till the next term, unless the king be merciful to thera, which he is ready to be, if they will humbly sue for it : of which one or two of the company be already assured of, who CHARLES THE FIRST. 2 1 upon tlieir petition obtained their hberty; and, for the rest, they may be thought unworthy of that they are not willing to ask; So long as subjects may have their liberty so cheap as for the asking, they were extremely to blame and unthankful to complain.' It seems Smart ^ is not yet called to account for his sermon and other pranks. It was thought fit to remove the hearing from hence to York ; and it was undertaken by my Lord of York ^ with much alacrity ; and I hope they will not suffer it to die. What he may brag and talk in the mean time, who can help ? No man hath the command of his loud tongue. A couple of your beagles, Prynne* and Burton, » have ob tained a prohibition against the commission here this term, for fear of that, it was thought fit, as I guess, to remove Smart's business to York. The lawyers have pared our ecclesiastical jurisdiction to the quick, and for any thing I can see the court hath nothing left but a neck only to be trod upon. If it go on thus, the commissioners may shut up shop. The bishopric of St. Asaph is void, and it is hotly pur sued by two Welsh competitors. Dr. Theodore Price ^ and Dr. Williams, the latter of which it raay be is not known to you, unless you can remember him a schoolmaster in the lord chamberlain's house, in which trade he still lives, and in reward of that service his lord doth vehemently promote his suit : but I hope the other will carry it. ' Truly a courtier's opinion. ^ Prebendary of Durham, who was afterwards deprived of that dignity, and degraded. ' Dr. Samuel Harsnet. ¦• William Prynne, of Lincoln's Inn, who, while denouncing the offences of the times, did not spare the offenders : they were both powerful and vindictive, and punished him with fines and mutilations. * Henry Burton, formerly chaplain to the king when Prince of Wales. He thought proper to assail the prelates of the church — of whose characters he must have been pretty well informed — as " blind watchmen, dumb dogs, ravening wolves , antichristian mushrooms, robbers of souls, limbs of the beast, and the factors for antichrist ;" and, as may naturally be supposed, the whole hierarchy, with Laud at their head, assisted each other in hunting him down, and in worrying him when he was down. * Educated at New College, Oxford, prebendary and sub-dean of "Westminster, and prebendary of Winchester. He died 15 December, 1631 ; and in his last sick ness disclaimed the communion of the Church of England, and died in that of the Romish Church. — Bishop Hacket's Life of Archbishop Williams. 22 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering. Essex House, June 28, 1 629. My stay here is prolonged by a perverse adversary, whose peevishness is such, that it will not suffer me to come down with my sister and brother Gybs, whora I promised not to prevent in presenting you with the passages of this last week. But the receipt of your lines and your lady's re membrance rouseth me from that laziness, and moveth me to give you a little touch of such things as they will at large inform you of; as the shift which was used on Satur day last to prevent the parliament-men of that liberty, which otherwise the law would have allowed them, had they but appeared in person, which they could not do by reason those that were in the Tower were by new warrants the night before committed to other prisons, and those in other prisons to the Tower. So that when their keepers were called to bring forth their prisoners, they had none such in their custodies. Whereupon the judges said it was not their parts to make them appear, but to remand them, bail them, or discharge them ; which they were ready to do, according to their judgments upon that which had been argued on both parts. Now I have done with our parliament-men, I will give you notice what befel Mr. Speaker ' ou Tuesday last in the rolls, in moving the master of the rolls to alter an order which he had made, and Sir John Finch did not like ; and the master denying his motion, he out of the heaviness of his spirit said he raust have it raended. The raaster replied he should not. Whereupon he said he would coraplain to the king that his counsel could neither be heard nor beheved in that they said. Whereupon Sir Robert Rich gave him a kind of raild check, but Sir John Salter told him he were best make haste, or he would acquaint his majesty first with his insolent carriage towards a court of justice. Whereupon some of Gray's Inn, being by, cried out, " Degrade, degrade," by reason that by his per suasions a barrister of Gray's Inn was fairly put out of Commons ; and so the gentlemen of the House are in a re bellion, and invite this barrister to dinner and supper every day, as their guest, to one mess or another. But ' Sir John Finch. CHARLES THE FIRST. 23 Sir John Finch hearing that noise behind him, and Sir John Salter asking him what it meant, he snatched up his papers and went away in a rage ; and what will become of it tirae will show. For the news of one of your Hertfordshire's high con stables dying distracted; the King of Denraark's peace with the emperor ; the Hollanders desire to entertain our English regiment ; the nuraber of the tons of our ordnance which is to be transported for the redemption of the king's jewels ; and the hard usage of the French, if they be but pirates, which have of late taken twenty-two vessels of ours near the Isle of Wight, and many men more towards Wales, by cutting off our Englishmen's ears, and slitting their noses, and so sending them home, I wholly refer to my brother Gybs' relation ; and what account shall fall out this present week I hope to be the writer of the next week. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, 22 July, 1629. Here is little done with the French ambassador till we hear out of France how his majesty's ambassador shall be dealt withal after the king's arrival at Paris, of whom we suppose that he had his first audience as upon Sunday last; the queen mother having refused to treat about any busi ness with him, for want, as she pretended, of a sufficient commission. In the mean tirae, the release of such French prisoners as were here, which maketh us hope that the like favour will be showed to Sir Thomas Dishington and other English prisoners in France. He was also lately feasted by my lord treasurer at Roehampton, where the king did him the honour to be present at his coming back from Windsor. His majesty stayed here some four days, and on Monday went back with the queen to Greenwich ; from whence her majesty is going to-morrow towards Tunbridge, where she intends to drink of the waters, and the king to wards Theobald's. Afore his departure he hath made an extraordinary commission of oyer and determiner, under the great seal, to sit upon that tumult raentioned in my last, for the 24 THE COURT AND TIMES OF which it is thought that sorae of the captain's side will be severely punished, they being charged not only to have at tempted the releasing by force of the prisoner Bellingem out of the Serjeant's hands, and to have forced the consta ble's guard, but also to have gone about to raise a sedirion by stirring up the gentlemen of the Temple. All the council are named to be of that commission, together with my lord mayor, the judges, and some others. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, July 25, St. James's, [1629]. The business of the Temple gentleraen is now, I doubt not, so much listened after, that I shall not need inform you any more particulars, as hearing thera daily by others. Captain Stamford, he that was so great with the duke, is said to have been the ringleader and the chief inflamer of them, being himself with some other soldiers set on fire by the slaughter of one Dawson, a captain or lieutenant, who was in the rescue of the arrest run through the body with a halberd by some of the Serjeant's party ; though, as is said, he was little more than a bystander, and had no weapon about him. My lord chief justice, we hear, is sent for, and gone up to London ; and talked, there shall be an extraordinary assizes for the arraignment of the offenders. Our Satur day last's letters said there are warrants out for sixty gen tleraen ; and that it would certainly cost sorae of their lives. They talked there are raany of thera dead of the wounds they received; but I have seen yet no letters of this week. On Thursday was sennight the French ambassador was feasted by my lord treasurer at his house of Roehampton, by Putney, and so were both their majesties ; but whether at one table, my author said he could not tell ; for he heard there was a new institution, or rather mutation, in court, whereby it is ordained that from henceforth no ambassador shall be seated any more at the king's table, but be entertained in that kind by some great officer as useth to be done in Spain and France, and accordino' as CHARLES THE FIRST. 25 my lord treasurer did now. Likewise, whereas his raa jesty was -wont to answer the French ambassador in his own language, now he speaks in English and by an inter preter. And so doth Sir Thomas Edraondes to the French king, contrary to the ancient custora ; so that although of late we have not equalled thera in arms, yet now we shall equal them in ceremonies. Sir Henry Fane,' cofferer, a great creature of my lord treasurer, is to go ambassador extraordinary, first to the States, and then to the archduchess ; but not yet known for what purpose, though imagined to make an overture of a peace between Spain and Holland. Postscript out of a letter this day : — " On Wednesday came forth a proclamation for the chi- rurgeons to discover to the lord president of the council, or one of the secretaries of state, all their patients (and lodgings) hurt in the late uproar ; and commanding all officers to make search for and apprehend Captain Vaughan, H. Stamford,^ and one Ward, an ensign, that were fled, and hid themselves, intimating withal that strict justice for exaraple sake should be used against the authors and actors of that rather rebellion than riot. And on Thurs day, at the Guildhall, in a purchased sessions, was Captain Ashenham,^ an Essex man, arraigned of murder, and John Stamford (the late duke's man) as accessary thereunto ; as also divers householders in Fleet Street for refusing to aid the constables, and abetting the gentlemen. The two first were found guilty, and had judgraent of death, and were yesterday in the forenoon executed at Tyburn. Stamford's wife and father made means to the duchess * to move for his life ; who answered, she would never open her mouth for murder, for her lord's sake. Then they went to the queen, who presented their petition to his majesty, who, before he would receive it, said, ' If it were for Stamford, he would not grant it ; because, having before tasted of his grace, (when he murdered by night a watchman at ' Vane. 2 " I know not whetherthisbe the same Stamford with the following or not, for he is John."— Note of Mr. Mead. 3 In a letter from Mr. Beaulieu he is called Ashworth. * Of Buckingham. 26 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Duke Humfrey's) he had now raade so ill use of it as to be the very motor and first occasioner of all this mischief.' " The citizens were acquitted, but very sharply re proved." Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, September 19, 1629. Mr. Pory wrote last week that the news of the massacre of our men and colony at St. Christopher's by eleven sail of French, whereof the Admiral of France, a ship of forty- six brass pieces, called Le Roi, was one, with the aid of 800 French, whom we had suffered to live with us in the sarae island, was spread all over court at the tirae of the solemnity at Windsor, which made many a sour look upon the ambassador for such barbarous cruelty in a time of treaty. Whereas, Captain Kirke, the last year at Canada, gave their nation not only quarter there, but also passage home in their ships. But if the King of Spain's great fleet, which is now going for the Indies, do light upon them, it may perhaps (saith mine author) revenge our blood ; for there are forty galleons and two merchant ships, with 7000 land soldiers aboard them, sent not only to guard home the Plate fleet, but with coraraission to sweep off all plantations, English, French, or Hollanders, which they shall find in their way. That all the papists in Scotland, save some five hundred, have taken oath to conform themselves to the religion there established by law ; and these five hundred, if they do not conform, shall be excommunicated, and then put to the horn, that is, prosecuted as rebels and outlaws. Though the taking of Wesel be stale news, yet, having seen the copy of a letter from Mr. Dinely, tutor to the Prince Palatine's now eldest son, to Sir Henry Wotton thereabout, I will exscribe his relation of the manner thereof, though the letter be of an old date. A relation of the surprise of Wesel. " About a week before," saith he, " a great convoy was sending with provision to the enemy's camp ; whereupon Colonel Didum, governor of Enmarick, with 1,400 (the CHARLES TIIE FIRST. 27 bruit said 2,200) firelocks, and Captain Quad and Helstein with 700 horse, were despatched under pretence to cut off the convoy ; which the governor of Wesel, Losano, believ ing, strengthened it all he could, fully secured of the town. The convoy arrived in the Velen ; but upon the 9tli or 19th of August, by peep of day, Monsieur Didum was about the walls of Wesel, and finding the ditch dry and the rarapart scaleable, entered not far from the fifth port, killed the watch, surprised the corps de garde, and let in divers of his raen by the gate, who, marching up to the governor's house, took him prisoner in his bed, and made him walk with the keys to another gate, where the rest of the people stood, which being opened, they all entered, and became masters of the town. By chance, the chains, which used to be drawn, were forgotten that night, whereby the horse had no impeachment.^ There was in the garrison two companies of Spaniards, two of Walloons, two of Burgun dians, and one troop of horse. Such as made resistance were slain ; the rest retired into a fort without the town, which the next day was abandoned, and fifty officers were taken prisoners. All was done in good order ; the burghers neither appeared in the action, nor were pillaged. Only the King of Spain's cloth shop was rifled, because his raajesty, they say, played the draper." Thus, Mr. Dinely, three days after it was taken, namely, on the 22nd of August, old style. The French ambassador comes hither on Wednesday next, and they say our chancellor^ with him. On Thursday, we have an act for him at the schools. Whether the comedy at Trinity will be ready, I know not. Some say they cannot get their lessons. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, September 26, [1629]. I suppose you are before this safe returned from Stow, and have received my letter ; now, I will add such as we have since heard of occurrences either at horae or abroad. And first, concerning St. Christopher's, Mr. Boswell, who ' Impediment. ° The Earl of Holland. 28 THE COURT AND TIMES OF hath some interest there, told me here on Tuesday, at night, that he had talked with and diligently inquired of those who came thence, and found they knew nothing certain, but that the French boarded our ships in the road ; that they saw some of our men fall into the sea, but whether voluntarily to swira to shore, or otherwise, they could not certainly tell; that our fort thereupon shot sorae thirty tehot at the French, but what hurt they did amongst them they knew not ; that themselves, in their flight, were a long time chased by the French. And Mr. B. thought they were going to Newfoundland, and took our ships by the way, either to strengthen themselves agaiust Captain Kirke, or to deceive him, as he did them last year. And yesterday I received a letter from Mons. de Vic, secretary to Sir Thomas Edraondes, that came but on Wednesday out of France, affirras the French took only our ships, and departed, without landing. Howsoever, the French ambassador seems to be much moved at what soever is done, and vows restitution. And my Lord of Carlisle protesteth unto the merchants, whom it concerneth as well as hiraself, that, if restitution be not raade, he will spend all he hath, to his shirt, and all his credit, to force satisfaction. Our merchants have also sent their agents to Dieppe to require restitution of the Great St. James and the Benediction, two of our prime raerchant ships taken by the French, the one on the coast of Barbary, the other on the coast of Guinea, and brought into that port. They say, if our king will grant them letters of marque, they will desire no other remedy than what themselves shall find. But the letters I received yesterday report farther, that the French, not contented with taking those ships, and others of our nation, at the Canaries and St. Christopher's, have arrested our English ships at Calais and Rouen, under pretext that Captain Kirke had destroyed their plantations and fortifications at Canada. Burlamachi is gone over to Arasterdara in one of the king's ships, to redeera the jewels of the crown, there pawned by the duke. It was reported in last week's letters that the whole county of CornAvall had presented unto his majesty a CHARLES TIIE FIRST. 29 petition in behalf of the gentlemen prisoners, that they might enjoy the benefit of the Petirion of Right, and be set at liberty. Yesterday's letter says, that the said gentlemen had taken out their writs of Habeas Corpus, and should be released by way of bail the first day of the terra ; and that my Lady Apsley sent one of thern, on Wednesday, that her husband, the heutenant,^ was gone to the court about their release, and carried with him the barbed arrow which ]Mr. Selden so narrowly escaped, because his majesty was desirous to see it. The French arabassador carae hither on Wednesday, about three o'clock, and our chancellor with him, and was lodged at Trinity College. That night came also my Lord of Warwick, with very many horse. On Thursday morning, they had an act at the schools well performed ; went thence to our Regent House, to be incorporated, where the orator entertained him with a speech, then dined at Trinity CoUege, where were great provisions sent in before by our chancellor, and a gentleraan of his also with them to order that part of the entertainment. At three o'clock they went to the comedy, which wa.s " Fraus Hone.sta,'' ^ acted some years since ; the actors now were not all so perfect as might have been wished, yet came off hand somely. The music was not so well supplied as heretofore, said those who have skill that way. On Friday morning, they visited many of the colleges, where they were enter tained 'n'ith speeches and banquets, and, among the rest, at ours and Emmanuel. From thence they Avent to Peter House, the vice-chancellor's^ college, where was also a banquet, and where the orator* made the farewell speech. All this was so early done that they went hence to London that night. ' Of the Tower. ' Written by Mr. Stnbbe, Fellow of Trinity College. 2 Dr. Matthew Wren. ¦* Robert Creighton, educated at 'Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He succeeded Mr. George Herbert in the plaice of orator, in 1627 ; and, after the Restoration, became Dean of Wells, and, in 1670, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He died, November 21, 1672. aged about seventy-nine. 30 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, October 10, 1629. It may be I shall not do amiss to acquaint you with something out of the sphere of my wonted intelligence. There was a gentleman that had belonged to the Earl of Marlborough,^ who was very inquisitive of your estate, whether Mr. Stuteville was yet unmarried, and of his freedora in that respect. To whom, when I had made hira answer, as I thought fitting, I desired to know the reason why he asked these questions. He seeraed at first un willing to tell rae ; but being but a little pressed, he told me that one of the Earl of Marlborough's daughters had been commended to Mr. Stuteville; that he seemed to listen thereunto; and some notice had been taken that way. I asked what their portions were. He told me iSOOO apiece (there being two of them), and fell to com mend the gentlewomen exceedingly, and, above all, for their discretion in behaviour, &c. I replied, that portion was but small, and nothing comparable to that respect they would challenge in regard of their father's honour, which perhaps raight be reputed an inconvenience, as cir cumstances might be. This was the sum of our discourse, which I thought not fit to conceal. I send you Mr. Pory's letter, with a corranto, nor have I any other news as yet. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, October 17, 1629. Our news, received last Saturday, was this: that on Saturday before, viz., October 3, by virtue of a writ of Habeas Corpus from the judges of the King's Bench to the Lieutenant of the Tower, four of those seven gentlemen prisoners, to wit, Mr. Holies, Sir Miles Hobart, Mr. Long, and Mr. Valentine, were brought before their lordships to my lord chief justice's chamber, at Serjeant's Inn, and were pre sently put into four several rooms. Mr. Long, being first called forth, was told by the lord chief justice, it was his majesty's gracious pleasure they should be released, so ' Sir Jaraes Ley, late lord treasurer and president of the council. CHARLES THE FIRST. 31 they would put in bail for their good behaviour ; which raotion Mr. Long a good while withstood ; but having one Mr. Earle of his counsel then present, his lordship advised hira to retire hiraself, and so to confer with his counsel about the matter. Mr. Earle had the power to persuade him; so he returned, and, together with his sureties, entered a recognizance for his good behaviour. The judge would have had him bound de die in diem, to a time in definite, which he refused, and so was bound over only till the Friday following, being the first day of the term. But when be saw those other three gentlemen that came with him absolutely refuse to enter into any such bond, he then rauch repented him of what he had done, and besought the judges, that whereas he had been circumvented and sur prised by weak counsel, they would be pleased to render him his recognizance, and so remand him to prison with the rest. Whereunto they answered, it was not in their power to revoke it ; so he went home melancholy to his mother's house, and the day following, received the com munion at Mr. Shute's^ church, in Lombard Street. The same day, at five in the afternoon, not only those three that came with Mr. Long, but the other three also, viz.. Sir John Eliot, Mr. Selden, and Mr. Stroud, were brought by the lieutenant to the sarae place before the same persons, where all of them, with one voice, told the judges they neither would nor could enter into any such bond ; because for them to be bound to their good behaviour would argue and imply they had misbehaved themselves in parliament, whereby they should betray their innocency and liberty. Besides, Mr. Selden affirraed that the Habeas Corpus, which those judges had sent to the lieutenant for them, was illegal, because it was wrong directed, viz., Consta- bulario, whereas it should have been, Locum-tenenti Turris, and therefore all proceedings grounded thereupon must be void in law. On Friday following, being the fifth day of term, those six gentlemen, by virtue of their own Habeas Corpus, which themselves had sued out, were brought by Mr. Lieu- ' Josias Shute, M.A., who was instituted into the rectory of St. Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, in 1611, and died in 1643. 32 THE COURT AND TIMES OF tenant to the King's Bench bar. Where first ray lord chief justice told thera it was his raajesty's pleasure they should be set at liberty, if, according to_ the raanner of proceeding in that court, they would put in bail for their good behaviour : and he was seconded by the rest or the judges his brethren. Mr. Selden for himself in particular (as all the other gentleraen did) answered, that until Sa turday before, notwithstanding they had forraerly been brought four times to the sarae bar, there had never been word nor thought of any such matter as to be bound to the good behaviour : and that, for his particular, he durst not enter into any such bond, for fear of the displeasure of a future parliament, where he might be justly censured for a betrayer of the liberty of the subject. Nevertheless, he said, in case their lordships would bail them simply out of the present condition they now stood, which merely re flected upon things said and done in parliament, then heing in the state of free men, none of them all would refuse to bring in their sureties for their good behaviour, in such manner as their lordships shall require. My lord chief justice told them, that in the return of the writ there was no mention at all of parliament, but only contempt of go vernment and sedition ; which were causes sufficient where upon to require good behaviour. Whereto Mr. Selden replied, that in cases both of felony and treason there had men been bailed in that court without any putting in bond for their good behaviour. My lord chief justice's last resolution was, that if they still refused to put in bail for their good behaviour, they raight, for aught he knew, con tinue prisoners there seven years longer : that now, if they would accept of it^^ the favour of the court was offered them, which, if they now did refuse, it would not be so easy for them to attain unto another time. All the gentlemen in particular speak for themselves ; but when nothing prevailed, Mr. Stroud propounded two suits unto the judges: one, that they might once a week come to that bar to demand their liberty ; another was that they might go to church on Sundays. To which the judges answered nothing. Sergeant Ashley,' father-in-law ' Sir Francis Ashley, of Dorchester, in Dorsetshire. CHARLES THE FIRST. S^ to Mr. Holies, did offer, together with other sureties, to bail him, in case he would be bound to the good behaviour. But Mr. Holies gave him thanks for his courteous offer. The same time Mr. Long was also required by the judges to renew his recognizance for his good behaviour, who de clared unto them, that neither his sureties would enter into any such bond, nor himself neither. Whereupon my lord chief justice told him he should now have his desire, viz., to return to prison. So he was committed to the King's Bench, and the other six remanded to the Tower. In the raean tirae was my lord chief baron (Walter) suspended from his place ; and it is talked Judge White- locke succeeds him. They talked also of sorae other, as Judge Crooke, who, together with my lord chief baron, have a writ of ease. But ray lord chief baron's is not yet sealed, though rauch feared. There is news from St. Christopher's, by a ship richly laden come thence, that the French, having taken seven of our ships, came also, some eight hundred of them, on land, intending to conquer the island. But ours, being fifteen hundred, had retired themselves from the fort to a thicket wherein they had placed some pieces of ordnance, which so well played their part upon the secure French coming to assault them, that some three hundred being slain, the rest were presently environed by ours, which lay hid in the thicket, who then cried for a parley, and redeeraed their lives with the restitution of the ships they had taken. Among the residue which were slain by the cannon, a kins man of the cardinal's, being general of the same forces, was one. There were but twenty- five of ours slain. I received a letter from the D.^ yesternight, who says, it was said Sir Francis Cottington took his leave on Sunday to go for Spain ; but others affirmed he was yet stayed a fortnight longer. That ray lord treasurer should be made Earl of Romford. It is said the Spaniard offers peace with large conditions unto the States ; which that people is afraid will be accepted ; but some think not, unless France consent thereto. ' Dr. Meddus. VOL. II. D 34 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, October 22, 1629. On Monday last, the king and queen came back to the town, but the next day the king went to Theobald's, there to stay only till Saturday ; and then he is to come and stay for good and all at Whitehall. He hath lately made some al teration in his court, by the putting down of some tables, as, namely, those of the lord privy seal, the lord president, and one of the principal secretaries, and by cutting off the board-wages, and making such other reformations in the household as tend to the sparing of the king's purse. The sentence is not yet come to ray lord chief baron for the putting him out of his place, and his friends are in some hope, that he shall stay in it, he having some good friends about the king that labour to keep hira in it. Sir Francis Cottington is not yet gone, but hath taken his leave of his majesty, and is to depart this week, carrying Mr, Pecke, one of the king's chaplains, along with him, who is specially commanded by his raajesty to attend him in this journey; wherein there is no doubt made but that he shall effect a peace with the Spaniards as matters stand with them at this time, which hath made their pride to come down so low as to seek for it at their greatest enemies' hands. As soon as Sir Francis Cottington shall be embarked at Portsmouth, Sir Henry Vane shall be despatched into Holland ; and the ship that shall carry him is at her coraing home to take in Don Carlos Colonna at Dunkirk, and to bring him hither. We are also expect ing shortly the ambassador named Monsieur de Fontenay Mareuil, who is to corae out of France to reside here, for whora ray Lord Dorset's house hath been hired for ^6300 the year. With the priests that are to corae from thence, they have obtained that an overseer shall also come to govern them, who indeed is a bishop, but hidden under that name. Their lodgings are provided near, the Tennis Court in Somerset House, which Tennis Court is to be converted into a church for them. Captain Kirke is come back from Canada, and hath CHARLES THE FIRST. 35 brought the Frenchmen prisoners that were there, having taken their forts, and left an English garrison in them. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. Essex House, October 24, 1629. The news of this place and time I presume you have frora better pens. Yet, I had rather be a little trouble sorae than condemned of neglect. The lord chief baron was on Thursday last sequestered from sitting in the Ex chequer Court; but the warrant for his discharge is not as yet signed. It is rumoured that Judge Whitelocke shall be his successor; the solicitor a judge ; and Sir John Finch, solicitor. What passed between the judges and our parliament gentlemen upon their appearance the first day of the term, the enclosed will inform you, as well as I was able to take it. The queen, as the report goes, is a great purchaser both for her love and money : for they say she hath obtained to have eight capuchins, eight other priests, and one bishop, to come presently over, and that she hath bought all the houses between Somerset House and the Mitre Tavern, and will build a gallery towards the street for herself, and lodgings for the religious men. And sorae say Somerset Tennis Court must be turned into a chapel. My Lord of Dorset is become a great husband ; for he hath let his house in Salisbury Court unto the queen for the Ambassador Leiger of France, which is daily expected to come over, to lie iu, and giveth for it £350 by the year, and for the rest of his stables and outhouses towards the water side, he hath let for £1000 fine and £lOO by the year rent, unto the master of the revels, to make a playhouse for the children of the revels. Count Henry Vandenberg is, if not beaten, as some say, out of the * * * certainly marched away ; for which good news the States' ambassador here hath had a fast, and given God thanks. d2 36 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering. Essex House, November 15, 1629. This day sennight Sir John Eliot and Mr. Valentine were removed to the King's Bench, to keep Mr. Long company. On Friday Mr. Holies was set at large, upon putting in bail for his good behaviour. His sureties were Sergeant Ashley and Mr. Noy, who were bound in £500 a-piece, and himself in JlOOO. Mr. Selden, Mr. Stroud, and Sir Miles Hobart, remain in the Tower, but have the liberty thereof. The lord chief baron denies the delivery up of his patent, unless they can convict him of some misdemeanour, yet they say he must out ; and, as the report goes now, Mr. Attorney of the Wards shall succeed him therein; Mr. Noy be attorney of the Wards ; and the lord treasurer master of that court. It is said also, that he shall be made an earl and knight of the garter ; and having put down the tables at court, [the king] will now reduce the attendants therein to a certain number, as they were in Queen Eliza beth's time. And, for example, all the queen's are sus pended, but these six following, viz. — Tyrwhit, Pringle, Sydenham, Jerrayn, Howsden, and Fielding. The lord president of the north' and the archbishop of York are come up to be sworn of the privy council. The Earl of Clare is committed to the custody of Sir William Becher. Sir Robert Cotton's study and writings were suddenly seized upon, and hiraself committed close prisoner to the Bishop of Ely's.^ Mr. Selden's papers likewise seized on in the Tower, yet hath the liberty thereof. The cause of all this is not as yet certainly known, but the rumour is for suspicion of compiling some libellous book, or for privily conveying a defamatory precedent into the King's Bench Court. I have sent you the bill of such as are in election to be sheriff for our circuits. The Countess of Dover'' died this last week at Hunsdon. ' Thomas, Lord 'Viscount Wentworth. 2 Dr. Bnckeridge. 3 Judith, daughter of Sir Thomas Pelham, of Sussex, Bart., and wife of Henry Hunsdon, created Earl of Dover, March 8, 1628. CHARLES THE FIRST. 37 The queen is reported to be with child. And to conclude, for foreign news, the Queen of Spain is brought to bed of a young prince ; and the plague is very great in Rochelle, Bourdeaux, and Languedoc. Dr. Samuel Harsnett^ to Sir Henry Vane^. London, November 6, 1629. On Tuesday, in the evening, there were sent Mr. Vice- chamberlain and others to seal up Sir Robert Cotton's library, and to bring himself before the Lords of his ma jesty's council. There was found in his custody a pes tilent tractat, which he had fostered as his child, and had sent it abroad into divers hands, containing a project how a prince may make himself an absolute tyrant. This per nicious device he had communicated by copies to divers lords, who, upon his confession, are questioned and re strained. My Lord of Somerset sent to the Lord Bishop of London, the Lord Clare to the Bishop of Winchester, and the Lord Bedford I know not well to whom. Cotton himself is in custody. God send them well out. Dr. Samuel Harsnett to Sir Henry Vane. London, November 7, 1629. Yesterday his raajesty was pleased to sit in council, with all the board, and coraraanded that devilish project found upon Sir Robert Cotton to be read over unto us. For mine own, I never heard a more pernicious, diabolical device, to breed seditious humours amongst the people. His majesty was pleased to declare his royal pleasure touching the lords and others restrained for comrau nicating that project, which was to proceed in a fair, moderate, mild, legal course with them, by a bill of infor mation preferred into the Star Chamber, whereunto they raight make their answer by the help of the most learned counsel they could procure ; and though his majesty had in his power most justly and truly to restrain them rill the cause was adjudged, yet out of his princely clemency he coraraanded the board to call them, and to signify unto- ' Archbishop of York. ' At this period arabassador at the Hague. 38 THE COURT AND TIMES OF them his majesty's gracious clemency ; which was, that the restraint should be taken off them, and their free liberty given them to attend their cause in the Star Chamber. They were severally called in before the Lords, the king being risen, and acquainted by the keeper with his majesty's gracious favour. Two never spoke word, expressing any thankfulness for his majesty's so princely goodness ; two expressed much thankfulness, which were my Lord of Bedford and Sir Robert Cotton. St. John and James are still in prison ; and further than unto these the paper reacheth not in direct travel, save to Selden, who is contained in the bill of inforraation. I fear the nature of that contagion did spread farther, but as yet no raore appeareth. I am of opinion it will fall heavy on the parties delinquent. [Sir Simonds D'Ewes's account of this affair, in his autobiography, the MS. of which is preserved among the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum, vol. 646, is as follows : — [" Amongst other books he [Mr. Richard James] lent out, one Mr. John, of Lincoln's Inn, a young, studious gentleman, borrowed of him for his money a dangerous ' pamphlet, that was in written hand ; by which a course was laid down, how the kings of England might oppress the liberties of their subjects, and for ever enslave them and their posterities. Mr. St. John shows the book to the Earl of Bedford, or a copy of it; and so it passed from hand to hand, in the year 1629, till at last it was lent to Sir Robert Cotton himself, who set a young fellow, he then kept in his house, to transcribe it ; which infal libly proves that Sir Robert knew not himself that the written tract itself had originally come out of his library. This untrusty fellow imitating, it seems, the said James, took one copy secretly for himself, when he wrote another for Sir Robert, and out of his own transcript sold away several copies ; till at last one of them came to the Lord Wentworth's hand, of the north, now lord deputy of Ireland. He acquainted the lords and others of the privy council with it. They sent for the said young fellow, and CHARLES THE FIRST. S9 examining him where he had the written tract, he con fessed Sir Robert Cotton delivered it to him. Whereupon, in the beginning of November, in Ihe same year 1629, Sir Robert Cotton was examined, and so divers others, one after the other, as it had been delivered from hand to hand, till at last Mr. St. John himself was appeached, and, being conceived to have been the author of the book, was committed close prisoner to the Tower, being in danger to have been questioned for his life about it. Upon his exa mination upon oath, he made a clear, full, and punctual declaration, that he had received the same manuscript pamphlet of that wretched, raercenary fellow, James, who by this means proved the wicked instrument of shortening the life of Sir Robert Cotton ; for he was presently there upon sued in the Star Chamber, his library locked up from his use, and two or more of the guard set to watch his house continually. When I went several times to visit and comfort him, in the year 1630, he would tell me, they had broken his heart, that had locked up his library frora him. I easily guessed the reason, because his honour and esteem were much impaired by this fatal accident ; and his house, that was forraerly frequented by great and honourable personages, as well as by learned men of all sorts, remained now upon the matter desolate and empty. I understood from himself and others, that Dr. Neile and Dr. Laud, two prelates that had been stigmatized in the first session of parliament, in 1628, were his sore enemies. He was so outworn within a few raonths with anguish and grief, as his face, which had been forraerly ruddy and well-coloured, such as the picture I have of hira shows, was wholly changed into a grim, blackish paleness, near to the resemblance and hue of a dead visage. I heard it certainly affirmed, that the young fellow whom Sir Robert Cotton kept in his house, and had employed to transcribe the said written tractate, was his bastard, which shows God's admirable justice, to cause the spurious issue of his fatal lust to prove the iraraediate instrument of his final ruin. I at one time advised him to look into himself, and seriously to consider why God had sent this chastiseraent upon him, which it is possible he did ; for I heard from 40 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Mr. Richard Holdisworth, a great and learned divine, that was with him in his last sickness, a little before he died, ' that he was exceeding penitent, and was much comforted in the faithful expectation of a better life.' " [Mr. James, menrioned by Sir Siraonds D'Ewes, was Richard Jaraes, fellow of Corpus Christi College, in Ox ford, born at Newport in the Isle of Wight, and writer of several sermons both in Latin and English. He died at the house of Sir Thomas Cotton, Bart., in the begin ning of December, 1638. — Wood, Athen. Owon., vol. i., col. 615-617. Sir Simonds D'Ewes, in his Life of himself, fol. 140, gives a very severe character of him, styling him an atheistical, profane scholar, but otherwise witty and moderately learned ; and he informs us, that he had so screwed himself into the good opinion of Sir Robert Cotton, " as whereas, at first, he had only permitted him the use of some of his books, at last, some two or three years before his death, he bestowed the custody of his whole library on him. And he being a needy, sharking com panion, and very expensive, like old Ralph Starkie, when he lived, let out or lent out Sir Robert Cotton's most pre cious manuscripts for money, to any that would be his customers, which Sir Robert was wont to lend freely to his noble and loving friends ; which I once made known to Sir Robert Cotton before the said James's face."] Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, November 7, 1629. The news we received this day sennight was as follow eth: That on Thursday at night that week. Sir John Eliot, Mr. Holies, and Mr. Valentine, were removed out of the Tower to the King's Bench. That Mr. Holies was so much importuned by his wife and her friends, as it was said he would yield at length to be bound to his good behaviour. That the other three also then remaining in the Tower were to be disposed to other prisons. That the same Thursday, Mr. Chambers, by virtue of an Habeas . Corpus, appeared at the King's Bench bar, to plead for his liberty ; but it was denied him by the judges, and he CHARLES THE FIRST. 4 1 was remanded to the Tower. And the reason they gave was, that they could not release any by Habeas Corpus who had been committed by the Star Chamber, or Chancery, or Court of Requests. And it was supposed he had the like success with his demurrer the day following, in the Exchequer, as touching his plea against the proceeding of the Star Chamber against him. The tables in court were reduced to Queen Elizabeth's number ; and likewise the king's pensions are to be con formable to hers. As, for example, whereas the gentle men pensioners' allowance was augmented from £50, in Queen Elizabeth's tirae, to £ 100 in King Jaraes's reign ; now, under King Charles, they are drawn back to £50 again. So, likewise, the gentlemen of the chapel, from their £40 of King James's time, to their £30 of Queen Elizabeth's time, et sic de cceteris. By which means, one told my author, his majesty would save £50,000 per annum. And, although they were thus curbed, yet would it be better for the generality of pensioners, in case they might be paid as currently as they were in Queen Eliza beth's days, when nothing upon earth was surer than Exchequer pay. And, for a conclusion, ray author saith, he heard wise men say, that whereas his majesty's pensions were now risen to above £70,000 a-year, Queen Ehzabeth's never came to above £17,000. The courtiers, sorae say, are afraid, yet for all this, they shall be put to board wages, the speech only whereof discontents thera. Sir Francis Cottington went towards Portsmouth on his ambassage, on Monday that week, and was now at length really gone, maugre the French ambassador, who, with all the strength he had, opposed his journey, and used the queen's assistance therein. So that when Sir Francis Cottington came to take his leave of her, and to know what service her majesty would be pleased to coraraand him to her sister, answered him as I told you in my last.^ And then, when she could not prevail with his majesty to cross the ambassage, she shed tears in anger. Sir Henry Vane is also gone Leiger unto the Hague ; and the Lyon of the king's, having landed him at Flushing, ' That she would have nothing to do with Spain, nor with any person there. 42 THE COURT AND TIMES OF is then to bring Don Carlos de Colonna, the Spanish am bassador, frora Dunkirk hither. That the week before, two small Dunkirkers took four Amsterdara ships, bound for London, and thought to have much raoney in them. There was a fifth, which escaped. They had a tall man- of-war to convoy thera ; but, at the first bout, it was shot between wind and water, and forced to make towards land. The Dunkirkers also then took an English ship that carae frora the East countries, and two coal-ships. The great tide in the Thames did more than £10,000 damage in Thames Street, in cellars, shops, and warehouses, and made three or four breaches from Blackwall towards Gravesend, whereby rauch cattle and sheep were drowned, grass and corn spoiled. They say it was near three feet higher than any raan can reraeraber. On Wednesday was sennight, one Coe, a solicitor-at- law, was in the Star Chamber censured to perpetual banishment, because he had written something in disgrace of my lord keeper and judge Richardson. I saw hut one letter yesterday, which being not purposely of news, had only thus much, that on Wednesday morning last, the Earl of Clare and Sir Robert Cotton were both comraitted ; the earl to the Bishop of Winchester's custody, but Sir Robert, ray author knew not then whither. It was written from the court. I expect to hear more to-day, and the reason ; for I doubt it is true. Dr. Wren is not again elected vice-chancellor, nor sought to be; but Dr. Butts, of Benet. They say he may, if he will, be bishop of Rochester, that bishop ' being removed to Bath and Wells ; and so all Dr. Prideaux's friends can do nothing. I send you two books, the " English Gentleraan" and " Spanish Pilgrim,"^ the author^ of the last being your countryman, and some twenty-four years old, and was in town here, and gave to 1 Dr. Walter Curie. ' " The English Spanish Pilgrim ; or, a Discourse of Spanish Popery and Jesu itical Stratagems." ' James Wadsworth, son of James Wadsworth, B.D., of Emanuel College, Cam bridge, who, attending Sir Charles CornwaUis, ambassador into Spain, as his chaplain, embraced there the Roraish religion. His son, who had been educated underthe Jesuits, at St. Oraer's, came to England, and declared himself a Protestant. CHARLES THE FIRST. every head of a college one of his books. Read it, and you will see strange passages of a young man's raiseries. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, November 18, 1629. On Sunday last, the earls of Bedford, Somerset, and Clare, together with Sir Robert Cotton, were brought before the Lords, and from thence were set at liberty for their persons, but yet bound to answer in the Star Chamber to such informations as should be laid against them. Mr. St. John remaineth yet in the Tower, and Mr. Jaraes in the custody of a justice of peace in Westrainster. What further proceeding will be against them we shall shortly see. By my last, I did let you understand how some new lords had been sworn of the privy council ; to whose number my Lord of Falkland, lately returned out of Ireland, hath been since added. Upon the French ambassador's great complaints against Kirke, for his action in Canada, the matter hath been debated in council ; and it is thought that, for the good of the peace, the place will be restored unto the French, although there is nothing as yet resolved about. Neither is there any order hitherto taken between the two states, for the settling of the trade for the time to come, or the satisfying of the merchants' complaints for the time past. My Lord of Carlisle, to his loss of St. Christopher's Island, hath a new affliction added, hy the loss of his only daugh ter, who died yesternight, of an imposthume that she "had in her head. My Lady of Oxford ^ is in another tune, being married, since Thursday last, to my Lord Bruce ^. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, December 12, 1629. The news we had on Saturday last was as followeth : that the Earls of Somerset and Clare, together with Sir ' Diana, one of the daughters and co-heirs of Williarn, Lord Burghley, Son and heir to Thomas, Earl of Exeter, and widow of Henry Vere, Earl of Oxford. ' Thomas, second son of Edward Bruce, baron of Kinloss, master of the rolls. 44 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Robert Cotton, had petitioned his majesty, as it was said, but not to decline the Star Chamber, in which their busi ness was still depending. For on Monday that week, November 30, was an order made, " That whereas the said earls had answered unto the information against them upon their honours, and not upon oath, as was usually in tiiat court ; and that, notwithstanding they were persons of honour, his majesty might justly refuse to accept them, notwithstanding the pretence of any declaratory order to the contrary in the higher house of parliament, which, without the consent of the Commons and his majesty's royal assent, might not alter the settled course of law, or the constant rules of other courts ; nevertheless, his majesty, to show to the world how far he is from using strict proceedings in his own case, (as this is) was willing to dispense with the breach of the rules of the court in this particular ; and that the said answers put in by the said earls without oath should be allowed ; but so that this be not any precedent against the king or any others in any case which might happen hereafter. And, upon the motion of Mr. Attorney, it was farther ordered, that the said earls and other defendants should answer to the interrogatories within one week ; and that Mr. Oliver St, John, Esq., and Richard James, gent., should be made defendants to the said information, and their names inserted therein, and they two to put in their answers within eight days, and to be examined upon interrogatories within four days after. Notwithstanding which order, Mr. St. John and Mr. Jaraes cannot be inserted in the information, because Mr. Attorney hath not in the same prayed that particular with his majesty. On Saturday (this day fortnight) Sir John Eliot, Mr. Holies, and Mr. Valentine joined with Mr. Attorney in the demurrer concerning the jurisdiction ofthe King's Bench ; and the day appointed for arguing the same is the second day of the next term. At the same time, the counsel of Sir Miles Hobart and Mr. Stroud raoved, that they might be permitted to go about their business, as well as the residue were. But the judges answered, the Tower was out of their jurisdiction ; but, if they would remove them- CHARLES THE FIRST. 45 selves by Habeas Corpus from thence into the King's Bench, then it would be in their power to give them such leave as they demanded. On Monday morning, it being moved by Mr. Selden's counsel, in the Star Chamber, that he might be permitted freely to go up and down about his business, his request was granted. But Sir John Eliot and Mr. Valentine desiring of the judges, by their counsel, to be bailed, were again answered, that unless they would observe the rules of the court to be bailed to their good behaviour, they might lie by it these seven years. On Saturday also, November 28, Mr. Fowkes, the mer chant, was, by virtue of his Habeas Corpus, bailed out of the Fleet, at the King's Bench bar, namely, after he had submitted himself to the Exchequer, and yielded to pay tonnage and poundage for all his goods. I should have told you a story in my last, but that I feared my lady ^ would impute it to my want of respect to that much-to-be-considered and honoured order, if I should be too rash to blab upon the first intelligence that which so much concerned the reputation thereof. But now hearing it confirraed, I will beg leave to tell it as I last heard it. The Lady Lawrence, of Gloucestershire, being to be godmother to a child, desired of the minister that her chaplain might baptize it, which he refusing to grant, or so much as to give leave to have it baptized in any other parish, (which was desired) she was fain to be content that he should do it. But holding the child at the font, when the minister had sprinkled the water, she took it away, and the minister reading still on, and offering, when he came at the words, to cross it, she turned up the child's backside, bidding him cross that. When this was done, fearing the minister would complain thereof to the high comraission, where she would be severely censured, she endeavoured, by a worse means, to prevent him. She conspired with an attorney's wife to accuse the minister of an attempt to have ravished her ; which the attorney's wife accordingly complaining of to justice, and finding that, in respect of the minister's untainted honesty, the ' Stuteville. 46 THE COURT AND TIMES OF business was suspected, went up to London to complain there ; where, meeting with her husband, and he demand ing the occasion of her coming up, when she had told him as aforesaid, he suspected likewise, and would not leave her, till she had confessed she was suborned by the Lady Lawrence, who is thereupon brought into the Star Chamber to answer it, and her son (he that married a gentlewoman your neighbour) bound in £4000 for her appearance.' The gentleman whose son slew his mother is Sir William Dorrington, of Hampshire, held one of the worthiest knights of these parts, but was son to that Mr. Dorrington that threw himself down, many years since, from St. Sepulchre's 'steeple. This unhappy young man was his second son, and had been a scholar of Oxford, a very debauched gen tleman, and some say drunk at this time, others, in a frantic melancholy. His mother came up into his chamber to reprove him for some misbehaviour in this unfit mood, and so occasioned this heavy accident. There was at the end of the term a mad case censured in the Star Chamber. A knight bachelor falling out upon some words with a baronet, the baronet told him he was a better man than he. The knight asked, Why? The baronet replied that, hy the dignity of baronet, he was honourable, the knight but worshipful. The knight, in indignation, said he would beat his honour out at his * * ; and thereupon bummed him soundly, pretending he did to drive out his honour at the back door as aforesaid. The knight was fined £500, and the baronet exceedingly laughed at, and so was the business ended. After Don Carlos, the expected Spanish ambassador, refused to come, there was, upon notice thereof, a mes senger despatched instantly after Sir Francis Cottington, but wherefore I know not. This, it seems, occasioned the report he was come back. I send you the conclusion of the business between the town and our University ; I mean, the order of the king and council. ' We felt some scruples about printing this statement — but, as it is vouched for as a fact that came under the cognizance of one of the tribunals, we unwillingly allow it to stand exactly as it was written. CHARLES THE FIRST. 47 Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, December 16, 1629. There is little come to my knowled'ge for public occur- rents that I could have presented you withal, saving only that upon the resolution taken by the King of France to go shortly with an army towards the frontier of Champagne, where it is conceived that his majesty's ambassador extra- ordinary's presence would be but unserviceable, letters have been written both for his revocation out of that place, and for Sir Isaac Wake's revocation also frora the court of Savoy to corae and supply the place of arabassador ordinary in France, which letters, I suppose, by this tirae, to be come to both the places ; so as very shortly we may expect the coraing back of Sir Thomas Edraondes hither, unless some new growing occasion do cause a protraction of his departure from thence ; where all this while, through that unhappy difference about the precedence with the cardinal, I cannot perceive that he hath done anything, besides the receiving of the king's oath for the ratification of the peace, but the procuring of Sir Thomas Dishington's and Iton's, the engineer's, release out of prison, having not been able hitherto to get any restitution of the English ships and goods that have been taken since the publishing of the peace, nor any order made for the settling of the trade and commerce for the time to come. And here is a speech that Monsieur de Chateauneuf, who hath done as little here, is also shortly to be revoked, and Monsieur de Fontenay Mareuil in the way coraing to be Lieger here, who will bring the Capuchins along with him, and, as I hear, a bishop, under the title of aulmosnier, to be over them, and a Catholic physician for the queen, to be near her in any occasion of her sickness, and especially when she shall be brought to bed. The queen mother stood hard also for a French lady of honour to be about her majesty, but that would not be yielded unto. They are still labouring here to make up a navy, and very shortly, as I hear, they will have a hundred good ships ready to put to sea. Don Carlos de Colonna, since my last writing, hath given assurance hither, by his letters, 48 THE COURT AND TIMES OF that he will be now very shortly here, and hath caused all necessary provisions to be made for his house. Whereupon, another post hath been despatched to Sir Francis Cotting ton into Spain, to will hira (as it is supposed) to go forward in his journey and negociation. Of Sir Henry Vane I have heard nothing as yet since his going over. The Dunkirkers are abroad, with twenty-eight ships, to watch, as it is thought, the coraing back of Burlaraachi fiut of Holland with the king's jewels, which he went sorae ^hree months ago to redeem for a certain quantity of ordnance, which his majesty is to give to them that had them in pawn. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, December 19, [1629]. I have no news to tell you ; all our intelligence the last Saturday failed, save that the doctor,^ writing of his private business, told us besides, that they then laid wagers at London, pro and con., for the summons of a parliaraent after Christinas. But, as I hear this week, the hopes thereof have no probability, if it be true that his majesty means to be for Scotland in April, and hath summoned a parliament to he held there in May, with which news Marquis Hamilton is ridden post into Scotland, if the postmaster may be credited, who told us so much here on Thursday. Also the doctor had a letter from Salisbury, of a villanous raurder there committed. A traveller, that had some charge about him, lay at an inn, meaning to be gone early in the morning. The host, understanding it, with three comrades, lay in wait for him, with whom he acquitted himself so well, as that he slew three of them, the host himself being one, and wounded the fourth. But being himself sorely hurt, and not able to go on his journey, returned back into the inn, little suspecting his evil came from thence ; and there, after his wounds were dressed, was murdered in his bed by the hostess and her servants, who told the chirurgeon, coming again to dress his wounds, as he had appointed^ that his patient felt him- ' Meddus. CHARLES THE FIRST. 49 self SO well that he would needs go his journey the next morning, which the chirurgeon knowing to be impossible, causes search to be made, and so discovered the villany. They say also that, at the last delivery at Newgate, were no fewer than eighteen condemned for murder. Don Carlos's last reason given why he could not come when the king's ship was offered him, was because his majesty and his council were jealous of the French king's preparations in Picardy and Champagne, himself being governor of Cambray, &c., and so to look to those frontiers. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, December 30, 1629. There is nothing happened here in the court since my last that I may add to my former advertisements, saving that there have wanted no plays for the solemnizing of the Christmas holidays. The admiral's place is not yet dis posed of, but likeliest by the common rumour and appear ance to fall upon my Lord of Holland than upon any other. The Countess of Carlisle keepeth yet at Essex House ; but it will not be long, it is thought, before she corae back to court. The Marquis Hamilton promised the king, afore his de parture, that he would be here back again by Candlemas ; the cause of his sudden departure being, as I hear, to be there present at the marriage of one or two of his sisters. I understand that in that country there was lately an exact search made and account taken of all the recusants there ; and that the whole number of them did scarce come to five hundred, and that the council and justices there do hold such a strict hand over them, as that the Marquis of Huntley, being gone back thither with the king's letters, was by them confined in a place far from his own country, and all his popish servants taken from about hira, and others put in their places. Don Carlos Colonna is now at length landed, and ex pected to be here to-morrow ; my Lord of Newport being appointed to meet him at Gravesend, and to bring him in VOL. II. E 50 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the king's barges. From Sir Francis Cotrington there are no letters come yet since his arrival at the court of Spain, he being yet two days' journey from it at the 'writing of his last. Concerning the EngHsh businesses solicited by Sir Thomas Edmondes, the king's ambassador in France, I hear they rather go backward than forward, they having lately given there a sentence, without the privity, and rather against the will, of the English merchants, whose ships have been taken since the peace, for the selling of the goods out of them, having a purpose, as it is thought, afterwards to make use of the ships. I hear, moreover, that they are resolved there not to yield henceforth any raore respect or obedience at sea to the King of England's banner, and that a matter of a higher nature hath been agitated in the council there, namely, to make him leave the title of King of France : whereby it may be con jectured what their good will and designs are against this State. Here are three East India ships, lately arrived with good lading, at Plymouth. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, January 13, 1629-30. For news, Bethlera Gabor, Prince of Transylvania, hath been poisoned by the practice of the Palatine of Hungary and an Hungarian Jesuit that carae to the prince counter feiting hiraself a poor exiled Gerraan Protestant minister ; who was since taken at Casshaw, and there exquisitely tortured, and quartered, or rather torn in pieces with four horses. Besides, the Palatine hiraself, for seeking to bring in popery at Ottenburg, was thrown out at a window, but not much hurt. I saw a letter of December 19, from Sir Isaac Wake's secretary at Turin in Savoy, wherein is this passage : " The Imperialists under the command of Colalto, and Spaniards under Marquis Spinola, have been busy and hold with the Duke of Mantua since the French king retired from hence. The Spaniards have re-entered upon all in Montferrat which Gonzales de Cordova had quitted ; and Colalto hath taken all the Mantuan territory unto the walls of Mantua, which he besiegeth straitly, and hath CHARLES THE FIRST. 5 1 shut up in it the duke and all his faraily. The French, we hear, are coming with a powerful army to relieve him. The Pope's ministers labour hard for a peaceable accom modation ; and Paneirella, a great man in the court of Rome, hath for the present procured a suspension of arms for a month. What the issue will be will shortly appear. The Venetians assist Mantua. The Duke of Savoy yet keeps hiraself neutral." Thus much out of the letter. On Saturday, January 2, the Earl of Newport ^ fetched Don Carlos de Colonna, the Spanish ambassador, from Gravesend to London ; and on Wednesday, my Lord of Salisbury conducted him from his house in Aldersgate Street to Whitehall, where he had his first reception and audience in the banqueting house, both their majesties being present, all the ladies (whereof the three duchesses were part) standing on the queen's side, and all the lords on the king's. He carried himself more humbly and re spectively to his maje^y than Spanish ambassadors used to do. He there delivered his letters of credence, and had sorae quarter of an hour's discourse with the king ; but afterwards was with hira half an hour in the privy galleries, and, passing over the terrace towards the presence, his majesty opened a window, and saluted him once more. Then went he on the queen's side, where he ascended to wards her majesty through a beautiful line of ladies. He hath presented twenty Spanish jennets to his majesty. The French and Dutch are said to do, and will oppose the design of the Spanish ambassador all they can. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 20, [1629-30.] Notwithstanding those great preparations made in France for the land, they are still going powerfully forward there with their sea preparations, which the common rumour and apprehension voiceth to be chiefly intended against this country, and within these seven days there is an advertise ment sent hither, that there is sorae enterprise projected upon the islands bf Jersey and Guernsey. True it is, that ' Mountjoy Blount, natural son of Charles Blount Earl of Devonshire. 52 THE COURT AND TIMES OF hitherto there hath been little or nothing done on neither side for the establishing of the peace ; for hitherto his majesty's ambassador in France could not get any restitu tion made there of any English ship or goods that have been taken since the publishing of the peace, nor any order taken for the settling of trade and comraerce for the tirae to come ; nor any satisfaction for that part which remain eth to be paid of the queen's dowry. And the French ambassador doth complain that there is little satisfaction given hira here in any thing that he sueth for. The Spanish ambassador, Don Carlos Colonna, hath not appeared, nor done any thing since his first audience, pre tending, as it is said, that he hath not yet received his comraission ; expecting perhaps till he hear of Sir Francis Cottington's negociation in Spain ; from whom there is no news come as yet since his landing at Lisbon, where he was kindly and honourably entertained, and feasted at the charges of the city. Here the jars seem to continue still, at court, between the Earls of Carlisle and Holland ; and one of the queen's y^women, one Smith, hath been banished out of the court for having falsely reported that there was a new-year's gift sent by the Countess of Carlisle to her majesty, which, if any had been brought, there was order given aforehand that it should not be received. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, January 23, 1629-30. Before I mention any impertinences, I will make relation of such news as I have. Of those eight defendants prose cuted in the Star Chamber for handling the project, seven had been exarained upon interrogatories, viz., the three earls. Sir Robert Cotton, Mr. James, Mr. St. John, Mr. Barrell ; and only Mr. Selden remaineth unexamined. And some say Mr. Attorney hath drawn a replication to their answers on the behalf of his majesty, and that he will forth with proceed to examination of witnesses ; and, if it be possible, will bring the cause to a hearing this next term. Others report that David Foulis having presented the ori- CHARLES THE FIRST. 53 ginal of that project to his majesty, and Sir Robert Du . CHARLES THE FIRST, 59 self, as an independent prince, without any relation to the empire. 2. That the emperor shall quit the Valtoline, by withdrawing all his forces out of it ; and shall leave it in the sarae state he found it. And 3. That the Spaniards and Imperialists shaU first lay down their arras. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ CoUege, February 12, [1629-30]. AU the news I have is, that Mr. Long was on Friday, last week, censured in the Star Charaber, where they laid upon him no less than £2000 fine for his parliament em ployment during his sheriffalty. There were letters pro duced which he had written to some friends to procure him to he chosen burgess. The judges would have censured the three parliament gentlemen at their bench ere this, but that they desired respite to advise with their counsel, the matter being great, and much conceming them ; which was granted tiU Thursday this week, being term end : but how they fared then, I yet hear not. It was thought dangerous for them to let the judges proceed against thera upon a nihil dicit ; because he that is silent in foro, is supposed to confess all he is accused of, and is to receive judgment accordingly. Our council of war have resolved the French king cannot yet in a long time be ready with his fleet for any attempt either against us or others ; and therefore not to be feared ; and suppose that king is ambitious to have the dominion of the sea as well as other princes, and that to be the reason of providing so great a fleet ; for it is said, he hath set apart 300,000 crowns a-year to be bestowed that way. Sir Charles Howard, the Earl of Nottingham's son by the Scottish lady, Sir Francis Stuart's sister, a wild young scholar at Oxford, by sorae acquaintance there was brought to one Smith's house, a citizen of London, where he fell in love with one of his daughters, a very lovely woman they say, and of a singular carriage for one of her breeding ; and married her -without the pri-vity of the lady his raother : who upon knowledge thereof threatening to reject him, the fickle young gentleman presently rejects^ hit- wife, 60 THE COURT AND TIMES OF would not come at her, uses her most unfittingly, &c. The business hath been before my Lord of Canterbury, who laboured to reconcile them all three, but in vain ; and what will be tbe event, if it be worth Ustening after, it may. I shall know in time. I forgot to tell you, that the last week came to London the king, queen, and young prince of New Scotland, which is the west part of that tract which was in the patent which Sir Ferdinando Gorges had for New England ; but he consented that Sir William Alexander, a Scot, should have a patent thereof from King James, anno 1621, but to be governed by the laws and depend upon the King of England. It is that which in your Speed hath on the north side of the river, Canada on the east, and south the ocean, on the west, Rio St. Jean or R. Pontager, where it frontiers New England. But if the first relation of the discovery after this Scottish patent be true, (as it is in Purchas) it is a much raore fertile and delicate country than what Sir Ferdinando reserved for New England. This king comes to be of our king's religion, and to submit his kingdom to him, and to become his homager for the same, that he may be protected against the French of Canada. Those savages arrived at Plymouth were a while entertained at my Lord Poulet's,^ in Somersetshire, much made of, especially my lady ^ of the savage queen : she came with her to the coach, when they were to come to London, put a chain about her neck with a diamond valued by some at near £20. The savages took all in good part, but for thanks or acknow ledgment made no sign or expression at all. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, February 27, 1629-30. On Saturday last were censured in the Star Chamber fourscore persons, seven at £40 fine, and the residue at £100 or £200 a-piece, for plucking down a pale which Sir James FuUerton and Mr. Kirke of the bedchamber had ' John Poulet, created Baron Poulet of Henton St. George, in the county of So merset, July 23, 1627. ' Christian, daughter and heir of Chrii^topher Ken, of Ken, in Somersetshire. CHARLES THE FIRST. 61 erected about Gillingham forest in Dorsetshire, after they had felled down all the woods ; the inhabitants thereabouts pretending a coramonage upon it, notwithstanding it was given by his majesty under his broad seal to those two Scottishmen. The two ringleaders of the rout were cen sured also to stand upon the pillory at the next market town. On Wednesday the same week, as they came from the Blackfriars' sermons, two pursuivants laid hold on one Dr. Leighton, now a physician, once a minister, but sus pended therefrom for inconformity, a fiery Scotsraan, who told thera he would not obey any such anti-Christian au thority ; and so would not stir. Nay, being then com manded in the king's name to obey the constable assisted with six raen, he also refused, so that at length they were forced to carry him upon their shoulders, and was presently, without examination, comraitted close prisoner to Newgate. This is he that some years since published a book called " Sion's Plea," and said to be sold in secret for twenty shillings a-piece, and to contain such vile raatter, as some think may go near, if not altogether, to cost hira his life, if he be proved to he the author. Besides, I am certainly inforraed this week, that since his iraprisonraent there was a letter cast into the Bishop of London's house, which bade hira look to it that this raan carae well off, or he should ere long have a pistol or something else in his belly. Mr. Long, newly censured, presented on Monday was sennight a petition to their Lordships in this form : — " Right Honourables, your petitioner having been lately censured by your Lordships in his majesty's court of Star Chamber, doth, in obedience to his majesty's laws, in all humbleness submit himself thereunto, and doth acknow ledge your justice therein. And yet for that his case is rare and of such nature that your petitioner doth and ever must protest that, until your Lordships' censure was pro nounced, he did not know nor could believe that he had offended therein, he doth now hurably pray your Lordships, that as he hath subraitted to your judicial, so he may make his humble resort to your favourable consideration ; and that the same and your petitioner's long and strait impri- 62 THE COURT AND TIMES OF sonraent past may move you to mitigate the greatness of his fine, and to suspend the execution of his censure. And, because he is most sensible of and most sorrowful for his sovereign's high displeasure, (which of all the calamities of this life he accounteth the greatest) he humbly prayeth your Lordships to be pleased to be his favourable inter cessors to his most excellent raajesty, that he wUl graci ously vouchsafe out of his abundant goodness to pass by your petitioner's offence, and to restore hira to his princely favour. And your petitioner shall, during his life, serve his raajesty (as his duty requireth) in all faithful and loyal obedience, and your honours in true thankfulness." But his petition was rejected, and himself on Tuesday morning, as my author heard, committed from the Fleet to the Tower. Sir John Eliot was not yet sent prisoner to the Tower, though he had sent to Mr, Lieutenant to provide him a con venient lodging, that he raight send his upholsterer to trim it up. Concerning his fine, my author heard him say, that he had two cloaks, two suits, two pair of boots, and guUasheer,^ and a few books ; and that was all his present substance ; and if they could pick £2000 out of that, much good raight it do them. Besides, he said, when he was first close pri soner in the Tower, a commission was directed to the high sheriff of Cornwall and five other comraissions, his capital enemies, to inquire into his lands and goods, and to seize upon them for the king ; but they returned a nihil. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, March 6, 1629-30. The title of Dr. Leighton's book is " Sion's Plea against the Prelacy." He refuseth to answer the high-commis sioners as heing parties, and so incompetent judges, but appealeth to the lords of the council. His famed passage about his majesty's marriage (as I hear by those who have read the book) is, that " raissing an Egyptian," meanino- the Infanta, " he had light upon a daughter of Heth," meaning her majesty : not, as some relate, missing a Jew, ' Galoches. CHARLES THE FIRST. 63 had married a Turk ; though it be little better, for he im plies a Canaanite. Since his committing, his wife hath also been committed to the same prison for her disordered tongue ; and a buttonmaker for putting his mouth to the keyhole of the prison door where he lay, and crying aloud, " Stand to it, doctor, and shrink not," and such like words. But the best news written last week was, that his ma jesty was graciously pleased that there should neither be nurse, rocker, nor any other officer belong to the queen's nursery (after she was brought to bed) save only Protes tants. Howsoever, on Tuesday that week at night, the queen's Capuchins arrived by water at Denmark House, being eight in number, besides four lay brethren. They were the harbingers of the French leiger ambassador, Monsieur de Fonteney, who followed the day after, and in a great storm of rain was brought to his lodging in my Lord of Dorset's house in Salisbury Court ; for which he hath already, at £300 a-year, paid five years next before hand, viz., £1500. Philippo Burlamachi, the famous raerchant, is now to be eraployed over into France to fetch home the other moiety of the queen's portion, which will amount to £120,000, namely, upon this ground and con sideration, that whereas Monsieur de Chateauneuf, the French arabassador extraordinary, hath been very impor tunate with the king to call a parliament for confirraation of her raajesty's jointure ; his majesty being loth to run the hazard of a parliament, hath gotten the best landed of the lords of the council to become bond for the assu rance of the same jointure : which way, they say, hath satisfied the arabassador, and so like to satisfy also the king his master. Another way for his majesty to get money for the present is the fines of the coronation knights, which it is hoped will equal a subsidy. The Isle of Wight men are promised by his majesty and the lords £3000 towards the reparation of their nine forts ; which sum will furnish the raaterials, but the islanders must be at the cost of the workraanship, Mr. Coxe, that Hertfordshire gentleraan who, in Michael mas term, procured his elder brother to be hanged for 64 THE COURT AND TI.MES OF a felony done long ago, and to prevent his pardon, caused him, by subornation, to be executed an hour before day, and aU to get an inheritance, hath lately hanged himself, and so provided the sarae snare for himself which he had procured for his elder brother. And, they say, my Lord of Salisbury^ wUl prosecute a great judge of the land about it, in the Star Chamber. The judges of the King's Bench, before their departure on their circuit, entered not Sir John EHot's censure im posed by them in that court upon record ; for which cause he is not yet gone to the Tower. But Mr. Long's fine of two thousand marks is returned into the exchequer; and so it seems to be meant he shall assuredly pay it, if his lands and goods be not surely conveyed away. Mr. Va lentine hath leave to go down into the country by the authority and virtue of an Habeas Corpus. My Lord of Carlisle hath twice in one week most magnificently feasted the Spanish ambassador and Mons. /•Reubens,^ also the agent, who prepared the way for his coming ; who, iu honour of England and of our nation, from whom he hath received so many courtesies, hath drawn with his pencil the history of St. George, wherein, if it be possible, he hath exceeded himself; but the pic ture he hath sent home into Flanders, to remain there as a monument of his abode and employment here. And now there is a commission under the great seal, directed to certain of our lords to treat with the Spanish court. You have done me an exceeding great favour in sending me the whole proceedings and event of your demoniacal imposture ; for when I received your last letter by Mr. Honeywood on Tuesday or Wednesday, I thought it was but an English devil, when he understood not Greek from ' Sir Symonds D'Ewes, in his History of his own Life, giving an account of the death of Sir Nicholas Hyde, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, on the 13th of June, 1631, has the following passage ; — " He had also at the Guildhall or Newgate session before this circuit [the summer one of 1631] conderaned a man to diu un justly, and precipitated his execution ; for which William Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, had complained to the king, and the said Hyde was not only like to have lost his place, but to have come into greater trouble for it, had he survived. And sorae therefore thought the fear of this had hastened his end." This appears to be the same story with that mentioned by Mr. Mead in his letter of March 6, 1629-30 ; though Sir Symonds D'Ewes was mistaken in the date. ' The great painter, who was liberally patronized whilst in this countrv. CHARLES THE FIRST. 65 Latin. The discovery was opportune for the woman ac cused : they raight also have fared amiss these assizes ; but what shall be done with the confederates?' We have some news at Cambridge, but it is too long to relate; besides, I must not tell tales forth of school. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, March 10, 1629. At present I have little matter to write of; for con cerning the Spanish businesses, and what passeth in that treaty, they are arcana imperii, which must not come out of the sanctuary till the time bring them forth. Never theless, if that which, by circumstances and conjectures, is gathered thereof, raay be allowed to pass, thus rauch I may tell you, that the sarae rumour which you have in the country of Sir Francis Cottington's coming back, is very rife here amongst us at court : and that he himself hath desired to be called horae, for the little hope he found there of doing any good in that negociation. Whereof the chief rub will be about the restitution of the Pala tinate, at least of so much thereof as the Spaniards do hold ; who to elude us, and disable themselves therein, are reported to be in hand with the emperor and Duke of Bavaria, to surrender unto them the towns that they hold therein. Howsoever, Sir Francis Cottington shall speed for the public in that employraent, I am sure he shall find but a cold comfort at his own house at his return, his lady having since his departure buried two of their chil dren, a son and a daughter, which were very dear unto him ; and the third, which is the last, being also, as is reported, dangerously sick. Out of France we have had no news this fortnight, Sir Thomas Edmondes being now daily expected here, who, at his coming away from that court, had a present of £1800 in plate bestowed upon him, and a coach worth £300. This day, Mons. de Fontenay Mareuil, who is newly come to be leiger ambassador here, hath had his ' This passage appears to refer to some of those lamentable delusions so common in the seventeenth century, which went under the name of witchcraft. VOL. II. F 66 THE COURT AND TIMES OF first audience of the king and queen, in a very soleran manner, in the Banqueting House, being accompanied thereto by Mons. de Chateauneuf, the extraordinary am- bassor, who wUl very shortly prepare for his departure. To-morrow the Spanish arabassador is to have a private audience. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ CoUege, March 13, 1629-30. For our news we received on Saturday, as followeth : — That on Saturday before (this day fortnight) Sir John Eliot was coraraltted to the Tower, upon a rule of the King's Bench, grounded upon his sentence there. Mr. Long and he are fellow-commoners, and have the liberty of the house. That one Dudson, under-raarshal of the King's Bench, and one of ray lord chief justice's tipstaves, when he delivered him at the Tower, made this formal speech : — " Mr. Lieutenant, I have brought you this worthy knight, whom I borrowed of you some few months ago, and now do repay him again." Before his departure out of the King's Bench, the judges, hefore they went their circuit, sent him and those other gentlemen, his fellow- prisoners, this raessage — that they were rauch grieved at the misbehaviour of their pages and servants, for tossing dogs and cats in a blanket, in the open street of South wark, near the King's Bench prison ; and saying, " We are judges of these creatures, and why should not we take our pleasure upon them, as well as those other judges have done upon our masters?" Mr. Long's fine of 2000 marks is returned into the Exchequer, but will hardly, as is thought, he levied, because he hath made over all his estate long since. On Sunday was sennight, one of the queen's capuchins preached before her majesty at Somerset House, concern- \/ ing vows and the observations of Lent ; and that whosoever did eat flesh in that holy time, without license or dispen sation, was ipso facto damned. Sir Francis Cottington, they say, hath written to his majesty out of Spain, that he hath had noble reception CHARLES THE FIRST. 67 and fair answers to all his propositions. The commis sioners appointed here to treat with the Spanish ambas sador, are my lord keeper, lord treasurer. Earl of Arundel, Archbishop of York, lord president of the north, and the Lord Viscount Dorchester. Sir Thomas Edmondes parted from Paris onward of his journey for England, above fourteen days ago, on Friday last, yet was neither come home nor heard of. But Sir Isaac Wake desires not to pass from Turin thither (to Paris) till his arrearages be paid. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, March 18, 1629. As the coming of the capuchins hither with the new ambassador had raised the hopes and hearts of the Papists here, and raade them dreara of a new liberty, so as they flocked openly in hundreds and thousands both to the queen's and the foreign ambassador's chapels ; so are they now as rauch dashed and troubled with an order lately raade by the king, that none that is his subject born shall be suffered to corae into the queen's nor the said arabas- sador's chapels; but as many as shall be found coming out from thence shall be apprehended, and brought before the lords of the council. Whereat both the queen herself and the ambassadors also seeraed to be much discontented, her majesty thinking herself wronged in the abridgment of that liberty which hitherto she hath been let to enjoy, and the ambassadors likewise thinking it to be a dero gation to their privileges. But to these it was showed, that by the course taken for the execution of this order, their rights and privileges were no ways touched ; for that the pursuivants, and such as had orders to apprehend the delinquents, were not to enter nor set foot within the precinct of their houses, but stand out in the streets. And for the queen, besides that she was made to under stand that it was against the covenants of her contract of marriage that her chaplains should be used by any but by herself and her own servants, there was a particular order made, for her greater satisfaction, that none of her p2 68 THE COURT AND TIMES OF said servants should be hindered or troubled in the free exercise of their religion.' Here are daily coraplaints made of the continual prizes and wrongs done by the Dunkirkers, not only along the coasts, but also within the very rivers of this kingdora, where they have taken divers ships of late. The Duke of Saxony, that went lately from hence into France in a man-of-war, was set upon by them between Dover and Calais, and like to have been taken, after he had been four or five hours in fight with them, if he had not been rescued by some Hollanders that carae to his succour. We hear, that in Spain all the English ships that are there have been arrested, to be used, as it seeraeth, for sorae service of that king. Sir Thomas Edmondes is now landed at Dover. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, March 20, 1629-30. Our last Saturday's letters relate this : that on Wed nesday, that week, towards evening, my Lord of Dor chester delivered to the Lords sitting at the council- board, that it was his raajesty's pleasure, none of his sub jects shall go any raore to mass in the queen's chapel ; V which, that it may effectually be performed, his majesty hath appointed two of the queen's gentlemen-ushers. Sir John Tonstall to stand at the gate, and Mr. Steward at the chapel-door, to divert all, saving Frenchmen. My Lord of Dorset, her majesty's lord chamberlain, highly approving this gracious raessage frora his raajesty, said he would act his part therein to the full ; and if any should grow stubborn, would have them turned out per force, and exposed to the law; for which forwardness of his, the residue of the Lords applauded him. My Lord of Dor chester delivered besides, that hiraself and his fellow secretary Coke had order from his majesty to visit all the ambassadors, and to let thera know how his majesty takes * The zeal of the queen's priests to make converts, and her own imprudence in sanctioning their proceedings, created a good deal of ill feeling amongst the Pro testant population. In the following letter the reader will find the measures detailed, to which the goverment had recourse to check the evil. CHARLES THE FIRST. 69 notice, that many of his subjects do resort unto their houses to hear mass ; that his majesty will not violate their privileges as ambassadors ; but this he will do — when his subjects come forth of their houses, be will cause them to be apprehended, iraprisoned, and prosecuted by law. What our council here wrote by his majesty's coramand to the lords justices and council of Ireland, the last of January, upon occasion of that uproar at Dublin by the friars and their adherents in Christmas tirae, you shall find in the enclosed. And for the event, Sir Henry Bour- chier was told on Thursday, last week, by his servant, newly corae out of Ireland, that the priests, Jesuits, friars, and nuns, are so hunted and iraprisoned there, as they are rare to be found ; and that the two lords justices have set in work the choicest instruments for that purpose that could be found in all that kingdom, who will act that business both zealously, and faithfully. On Friday, at night, yesternight was fortnight, a letter to my lord mayor was thrust under his gate, and he charged therein, upon his allegiance, to deUver another, enclosed to his majesty, which the next morning he accord ingly sent to the king. The last week died two of the plague in London, one in Shoreditch, another in Whitechapel ; and I saw by a letter yesterday, that there were four dead this week, and all in St. Giles's parish. God grant it prove not an ill sign of some greater infection to follow. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, March 27, Easter-even, [1630], I shall not hold you long to-day, having not raany things to write ; yet that little I have is a great deal, if it be all true, for thus saith raine author, March 19: — The raost I can present you at this present, saith he, are the several reports of the overthrow of the Spanish fleet.^ Five hundred priests and friars were said to be fled out of Ireland for Spain, and more foUowing thera. And the Sunday before, my author wrote, in conformity to the 1 The Dutch West India fleet. 70 THE COURT AND TIMES OF order made by the council board, according to his majesty's message the week preceding, sorae thirty papists were appre hended at ambassadors' doors, and imprisoned or disposed of to answer it. The queen's raajesty, having no fancy, it seeras, to our English midwives and nurses, had sent into France for both ; who, as they were coming, together with a dwarf, and, as sorae say, twelve nuns, were all intercepted and carried away by the Dunkirkers. But I hear, by letters frora London yesterday, that being not found good prize at Dunkirk, they were released, and are now safely arrived in England. The queen looks her tirae about the end of May ; and when she is once safely delivered, his raajesty raeans to be for Scotland. A gentleman that was at Winchester assizes and the execution there, says, that the second son of Sir William Dorington, or Dodington, was there and then condemned for the foul murder of his mother, and after executed, but either senseless of the fact, or distracted. And that, at the Berkshire assizes, was a boy of nine years old con demned and executed for example, for burning a house or two, who only said upon the ladder, " Forgive rae this fault, and I'll do so no more." The dwarf taken by the Dunkirkers was Sesquipedal Geoffrey,^ coming from the queen mother out of France, with jewels given hira by her and the ladies of that court to the value of £2,500, and presents for her majesty worth £5000 more; and, in his company and the sarae bark, tbe queen's midwife, her nurse's husband, Rocan, her dancing master, &c. They escaped by means of the governor of Calais, who, hearing they were taken, attached all the persons, and seized upon all the goods of the arch duchess's subjects there. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, April 16, 1630. At London, this week, died of the plague but eight, whereof one within the walls. Of the Duke of Bavaria's ' Sir Geoffry Hudson — the fom Thumb of his day. CHARLES THE FIRST. 71 death I never heard till yours, though I saw a letter from the doctor yesterday, wherein, if he had had that to write, he would not have complained for want of news. I suppose it is as true, as that the infection is again broken out at Cambridge, which though we know nothing of here, yet the Northaraptonshire carrier this week desired a certificate from our magistracy that we were clear ; otherwise, for sooth, the burgomasters of Northampton would not suffer him to come any more. I know not what they ail, unless somebody had a fancy that it should begin again that tirae twelveraonth, and now will needs believe it is so. This is the day twelveraonth when I sent you word of it last year,^ and now I inform you that we neither yet know nor fear any such matter, and we pray and hope we shall so con tinue. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, April 17, 1630. Not many days agone, a certain oatraeal raaker, taking upon hira to be a preacher, and therefore iraprisoned, was called before the high comraission, where, keeping on his hat, and being asked why he did not put it off, he answered he would never put off his hat to bishops. " But you will to privy counsellors ?" said one of thera. " Then as you are privy counseUors," quoth he, " I put off my hat, but as ye are rags of the beast, lo ! I put it on again !" To wards the conclusion came in the Bishop of Winchester,^ saying, " Let us dismiss this frantic, foolish fellow ; we do but lose our tirae, and cast it away upon him. Let us assume some other business." " Hold thy peace," said the oatmeal maker, " thou tail of the beast that sittest at the lower end of the table." ^ There is a biU put into the Star Chamber against Bonham Norton, late the king's printer, and fourteen others, for accusing ray lord treasurer* of bribery. My ' " According to the days of the week ; otherwise to-morrow."— iVo/e by Mr. Mead. ° !>••¦ Neile. 3 No doubt the reader will regret to learn that the name ot this worthy has not been preserved. ¦* Weston. 72 THE COURT AND TIMES OF author heard also there was a new bUl put in against the three earis. Sir Robert Cotton, and the rest, ahout the business of " the Project." There died this week of the plague at London, ele'ven ; viz., Botolph, Aldgate, one ; Clement Danes, three ; Giles- in-the-Fields, two ; Leonard, Shoreditch, one ; Martin-in- the-Fields, one ; Mary, Whitechapel, three. Six parishes infected, I suppose you have heard of the Uke calamity begun and threatened us here in Cambridge, We have had sorae seven died ; the flrst, the last week (suspected, but not searched), a boy. On Monday and Tuesday, two, a boy and a woman in the same house. On Wednesday, two women, one exceeding foul, in two houses, viz., the two former. On Tuesday, a man, one Homes, dwelling in the midst between the two former houses ; for all three stand together at Magdalen College End. It began at the farther house, Forster's, a shoemaker, supposed by lodging a soldier, who had a sore upon hira, in whose bed and sheets the nasty woman laid two of her sons, who are both dead, and a kinswoman. Some add, for a cause, a dung hill at the back of his house, in a little yard, in which the fool this Lent tirae suffered some butchers, who had killed meat by stealth, to kill it there, and to bury the garbage in his dunghill, so to avoid discovery, by which it became very noisome even to Magdalen College. The other two houses, the one is a smith, the hithermost, and the middle most Homes', a tap-house, all beyond the bridge. But the worst news of all told me this morning by one of the searchers is, that this last night died a child of Pembroke Hall baker's, next the Cardinal's Cap, with all the signs of the plague, both spots and swelling, which discovers the town to be in very great danger. For there died some fortnight since one Disher, a bookbinder, sud denly, and another or two before either his or his neigh bours, one being a soldier, whom this Disher, keeping an alehouse, lodged, and was comrade to the soldier that was supposed to have infected the shoemaker's house, at St. Giles's. There was a very great number at Disher's funeral; but presently thereupon, by the death of some other, grew a suspicion, which, since the plague broke out CHARLES THE FIRST. 73 at St. Giles's, was examined, but nothing would be con fessed till now this happened upon tiiis child, whose mother is that Disher's wife's sister, and was with her both at and since the death of her husband. We hear, the plague, by some relation to these houses, is broken out at Histon and Gurton. Besides, that it is begun in Nor thampton and other places. God have mercy upon us, and deliver us. For the Earl of Pembroke,' we heard of it on Sunday last, in the forenoon. But this day's letters relate it more perfectly, namely, thus : on Friday,^ he supped with my Lady of Devonshire, without Bishopsgate, was very jocund at supper, rejoicing much that the day before, being his birthday, his lordship had arrived to the age of fifty, hoping now, he said, to attain to his father's years, that lived till sixty-four, and so see many happy days. After supper, he retired to his house at Baynard's Castle, where, staying up till raidnight, he found hiraself very well ; but after he had been awhile in bed, his lady' lying by hira, he fetched a profound groan, whereat she, being not able to wake him, shrieked out for company, who, coming in, found him speechless, in which condition he lay till eight in the morning, what time he died. They say, that many years ago, Mr. Allen,* of Oxford, had cast his nativity, and had brought him to his fiftieth year, but could promise no farther. The corpse being dissected, they found his cephalic veins burst, and his brain all raingled with blood, which did suffocate his aniraal spirits. The rest of his nobler parts, as his heart, liver, and lungs, were all decayed, and one of his kidneys rotten. He died intestate, and left debts behind him of above four score thousand pounds ; for a great part whereof, divers of his servants were engaged, who had raised theraselves to fair estates under bim; his whole revenues, while he lived, amounting to £22,000 a-year, and his lady now having £12,000 re venue, whereof £9,000 of her own inheritance, the rest, jointure. Before my lord steward was thoroughly cold, ' William, 3rd Eari. ^ April 9. ^ Mary, eldest ofthe three daughters and co-heirs to Gilbert Earl of Shrewsbury. * Thomas Allen, of Gloucester Hall. 74 THE COURT AND TIMES OF it is said my Lord of Arundel, pretending her not to be mentis compotem, begged the custody of her from his majesty, especially because my Lord Maltravers, his son, is her heir-apparent in case she have no child. But her affection stood a great deal more to my lord chamberlain,' who hath so much prevailed with his majesty as to obtain the keeping of her and her lands. But the Bishop of London^ was chosen chancellor of Oxford on Monday last,* and in that, too hard for ray lord charaberlain, from whom he won it by nine voices. My lord treasurer had gotten a letter of recommendation from his majesty, which came two hours after the election. The old Countess of Arundel * is dead, by whose death the earl hath £6000 a-year. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, April 24, 1630. As for the present, the infection is not yet come near our end of the town, but remains still beyond the bridge and in Trumpington Street, of which, since my last, have died five, viz., on Sunday, Forster himself, the good man of the house where it first began, beyond the bridge, out of whose house had died three or four before. On Tuesday morning, died a child, by the Mitre, of which more after wards. On Wednesday morning, or in the night preceding, died one in a house called the Holt, behind Peter House, who dwelt till a week before at the Castle End ; and, as it seems, fearing hiraself, removed thither without either consent or knowledge of the parish. On Thursday morning, at four o'clock, died a boy of oue Myton's, dwelling behind the Castle Hill. He is a tiler, and belonged to St. John's College. He knew not how the infection should come at him, unless, as he said, by a dog his son played with, which carae frora one of the infected houses. The last night save this, died a raaid in Disher's house, out of which house proceeded all this calamity, and whence those two children, which have died in that street, viz., last week, ' Philip Earl of Montgomery. ^ Laud. ' April 12. * Anne, daughter of 'Thomas, and sister and co-heir of George Lord Dacres, of Gillesland, and widow of Philip Earl of Arundel, who died in the Tower, in 1595. CHARLES THE FIRST. 75 by the Cardinal's Cap, and this week by the Mitre, re ceived their infection ; the mother of one being his wife's sister, and the other his or her kinswoman. He was (as I think I in part told you in my last) by trade a bookseller, but kept an alehouse, and by that occasion, about the beginning of the last month, lodged a soldier, one Thorne- ton, a Yorkshireraan, who died in his house the next day. One Watson and his wife, of the Spittle House End, stript hira and wound him ; and a tailor there, one Pue, bought his clothes ; all three of them dying suddenly within four or five days after, which occasioned some muttering and suspicion then, but the circurastances being not known, and the plague at London not then spoken of, it vanished and was forgotten. About the beginning of this month, some three weeks since, died Disher himself suddenly, being walking and drinking till sorae hour before, which drinking huraour made raost conceive he died of distemper that way, though some, who had a little hint of the former circumstances, suspected the worst. Howsoever, the most were secure, insomuch, that because he was a bookseller, all of that trade (saving Mr. Greene, who was not at home) made a contribution to his funeral, and went there with others to bring him forth, to the number of sixty persons, or raore. The wicked woman, his wife, concealed what had formerly happened, and though the business were ex amined before the plague broke out at the Castle End, yet she still denying it, as also did the rest whom it concerned, until that her sister's child dying by the Cardinal's Cap, it was discovered, and now confirmed by the death of her maid. Herself, who, they say, hath a sore or two upon her, was car ried yesterday to the pest-houses upon the comraon toward Hinton, being till now only shut up and watched, as are still all those that are found to have had any family relation or converse with her or her husband in that danger, or with those who died thereupon at Spittle House End. This is our perfect story, from the mouths of those who are appointed to take notice of and to order such as faU in danger, and to see those searched which die in this time of suspicion. In the mean time, our University is in a manner wholly dissolved, aU raeetings and exercises ceasing. In 76 THE COURT AND TIMES OF many colleges, almost none left. In ours, of twenty-seven messes, we have not five ; our gates strictly kept ; none but fellows to go forth, or any to be let in without the consent of the major part of our society, of which we have but seven at home at this instant. Only a sizer may go, with his tutor's ticket, upon an errand. Our butcher, baker, and chandler, bring their provisions to the coUege gates, where the steward and cook receive them. We have taken all our officers we need into the college, and none may stir out. If he doth, he is to come in no more. Yea, we have taken three woraen into our college, and ap pointed them a charaber to lie in together; two are bed- makers, one a laundress. I hope the next parliament will include us in the general pardon. We have turned out our porter, and appointed our barber both porter and barber, allowing him a chamber next to the gates. Thus, we live as close prisoners, and I hope without danger. At London, the bill was this week but seven. Whereof in Botolph's, Aldgate, two ; St. Giles's, Cripplegate, two ; St. Clement Danes, three. And yet, which is strange, raany places near London, as my author writes, are infected, especially towards the water-side, as Greenwich, Newington, Barnes, Ditton, by Kingston ; and on this side Thames, Twickenham, by Isleworth, Hounslow; sorae say Hampton Court, Brentford, &c. Thus ray author. Others name Lambeth and Croydon also. By all which it should seera to be dispersed by those disbanded soldiers, and if care be taken, by God's blessing, may be stopped before it grow dangerous. For news, I sent you the last week the relation of the Earl of Pembroke's death, which I at that instant received. There was, besides, in our letters these particulars : that on Sunday before, some pursuivants and other officers, having apprehended sorae of his raajesty's popish subjects as they carae from raass, out of the house of Monsieur de Fonteney, the present leiger arabassador for France, the residue retiring back into the court, the French came forth with their naked swords to guard them, but were soundly beaten, and not without bloodshed, into their gates by the people, that with their rude weapons rushed upon CHARLES TIIE FIRST. 77 thera. The queen's chapel is still so strictly guarded that no subjects of his majesty may enter. And the Spanish arabassador hath of himself prohibited all his majesty's subjects of what nation soever from coming to raass. Mr. Coryton, who was in the Tower with Sir John Eliot, &c.,and was released thence by a submissive petition, hath the greatest part of his land, lying, I suppose, in Ireland, begged by one Plunket, an Irishman, who hath a commis sion under the great seal to inquire into his title, and accordingly to proceed against him. There is a poem which I cannot yet get, called " Geffreidos," describing a combat between Geoffrey, the queen's dwarf, and a turkey-cock at Dunkirk. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, May-day, [1630]. From London, April 23, we had as followeth : there are three Knights of the Garter chosen, the lord treasurer, the Earl of Lindsey, lord high chamberlain, and the Earl of Exeter. About Easter time, or somewhat before, was a letter by a gentleman-like man given somewhat early to a porter, two other porters being present, to be delivered to one Mr. Cordall, in Milk Street, who was not then stirring, yet the letter was left, and the porter known. When it came to be opened, there was another enclosed in it to the lord mayor, and in that another to his majesty, wherein, it is said, was very dangerous matter. The porter being questioned by the Lords, produced the other two persons to testify how he received it. The other two said, they doubted not but to know the man, if ever they saw hira again, who were thereupon promised a good re ward if they met with him ; and now they have charged one Thimbleby, sometime, or stUl, a servant to Mr. Row land Wilson, vintner, near Blackwell Hall, to be the man who gave the packet, who, it is said, denieth it, but was on Tuesday that week sent to the Tower. The plague was that week in London but seven. But at Greenwich, there had died on Sunday, Monday, and 78 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Tuesday, six or seven in five houses ; and the Friday morning, when my author wrote, it was said to be increased to the number of twelve, and above twenty houses shut up, partly infected, partly of such as have visited those which were. Nevertheless, they were still, at least two days be fore, at work in the queen's chamber, there having, on Monday night, been a warrant sent thither from his majesty to reraove the infected out of the town into the heath. And still, it is said, the queen hath a raind to lie in there, though but in the Castle in the Park. Thus much was written last week. This week, they write the plague in the city was brought down to three, and the whole number of burials decreased twenty-five. For Cambridge, I send you a printed bill from the begin ning till Saturday last, wherein those which I have marked with a stroke, thus — , died before the infection was publicly known, which was not till April 10. Besides those in the note I sent you on Saturday last, there died that week three more, namely, the night before and that morning wherein I wrote, which, till I had sealed, I knew not of. The one of them was at the pest-house. For this week, since Saturday, I look for a bill from the printing-house. The number, as I think, within the town is some five or six at the raost, and one of thera broken out this night in a new house, in St. Clement's parish ; all the rest beyond the bridge, unless a child that died last night in Trinity parish, a clean corse ; but the mother died the week before of the plague. All our parish, all the petticurie, all the market-hill and round about it, are yet (God be thanked) absolutely clear and unsuspected. What the new moon will discover after to-morrow, God knows. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Balsham, October 20, at night, [1630]. There died this last week but three, all in the pest- houses : but a suspicion is of a house in Jesus Lane, where some are said to have died of the purples. This morning one died at a house by the Tolbooth, who had returned CHARLES THE FIRST. 79 from the Green, and was thought to have been clear, but now thought to die of the plague. All acts and asserablies of the University are adjourned until the 20th of the next month ; by which time the sophisters must return to keep their acts, though but privately in their colleges. The doctor ' wrote this last week, that Spiuola was for certain dead, and the Marquis de la Croce general in his stead. Little else worth writing. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Balsham, October 27, [1630]. I found a letter to myself from Dr. Meddus, whose in telligence was as followeth : that by letters frora Antwerp and Italy the certain death of Marquis Spinola was con firmed ; who, seeing no hope of life, desired to be carried from the camp before Casal to Genoa, to die there, but died in the way thitherward, September 25-15. There died of the plague the last week, at London, 61 in twenty-two parishes ; 1 5 within the walls. In West rainster, 3. The whole number of burials, 278. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, November 27, [1630]. The next day after I came hither I received a letter from Mr. Pory of the 19th of this month. The contents whereof are these : that Bonham Norton was put to close iraprisonment till he should raake a punctual submission to ray lord keeper. The doctor adds, he was threatened with irons. That Sir Robert Cotton's library was re stored,^ and himself admitted into his majesty's favour. That Sir MUes Hobart, Mr. Selden, Mr. Stroud, and Mr. Valentine, were removed from the Gate-house that week to the prison of the King's Bench. That Dr. Leighton, after he was degraded at Lambeth in ordine ad altiorem poenam, and there affronted the court with his ' Meddus. 2 This does not appear to have been the fact, as appears from Mr. Pory's letter to Sir Thomas Puckering, of May 12, 1631. 80 THE COURT AND TIMES OF hat on his head, was escaped out of the Fleet. The naan- ner was — one Leviston, a zealotical Scotsraan, a tailor, carae with a gray suit of apparel under his cloak,^ in com pany of another gentleman, apparelled in the like, and coraing to visit a person likewise there. Whilst he went to his friend, Leviston coraes to Leighton, disguises him, cuts his beard, and brings hira out with hira. The porter, thinking he had been that other gentleraan who came with him before, let thera pass freely. But presently it was dis covered that Leighton was gone, the gentleman in the gray, who was left behind, laid hold on, but, for anything could be found, altogether ignorant of the plot, and only in- treated by Leviston to go with him, each to visit their several friends there. A general search was made that night in the city, and through the inns of the court, the gentlemen whereof took it unkindly that they should be suspected for Puritans. Leviston and divers of his com plices were attached, but no Leighton could be heard of. But I heard yesterday, by letters from London, that he was apprehended at a widow's (some say a lady's) house in Hertfordshire, near Hitchin, and is brought back again to his lodging, to the no small grief of some favourites of his, who, as I heard by one come out of Bedfordshire, said he was delivered out of prison by the prayers of the Church, as St. Peter was. But others about London say, as I hear, that this flight of his had given a great blow to the cause by deserting it, which he should have stood more stoutly to. But, alas ! he durst not, for his ears. Levis-' ton, I hear, and his complices are to answer it to-day in the Star Charaber. But to go on again with ray first letter, which moreover relates : that the Dunkirkers have burned houses and taken away cattle in the Isle of Wight. That all the playhouses at London were now again open, since there had died that week of the plague but 18. But this week (I saw the bill) there died but 7 there ; for which God be praised. That on Tuesday that week, November 16, was solemn running at the ring in honour of the queen's birthday. On Wed nesday, universal ringing of bells for Queen Elizabeth's coronation. That on Thursday, November 18, all the CHARLES TIIE FIRST. 81 vintners, inn-holders, and victuallers, were suramoned into the Star Chamber for dressing of flesh on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. That one Mr. Vassal was com mitted to the Fleet for refusing to pay the irapost upoh currants. That out of some thirteen shires was come about £16,000 for fines for knighthood. I will add a list ofour college officers and retainers who either have died or been endangered by the plague, which I understood not so well till now.' We keep all shut in the college still, and the same per sons formerly entertained are still with us. We have not had this week company enough to be in coraraons in the hall; but on Sunday we hope we shall. It is not to be believed how slowly the University returneth. None almost but a few sophisters to keep their acts. We are now eight fellows. Bennet CoUege but four. Scholars not so many. The most in Trinity and St. John's, &c. The reassembling of the University for acts and sermons is therefore again deferred to tbe 16th of December. Dr. Chaderton tells me, there hath died of the whole number about 108 in our parish. I have not told them, as having not the bills. You may examine thera. I hear not yet of any that hath died of the sickness this week. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, November 28, Advent Sunday, [1630]. Just now I can tell you that Leighton received part of his censure on Friday raorning, when in the Palace-yard before Whitehall; having first received nine stripes, he was advanced to the pillory, and there lost one ear, was slit on one nostril, and branded in the forehead. He spake rauch comfort to himself, being, he said, assured that in his suffering the Spirit of Glory rested upon him. ' l.our second cook and some three of his house; 2, our gardener and all his house ; 3, our porter's child, and himself was at the Green ; 4, our butcher and three of his children ; 5, our baker, who made our bread in Mr. Atkinson's bake house, had two of his children die, but then at his own house, as having no employ ment at the bakehouse ; 6, our minister's daughter had three sores, in her father's house; but her father was then and is still in the college; 7, our laundress (who is yet in the college) her maid died of the infection in her dame's house; 8, add oneof our bed-makers in the college, whose son was « prentice in a house in the parish, whither the infection came also. VOL. II. G 82 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Leviston, Sanderson, and a third, were also, the day be fore, I think, censured in the Star Chamber for contriving his escape, at £500 fine, and imprisonment during pleasure. My Lord Chief Baron Walter' is dead, died a pious death, but rich withal, his personal estate amounting to £30,000 in value, having left to his eldest son £500 a year land, and to his younger £800 a year, upon condi tion that he take upon himself some bookish profession ; otherwise, not to enjoy a foot. He died on Thursday was fortnight. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, December 5, 1630. The remainder of the last week's news, together with what this week brings, is as followeth : That on Friday, November 19, being his majesty's birthday, my lord mayor, as he sat at dinner, received a ch6ck from the lords of the councU, because he suffered the bells to stand so silent, and a commandment to set them all on work, both in city and suburbs ; which was accordingly done, and above a thousand bonfires kindled that night ; although his lordship said, when he heard it, that he never knew that ceremony to have been done before. This message may seem to have been occasioned by that universal ringing and flaming of bonfires for Queen Elizabeth's coronation two days before. The same day, Mr. James Eliot, groom of the privy chamber, and Mr. Cockburne, a Scots carver to his majesty, were committed to the Tower for having buffeted one another in the presence at Whitehall. On Saturday be fore, viz., November 20, Mr. Noy pleaded for his client, Mr. Vassal, (who denies to pay impost upon currants) en deavouring to prove that he could not be detained in prison, when the Customers had seized ten times as much of his goods as the irapost carae to, quia nemo debet pro eodem delicto bis puniri. ' Sir John Walter, educated at Brazennose College, in Oxford. He had been counsellor to the University of Oxford, attorney to Charles Prince of Wales, sergeant-at-law, and in 1625 was made Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. He died November 18, 1630, aged 67 years. CHARLES THE FIRST. 83 The same day, Mr. Attorney exhibited a Bill in the Exchequer against Mr. Littleton and Mr. Mason, charging them to have been privy to some fraudulent conveyances made by Mr. Walter Long, now prisoner in the Tower ; whereby his majesty shall be defrauded of his fine in the Star Chamber. Dr. Leighton, as ye heard, received half his corporal punishment on Friday was sennight, having had one ear nailed to the pillory and cut off, one nostril slit, and one cheek branded. It is said, the other side should be so served, but it is not yet ; and perhaps shall not. For, at the censuring of those that helped him to escape, some of the lords said, that had he not raade an escape, his majesty was graciously inclined to have pardoned all his corporal punishment. His wife went before him to the execution, and said, " As Christ was crucified between two thieves, so was her husband led between two knaves." When he put his neck in the pillory, he said, " This is Christ's yoke," and that the spirit of glory rested upon him. When his ear was taken off, he said, " Blessed be God. If I had a hundred, I would lose them all for the cause." He said his wounds were Christ's wounds, and such like passages. But the doctor ^ this week relates two addi tional ones, if not worse, concerning him. As, first, that many resorting to him, as at other times, so the day he purposed to escape in the manner ye have heard, he went to prayer, wherein he had strange ejaculations, as desiring God, for his own glory and cause, to show a wonder ; and, as he did for Peter and others, so by nig'ht to send his angel to open the prison gates, and fetch him forth. In so much that the day after, his disciples said, " God had heard his prayer, and by his angel delivered him:" which, as saith my author, is a gross impiety. The second was on the piUory, where he told the people he suffered that for their sins ; and out of the Psalms and Isaiah applied unto hiraself the prophecies of Christ's sufferings, to the great scandal of many. Dr. Donne, dean of St. Paul's, was said to be dead ^ in the former week's letters ; and it is not yet contradicted, ' Meddus ^ He did not die tiU March 31, 1631. g2 84 THE COURT AND TIMES OF that I hear. Fowkes, the merchant who heretofore op posed so much in the matter of tonnage and poundage, hath sent some letters beyond sea, wherein he hath en trenched upon raatters of state, and is therefore brought into the Star Chamber. It is said Justice Davenport,^ of the King's Bench, is like to be lord chief baron. There died this week at London, of the plague, 20 in twelve parishes ; of which, 4 in four within the walls. So it is increased again since the former, 1 3. When I had thus mustered together all the news I had, and laid the paper by rae, comes Mr. Pory's letter, which furnishes me with sorae more material and full intelligence : That Sir Humphrey Davenport, my lord treasurer's kins man, shall be lord chief baron ; Mr. Solicitor puisne judge of the Comraon Pleas in his place ; and Sir John Finch solicitor. That Ewer having put in a demurrer into the Star Charaber, to stop the Earl of Danby's bill against hira, it was overruled by their lordships, and he enjoined to prepare his answer against the next term, being charged in the said bill that he termed his lordship a base lord. Coryton, and Cotton, two gentlemen of the late House of Commons, being out of the sarae court of Star Chamber summoned by the Lord Viscount Falkland to answer certain interrogatories concerning one Bushell, who com plained in parliaraent against his lordship, do claim the privilege of that sovereign court of not being questioned in any other inferior, for anything there said and done. So the matter is referred to my lord chief justice, who is the next term to deliver his opinion thereupon. That there hath of late been such undecidable contro versies between our merchant-adventurers and the mer chants of Holland about the tare ^ of our cloths, that we have not vented one cloth at Delft these five months ; and now are removing the trade to Erabden. And our cloths of late have been so slightly raade, as in one half year in the Low Countries our nation hath abated to the value of 11,000 in that kind. But now there is a skilful commis- ' Sir Huraphrey Davenport. He succeeded Sir John Walter as lord chief baron. 2 " Tare signifies the abatement or allowance for faults or defects in our cloths." —Note of Mr. Mead. CHARLES THE FIRST. 85 sioner sent into the four shires of white cloths, to see thera made according to the several statutes, in such sort as hereafter they shall be subject to no tare at all. Our ships are embargoed in Spain until they have sent their fleet to sea. On Tuesday, November 30, arrived a post out of Spain, with the conclusion of the peace be tween thera and us ; which on Sunday (this day) is to be proclairaed, and on Tuesday to be sworn to by his raajesty. Against which day a royal feast is to be provided there for entertainment of the Spanish ambassador, Don Carlos de Colonna, who in one respect deserveth it; namely, because he hath sent an express messenger with a com raand frora his Catholic raajesty to Dunkirk, that after Sunday (December 5) they shall take no more of his majesty's subjects by sea. After Sir Francis Cottington had sworn the king to the peace, he told him, " Sir, now it is in your power to break the peace." — " And is it not in your king's power," said his Catholic majesty, "to do the like? What mean you by this saying?" — " I mean," quoth Sir Francis, "that in not restoring the Palatinate, your majesty may break the peace." — " I hope," said the king, " that I shall obtain as much favour from the Emperor for the Count Palatine, as the King of France hath done for the Duke of Mantua." Dr. Leighton was branded in the cheek with an S; and, though he bore his punishment very stoutly, yet he is since fallen into a fever. Had not the Scottish tailor, the shoemaker, and the joiner, carried theraselves raost subraissively in the Star Chamber, they had under gone corporal punishraent for helping hira to escape. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, December 19, 1630. The doctor [Meddus] writes that the peace with Spain begins not in the Narrow Seas till Monday, December 20, nor on the coast of Spain tUl after three months, nor to the Southward before the expiration of nine raonths. That on Monday the Earl of Castlehaven ^ was taken from 1 Mervin, Lord Audley, Earl of Castlehaven. 86 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the Gatehouse, and brought to the Tower, as for other most foul and abominable misdemeanours towards his O'wn wife,' so for cuckolding his own son by his Ganymeda in Vhis own sight, and other such abominable and never-heard- of viUanies in our land before. That it was reported he should say to the Lords,^ " As other men had their several delights, some in one thing, and some in another, so his whole delight was to damn souls, by causing them to do such things as might surely effect it." The king said, when he was first committed, he should be hanged, or howsoever die for his villanies. But whether the judges can find law enough for it, it is not yet resolved. That at their London Session were about thirty cast ; twenty-three had judgment of deat^, and amongst them an old knight, one Sir N. Halsey,^'ior having two wives ; hy the first of which, and lawful one, he had sixteen chil dren. But he is reprieved. That on Tuesday, the Spanish ambassador feasted at his house, in Aldersgate Street, ray Lord Treasurer, Lord President, Lord Privy Seal, Earl Marshal, Elarl of Dorset, Earl of Carlisle, Earl of Holland; ray Lord Viscount Dorchester being also invited, but detained by his gout. That which now follows, is Mr. Pory's alone, viz., That Monsieur Joachimi, the States' leiger ambassador here, in respect of the great famine and want of bread now in Holland, becarae a suitor to the Lords by reference from his majesty that he might obtain for his masters the States to furnish their war-magazine 1500 lasts, that is 1500 quarters of wheat, and 300 lasts more to supply their garrisons in Brazil. The Lords answered, it was impossible, both in respect of our scarcity and against the humour of the people, who would presently rise in com bustion when they should perceive any such matter. And ' His second wife, Anne, daughter of Ferdinando, Earl of Derby, and widow of Grey Bridges, Lord Chandos. 2 " Whether he said so to the Lords or not, fides sit penes authores ; but a Fellow of our House assures me, he knows a gentleman, a neighbour of his, to whom he stuck not to say as much." — Note of Mr. Mead. ' " He is a Cornishman, and, I hear, pleaded for himself that the first, by whom he had so many children, was not his wife, because the priest but half married them, omitting I know not what." — Note of Mr. Mead. CHARLES THE FIRST. 87 besides, that whatsoever Ireland and Scotland could spare, would be little enough for England. Sir Henry Vane should have been here six weeks ago, but he was importuned by the States to stay to help them to hammer out a peace or truce with Spain, whereof it seemeth they stand in need. But through their churlish jarring with our merchants about the tare of cloth at Delft, ours have reraoved their staple, and the designed place was Embden ; frora whence news is come, that our three ships sent thither are safely arrived, having narrowly escaped certain sands, upon which they touched. And now my author hears their headstrong merchants would willingly condescend to what our merchants stood upon ; but he fears it comes too late. For Antwerp, as one says newly come from thence, stands in confident expectation to have the staple established there ; whither, not being able to pass by the way of Schelde, because of Lilloskance, they have designed Ostend for the port from whence our cloths may be transported a little over land to Ghent, and from thence by water to Antwerp. And to add a little more discomfort to those of the United Provinces, they say Sir Edward Parham, who, in primo of King James, was arraigned of high treason at Winchester, is raising a regiment of English to serve the archduchess, if he can ^t them, for they were but homely used the last time they served her. But howsoever the general opinion is, that Marquis Hamilton will, without fail, the next spring, transport for the King of Sweden 8000 or 10,000 men, the greatest part, if not all, out of Scotland. And before the begin ning of Michaelmas term, my author saith, he saw some sixteen or twenty carpenters at work upon an engine, or carriage, for six muskets, manageable by one man, and to be crowded before hira like a wheelbarrow upon wheels, and of which, within the corapass of a day, that one man shall discharge raore shot (so saith Captain Harailton, the projector or engineer) than forty single rausketeers. Of these the marquis hath made, and wiU make 1000, which, at £5 a piece, wiU cost him £5000. Whereunto, that he might want no money, he hath sold his pension in the 88 THE COURT AND TIMES OF custom-house, of £2,500 yearly, for £12,000, whereby it appears how far he hath engaged hiraself in this business ; and howsoever the Spaniards may like it, it is no breach of the peace. Mr. Selden, Sir MUes Hobart, Mr. Stroud, and Mr. Valentine, have been newly offered, by the judges of the King's Bench, that they may now bail theraselves to their good behaviour upon their own bonds, without troubling any sureties, and in sraall sums ; which, because it is a new proposition, they are jealous, and dare not .meddle with it. But they have since been suitors to the judges, that either they might have leave to go to church, or else be committed to the Tower, where there is a church to go to. Mr. Chambers, the merchant, hath professed to the Warden of the Fleet, to Mr. Attorney, the Barons of the Exchequer, the Judges of the King's Bench, and the Lords of the Council, once and again, saying, " Put me above or under ground, in light or in darkness, I will never acknowledge the sentence given against me in the Star Chamber to be just." But for all this stoutness, he cannot get £3000 worth of goods out of the hands of the officers of the custom-house. What storaachs have some men ! Mr. Fowke's letter, for which Mr. Attorney sum raoned him into the Star Chamber, and which was written to his factor at Leghorn, since dead, was, some say, thus, or to this effect : — " The times are dangerous, the parlia raent being once again dissolved ; which, I fear me, will neither be to our profit nor to our honour. Lord have mercy upon our honour." There died at London this last week but five of the plague, and but one of them within the walls. With us, on Thursday,' died one, in the sarae house where the last died three weeks and five days before ; that is, within two days of the month expiring. But the house hath been all this time shut up, and so it disquiets us not. ' " The same morning died Dr. Cage, of Borough Green, having but a short time enjoyed his new dignity. We are not here so many as we are wont to be, yet enough to hear quickly when a good living falls void." — Nisle of Mr. Mead. CHARLES THE FIRST. 89 Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, January 10, 1630-1. The ground of the quarrel between Mr. Croftes, one of the queen's pages, and the Earl of Denbigh, was this : — Mr. Croftes had angered the Earl of Desmond,' young son to my Lord Denbigh, who thereupon spurned Mr. Croftes. Mr. Croftes knocked him in the queen's presence, and raade hira go crying to his father. He sends his glove in token of a challenge, and into Hyde Park they go. The event was, as you shall hear in the transcript. That the Earl of Carlisle succeeds Sir Jaraes FuUerton in his place of groora of the stole, gratis, notwithstanding that his majesty, to comfort Sir James in his sickness, sent hira word, that whosoever should succeed him should pay to his assigns £6000. The place is worth £2,500 per annum. That after the proclaraation of the peace fifteen days, the Dunkirkers had, contrary to the treaty, taken twenty of our English ships. There was a letter delivered to the Earl of Carlisle from an unknown hand to this effeot : — " Right honourable your lordship, being in so great grace and favour with his raa jesty, should do an acceptable service to move him, that no more masques should be upon the Lord's day, but on some other days, &c." There hath none died of the plague since before Christ mas. The two in the General Bill are of some formerly omitted. Mr. John Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering. January 13, 1630-1. That on Friday last, at night, it was his hap to be a spectator of the pompous deportation of Sir James Ful- lerton's corpse from his house in Broad Street to West minster, being accompanied with no fewer than 100 coaches, with torchlights answerable. " Little did he ' " The Earl of Desmotid says to Mr. Croftes, ' Your hose are too short.' Mr. Croftes replies, ' So is your nose.' The earl spurns him. Thus the doctor relates 'it."— Note of Mr. Mead. 90 THE COURT AND TIMES OF think of such grandeur, when he was usher of the Free School in Dublin ; and Sir James Hamilton, since created Viscount Claneboy,' and now one of the greatest subjects in that kingdom, schoolmaster : where they laid the first foundation of their fortune, in the latter end of Queen Ehzabeth's reign, by conveying the letters of some great lords of England, who worshipped the sun-rising, to King Jaraes, and his letters back to them, this Avay of obliquity being chosen as more safe than the direct northern road." That a few days before he died he sent this compli- mental message to the king by the Marquis Hamilton, that if the souls in heaven had any notion of persons and of things done on earth, he would, as he had ever done, continue to pray perpetually to Almighty God for him. That a little before his death the king had sealed a privy seal to hira, and his assignees, for £8000 ; and that the Earl of Carlisle, who royally feasted the Spanish ambas sador on Sunday last, succeeds him [FuUerton] in his place of groom of the stole, gratis. That Philip Burlamachi hath gotten a brave employ ment into France, to fetch home the latter half of the queen's portion, being £150,000, and satisfaction also for three great rich English ships, treacherously taken by the French after the peace proclaimed. " Do you think that the French, being so exhausted by their wars, would part with such heaps of treasure for nothing ? No : you may be sure they would not. The bait, therefore, to allure them thereunto, is the fort of Kebeck,^ in Canada, to get it out of Captain Kirk's clutches; the trade of beavers and otters, which they want to enjoy by the possession whereof, having been worth unto them, communihus annis, £30,000 by year." That the said fort sticketh in their hearts, as Calais did in Queen Mary's. That certain merchants of London were about to set out a new voyage for the discovery of the north-west passage, one of the adventurers wherein asking in his hearing Sir Thomas Button, who had formerly been era ployed in the like discovery, his opinion concerning the sarae, his answer was, that if they meant to do good ' Serjeant-at-law and privy councillor to James I. ^ Quebec. CHARLES THE FIRST. 91 therein, they must make choice of an honest and sufficient man to be employed therein, whom they must not tie up with any directions, but relying upon his art and judg ment, leave him at liberty to practise the same according to occasion ; " for," said he, " the directions given to rae at ray setting out to my voyage for the like discovery, destroyed quite the success thereof : for having sailed four hundred leagues into the Strait, and the tides of the Eastern Ocean ceasing, and the tides of the Western Ocean coming in strong, which I ought to have followed, I was by my directions diverted into a bay, where, being frozen up, I was forced to abide all the winter, and so leave the further pursuit of that discovery. That the king had made a grant to the Earls of War wick and Holland, of a little island lying near unto the coast of New Spain, in the West Indies, called by the Spaniards Catalina, but by their lordships Henriette, after the name of our queen. That ou Sunday last were published in the court strict orders, appointing who should come into the privy lodgings, and who should not. That the same day Sir Robert Yale (I believe, says Sir Thomas Puckering, he mistakes his name for Deall), a gentleman of the privy charaber, and- Mr. Patrick Murray, one of the king's carvers, did in the same room spit in one another's faces ; and that the same night the masque was performed at the court with great splendour. That the king and queen went yesterday towards Newmarket, where the university of Cambridge shall be spared from furnishing preachers to the court, the king's chaplains in ordinary being appointed to that function. That Sir Humphrey Davenport, late puisne judge of the Common Pleas, is now by patent under the great seal called to be Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. " Are not the patentees for discovery of hidden treasure come yet into Warwickshire? of all which treasure by them to be found the king is to have the fourth part." He observed some differences between the articles of the peace newly concluded with Spain, and those which were concluded between King James and Phihp III, 92 THE COURT AND TIMES OF in anno 1604, viz., that those were treated and con cluded in London, because the Spaniards begged that peace : these at Madrid, because we sought the peace. Witness Mr. Endyraion Porter's journey into Spain three years agone, sent by the late duke. 2. That to those articles the names, together with the qualities of all the commis sioners, EngUsh, Spanish, and Flemish, for the Archdukes Albertus and Isabella, were added in print, to these the name of no one coraraissioner. 3. That to those, as an additaraent, were affixed five other articles, two whereof tended to exerapt the English from payment of the duty of 30 per 1 00, and the other three were to mitigate and qualify the rigour of the Inquisition ; all which are left out in these. And, lastly, that those articles were tri partite between the King of England, the King of Spain, and the Archdukes beforenamed ; these are only bipartite between the said two kings, by reason that the archduchess hath seven years agone resigned up to the King of Spain her right and interest in the Low Countries. That the report goes that Sir Edward Parham shall in the spring carry over 4000 men to serve on that side. That the Hollanders being shy of these proceedings and of our herring fleet, in preparing against the spring, will neither buy of our merchant adventurers their cloth lying at the value of £100,000 at Delft, nor suffer them to ex port it to any other mart, but keep it as a pawn to save them harmless against any afterclap. That on the 19th of December last, O.S., they had like to have lost Wesell ; for the Rhine heing frozen over, 6000 of the enemy, coming over the Rhine from Rhinberk side, gave a furious assault to the town, 400 of them having by scaling gotten into the sarae, who were fain to leave their bones there, and the rest to retire. That some say, that the Duke of Saxony hath joined with the King of Sweden ; but until summer be come, Mr. Pory cannot tell what to believe of that prince, so various and uncertain the reports are concerning him. That at Marseilles the common people have been so ex asperated with new taxes, as that they cried out " Vive le Roy Philippe ;" as who should say, we can soon caU in CHARLES THE FIRST. 93 Phihp the Fourth : and that the report is that all Provence and Languedoc are in actual rebellion, against whora the Prince of Conde is sent : that Burgundy is in a corabus- tion : and that the governor of Verdun is professedly re volted frora the crown of France. That Sir Isaac Wake, the king's arabassador in Pied- raont, designed from France, hath had thirteen of his people dead in his house of the plague, of which three waited on hira in his chamber, but not one gentleman ; but that they have all of them had fevers : and that Mr. Morton, who brought the last packet, had come all the way with a quo tidian fever, of a cold fit and a hot fit upon him ; who, while the cold fit was upon him, was fain to run on foot, and in his hot fit to post it moderately : but that in nine or ten days after his arrival at London he had taken off the fever. That at the instance of the Lady Wake there had been thanksgiving raade in divers churches in London for her husband's escape, and prayers for his safe return : and that the king, to comfort hira after his affliction, had given him a boon (besides his allowance of £6 per diem) of £600. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, January 30, 1630-1. On Monday, the first day of this term. Sir Humphrey Davenport was elevated into the place of lord chief baron by my lord keeper and lord treasurer, where he promised respect to the ease of the subject as well as to the profit of his majesty. Yesterday, January 29, was the day he appointed to decide the pleas against fining for knighthood. Into his place of puisne judge of the Comraon Pleas, ray author heard, that Baron Vernon (now one of the judges of the Exchequer) is to ascend, and Mr. Weston, a lawyer, kinsraan to my lord treasurer, into his. Sir Edward Coke being very infirm in body, a friend of his sent hira two or three doctors to regulate his health ; whom he told that he had never taken physic since he was born, and would not now begin ; and that he had now upon him a disease which all the drugs of Asia, the gold of Africa, the silver of America, nor all the doctors of 94 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Europe could cure — old age. He therefore thanked them and his friend that sent them, and dismissed thera nobly, with a reward of twenty pieces to each raan. The most prevaihng word at this time in Holland is, arm, arm, arm. They levy horse and prepare foot to be in the field before the eneray, and do pretend to raise 10,000 horse, a number which they never yet aspired unto. They have of late (if one Vander Bragg, a Dutchman, told my author true) declared the Armlnians to be schisraatics, so soon as they had repaid those of Arasterdam the great sum they had borrowed of them towards the siege of the Busse. My author was told the day before his writing, that my Lord [Sir Henry] Vane was returned thence pure, that is, free frora all obligation to that republic. For whereas other ambassadors have been rewarded with house rent, gifts, or pensions, (as Sir Ralph Winwood's son and heir enjoys a pension from them during life) he neither was nor would be beholden to them for the value of a doit ; and so can freely discourse to his majesty the state of affairs there. Those States by their edicts do stiffly oppose our clothing ; yet necessity raakes their subjects buy of ours by stealth : which the States knowing well enough, dare not but connive at, for fear of stirring up an hornets' nest about their ears. And so now ours seem to have the better end of the sta,ff. The youngest daughter of the Queen of Bohemia was lately christened at the Hague under the name of Sophia.^ Her godfathers were the States of Friesland, and god mothers the Countess of Keulinberg and Madarae de Bre- derode, who each of them gave £30 sterling, to be distri buted in the nursery, as the godfathers did £40, and in a box of gold worth £50 a patent to their god-daughter for a pension of £40 ^ durante vita. The voyage intended for the North- West discovery is chiefly furthered by Mr. Briggs, and the man to be therein employed is one Fox, a master of a ship of Hull, and though never yet in those parts, so my author thinks, yet is held to be a very skilful seaman. ' Afterwards Electress of Hanover. ^ The figures in the MS. are not easily made out. CHARLES THE FIRST. 95 A friend of mine being this last week present at the High Commission Court, heard there a case of marriage between a Welch gentleraan and his sister's son's wife judged to be incest : yet the gentleraan had had five chil dren by her. This was in the sarae degree for affinity which the case of Sir G. A.^ is for consanguinity. There died in the city this last week of the plague nine ; whereof but one within the walls. We continue at Cam bridge still sound, God be thanked. Sir George Gresley to Essex House, February 2, 1632. Here is no foreign news at this instant, but what this enclosed aviso advertiseth : only there is a ruraour that the King of Sweden with a selected corapany is gone sud denly from his court, and great assembly of .ambassadors, upon some secret design not known unto any. Where upon sorae ill-wishers to his prosperous proceeding have presuraed to report that he was taken prisoner in riding post to raeet his queen, or in riding forth, slenderly at tended, to view sorae of his enemy's works. And it is said my lord treasurer hath called one gentleraan to account for the sarae, and raade hira bring forth his author. But I cannot as yet hear the certainty of the gentleman's news, nor the truth thereof. On Sunday last the old Venetian ambassador took his leave at court, and the new one was received, and had audience there. The queen and her ladies do practise the masque, which they intend to perform at Shrovetide twice a-week. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, February 6, [1630-1]. Their majesties came both from Royston to London on Monday last, intending to have lain at Theobald's, where, not finding their bedding arrived, they were enforced to come to Whitehall, where, nothing being prepared for their entertainment, they were fain to try what hospitality the prince kept at St. Jaraes's. On Saturday, yesterday ' Giles Allington.— S^e Mr. Mead's letter of May 20, 1631. 96 THE COURT AND TIMES OF was sennight, January 29, Sir Henry Wallop, sheriff this last year of Hampshire, Sir Thomas Thynne, of Soraerset- shire, Mr. Elwes, of Northaraptonshire, as likewise those that were then high sheriffs of Suffolk, Worcester, and Dorsetshire, were fined at £200 a man for not having sumraoned so raany to fine for knighthood, as the cora raissioner found afterwards out.' On Tuesday Mr. Littleton, Mr. Sherland, and Mr. Mason, three faraous lawyers, pleaded for some of those that have refused to fine. They confessed both the antiquity and legality of the king's right to summon his subjects ad arma gerenda at the time of his coronation, and that his majesty might summon thera toties quoties, until they either ap peared, or submitted theraselves to a fine. First, there fore, they were to be particularly called per legates et honos summonitores, to appear in a certain place at a cer tain time, most of which have been now oraitted. Whither being eome, they were to present themselves to the lord great chamberlain ; and if within four days he did not employ them in the king's service, they might safely de part to their own home. If he did, then were they to receive an upper garment and a belt out of the king's wardrobe. Sorae are of opinion, saith raine author, they made the case very clear on their client's side : others, that they by consequence spake more for his majesty's advan tage than for their clients ; and that Mr, Attorney would as on Friday (which was the day) make good use thereof, and be able to answer all their arguments. For the sums that have been brought in at several times before Christmas, my author was told they do amount to £50,000, and since Christmas to £20,000 ; and that my lord treasurer aims to advance them to £100,000. On Monday, Mr. Attorney put up an information in the King's Bench against Mr. Selden, Sir Miles Hobart, Mr. Stroud, and Mr. Valentine, for having, in the time of the late pestilent vacation, abandoned their prison of the Gate house, and retired into the country ; whereunto on Thurs day morning they all appeared. ' " The doctor says he heard the new Hampshire sheriff had returned 120 more than Sir H. Wallop ha.i:'— Note of Mr. Mead. CHARLES THE FIRST. 97 Sir Giles AUington ^ was the sarae day cited to appear before the high coraraission at Larabeth ; but while he was expected, ray Lord Wirabledon, his ally, carae in, and made his excuse. Mr. Walter Montagu, in his return forth of France, was, by reason of an hideous storm, forced to cast himself sud denly into a boat near Dover pier, and for haste to leave behind hira those packets he brought O'ver for the king and State, and his own jewels which vvere given him in the French court, in the bark which brought hira over. But the bark, getting fortunately into Dunkirk, returned within three days after to Dover, and delivered up his charge. The East India fleet being departed with these easterly winds, my Lord of Denbigh is gone the same way with them in ambassage to the King of Persia. Mr. Henry Briggs, of Oxford, the great mathematician, is lately dead,^ at seventy-four years of age. There died of the plague at London but six, and in four out-parishes. We continue, God be praised, sound. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, February 27, 1630-1. On Sunday night last, Mr. Jaraes Maxwell, accorapanied by two of my lord treasurer's sons, brought news out of France that all there is in combustion ; that the queen- mother is confined to her house in the Fauxbourg St. Germain, and a strong guard set upon her. For horae news, I will begin with that great controversy between my Lord Marshal and the King's Bench, which took up so rauch of my last letter. It was discussed on Friday was sennight before his majesty and the lords at Whitehall, but not decided, because though the two tip staves were then in mercy released out of the Marshalsea, yet his lordship hath authority given him to prosecute Jones anew, and to send a new warrant after him, if any messenger of his lordship's dare pursue hira into Wales, whither he is gone. ' "A friend of mine hath a letter that my Lord of Holland had already begged his fine." — Note of Mr. Mead. 2 He died 26 January, 1630-1. VOL. II. H 98 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Judge Jones,^ for speaking somewhat too plainly of my Lord of Arundel's court,^ was shrewdly shaken up by both lords chamberlains of the king's and queen's side ; my Lord of Perabroke calling him a saucy fellow. In fine, my author heard, the judges notwithstanding (if my Lord of Arundel do catch Jones once again) are resolved to reheve him, and to stand to the maintenance of their court, being, as they affirm, the highest and ancientest next the parha ment, as where, till King Henry VIII.'s days, all the kings were wont to sit in person, and where all the subjects in England, both peers and coraraons, are tryable for goods, lands, and life; where the judges do in so high a degree represent his majesty's person, as that if the greatest sub ject in England do kill one of them as he sits there to administer justice, he shall be guilty of high treason. The judges did acknowledge themselves, considered in their own persons, to be but poor mean men, and my Lord of Arundel to be a person of high birth and eminent fortune, yet that in the former respects, when they sat in judgment upon the bench, they were not to yield unto him. My author heard on the day he wrote that his lordship had been a suitor to his majesty to appoint some commissioners to determine the controversy between them. His lordship for the present had prevailed by vouching a statute enacted anno 13, Richard II., cap. 2, which saith that in case the constable or marshal do draw causes into their court which belong to the decision of other courts, the party grieved (as now Jones, for example) must obtain a privy seal from his majesty, directed to the constable or marshal, to stop their proceeding until the king's council have determined to the jurisdiction of what court the cause belongeth. Whereby the king's council some antiquaries would under stand not the privy council, but the king's great council of lords in parliaraent. On Saturday (yesterday sennight) Sir Richard Weston's case concerning certain lands and manors he sues for, which his ancestors sold, was ventilated in the Star Cham- ' Sir William Jones, one of the justices of the King's Bench. ^ See some account of this court in the Earl of Clarendon's History of his own Life, vol. i., edit. 1759, Svo. CHARLES THE FIRST. 99 ber ; and the innotescimus, or certificate, under the great seal (which is a bar against his obtaining of those lands) was daraned by ray lord treasurer and nine voices raore, there being but three voices for it, viz., the Lord Chief Justice Hyde, my lord privy seal, and my lord keeper, who all spoke to the point, and ray lord keeper endeavoured to answer all the arguments and allegations of the ten opposites. The final pronunciation of sentence is deferred till the hearing of Mr. Stoke, who hath purchased one of those manors, and whose evidence the innotescimus is. On the same Saturday night, a woman having negli gently left a pan of coals under one of the stalls or shops in Westminster Hall, which do pass along frora the Com mon Pleas towards the Chancery, all those shops save three were burnt up; and the flame mounted so high on the west side of the Hall, as not only some of the angels' wings were singed, but the fire took hold on the roof; and had not Mr. Squib, one of the tellers of the Exchequer, passed occasionally ' through the Hall betimes on Sunday morning, and hired two sailors to climb up, and to open the lead in three or four places and pour down water, that goodly hall had been burned down. So now his majesty will suffer no more shops to stand there. One day since the term, ray lord keeper in the Star Chamber said, that his majesty's instructions, lately pub lished, were not to diminish the authority, but to stir up the diligence of justices of the peace. There died of the plague at London this last week, 9. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, March 6, 1630-1. For our intelligence on Saturday, it is as followeth : that there are a great number of schedules to be sent out of the Exchequer all England over, to estreat issues upon all such, as being suramoned, have not as yet paid fines for their knighthood. And the issues, they say, are increased frora 405. to £4, £6, £8, £lO, yea, some to £20. It is thought that ere long they wiU bring all the unknighted ' As it was his custom on occasion. H 2 100 THE COURT AND TIMES OF lords into play, and that they expect from the Lord Pierre point, Earl of Kingston, for a fine for his knighthood, no ?less than £2000. All the six clerks were some few days since called before the Lords to compound for their ex orbitant fees, and it is thought it wiU cost them £2000 a man. But Mr. D'Ewes, saith my author, is not Uke to live raany days ;^ and so there is like to be another great windfall for Sir Julius Csesar, before Sir Dudley Digges steps into his place. So soon as the two lords chief justices have ridden their circuits, they are to raeet at Salisbury, there to indict the Earl of Castlehaven, whom, if the grand jury find guilty, he is then to be tried by his peers, at the King's Bench bar, either the next term, or before. That my Lord of Carlisle was, the last week save one, sworn groom of the stole, in Sir Jaraes FuUerton's place. That Captain Pennington told Captain Gosnald the other day, at my lord treasurer's, that tlie Earl of Holland, our chancellor, should ere long be raade adrairal. That the Marchioness of Hamilton was, on Tuesday last, delivered of a daughter, and that they say her hus band's expedition towards the King of Sweden holdeth good, and that his majesty, to give hira encourageraent and raaintenance in those wars, hath bestowed on him the impost of wines in Scotland, which will araount very near to £20,000 a year. Sir Francis Cottington is daily ex pected out of Spain, who, they say, in the King's ship the Corvertine, brings hither a huge sum of reals and pistoles, to be conveyed or made over by bill into Flanders for the King of Spain's service. That my Lord of Canterbury's Office of the Faculties was never so set on work as now, for granting of licenses during life to eat flesh on fasting days; my lord keeper and my lord treasurer (as they say) having advised their friends so to do; because there will be a strict account taken concerning that business ; and it is thought that thousands will be fined, not only for dressing, but for eating flesh ; ' Paul D'Ewes, Esq., oneof the Six Clerks, and father of Sir Symonds D'Ewes. He died, 22 February, 1630, ofa fever and pleurisy, at his house in the Six Clerks' Office. — Life of Sir Symonds D'Ewes, written by himself. Harl. MSS., vol. 646. CHARLES THE FIRST. 101 and my lord mayor, they say, hath order to swear four men in every ward to make diligent search who do dress or eat flesh. A certain cock-brained English minister, saith ray author, preaching in Holland to an auditory of English soldiers, and saying that Queen Elizabeth was a slut, because she had not swept the house of God clean of those rags and relics of popery, the soldiers, so soon as he was come forth of the church, fell upon him, and cuffed hira well favour ably for his pains.' Of the plague at London died 7. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, March 7, 1631. Here are two couriers lately corae from Sir Henry Vane ; but all the packets going now to Newraarket, the contents thereof are kept there frora us, being, as it seemeth, raat ters of secrecy. By word of raouth only they have re ported that the King of Sweden had lately taken Creutz- nach, the only town of the Palatinate besides Frankendale and Heidelberg that remained in the enemy's hands. It is thought that the said king hath a straight intelligence, and sorae great design in hand with the States, having lately sent unto thera his great chancellor Oxenstiern, a man of great reputation in Christendom for his abilities and valour. And this is the time that the States have ap pointed to put their army into the field. A letter come from those parts hath spread a rumour here that the Duke of Saxony should be fallen from the King of Sweden to the emperor ; but there is little credit given thereunto. I had almost omitted to let you know that one of those two couriers that are come from Sir Henry Vane, named Gif ford, a great papist, and a man being very ill affected to the King of Sweden, of whose carriage and affairs he had made here a very partial and prejudicial report in a forraer journey ; he being coraplained of for it by the said king to Sir Henry Vane, was despatched hither by him, as Urias ' To abuse Queen Elizabeth has now become too common a practice, with writers of a certain class, to excite observation. 1 02 THE COURT AND TIMES OF by David, with letters of his own conderanation, and so hath been clapped up upon his arrival here. What pro ceeding may be farther against him, or what mystery in the proceeding, we shall shortly see. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, March 13, 1630-1. My author hears that no raean or ordinary fine shall ex cuse those six clerks of the Chancery, no, nor sorae forty officers more of the sarae court, as cursitors, filazers, petty bags, hanaper, &c., for having taken exorbitant fees; and that the prothonotaries and other officers of the King's Bench and of other courts will fall within the same predi cament, Mr. Attorney being to inform against them all in the Star Chamber, and their lordships there to censure them at their pleasures and discretions. That for certain all those that have been summoned and have not fined for knighthood, raust now pay three entire i^ubsidies and a half, that is, seventeen single subsidies and a half; as if a man be £lO land in the subsidy-book, he shall pay £35. The last week was christened the Marquis of Hamilton's daughter; her godmothers being the queen, and the old Countess of Buckingham and my lord treasurer her god father. On Thursday it was said that his lordship the marquis was gone towards Scotland, to make preparations there for his expedition toward the King of Sweden into Gerraany ; and that his majesty, besides £40,000 im pressed money, which he must have of my lord treasurer for his better encouragement and maintenance in these wars, hath given him the irapost of wines in Scotland for eleven years. On Monday, the king sent away one Mr. Elphinston, his majesty's carver, to carry assurance of the marquis's journey ; and for the defraying of his charges, though the king allowed him nothing, yet the raarquis gave him £300. That there are six colonels nominated, three Scottish, as Hamilton, Ramsey, and Grey; two English, Sir Jacob Astley (who also is serjeant-major-general of all those CHARLES THE FIRST. 103 troops) and Sir William Brounker ; and one Irish, vpho is to comraand an Irish regiment, Sir Piers Crosby. Sir Francis Cottington is, about Sunday last, come horae from his ambassage in Spain, extreme rich both in money and jewels, the king there having, at his arrival at Lisbon, given him for his first boon the custom and impost of £20,000 worth of kerseys and baize. He hath brought home with him a great mass of treasure of gold and silver for the King of Spain's service and payment of his soldiers in the Low Countries, which occasioned his so long stay : the quantity, as ray author heard, being of 120,000 pounds weight, which equals £360,000, (the doctor writes two hundred chests) which is all to be coined here, and raade over in bills of exchange into Flanders by Burlamachi and Ricott. There carae, besides, along with the king's ship which brought him, fifteen hundred Spaniards, who, since she got into Portsmouth, are safely arrived at Dunkirk. Don Carlos de Colonna, the late Spanish ambassador here, so soon as he was landed in that town, called in question and hanged two of those sea captains ; the one for having expressly set sail out of that port for the rob bing of English after he knew the peace was concluded ; (those that were abroad at the conclusion having fifteen days' liberty) the other for having since those fifteen days put some of our nation at sea to extreme torture, to make them confess they had Holland goods aboard. This Don Carlos is, under the archduchess, general of the wars for the King of Spain in the Netherlands, and labours mainly to bring the staple of our cloth to Bruges, in Flanders, where it was of old, before it came to Antwerp. On Monday last, Sir Miles Hobart was released out of the Gate-house upon his own £50 bond to his good beha viour ; for which some account hira pusillanimous. My Lord of Salisbury hath found out araong his evidences that original deed under three seals, which hath confirraed that innotescimus under the great seal, which, since the end of the term, ray lord treasurer, and nine voices in the Star Chamber more, had condemned for a counterfeit in the behalf of Sir Richard Weston, my lord chief justice, my lord privy seal, and my lord keeper, defending it. Var 104 THE COURT AND TIMES OF There are two messengers, gentlemen of worth, which came hither on Thursday was sennight from the King of Bohemia ; the one his prime secretary, the other one, who was an agent here forraerly four years togetiier. They are defrayed at our king's charges, have ten dishes a meal aUowed them, and, it is thought, shall be sent from his majesty hence to the emperor, perhaps about restitution of the Palatinate. There died of the plague at London this last week 10; 9 in six out-parishes, and 1 within the walls. I hear there is, since the bill, five new houses shut up in the Strand. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, April 2, 1631. Archie, whilst he was in Spain, got a pension from that king. And do you not think he was lapped iu his mother's smock, if it be true, which himself told ray author, that he hath now received the arrearages thereof, amounting to £1,500? On Thursday was sennight, died Sir John Coupler, and left a rich widow that raay dispend £4,100 per annum, whereof £2,500 in jointures by her forraer husband, Sir Charles Morison, and this, and £l,600 land of inheritance of her own. There died of the plague this last week, thirteen ; v?hereof ten in six out-parishes, and three iu two parishes without the walls. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, April 6, 1631. The Dean of St. Paul's, Dr. Donne, is lately dead,' in whose place Dr. Winriffe^ hath succeeded. The lords are not a little troubled about the daily reports that come unto them of the people's discontent- ' Hr died March 31, 1631. ^ I'honias Winrifl', nitido dean of Gloucester in 1621; advanced lo the Bishopric of Lincoln in 1631. He died in 1654. CHARLES THE FIRST. 105 ments and stirring in divers places for the great dearth of com, and are endeavouring to take some speedy order therein. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thamas Pucherijig, Bart. London, April 14, 1631. At this present I shaU only inform you of the news that Mr. Montagu brought two days since from the court of France, conceming Monsieur, that he is gone frora Besan- 9on into Lorraine, and is now there with the duke, who hath given notice thereof to the king, and earnestly en deavoured by his letters to excuse himself therein towards him, professing that he had been surprised by Monsieur, and could not refuse to receive such a guest, that carae to trust himself so confidently into his bands, preferring 'vvithal, that if his letters and messengers were not sufficient, he would come himself to give the king satisfaction therein. Monsieur hath but his ordinary train with hira, having sent away at his coming into the Franche Comte, aU the gentlemen and horse that were there, and came with him as far as Bellegarde, saving only the Dukes of Elboeuf, BeUegarde, and Rohannez, the Comte de ]\Ioret, and two or three persons more of quality, which are declared crimineh de lese-majeste, unless within a month they return and submit themselves unto the king, who at this present lieth at Fontainebleau, and the queen mother as yet at Com- peigne, from whence she sheweth herself very unwilling to have her restraint removed to another place. Mr. Mon tagu reporteth also, that the Duke of Vendome is raising 3000 men in France for the States' service, and that in Italy raatters are dra'wing to a general and absolute accom modation, which yet few men wiU be easUy brought to believe. Sir Isaac Wake is now at length come to Paris, but with a very smaU train, because many of his family have been carried away by the sickness in Piedmont, which made him to come on, and to lie there privately for some days, till a new supply of servants, which is gone from hence to fill up his house, be corae unto him. 1 06 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, April 21, 1631. Because Warwickshire is conterminous with Gloucester shire, I will not presume to tell you what hath been done by ray Lord of Northaraptonshire and Serjeant Dendy, at the Forest of Dean ; but raine humble suit is, ray noble patrons,' to you both, that you will agree whose servant of either of you shall write rae the particularities of that business, and I assure hira his letter shall never prejudice him, for I will burn it as soon as I have read it. To proceed with our English affairs, a familiar friend of my lord privy seal,^ tells me his lordship went lately down to his Castle of Kimbolton to take possession of Naybridge TPark and the meadows thereto belonging, being granted by his majesty in fee farm to his lordship and his heirs for ever, in consideration of having relinquished his patent of justice in Eyre, on this side Trent, and yielded up that place to my Lord of Holland. My noble Lord of Essex hath brought his new raarried lady^ to town, extreme sick, to recoraraend her to the skill of the doctors. The Lady Marquess of Winchester,* daughter to the Lord Viscount Savage, had an imposturae upon her cheek lanced; the humour fell down into her throat, and quickly despatched her, being big with child, whose death is lamented as well in respect of other her virtues, as that she was inclining to become a protestant. On Monday, the sheriffs of London began to build scaf folds in Westminster Hall against Monday next, for trial of the Earl of Castlehaven, there being twenty-seven lords summoned by writ to be his judges (whereof all the lords of the privy council, except the Earls of Exeter and Bridge- water, are part), and ray lord keeper to sit lord high steward for the day. His sentence, as I am told by an active justice of the peace, is like to undergo sorae difficult ' Sir Thomas Puckering and Sir Thomas Lucy. ^ Henry, Earl of Manchester. 3 His second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Pawlet, of Edington, in Wiltshire. * Jane, wife of John Powlet, Marquess of Winchester, by whom he had one son, Charles, afterwards Marquess of Winchester. CHARLES THE FIRST. 107 questions of law, who tells me also that ray Lord of D. swore unto him they should never obtain his voice to condemn him, though he be one of those twenty-seven peers. On Sunday night, the old Countess of Buckingham feasted both their majesties in her lodging at Whitehall ; and on Monday night, ray lord chamberlain ' did the like at his lodgings at the Cockpit, after his extraordinary great winnings at a horse-race at Winchester. The same morning ray Lord of Salisbury took his jour ney to Hertford for regulating of the corn markets in that shire, and my Lord of Holland to Brentford for the same purpose. But my Lord Wimbledon being for the sarae end last week in Kingston market, he told it my Lord of C, who told it rae again ; " Com," said he, " did rise there 18*. in the bushel that day, and I think it did so because we were there." His lordship's project and practice of drawing money frora the alehouses is laid asleep. One Odour, a scrivener, in Holborn, that set him ou work, was that man of my Lord Verulam,^ who, by conveyance of bribes, was the occasion of his overthrow. The meal-chandlers here in London, who were not only some of them clapped in Newgate, but all of them bound to buy up no more corn or meal within thirty-five miles of London, found a new trick to elude their bond ; to wit, on a sudden they bought up all the corn and meal in these London markets, and so raised the price since Easter two shillings in the bushel, which fell so much the week before Easter. Two houses at Greenwich were lately shut up as being suspected of the plague, and all the stuff in one of them burnt, and the people removed thence. But I heard yesterday, it proves but a suspicion, in which respect their majesties will remove the court thither the sooner. Gerbier,^ the duke's painter, is to reside agent with the archduchess, and having been all his lifetime a papist, hath provided hiraself of a protestant chaplain. I hope the next they send to her shall be a barber, as Louis XI. of France sent his barber to a Duke of Burgundy, one of ' Philip, Earl of Pembroke. » Bacon. ^ gir Balthazar. 108 THE COURT AND TIMES OF her predecessors. And now they say Mr. Thomas Carey, of the bedchamber, son to the Earl of Monmouth, shall go lieger arabassador into Spain. Captain WeddaU, he that was so rauch employed by the duke at the Isle of Rhe, being now come horae general of these two East-India ships, the Charles and the Jonas, and being returned home this third voyage of his, extraordinary rich ; the governor of the Company told me he had ful filled the Jew's proverb, which they use in Barbary, " The first voyage for thee ; the second for thee and rae ; and the third for rae." But, defend himself as well as he can, they mean to call him to account. Touching at the isle of Madagascar, in their way homeward, they bought there at their first coraing, an ox that would have been worth twenty raarks in Smithfield, for eight great beads worth eightpence. But towards their departure the savages grew politic, and raised the price to ten beads an ox. Yesterday, I heard of a prodigious thing which I ara neither apt nor willing to believe, that one hath got a license to transport five ships' lading of fuller's earth (without which that people can raake no cloth), into Holland, where their intent and purpose any time this twelvemonth hath been to make cloth of their own, that, if they could, they might banish ours out of the world. I hear that my lord treasurer, by the solicitation of some servant of his, hath proffered a salary of £500 a-year among certain druggists and merchants to undertake for his majesty the business of tobacco, about which there have been divers raeetings ; but they dare not touch any of his lordship's salary, for fear lest it raight shortly prove birdlirae to them and their estates. The last news out of Germany, written by Mr. Goodman and Mr. Elsington, his raajesty's two last messengers to the King of Sweden, are, that after some of Tilly's people (for Tilly himself was not within two hundred railes of the place), with the loss of 2000 men, had won New Branden burg, and left 600 men in garrison to keep the town, the King of Sweden, so soon as he heard of it, marched thitherward ; the noise of whose coming raade that new CHARLES THE FIRST. 109 garrison to value one pair of heels above two pair of hands : so they left only their sick and hurt people behind them, whom that brave king, instead of revenge, cherished and entertained into his service. We hear from other hands, that the evangelical princes assembled at Leipsic have sent to the emperor an instrument or manifest under the hands and seals of twenty-seven of thera ; and that, having so done, they were all of them resolved to take arms. Sir Robert Anstruther, at Hamburg, hearing that Mr. Goodwin, as he passed by sea from Lubeck towards Stralsund, was taken by a man-of-war of the emperor, wrote unto Tilly for his release, as being a servant of the King of Great Britain. Whereunto Tilly's answer was, he was sorry it was not true ; because, had it been so, he might have had an occasion to have shown how much he respected and honoured the King of Great Britain. One strange accident I raust recount unto you, that lately happened in Gerraany. One Mr. Fairfax writes from Francfort, to Sir Thoraas Gore of Yorkshire, his kinsraan, that eighteen Hollanders (whereof three had their hands in torturing our people to death at Amboyna, in the East Indies) lying one night in the same town as they were going towards Strasburg, being at supper in the midst of their cups and jollities, those three discoursed to the rest, how bravely they had triumphed over the English at Amboyna, and what justice they had done upon them, &c. This discourse of theirs came suddenly to the ears of two English captains of horse, serving under the Eraperor, being then in town, who, next morning, with a troop of hoi'se, met those Hollanders in a wood, and bid them prepare themselves, for they must die. The Hollanders said they hoped otherwise, for all the money they had was at their command. " We seek not your money," said they ; " you may throw that upon a dung hill, if you please. It is your lives we must have, in revenge of the blood of a kinsman of ours, and other English which you tortured to death at Amboyna : and, if we had time, we would inflict all those tortures of fire, water, &c., upon you ; but, being scanted thereof, you shall die an easier death. You three shall be hanged first, for being 110 THE COURT AND TIMES OF actors, and the residue after you, for being applauders and justifiers of that tragedy." After they had hanged up sixteen, they made the two surviving to cast the dice, which of them should escape to carry the news into Hol land ; whom they bid to tell his masters, the States, what justice two Englishraen had done upon those heinous raalefactors, which they had suffered so many years to go unpunished.' Sir Thomas Gore and his letter have been exarained by the lords of the council ; and Sir Francis Barnham of Kent said to a friend of raine, that ray Lord Treasurer had told hira it was true. Here hath been a speech, as if Bahia, also in Brazil, over and besides Fernambuel,^ had been once more taken by the Hollanders ; for extirpating of whora out of that main (if they can at least) that great fleet, which had been four months in preparing at Lisbon, (all which tirae our English merchant ships there to their great damage, that they might carry no news abroad, have stood embar goed) is now at length ready to set sail ; and their rendez vous, frora whence they are to begin their voyage, is Porto Port. This fleet, I heard an English raerchant trading for Spain say, had not been ready this twelveraonth, if they had not by our nation been furnished with cordage, munition, and hands also. Out of France, I hear, that Monsieur, having written a satirical letter to the king his brother, charging him with oppressing the people, discontenting the nobility, follow ing ill counsels, &c., the king having published it in print, doth answer it only with marginal notes. Also, that Monsieur hath sent a petition to the parliament of Paris, that, whereas Armand du Plessis, Cardinal de Richelieu, hath procured from the parliament of Dijon an arrtt, or sentence, conderaning him and his followers comme criminels de Ihe-majesti, and accusing hira and them to have gone voluntarily out of France to trouble the peace of that kingdom, he saith it is a mere slander ; for, in consequence of his mother's disgrace and imprison ment, he was forced to fly for his own safety ; and, had ' An instance of Lynch Law — by no means uncomraon in these disturbed times. - Pernambuco. CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 1 1 the cardinal once removed them two out of the way, there would then no obstacle be left between his malice and the king's destruction and ruin of the kingdom. He prays, therefore, the parliaraent of Paris, that they will confirm no such edict, but will take the entire consideration of the whole cause into their own judicature. Here are now the Western raerchants suitors at court, for redress of that confiscation that hath been put upon £40,000 worth of their kerseys at Rouen, about which, they say, the French king is content to have a treaty ; for performance whereof Sir Isaac Wake is very op portunely corae out of Piedraont to reside at Paris, in whose house, on Easter-day, did coraraunicate not so few as an hundred of our nation, there being now a great nuraber of English. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, May 4, 1631. It is thought the Earl of Castlehaven's execution is put off till his servants, that are charged with the sarae crimes, be tried. Others say, that his son offers large money, and to take in his wife again, to have his life saved. He is said to be very penitent ; but he will have no other con fessor but a mass-priest. Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. May 12, 1631. That Sir Robert Cotton, that unparalleled antiquary and statesman,^ was dead, on Friday last [May 6], who, in ' Sir Symonds D'Ewes, who was intiraately acquainted with Sir Robert Cotton, observes, in his Life of himself, that Sir Robert was admirably skilled in thepolity and government of the state and church of England. " Nay," adds he, " so full he was almost of all variety of knowledge of that kind, and his tongue being unable to utter his inward conceits and notions fast enough, it would often enforce him to a long stuttering when he endeavoured to speak exceeding fast. He was a most sound theoretical Protestant, and hath, in my hearing, most vehemently and learnedly opposed the Romish aboraination?, openly professing that he did not see how a Tridentine papist could possibly be saved : that is, a papist firmly holding all the base, cursed, and damnable decrees of the Council of Trent. This I the rather add. because too many did falsely report him to be a. pontifican. I cannot deny but his practice and conversation was too contrary to that religion he approved in his judgment, having been for divers years together a miserable pursuer of his 112 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the time of his sickness had sent for Mr. Holdsworth,^ the divine, who had strictly confessed hira, reconcUed hira to Almighty God, absolved him from his sins, and infused such comfort into his soul, as he would not want, as Sir Robert hiraself told Mr. Pory, to be the greatest raonarch in the world. That the Bishop of Lincoln,^ also, attended by the Bishop of St. David's,^ and Dr. Pierce, rainister of the place, having been with him the greatest part of the night before he died, and having absolved him once more, said, at his departure from him, that he came thither to bring Sir Robert Cotton comfort, but that he carried away with him more comfort from him than he brought. That before he died, he bad requested Sir Henry Spelman to signify to the lord privy seal, and to the rest of the lords of the council, that their so long detaining of his books frora him, without rendering any reason for the same, had been the cause of this his mortal malady ; upon which message, the lord privy seal came to Sir Robert, when it was too late, to comfort him from the king ; from whom the Earl of Dorset likewise came within half an hour after Sir Robert's death, to condole with Sir Thomas Cotton, his son, for his death, and to tell hira, from his majesty, that, as he loved his father, so he would continue his love to him. That Sir Robert had entailed, as sure as law could make it, his library of books (which would appear in his heart, if it were ripped up, as Calais in Queen Mary's) upon his son, Sir Thomas Cotton, and his posterity ; who, after he shall have perforraed his father's exequies (whose corpse was yesternight carried towards his ancient manor of Conning- ton in Huntingdonshire), makes no doubt to obtain the same ; but Mr. Pory, for his part, for all these court-holy- waters, should awhile suspend his belief thereof. lust ; and even in his latter time, when his abilities decayed, he drank sack in which snakes were dissolved, being commonly called viper-wine, to restore nature. Yet God of his infinite goodness unto him sent him an heavy affliction before his decease, which, I ara persuaded, gave him a full sight of his former sins, and was the happy occasion of his hearty and true repentance." By this affliction. Sir Sy monds D'Ewes means the seizing of Sir Robert's library, and the prosecution of him. ' Richard Holdsworth, rector of St. Peter's Poor, in London, and in November, 1629, elected professor of divinity in Gresham College. 2 Dr. Williams. ^ Dr. Theophilus Field. CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 I 3 That on Monday last. Sir Joscelyne Percy ' was buried near his father, in the Tower, being dead the day before, between six and seven of the clock in the evening, of a furious calenture ; the Earl of Leicester having closed up his eyes. That on Thursday last, the Lady Viscountess Wimbledon's corpse was carried over the bridge of London, with a train of twenty caroches, drawn with six horses apiece ; and many raore with four, and with torches sans nomhre. That a warrant was come to the lieutenant of the Tower, for the execution of the Earl of Castlehaven, on Saturday next; who, as some of the Tower told Mr. Pory, should be beheaded betimes in the morning, before the opening of the gates. That Brodwell and Fitzpatrick, his con-crirainals, are not yet tried ; although some of the chief of the judges have said that they ought first to be tried, before their master suffer execution. That Sir Giles AUington being now deprived of all shelter and protection of the Court of Common Pleas, was, on Thursday last, at Lambeth, bound to appear there this day, together with his wife, before the high corarais sioner, and to stand to their sentence and censure ; to which purpose Mr. Dalton, brother-in-law to Sir Giles, by his marriage with his own niece, was also bound in £1000. That Sir Robert Hitcham, ancient sergeant-at-law to the king, was on Friday last fined in the Star Chamber £200 for having caused to be read in the open sessions at Woodbridge, in Suffolk, near to both their dwellings, a paper of scandalous articles against an ordinary attorney of that county, whereof he had refused him a copy, re quiring the same, or to prosecute against him upon the same, as he had then provoked him to do. This raatter being let to sleep by the space of two years by the said Sir Robert, the said attorney had questioned him as a libeller, and had prevailed against him, as if a mouse should overturn an ele phant. That yesterday, in the sarae court, Yeworth, a soli citor of Oxfordshire, and a famous comraon barrister, was censured in £1000 fine to the king, and £1000 damages to ¦Seventh son of Henry, 8th Earl of Northumberland, who having been sent to the Tower, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, for being implicated in one of the plots in favour of Mary Queen of Scots, shot himself, June 21, 1585. VOL. II. I 114 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the Earl of Danby, for scandalous speeches uttered by him against the said earl. In the reading of the examinations taken in which cause, two odd things had been read before the lords : the one, that Yeworth, being told of two lords standing and talking together, said, then one of them is a fool ; the other, that it being said unto him, that there were twenty-five privy counsellors, he answered, that if five of them were wise men, that was all. That at the same time it was agreed that the order of the last term for the damning of the Dmotescimus (which Sir Richard Weston and his friends laboured to overthrow) should with very little alteration be entered of record. Whereupon Mr. Attorney-General, in a kind of bravado, dared Mr. Pargiter, one of the defendants, or any other, to bring forth the deed under three seals, whereof the said Innotescimus was a copy : which deed the Earl of Salis bury having found araong his evidences since the said order made, had showed the same to the lord treasurer, who seemed then to be well satisfied therewith. That there is a commission under the great seal to some or to the whole body of the privy council to balance the jurisdictions of all the courts of justice, and to set limits from time to time to the power of every of them ; a mean, whereby in time to draw appeals from all of them to the council board. That two English ships lately come horae from Lisbon relate that the fleet prepared there to beat the Hollanders out of Brazil (to prevent the discovery of the secrets whereof they had embargoed themselves and all others by the space of five months) dares not now go thither, because they hear that the Hollanders are too strong there for thera ; and that they have only sent thither eight ships etragglingly one after another, to put raen by stealth into that country to hold the Hollanders in play. That the said ships do farther report that the Hollanders have taken once raore in that country the Bahia de Stodos Santos, so as they are in a fair likelihood to becorae raasters of all that country : and that their West India fleet had taken nine ships of the Spanish fleet of Terra-firraa, laden with gold, cochineal, ginger, tobacco, hides, &c. CHARLES THE FIRST. 115 That on Friday last the Lord Vere embarked himself for Holland ; which day was their bid-day of general fast in these countries, before the going forth of their army ; to which being asserabled at Shenks-sconee, their usual place of rendezvous, the Prince of Orange was on Mon day last to go up to his guard. That the said prince had obtained from the States the grant of large reversions for his son, a child of four years of age, in case that he in this expedition shall corae short horae. That the report is that they will have in their army 12,000 horse, and so huge a proportion of foot answerable, as that they will dare to besiege Antwerp. That he [Mr. Pory] had, from an authentical hand, a gentleman who came from Paris on Saturday last, that the King of France despairing of bringing the court of parlia ment of Paris to verify the Declaration of Dijon, (to give way to the better effecting whereof in his absence he had kept himself at Fontainebleau by the space of six weeks) came to Paris on Sunday was sennight about six of the clock in the evening, to try whether his presence would beget in them any better respect to his commands ; giving out that he would raake it his next raorning's work to go in person to the parliaraent : but that therein the expecta tion of the people was frustrated, there being, instead thereof, in the afternoon of that day, a council held, whereof, to make the resolutions the more strong, billets were sent to all the great ones in town (among whom were divers who were never accustomed to be called to council) to summon them thereunto. That this council being thus asserabled in the Louvre, it was propounded unto them to advise how the king should govern himself eoncerning Monsieur's his brother's request to the parliaraent, and the verifying of the Declaration of Dijon, the forraer of which they had received, and rejected the latter. To which the Marshal Schoraberg, out of his great af fection to the cardinal, spake first to this effect : — That in regard that the said request did contain in it raatter of main defamation against a person whose services had been and were so useful to his king and country, he thought that there could not a less reparation of honour be done i2 116 THE COURT AND TIMES OF him, than that the said request should be publicly burned in the Greve by the hands of the hangraan. To the same sense all those of the cardinal's party voted. That the first man who spoke to a contrary sense was the Marshal Crequi, who said, that he bare more respect to the name of Gaston, which he saw subscribed to the request, than to consent that such an indignity should be put upon hira. Whose opinion raost of those who voted, after hira, fol lowed ; being glad of so good an exaraple. Whereupon it was in fine resolved, that the king should with his own hand tear out of their register-books the said request and the deliberation of the parliament, coraraanding thera in a body to wait on hira that afternoon at the Louvre, and to bring their registers with thera. Accordingly, they being come to the number of about one hundred and twenty presidents and counsellors, besides their ushers and notaries, found the king sitting in a chair upon a scaffold raised about a foot high in the gallery of pictures, attended by the Count de Soissons, the Cardinal de Riche lieu, the Garde des Sceaux, and divers other officers and counsellors, who at the approaching of the premier-presi dent rose frora his chair, and coming to the skirt of the scaffold spoke to thera of the parliaraent, telling thera that his Garde des Sceaux should signify unto them the cause of his sending for thera. Who thereupon raaking a speech, declared to thera therein how justly the king was offended with them for receiving Monsieur's request, and refusing to obey his majesty's comraand in verifying the Declaration of Dijon ; concluding with a peremptory cora mand, in the king's name, that they should frora thence forth forbear to meddle any more with raatters of state farther than they should be occasioned by his raajesty's comraands. His speech being ended, the registers were called for, out of which the king tore with his own hand Monsieur's request and their deliberation concerning the Declaration of Dijon ; and then, threatening them that if they did not for the time to come carry themselves more dutifully and obediently towards him, he would serve thera as he had done to the Court des Aides, he disraissed thera. Among whom it being observed, that the Presidents Gayon CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 1 7 and Barillon, and I'Aisne the counsellor, the men who had spoken the most in the parliament to these matters, were not ; Boissoce, a captain, exempt des gardes, was at eight of the clock that evening sent to thera to their houses, to signify unto thera the king's pleasure and comraand, that they should no raore exercise their charges ; and that they should within twenty-four hours retire themselves frora Paris, the first of thera to Bourges in Berry, the second to, Clermont in Auvergne, and the third to Limoges. Where upon the court of parliament had assembled the next morning, but had deferred the taking of any resolution thereupon to another time.' Thus far Mr. Pory's authentical author related : besides all which he saith he hears other ways, that Monsieur re maineth still at Nancy, in the court of the Duke of Lor raine, where he hath had a very dangerous sickness, in which he was twice let blood, but is thereof recovered ; and that Monsieur le Grand Due de Bellegarde, having forsaken him, shall be suffered to resume his governraent of Burgundy after he shall have aired himself sorae six weeks in Italy. That the articles of peace lately concluded at Chierasco, and sworn to by the emperor's ambassador Galas, the era peror hath disavowed ; as the King of France had done those which, being concluded at Ratisbon, his arabassador Monsieur de Lionne had sworn to. But that it was said that the emperor, whora, Mr. Pory saith, the King of Sweden hath. by this time sufficiently put in mind of mor- tahty and of the lubricity of fortune, cometh fast on again. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, May 12, 1631. Sir Isaac Wake, the new arabassador at Paris, after a month's expectation and waiting, hath had at length audi ence of the king; but of the cardinal he cannot get it unless he will yield him the precedency, which his instruc- ' There is a curious coincidence here, that is not likely to escape the reader's at tention. 118 THE COURT AND TIMES OF tions will not allow him to do. I am afraid matters will fall foul again ere it be long, between the two States ; and the secret preparations which are making on hoth sides by sea increase the suspicion thereof. The king, of his own accord, hath bestowed the place of vice-adrairal of the Narrow Seas upon Captain Pennington, which another made full account to have gotten, the sarae day. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering. Essex House, May 19, 1631. You have ever such exact and full intelligence of foreign affairs, as but that I want other matter, it were altogether needless for rae to give you but this brief of that little which I have learned ; which is, that the allegations which Monsieur preferred against the cardinal in the parliaraent were so well approved of, that it was agreed upon to summon him to his answer. Whereof the king having notice, came to Paris, accompanied with the cardinal, and demanding of some of the chiefest of them what was done therein ; and it being delivered unto him in writing, he grew so much enraged that he did tear it in pieces, and iraprisoned two of them. Upon which, at their next assembly, they resolved to dissolve, and every man to de part to their own houses, without despatch of any other business. Which the king understanding, sent for them again, set the imprisoned at liberty, and commanded them to fall close to such businesses as they had in negociation. For home affairs, here is nothing to inform but the execution of the Earl of Castlehaven at Tower HiU, upon Saturday ; who died very confidently, denied his guilt as V* to the facts for which he was to die, and professed to die in the true orthodox faith of the Church of England, renouncing all the superstitions and errors taught or believed in the Church of Rome, or any other church whatsoever. The business betwixt the Lord Falkland and Sir Arthur Savage is now in agitation in the Star Chamber ; and so far as the hearers can yet perceive, there appears to be CHARLES THE FIRST. 119 foul carriage on both sides ; and what the issue will be, this term will hardly determine. Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville. Christ College, May 20, 1631. On Thursday was sennight (as in the postscript of ray last I partly informed you). Sir Giles AUington being stripped of all protection of the comraon law, was, by eight bishops and four of the other commissioners, fined to the king £12,000 ; bound in a bond of £20,000 never to cohabit or come in her private company raore ; to be comraitted to prison, or to put in sufficient bail till both of thera have undergone the censure of the court, which enjoins them to do penance both at Paul's Cross and at Great St. Mary's, in Cambridge. Besides his father-in-law and brother-in-law, Mr. Dalton was fined £2000 for having procured the licence, and hardly escaped the point of perjury. The eight bishops were — ray Lord's Grace of Canterbury;' the Bishops of London,^ of Winchester,^ of Norwich,* of Coventry and Litchfield,^ of Bangor,^ of Rochester,' and of Gloucester.^ It was the soleranest, the gravest, and severest censure that ever, they say, was made in that court. All the bishops made speeches, and all very good ones, many excellent and learned, wherein the Bishop of London bore the bell frora them all, demon strating the foulness and heinousness of the crime. After the doctors had pleaded j?ro and co7i., the censure, accord ing to the manner, began frora the juniors of the civilians. The first fined Sir Giles but £1500, and Mr. Dalton £500; others. Sir Giles £2000 ; others of the civiUans £10,000 ; others, £12,000; and that proportion, or thereabouts, kept the bishops, yet sorae went above it, viz., to £15,000. All agreed from the beginning in the £2000 bond for separation, and in the ecclesiastical censure of penance to be done at Paul's Cross and St. Mary's, in Cambridge, Dr. Wickham being asked here, by one of our fellows, ' Dr. Abbot. ^ pr. Laud. ^ Dr. Ngi]e. ^ Dr. White. ' Dr. Morton. " Dr. David Dolben. ' Dr. John Bowie. * Dr. Goodman. 120 THE COURT AND TIMES OF whether he thought the penance could not be commuted, he answered confidently it would not. After the sentence pronounced, the Bishop of Rochester asked Sir Giles, standing there with his mistress, *' What he thought now of the heinousness of his offence ?" Sir Giles mUdly re plied, " That now he believed it was a great and heinous one ;" but said no raore. That which I wrote in ray last, out of a letter written whilst the court was yet sitting, that it was pleaded, on Sir Giles's behalf, that they had not yet known each other, I have heard no raore of since : yet it is like the doctors whora he entertained invented sorae thing to say for their fee ; as Sir Henry Martin, I hear, told thera in refuting them, who is very much commended for an excellent speech, nothing inferior to himself in that kind. But I hear one thing more, that the Bishop of London especially showed hiraself a man of spirit and cou rage : for between the time of the tendering the two rules from the Comraon Pleas and the day of the censure, and that, as some say, at the council table, he spake in this manner : " If this prohibition," quoth he, " had taken place, I hope my Lord's Grace of Canterbury would have excommunicated throughout his province all the judges who should have had a hand therein. For raine own part, I will assure you, if he would not, I would have done it in ray diocese, and rayself in person denounced it both in Paul's Church and other churches of the sarae, against the authors of so enormous a scandal to our church and reli gion." I know not what you will think of it in the country, but we say here it was spoken like a bishop indeed. On Thursday was sennight, likewise. Sir Archibald Douglas, husband to the Lady Davis the prophetess, (who was sister to the late Earl of Castlehaven) was committed by the lords of the council for having practised with the Earl of Castlehaven's servants in their several prisons, (who were witnesses against his lordship) to make them deny upon their trials what they had before confessed against him. Which was one reason more to hasten his execution, which was performed this day sennight in the morning, by the axe, upon Tower Hill. He spake but few words, and, as CHARLES THE FIRST. 121 I hear, to this effect : that God had given him honour, riches, and abilities, both of body and mind, and that he had abused thera all. That he had deserved death raany a time, and so it was just with God now to bring him to it, though he were not guilty of the two facts for which he was now conderaned. Then, saying he was faint, and not able to make any long speech, he pulled out of his pocket a written confes sion of his faith, whereunto he had subscribed his name, and caused his page to read it to the people. Dr. Wick ham,' who was there with him on the scaffold, and told this and some other things unto one of our fellows this week at Carabridge, adraonished hira not to forget to give thanks unto his raajesty for changing the kind of his death, and to acquit the justice of the State which had condemned him secundum allegata et probata. He replied, " It was true : " but I may tell you," quoth he, and leaned to his ear, " upon as weak evidence, as ever nobleman was con demned." He inquired what noblemen were there; and understanding my Lord of Warwick was there on horse back, he addressed himself towards him ; thanked hira for his honourable courtesy shown to hira at his arraignment ; desired hira to render his humble thanks unto his majesty for affording him a trial by his peers, for giving hira such respite to prepare himself to die, for changing the manner of his death ; desired God to bless him, and that he and his raight sit upon the throne of this kingdom as long as the sun and raoon should endure. This doctor, archdeacon, and residentiary of York, and his majesty's chaplain in ordinary, a very discreet, cour teous, and every way qualified gentleman, together with the Dean of Paul's,* were his confessors and ghostly fathers. He told my friend, who asked him, and seemed desirous to know, what he thought of this denial of the earl's, thus much only, that when they refused to give him a while the Communion, because he persisted in his denial, and much urged him to confess his guilt, he thus encountered them : ' Henry Wickham, D.D., of King's College, Carabridge. He was son of William Wickham, Bishop of Winchester, who died in June, 1595. ^ Dr. Tliomas Winniff. 122 THE COURT AND TIMES OF " Gentleinen, you have been witnesses of my secret con fession. I appeal therefore unto your own consciences, by that I have confessed unto you, whether you can in reason believe, that if I were guilty of these two facts, I would not confess them unto you also." Which I under stood to intimate, that he had been guilty of crimes of as high a nature as those, and it may be of the same kind, yet was falsely accused of these two facts. " Yet," saith the doctor, " we went to the witnesses, and they still per sist, notwithstanding, in their first tale." His majesty, they say, shall get by his death nothing but a lease worth some £1,700 to be sold.' Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, May 25, 1631. The Marquis Hamilton, who was gone post into Scot land, is now corae back with small furtherance, as I hear, of his intended journey, pretending that he could find but four hundreds of men there that would go over with him, because the most part of their best men are already in foreign employraents. So as I hear, he doth intend to take up his men in England, if he can speed better here than he hath done in his own country, which is not very likely. The king hath caused his navy to be newly furnished, and keepeth it in readiness ; for what cause I know not ; only I hear he hath had many jealousies given him of the designs of the cardinal, who taketh on very much that Canada is not restored. Mr. Pm'y to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, June 16, 1631. Although his majesty went yesterday to Chatham, but not the queen, and was carried against the tide, in a barge with twelve oars, to Gravesend ; yet some business, which ' This is the last letter extant from the Rev. Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stute ville, who died suddenly of an apoplexy at St. Edmond's Bury, on Monday evening, 13 June, 1631. Mr. Mead survived till October 1, 1638. CHARLES THE FIRST. 123 hath importuned me also this morning, so that I have very little time left me to write, would not permit me the hap piness of seeing so glorious a sight, concerning which in my next I must report me to the reporters, who were eye witnesses. His raajesty does well to look to his navy at this pre sent, when as a Falraouth raan, who in his bark went to discover what the French are doing at Brest, and Blavet in Bretagne, bringeth back news, as I was told yesterday, that he says there are fifty raen-of-war, the least of 400, and some of 1000 tons and upwards. And yesterday it was observed unto me, by a worthy friend of Sir Thomas Lucy, that not only this town, but all other port towns that lie opposite to France, do at this tirae swarm with French. Amongst other of the Lords, my Lord of Holland went along yesterday with his majesty, his friends, hoping he would be there pronounced lord admiral, the verity whereof I shall tell you in my next. Yesterday sennight, his lord ship had an odd accident befel him in Theobald's Park. A bee stung him on the cheek ; and not only that, but his neck, his shoulder, and his arm, swelled, and was very troublesome and grievous to him for four or five days, but by this tirae I hope it is cured. Yesterday, I heard one say ray Lord Treasurer would be declared lord admiral also, bringing this instance in probability thereof, that in King Henry VIII.'s days Thomas Duke of Norfolk was not only lord treasurer and lord admiral, but earl marshal also. Le Chevalier de Jarre, whom I think I raentioned in my last, against his farewell had £3000 paid him out of the exchequer for parties which he had won of the king at tennis. My Lord of Bristol received £4000 also from thence, but in part of payraent ofa raore serious and con siderable debt. And his lordship, they say, is to go am bassador to the emperor. But to the King of Sweden and the Protestant princes of Germany, Sir Henry Vane was on Sunday last declared to go arabassador, which Sir Tho raas Roe, who hath done so important services in those parts, taketh not well. 124 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Now, as touching that brave king, if we may believe the reports of Antwerp, they say that the Duke of Saxe having abandoned the Protestant party, and declared himself of the Austriacal, the king is fain to retire back toward the Baltic Sea, Tilly giving hira chase. But here is a Baron of Moravia, who lost all for serving the King of Bohemia, that reports quite otherwise ; namely, that the Duke of Saxe stands firm to that Evangelical League ; that he takes in high disdain that barbarous execution acted by Tilly at Magdeburg, as an ignorainious affront done to hira and his religion ; and that he hath persuaded Breslaw, (called in Latin Vratislavia) the prime city of Silesia, which the emperor some five times hath attempted and missed of, to adhere to the King of Sweden and to him. Also that Colonel Bouditz, one of the sarae king's chief coraraanders, hath taken Truppa, a strong town upon the frontiers of Moravia, and the very key thereunto : and lastly, that all the Protestants in Bohemia, Lusatia, and Moravia, and Silesia, will adventure their lives with the king. It is generally reported throughout the town that the Prince of Orange hath put his great army into garrison, sans rien faire, which an old soldier interpreted yesterday, that they had so billeted them in the towns upon the con fines, as at any forty-eight hours' warning they could draw thera to a head. It is said, besides, that the States are in exaraination of some, whom they suspect to have discovered their plans to the enemy. But, to return horae to ourselves : on Saturday, Fitz patrick, one of the servants and accusers of the late Earl of Castlehaven, was arraigned in the King's Bench, and pleaded not guilty, as his fellow Bradway had the last term done ; and complained, as he came down from the bar, that his life should now be called in question for having testified the truth : and Saturday come sennight is the day appointed, when both of them shall there come to their trial of life and death. My Lord Fauconberg' and his son have at length made ' Sir Thomas Belasyse, created Lord Fauconberg, May 25, 1627, and Viscount, January 31, 1642, for having distinguished himself in the service ofthe king against the parliament. He died in 1652. CHARLES THE FIRST. 125 their submission both to the king and my Lord Wentworth, not only verbal, but in writing, and under their hands; an act thereof being entered into the council-table books, both here and at York. Whereas, there are three thousand attorneys belonging to the Comraon Pleas, and one thou sand would serve to do the business, the residue being but incendiaries and raake-baits, it is said (whether earnest or to break a jest upon that kind of people) that two thousand of them shall be cashiered. On Thursday last, iny Lord of Salisbury, according to appointment, went to my lord treasurer's with his counsel and papers, to the end the raatter informed against him into the Exchequer might be heard and determined. His lordship, having attended about half an hour in an outward room, and being then called in, he expostulated in plain terms with my lord treasurer, for raaking a person of his quality, being an earl, a privy counsellor, and a knight of the garter, so long to wait his lordship's leisure. But he, putting by that thrust as handsoraely as he could, and pretending some greater business in hand, dismissed my Lord of Salisbury and bis cause till Monday. But then, my Lord Treasurer being coraraissioner, joined with my Lord Keeper, my Lord of Arundel, my Lord of Carlisle, Earl Morton, and the Earl of Monteith, lord president of Scotland, about the examination of certain Scotsmen, was all day locked up ; whereby my Lord of Salisbury's cause is put off sine die. The Scots that were exarained were, first, James Hay, Esq., of the body, and another of his name, about speak ing certain words (as it is thought) concerning the Marquis Hamilton's expedition to Sweden. But they, bringing forth their author, one Mr. Meldrura, their countryman, were dismissed. Meidrum is now close prisoner with Justice Heywood in Westminster. And the Lord Mackey and the Lord Ochiltree are committed also to their lodgings. The same Mackey, a Western or Irish Scot, being the famous- est man of their nation in the late wars ofthe Kings of Den mark and Sweden in Germany, was, of all the Scots, raost affected by the King of Sweden, and designed in his thoughts as the fittest raan, without coraparison, to have 126 THE COURT AND TIMES OF conducted over his troops, which might have been raised out of the king's dominions ; into which eraployraent it hath pleased his raajesty to constitute my Lord Marquis Harailton. Elphinston was his agent with the King of Sweden, and Meidrum was the agent of Mackey. The marquis going into Scotland (whether by the practice of Mackey and his friends, or in respect of his great reputa tion) could raise but few men, namely, not above 1500. All these things are discoursed of; but what the point of the examination was, is not yet clearly known abroad. The next week, it may be, I shall be better able to tell you. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, June 29, 1631. Here men are still musing to know the cause of the committing of the Scottish lords, the Lord of Ochiltree and the Lord of Rea, with sorae others of that nation, about which there have been so many, so close, and so serious sittings kept these eighteen days ; whereof, although the mystery be not yet unfolded to the public knowledge, yet thus much I am made to apprehend thereof, that there was a plot made by sorae of thera to cast my Lord Marquis Harailton into suspicion of sorae raischievous design by him intended against his raajesty's person and the prince ; whereof his raajesty, after a due exaraination of the busi ness, hath openly justified the said lord at the council- board, and sorae others that were involved in the same accusation. And it is thought it will go hard with these false accusers, who are to be sent back into Scotland, there to be judged by the laws of their own country : and this is as much as I can yet understand of this mystical business. Upon the beginning of this week, two of the late Earl of Castlehaven's men were condemned to death for being accessary to his foul actions. CHARLES THE FIRST. 127 Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, July 20, 1631. My Lord Marquis of Hamilton did set sail from the Downs on Sunday last, with thirty-four ships, besides those that are set out of Scotland to meet him, with two thousand of that nation ; so as his number is held to be at least eight thousand. The Scottish lords that accused him are still kept in prison here, the one in the fleet, and the other, to wit, the Lord Rea, in the Tower, together with David Ramsey, who is appointed to fight with him for the clear ing of their difference. But the clergy having opposed themselves against that course of trial, it is doubted yet whether there shall be way given thereunto. 3Ir. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, Septembers, 1631. On Monday, the States' ambassador caused a letter publicly to be read in the Dutch church, and thereupon a general thanksgiving to be raade for a glorious and merao rable victory on Friday last, obtained by the Prince of Orange upon the Spaniards, who had some great design either upon Lillo, the Isles of Cazant, Fergoes, or Wal cheren. They were 4000 soldiers, the flower of the array, colonels, captains, officers, sans nombre, that had put on all their richesse and bravery, with an intention to have won honour, while they befooled and lost themselves. They were erabarked in fourscore great flat-bottomed boats, guided by 800 mariners, which came aground at a low water, whereby, I suppose, grew their disadvantage ; for as yet we cannot know all the particulars. Besides, they had along with them 100 pieces of fair brass ord nance, that glistered like gold, and 700 great trees chained together, and armed at the ends with great iron pikes, as if they had been made purposely to stop up the mouths of rivers or harbours. There were three barrels of silver come also. Of the men, some were slain, and all the residue to the nuraber of 3000 taken prisoners, with all their abovementioned luggage. Their unlucky general. 128 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Count John de Nassau, not above a year also agone ransomed from the States, attempting, together with the Prince of Barban<;;on, to escape in a small. boat, was taken prisoner. About a fortnight agone, when they were big with child of this project, which came to so abortive a birth, they had a gaudy procession at Antwerp, full of superstitious and heathenish gewgaws, whereat not only the archduchess, but the queen-raother also, was ; being indeed nothing else but a prologue to the ensuing tragedy. But they will have a braver procession at the Hague, wherein those proud Spaniards, with their adherents, must be led in triumph. The plain, plump Hollander proceeds in another method ; who, before any great under taking, useth not the vain, ostentatious pomp of a pro cession, but celebrateth a bid-day, or a general fast, which publican-like humility (as it seems by the event) pleaseth God better than the others Pharisaical-glory : so that now they have no cause to sing a Te Deum, but rather to howl out a black Sanctum. Here is other news come to town also, though not so ripe and certain as the former ; and that is, that the Count Stiriura, governor of the Grill, in the midway between that and Wesel, met the Duke of Lerma, with his Spaniards and Italians lately corae out of Italy, (there being about 8000 men on either side) and fought a battle with hira, and slew some 5000 of his followers : for which, mine author saith farther, there hath been a thanksgiving in Holland. But, as touching this, I will suspend my belief until my next. On Sunday, in the banqueting house at Whitehall, both their majesties gave very honourable reception to Johannes Albertus Racouski, treasurer of the Great Dukedom of Lithuania, and ambassador extraordinary from the King of Poland ; the lane through which he passed being built of pensioners on the king's side, and of the beauties of the court on the queen's. He was conducted in and out between the Earls of Arundel and Carlisle. From Sir Abraham Williams's, in the great palace of Westminster, where he lodgeth, he was attended to the court gate by trained bands of pike and shot, proper men. CHARLES THE FIRST. 129 well armed and apparelled, who, at his return out of the court gate, gave him two general volleys, and the like at his owu gate. Some say his errand is to demand the eldest daughter of the Queen of Bohemia in marriage to Uladislaus, Prince of Poland, and to appear splendid in the court, he had made him at the Hague raany curious and costly suits of apparel, to the value of £1500, not after the Polish, but altogether after our fashion, being the first ambassador of that country here that ever wore any other habit than that which is proper to his own nation. He had scarce paid for his brave clothes, but news came, the Queen of Poland, his mistress, was dead ; so now he is constrained to cloud himself and his followers in mourn ing. Dead she is for certain ; but whether in that manner before written is controverted, it being since found out that Mr. Gordon was not there in person, as he affirmed both to king and queen, to my Lord of Canterbury, and to an hundred more. This Racousky is a person of a comely presence and promising countenance, of great birth, riches, and learning, being able exactly to speak five or six languages. He comes at his own charge, and hath brought with hira two great standard chestsfuU of plate for his particular use, and at his return home he is to he rewarded with the office of a vaivod, or viceroy. Here is arrived also the Abbate di Scaglia (he that hath had so raany midnight meetings with the late duke), arabassador, they say, not frora his own sovereign, the Duke of Savoy, but frora the King of Spain. He is reputed a man of a working spirit, and indeed a true boute- feu, and, airaing now at a cardinal's hat, is now corae to play his prizes, intending by his unwearied activity to make this court the scene of negotiation for all Christen dom. But that disgrace so lately happened to his party in the Netherlands, will, I suppose, put water into his wine, and wUl a little curb the fierceness of his spirit. Besides, that the Spanish faction here cannot do all they desire, doth notably appear by a very late experiment. A certain Hollander took a prize from a Spaniard worth £10,000. In our Admiralty Court the cause hath been long in trial. About a month ago, his raajesty wrote to VOL. II. K 130 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Sir Henry Martin, the judge, that he should give sentence, after so long consideration of the cause, according as he thought just in his conscience, by the law of nations, the law of the admiralty, and having respect also unto his former treaties both with Spain and Holland. Sorae great ones of the Spanish faction, considering this letter left hira at liberty to judge as he should think good, iraportuned hira to stop the pronouncing of the sentence until they had spoken with his raajesty, and obtained other manner of letters, which Sir Henry said, when he saw, he would consider of. They were at least ten days soliciting his majesty to revoke that letter, and to send Sir Henry another according to their mind, but found the king as unmoveable as a rock. So Sir Henry, seeing they came not again, gave sentence, about a fortnight ago, on the Hollander's side. Yesterday, upon occasion of speech concerning Mr. Recorder's death (who, whether he be dead or alive, I cannot certainly tell), I heard said, his raajesty from hence forth would [leave] the city to free choice of their recorder, and would suffer no courtier to intermeddle in the business. Captain Pennington is returned from his attendance upon the Marquis ;^ and, it is said, he landed his men near Wolgast, in Pomerland, and lost but two of them in all the voyage. The French, at Rouen, have lately confiscated three score thousand pounds worth of our cloth. Do you think, then, they will be apt to pay Burlamachi the other moiety of the queen's portion, for which he is gone over, except it be out of our own? The late duke^ made a senseless war upon them, wherein they got the better; and so now they will keep us under. I heard merchants of great worth discourse the other day how the Susan and Helen (according to assurance made in this town), being bound out of Spain for this port of London with £50,000 for the King of Spain's account, a certain bark, by way of anticipation, coming aboard of him in the Downs, and bringing sufficient authority to discharge both ship and insurers, took out the treasure, and before she could get into the coast of Flanders, was snapt up by a Holland man-of-war. ' Of Harailton. ^ Buckingham. CHARLES THE FIRST. 131 I hear that the Duke of Guise is fled quite out of France, and gone to Rome ; and that the occasion was this, he was about to levy some men within his governraent of Provence to have stood up for Monsieur. The cardinal being too nirable for him, went speedily to Lyons, assembled an army there, and sent it into Provence, under the conduct of the Marshal of Vitry ; the very approach whereof made the duke to take to his heels. There was lately within the court at Monceaux a great falling out and corabat between the Dukes of Chevreuse and Montraorency. Sorae tell it thus : Madam de Mon- bazon, the flower of that court, giving Monsieur de Mont morency a scornful smile, he began to sing to her a new- invented ballad, wherein her honour seemed to be a little touched. She complains to Chevreuse, as her champion. He waylays Montmorency beneath in the court, they both draw, and Chevreuse is wounded. Another relateth it thus : Monsieur de Montraorency taking delight to hear a new ballad sung, wherein Madame de Chevreuse's copyhold was touched, her husband charged hira, as if he had taken delight in his disgrace. The other denied it. He replied, " You do well to deny it, car autrement je vous eusse bien estrille." At which word of disgrace, Montraorency up with his fist, and gave hira a great blow upon the face. They draw. The guards took Montraorency's part, as being the better beloved. The end was, they were both committed. I hear the Duke of Savoy hath required the city of Geneva to render up their church livings, as the eraperor hath done the cities and princes of Gerraany. The town of Orange had awhile ago like to have been betrayed to the French, being, as it seems, an eyesore to the cardinal, because it is the only Protestant town in all France which is not yet dismantled. One Valkenburgh, whom not only this prince, but Prince Maurice also, had trusted with the government, some two years ago, held it most traitorously underhand frora the French, whom some commissioners from the prince caught in a trap, and cut his throat. Now the Baron Dhona being placed by the prince governor there, a plot was infused into some French K 2 1 32 THE COURT AND TIMES OF of the same garrison to have served Dhona of the same sauce, either coming or going from church ; whereof having notice, he hath kept the castle ever since, and not come down into the town. Now the French at the court, who are not so rauch to be trusted, as so many petty devUs, do disavow it to the pit of hell. Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, September 22, 1631. On Sunday morning, came letters to the king out of Germany, signifying that the emperor, having promised the Duke of Saxony that neither he, his subjects, or terri tories, should be molested and raeddled withal, so long as he remained neutral, Tilly, in violation of the same promise, first besieged Erfurt, a city under the duke's protection, and the greatest in all Germany, and wrung from them a great composition, and, not contented with that, invaded the duchy of Wirtemberg, the duke's own patriraony, and burnt and spoiled at his pleasure. Yea, he pierced farther into this country, and at last required hira, in the emperor's name, to leave his neutrality, and to declare himself. Now, seeing he must needs, and that he was urged thereunto by outrage and perfidious dealing, he declared hiraself for the King of Sweden, and, as a sure pledge of his fidelity, de livered Wirtemberg into his hands, being the strongest town in all his dominions, where the scholars welcomed his raajesty with orations and gratulatory speeches. He bade them be good followers of Luther, and pray for him, and he would fight for them. It is said also in the same letter that the king hath recovered Magdeburg. I am told by others that Tilly sought to have surprised the duke's person, hut missed of his mark ; and that, going with intention to have besieged or surprised Leipsic, he was followed so close at the heels by the forces of the king and duke, as he was glad to lay aside that enterprise. As this duke hath declared himself for the king ; so, they say, the Duke of Bavaria hath done the like for the emperor, who, by edict, hath prohibited all CHARLES THE FIRST. 133 his subjects to speak or write anything concerning the King of Sweden. Archibald Rankin, a Scot, and a servant of that king, gave me a note entitled, " A list of the King of Spain's forces by sea, which are taken by the Prince of Orange, and of the prisoners likewise," ten great pontes, in every one of which fourscore men ; fifty-eight great shallops, in each whereof were fourscore raen ; twenty frigates and flat- bottoras, full of people, victuals, and munition, whereon were raounted ten demi-cannon, twenty whole culverins, all of brass, and a hundred brass pieces besides, of a lesser bore, 300 murtherers, and about 5000 soldiers and 2000 mariners. Another note adds, eleven barrels of silver coin, 8000 granadoes, two barrels of halters, and a great quantity of knives, of above a foot long. The three principal commanders which escaped away in a boat, were Count John de Nassau, the governor of Breda, and Monsieur de Boye, adrairal of the fleet. These following remained prisoners : the Prince of Louny, the Prince of Torsony, the Earl of Bossa, the Earl of Dornath, the Earl Nie- meguen, the Count del Jour, two colonels, twenty-five captains, forty ensigns, and 4000 ordinary soldiers. The Duke of Vendome hath obtained leave of his excel lency to send his two capuchins, which were prisoners, to Antwerp, which the prince condescended unto, and lent them his coach, with six horses, and they are gone either to the duke's mother or to the infanta ; but there are kept prisoners one Jesuit and three friars. Thus far Mr. Ran kin's note ; which ho'vy true it is, I cannot easily aver. For my Lord Chaworth, who was with his lady at the Spa, and came home lately by Brussels and Antwerp since that famous defeat, saith that there was but one man of quality taken prisoner, and that was a gentleraan of Cambray which attended on Don Carlos de Colonna, while he was ambassador here. He saith besides they raake nothing of this defeat there, nor are they much moved thereat. But by his ladyship's favour Mr. Boswell told rae yesterday that the archduchess's subjects are forbidden upon pain of death to talk of that defeat. His lordship farther affirras that of those ten great pontes there escaped one, and of 134 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the seventy flat-bottoms there escaped nine. He saith far ther that the Prince of PineUi, an Italian, before the setting out of this fleet, asked the archduchess whether she meant to present those boats and men to the Prince of Orange. She, smiling, asked him what he raeant by that question, " I ara in good earnest, madara," said he ; "I asked your general, the Marquis of Santa Cruz, if he knew where the Prince of Orange was, and what he intended, and he told me he knew nothing at all ; and therefore I concluded with myself your highness had better make a present of them than a sacrifice," His lordship saith farther that Williamstadt was the place they aimed at, and that Count John's covetousness precipitated the action ; for, being the Prince of Orange's own town, he made account it would have fallen to his share. And if they had won it, then would they presently have beleaguered Bergen-op-Zoom, and striven to have been masters of all. But "God laughed thera to scorn, and the Holy One of Israel had them in derision." His lordship saith, moreover, that the archduchess hath already sent the prince the ransoms of those men that have been taken prisoners : but his excel lency will not as yet part with thera ; and therefore it is thought he hath sorae enterprise in hand. Concerning the queen raother, his lordship saith she pleads only for justice against the cardinal for having ira prisoned her ; that she utterly disclaims to join or have anything to do with Monsieur, and hath reduced her ex- pences to four score pounds a day ; which is duly paid by the archduchess to her servants, as amounteth not fully to £30,000 a year. On Sunday last the Polonian ambassador took his leave of both their majesties, and at his valediction there was one new precedent made at Denmark House, it being the first tirae that ever the pensioners waited with their axes in the privy charaber. Sir Henry Vane, also being to go arabassador to the Kings of Sweden and Denraark, &c., did then and there take his leave also, and brought all his gen tlemen, both voluntaries and domestics, to kiss the king's and queen's hands. Besides the two abovenamed, there were three others in the court at the sarae timCj to wit, CHARLES THE FIRST. 135 the French ambassador, the Venetian, and the Abbate di Scaglia, being the Savoyan ambassador. The King of Sweden, when he begins to march any whither, saith always this prayer, or to this effect : — " Oh, Lord, deal with me, and with this my people, as our hearts are inclined to relieve the oppressed." Some, that write lately from Antwerp, do say in their letters that upon the late defeat there was great sadness and consternation among thera. There is no such matter as the drowning of ten thousand Spaniards in the Isle of Princeland, hard by Williamstadt. True it is a gap was laid open, and the sluices were ready to play, but the Spaniards were not so foolish as to enter. The Count of Stiriura raet with the Italian regiments, slew six hundred of thera, and took as raany prisoners ; and had utterly de feated and cut thera to pieces had they not sheltered thera selves under the ordnance of Guelders, and got into the town. The King of Sweden before this tirae cannot choose but be raaster of Rostock, seeing that his forces took in Warmind, the chief fort thereto appertaining long since. The Marquis of Hamilton, within three or four days after his arrival at Wolgast, marched with all his troops towards the King of Sweden. Sir Thomas Conway and Lieuteiiant- Colonel Lesley do now beat up their druras to get raore soldiers for the King of Sweden, who, they say, will not entertain a papist in his army ; and therefore he refuseth Sir Pierce Crosby's Irish regiments. Since the said defeat, a certain man in Ghent had his hand cut off", and was hanged and quartered, for having conspired with the Prince of Orange as touching that town ; a poor revenge, God wot. Dr. Brookes, master of Trinity CoUege in Cambridge, died on Saturday ; and I hear Dr. Lucy hath the reversion of this place. The lord chief baron,' I hear, shall be lord chief justice ; Baron Weston, lord chief baron ; Mr. SoUci- tor, baron ; and Sir John Finch, soUcitor. ' Sir Humphrey Davenport. 136 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, October 26, 1631. My Lord Richardson was proraoted on Monday last to be lord chief justice ofthe King's Bench; whose place in the Comraon Pleas, Sir Robert Heath, the king's attorney, doth now possess, and Mr. Noy, the lawyer, is made the king's attorney, at whose choice for that place many men have wondered. The King of Sweden having been contented to help the King of Bohemia with the allowance of £5000 by the raonth, which he was wont to have from the States, towards the raaking up of an array, the said King of Bohemia hath thereupon raoved the king our raaster, and is a suitor to him by Sir Francis Nethersole's solicitation, that he may have the like assistance to the same end from his majesty. But, besides that we are very bare of money, the treaty that his majesty hath in hand with the emperor at Vienna, where Sir Robert Anstruther hath been a long tirae for the peaceable accoraraodating of that business of the Palatinate, doth hinder us as yet frora taking any other course therein. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. Essex House, October 27, 1631. I hold it no satisfactory excuse to neglect my accus tomed inteUigence of the weekly occurrents here, although I conceive you have thera rauch more exactly by others, and therefore do hereby acquaint you -with the removal of my Lord Richardson to the King's Bench upon Monday, whither he went like a bear to a stake ; and, being there, cried out a speech to this effect — that he hoped his ma jesty's favour would have gone so far along with him as to have let hira have ended those few days he had to spend in the place he was now called from. But he found that in this world there was alteration of men's minds, healths, and places, and thought upon his conscience that the world was confident that he sought not for this place which his majesty had now conferred upon him for his honour, though some might take it for disfavour. CHARLES THE FIRST. 137 The same day Sir Robert Heath, in his speech to the lord keeper when he was made Serjeant, said he thought himself happy in having had the fortune to have his ma jesty's favour, to follow his lordship successively in two places, and for the selfsame term of years, viz., his soli citor and attorneyships, in both which he had the happi ness to have his majesty's ear, with a great deal of more favour than he could deserve by his service in either of those places. And therefore, for a token of his thankful ness, humbly desired his lordship to present his majesty with a ring set round with great diamonds, being worth , £1000. Upon Tuesday he carae in his Serjeant's robes to the Coramon Pleas, and came not to the Hall by land, but by water, which is not usual ; and this day or Satur day he is to take his place of lord chief justice. The same day Mr. Noy takes upon him the place of his majesty's attorney, of whora there goes many merry tales ; as, when the king told him he had resolved to raake him attorney, he demanded of his raajesty what wages he would allow him for the execution thereof, for that he was now well cliented ; and when he was his raajesty's swom ser vant in that place, he held it very unfitting to dishonour his majesty or the place so much as to be called and run from bar to bar to gain fees from other clients. The lord keeper also having recoraraended a messenger unto him, the man addressing himself to attend him one day to the Hall, he looking back and checking the man for following him, the man, thinking he had been but in jest, followed him still ; at which he grew very angry, and said the people would take him to be his prisoner, and so cora raanded him home. It holds for certain yet that the Bishop of Winchester ' shall be the Archbishop of York : but who shaU be Bishops of Winchester or Ely wUl not be known in haste. I have heard that a bishop should say unto the king, that it had been better the defeat had faUen upon the King of Sweden's side than upon Tilly's : but I will not affirm it to be true, or that it was the Bishop of London.^ And ' Dr. Richard Neile. ^ Dr. Laud. 138 THE COURT AND TIMES OF our papists will not by any means believe that Tilly is dead, or that his defeat was so great as is reported. It is said the Hollanders offer to put 12,000 men into the Palatinate, if so be our king will but allow £6000 a month towards their maintenance, which I doubt will not be ; for that it is said that the king being in debt two millions, when the new treasurer came into his place, the said lord hath paid £160,000 thereof since, and that there is not now £4000 in the exchequer. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, November 2, 1631, On Sunday last here arrived one Cassill, heretofore lieutenant to Captain Fleetwood, who was at the battle of Leipsic with the King of Swedeland, from whom he parted eight days after, having been near seven weeks upon the way ; and brought a letter frora him to his majesty, to give him notice, as to his good brother and friend, of the great and coraplete victory which God had given him against his enemies, and withal to represent unto him the fair opportunity which now was offered of restoring the King of Bohemia to his estate. His majesty was very exact and punctual in examining of the said Cassill upon all the circumstances and particulars of that great action ; whereupon, after he had answered to his satisfaction, his majesty bestowed the honour of knighthood upon him ; his relation being the surest, and in all likelihood the truest, of all the advertisements we have hitherto had of the con tingents of that victory. From the which he varieth in divers things : for he reports, as I ara inforraed, that the king had not above 15,000 raen, to wit, 7000 foot, and 8000 horse of his own; and the Duke of Saxony some 18,000 in aU ; which together made but 33,000. Whereas Tilly had 42,000 in his army ; who at the first onset had clean overthrown, as he reports it, the Duke of Saxony, and made hiraself raaster of his ordnance ; so as there was only two or three regiments left of all his array, that made head to the enemy, all the rest and the duke hiraself being fled away, whom the king soon called back to the pursuit of CHARLES THE FIRST. 139 the victory : in acknowledgraent of which great benefit he brought, as this raan saith, presently after the sarae, three raonths' pay for the king's service, and to the king hiraself a present of four mules laden with gold : and all the loss that he reports to have been made between them at the battle is of 1200 men; whereas Tilly lost above 15,000, besides the prisoners and all the riches and provision of his camp, he himself being hurt in two or three places, but yet he could not hear that he was dead. Neither do Sir Henry Vane's letters newly received, written from Leipsic in his way to the King of Sweden, iraport the same ; but rather that he is recovered of his wounds, and gathering a new army, though many there are still that will lay wagers to the contrary. But the king having divided his army which is very strong, and now plentifully supplied with all manner of provisions, into two parts, doth so waylay and stop all the passages, having made hiraself master of all the country of Franconia, as that it will be hard for them to join their forces toge ther; which if they could bring to pass would make, no question, a very great army in those parts, besides the forces that the eraperor hath yet in Silesia ; for that the Infanta, as we hear, is now sending up 10,000 raen, and the Duke of Lorraine a greater nuraber, unto him, to join with his own forces and those of the Catholic league, which now must needs be much weakened and shaken by this great blow, and by the incursions which the king maketh now in the bishops' countries. In the mean tirae, the two good towns of Rostock and Wisraar have yielded to the King of Sweden, and those forces, that blocked thera up under the Duke of Mecklenburg's coraraand, are now free to be eraployed any where else. For the Duke of Saxony, we hear he is now with the Lord Marquis of Hamilton in Silesia. Of the Duke of Bavaria we can hear no certainty. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering. Essex House, November 9, 1631. Upon Thursday last the Duke of Vendome, illegitimate brother to the queen, arrived here from out of the Low 140 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Countries, and is lodged at Sir Abrahara WiUiaras' house. Upon Friday raorning, about four of the clock, the queen was (God be praised) safely delivered of a princess, who was christened tbe same morning by reason it was weak, (as some say) it being born three weeks before the tirae. But I have heard it was done to save charges and to pre vent other christening. The name Mary : the Countesses of Carlisle and Denbigh godmothers, and the lord keeper godfather ; and the nurse, one Mrs. Bennet, (some say wife to a baker) and daughter to Mrs. Browne that keepeth Somerset House. Concerning the new sheriffs, Mr. John Temple was pricked for your shire ; ^ but I now hear he is like to get off, the king being angry that the best men in the shires be not put into the bill, and that the sheriffs keep or dinaries. The foreign news here this week is that the king of Sweden should have put a garrison into Frankfort : the Duke of Bavaria fled out of the Palatinate with all his goods into his own territories, whither the king intendeth to follow him, being 50,000 strong; and the papists say, that Tilly hath gathered together again between twenty and thirty thousand men. This night the old Earl of Kellie's young lady was buried in St. Clement's church. Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering. London, November 17, 1631. The last week growing acquainted with Sir John Cassill, he that was knighted by his majesty for bringing letters from the King of Sweden, I asked hira whether he came by the way of Hamburg ; and whether he met my lord ambassador, Sir Henry Vane, there ? He said he did both, and that he was come thither before his lordship, and was the first man that related the King of Sweden's victory unto hira. Which having done, he told rae, his lordship grew very blank thereat, and retired himself with much sadness to his chamber. Whereat Sir John said, that he ' Warwickshire. CHARLES THE FIRST. 141 himself was much out of countenance, and asked some of his gentlemen whether their lord were not a papist, that showed so little affection to the good success of the Pro testants. He saith, moreover, that he had heard his lord ship's errand was to persuade that victorious king to a peace : which message, how unseasonable it would be, now that brave king hath the law in his own hands, you may easily judge ; for by that rule of Tacitus, " Arma tenenti qui justa negat, omnia dat," the eraperor hath given him all ; and he is in a fair way to his throne regal to add one imperial crown. But since the victory, I hear Sir Henry Vane hath received new instructions raore suitable to the time and occasion. On Sunday, one Mr. Hurst, secretary to Sir Robert Anstruther, brought letters from his master now resident at Vienna in the eraperor's court ; and he told a friend of raine that the first question the king asked hira was, what was becorae of Tilly ? Whereto he answered, that ray lord ambassador his raaster had inquired of the emperor, of his counsellors and courtiers, and all others that were like to know any thing, and findeth that from the day of the battle to the day of Mr. Hurst's coming away, they had no certain news at Vienna, whether Tilly were dead or alive : and therefore in probability a man may conclude him to be dead, though not in certainty. On the contrary, the raer chants of this town, both Dutch and English, that have any correspondence in Germany, though they wish as well to the King of Sweden as to their own hearts, are generally of opinion that Tilly yet liveth, because their letters, espe cially frora Frankfort upon the Maine, do still raention Tilly and his array, which they say about the end of Oc tober was encamped at Assenburg, within three Dutch miles of that town, as if they had taken it pro confesso that he is living ; and that, as the king is on the one side of the Rhine, so he is on the other. And yesternight a gentleman of very good intelligence told me, that whether Tilly be dead, or whether he be alive, all commands hitherto in that army go under his name : and it may be it is his nephew's that stands for a stale. He told rae further that not only the emperor's, but the King of Spain's ambas- 142 THE COURT AND TIMES OF sador was with the Duke of Saxe, to lay all the fault of Tilly's invading his country, and of his more than savage cruelty at Magdeburg, upon Tilly's own shoulders, and to put the duke in mind what good offices the House of Austria had to him and his predecessors in estating them first in that great and rich dukedom, and to proffer him satisfaction for all damages, &c. The duke denied not the good offices done to his faraily by the House of Austria, but affirraed withal he had done them as good offices in re storing to them at his own charge, and with the loss of his reputation, those revolted provinces of Lusatia, Mo ravia, and Silesia; and, likewise, that whereas of late he presented most humble petitions to his imperial majesty for redress of sore grievances, both he and they were rejected and despised ; and not only that, but bis country by the emperor's general overrun with fire and sword. And, therefore, if they would obtain any thing of hira, they must first begin at the King of Sweden, who had redeemed hira and his country out of the jaws of destruction. And he raakes this accusation laid by both arabassadors against Tilly a probable argument of his death. Mr. Hurst, as Sir Andrew Boyd told me from his mouth, saith farther, that the reason why Tilly's name yet stands raay be this : he heard that one Piccolornini, an Italian, a general of Tilly's ordnance, being the man that first re-collected Tilly's scattered troops into a body, called it by the name of Tilly's army. He saith, more over, that at Vienna they set a good face upon an ill garae, telling the people it is but a flea-biting ; and that they will (yes, raarry, will they) quickly set the Swede packing. But he saith, if the eraperor lose but one battle more, farewell, then, House of Austria, And, for the restitution of the Palatinate, Sir Robert Anstruther's chaplain writes, the eraperor gives none but dilatory answers, referring him to a future treaty to be made between his imperial majesty and the King of Spain ; which for the King of Bohemia's profit may be concluded ad Calendas Grcecas. I was told, yesterday, that the archduchess had sent up into the Palatinate 15,000 men; which is an argument CHARLES THE FIRST, 143 the King of Spain means never to deliver his part up by treaty. But some Dutchmen tell rae, there can be no such raatter, because the Prince of Orange hath laid so many traps in their way ; but that the King of Bohemia himself, if he be not already gone, is very shortly to raarch up with an array of 12,000 men. Concerning the King of Sweden, one Mr. Perkins, son- in-law to Sir William Courteen, writes from Francfort by the last post that, coraing before the Castle of Wurtz- burg (in Latin, Herbipolis) the strongest fort in Franconia, he was driven, with the loss of raany of his men, to take it by assault, putting all he found there armed to the sword, and saving all the rest. Here the bishop of that place, esteemed one of the richest princes in Gerraany, and raost of the inhabitants thereabout, had hoarded up their treasure, which Mr. Perkins saith was so huge a raass, as it could araount to no less than one hundred tuns of gold, every tun being £10,000 sterling; in the total, ten hun dred thousand pounds sterling. There in Franconia, they say, being the garden of Germany, he purposeth to raake his seat of residence, and his raagazine for the wars, and therefore is now strongly fortifying of Baraberg and Wurtzburg, and hath sent for his queen to be brought to bed in Wurtzburg Castle, where, besides that mine of treasure, he found 100 pieces of brass ordnance (whereof 26 had the King of Bohemia's arras upon thera) and as raany lesser weapons as would arm 30,000 men, besides store of ammunition. Yea, the said Mr. Perkins (who, they say, is a discreet man) writeth farther, that the king hath already two third parts of Gerraany at his devotion. The same king now lately sent Sir Thomas Roe a present of copper, worth £2500, whereof, when he heard news, he went presently to his majesty, and told him the King of Sweden had sent him a present. If his majesty's pleasure were he should receive it, he would ; if not, he would send it back again. " God forbid, Sir Thomas," said the king, " that I should deprive you of it, having done so good and faithful service for us both." And indeed his majesty had reason to do no less ; for I have 1 44 THE COURT AND TIMES OF 'heard Sir Thomas Roe is £7000 behindhand for that his ambassage, having himself defrayed all the charge of his voyage. Therefore, I would have no friend of mine to become an ambassador. The king, in his letter to Sir Thomas Roe, acknowledgeth that, by his most secret counsels and conferences with him, he was excited and animated to this just and honourable war in Germany. And so the lords here say, that Sir Thomas needs none other epitaph. Besides, what an honour is it to King Charles, that had an ambassador who was a prae-consultor to so lofty an action. The Landgrave of Hesse hath taken the city and terri tories of Paderbom in Westphalia, and puts them to con tribution. I should have told you how the king raet with Piccolomini's army above-raentioned, and cut off five regi ments of thera. Mr. Perkins saith he bends towards Bavaria, The deputies of the Spiritual Electors ran out of Francfort for fear of the king's approach, being within six Dutch railes of that town. The Duke of Lorraine hath supplied the emperor with 600-0 foot and 2000 horse. They say, the emperor is obtaining from his Holiness a bull of crusade against the King of Sweden, the benefit whereof is to be enjoyed in purgatory ; whither the king, if they come in his way, is like to send them, as fast as a northern wind this autumn blows leaves off the trees. For he is already, in printed books, styled Gustavus Magnus. Some talk here of a parliament, and others of the king's journey into Scotland ; both which cannot stand together. My lady of Roxburgh is made governess to the princess. The emperor hath raade his son general, and Wallenstein lieutenant-general of his army about Vienna, &c. There are scaffolds and seats made up in the Painted Chamber, for a lord great constable shortly to sit there to give sentence upon the Lord Mackey and Mr. David Ram sey, what they are to do or suffer. Some say, my Lord Arundel shall be the man, and others my Lord of Lindsey ; and that whosoever be must have an earl marshal there subordinate unto him. Sir James Wingfield, whilom of Kimbolton Castle, in Huntingdonshire, was lately delivered out of Lincoln's Inn, CHARLES THE FIRST. 145 by the benchers, into the hands of justice, for having upon an arrest most cruelly wounded and mangled one Brooke, under-sheriff of Middlesex.' Yesterday, they rang for the queen's birthday, to-day for Queen Elizabeth's coronation, and on Saturday for King Charles's birthday, being now thirty-one years of age. An alderman told me my Lord of Suffolk ^ is dead. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering. Essex House, November 29, 1631. I am this week to present you with the joyful news of the winning of Prague, by Count Thorne, who, upon his arrival in Bohemia, with some of the Duke of Saxony's and of the King of Sweden's forces, the country people flocked unto him ; and he no sooner appeared before the city but it yielded without any blows. It is also said, that Tilly is certainly dead ; and that he died at Cologne the first of this month, stilo novo. Frankfort is yielded up to the King of Sweden, by composition ; and the emperor's forces lying between Bavaria and the Palatinate, the king fortifieth such towns as he hath already got in those parts, and for the present lieth still until sorae forces, which he expecteth, come unto him. Upon Sunday, at the going to the chapel, the king took the lord chamberlain's white wand from him, and gave hira, in lieu thereof, a silver mace, and made him lord high constable, for the trial of the difference betwixt Donald Mackay, Lord Rea, and Mr. David Ramsey. On Monday, the Marshal's Court was held in tbe Painted Chamber. The coraraission granted only unto the lord high constable and the earl marshal : and the lords assistants were the Lords of Pembroke, Dorset, Carlisle, Mulgrave, Morton, Mentieth, Falkland, Wimbledon, and Wentworth. The coraraission being read by Mr. Dethick, the king's proctor, the lord marshal (and not the high constable, which was much noted, he having the chiefest place) directed all, and made a short speech, wherein he showed first the king's ' A scion of the Wingfield family, descended from Sir Richard Wingfield, one of the ablest military commanders of his time, of Kimbolton Castle. This noble seat Sir James sold to Sir Henry, afterwards Baron Montagu. 2 Theophilus, second Earl of Suffolk, who did not die till June 3, 1640. VOL. II. L 146 THE COURT AND TIMES OF great care and watchfulness, that it might be a just, equal, and legal trial. Next, the legality and usefulness of this kind of trial upon the like occasions. And, lastly, the error which the raultitude ran into, in conceiving that a marshal's court cannot be caUed, but of consequence a corabat must be fought within one or two days ; which was a thing neither so suddenly nor certainly to be con cluded. The lord marshal's speech ended, the Lord Rea and Mr. Ramsey were brought to the bar by two heralds, and placed in their places, which were the breadth of the court asunder. Which done, the king's advocate, Dr. Duck, made a relation of the whole proceedings of the business until this time ; and of the legality in bringing it to this kind of trial, alleging it to be justifiable, both out of the writings of learned raen, and also by precedents in this kingdom. This done, the Lord Rea and Mr. Ramsey 'were called from the bar, and brought up to the bench, and so stood on either side of the court under the lords. The Lord Rea, being asked what he had to say against Mr. Ramsey, did present a petition he had formerly preferred to the king, which he desired raight be read openly in court; which was perforraed by the king's proctor. The effect whereof was, that his accusation against Mr. Rarasey was not out of any raalice, ostentation, or thirst of his blood : and, therefore, if the truth raight appear, either by the trial of Mr, Myldred, whose examination had been taken in this business, or by another lawful way, he desired not this way : otherwise, he did not petition out of any fear of combating, which he would willingly perform ; and did humbly pray his majesty's favour so far as to let bim have the advice of his counsel in the way of his proceed ing : which his majesty having granted him, he had engrossed his accusation in parchment, and so delivered it unto the king's proctor to read. The effect being that, having met and conferred several times with Mr. Ramsey, in Sweden, Germany, and the Low Countries, Mr. Rarasey had not only sought to draw him into actions of treason, but also spoken disloyally of the government of this king dom ; viz., that the realm was so governed that it was not CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 47 for an honest man to live in it ; which caused him to live out of it. Whereunto he answering, " God araend it !" Mr. Rarasey replied, " We raust help God to amend it ;" and that my Lord Marquis would come over with some troops, ere it were long, and then some course might be taken for the redress of such things as were amiss ; and, in the mean time, he was so furnished with money that he could spend £5 or £6 a day. All which he was ready to make good with his life ; and, for a pledge, threw down his glove into the court. Upon which, Mr. Ramsey being demanded what he could say in defence of this accusation, he entered into a dis course how iraprobable it was that he should carry himself so disloyally. Unto which the lord marshal said, " Mr. Ramsey, I am loth to interrupt any gentleman speaking in his own defence, yet must advise hira either to speak punc tually to the points of his accusation ; or otherwise peti tion the king that he might have the advice of counsel to draw his answer thereunto." To which he replied, " that all that he could say was, that all that the Lord Rea had objected against him was false, and he would justify the sarae with his life ;" and so threw down his glove as his pledge for perforraance thereof. Whereupon the lord marshal advised Mr. Rarasey not to disadvantage his cause by so general a denial, for that he could not but confess that they had met and conferred together; and therefore said he would not compel any raan to take coun sel, but he could wish he would suffer his answer to be drawn and put in writing by his counsel, to every point of his accusation. The which he yielding unto, the court ordered, that the Lord Rea should put in sureties to pro secute his accusation ; and Mr. Rarasey to put in sureties to put in his answer and defence by a day to be limited. Whereupon Sir Walter Crosby, Sir Pierce Crosby, and two more Scotsmen were bound body for body for the Lord Rea ; and the Lord Roxburgh and another Scots lord, body for body for Mr. Ramsey ; as also that they should keep the peace in the mean time, especially each to the other. And so the court adjourned until Friday next. l2 148 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering. London, December 1, 1631. I hear, my Lord Craven' made proffer to the king to levy, at his own charge, for the service of the King of Bohemia 3000 [raen], and give them coats of arras, and allow them victuals, until they be delivered up in Holland. Whereto his raajesty's answer was that he could not resolve any thing in the business, until he had heard frora Sir Henry Vane his arabassador, who is now with the King of Sweden. It is reported about the town (how truly I know not) that all the English have forsaken the Marquis Harailton, because he would force them, contrary to nature in a manner, both to beat and march the Scottish march. I should have told you before, if Ihad remembered so rauch, that my Lord Craven is upon his departure, if not already departed for the Low Countries. Whereas, on Tuesday was fortnight, the Earl of Middle sex being called in question, in the Exchequer charaber, about an account of fourscore thousand pounds, desired that he raight have the objections urged against hira, to consider of, and that his cause raight have a private hear ing. On Tuesday was sennight ray lord keeper in the sarae place delivered that his raajesty's pleasure was, that cause should corae to a public and legal trial, to the end that if his majesty did abate the earl any thing, or favoured hira in aught, it raight appear to issue out of his mere grace and bounty. And on Saturday, the barons, in open court, by having discovered some error, reversed the judg ment entered in that court in confirmation of his pardon, and so have frustrated it, and laid him open to the law : and sorae say, if he escape for £10,000, he raakes a good day's work bf it. The same day, also, those barons adjudged to my Lord of Carlisle nine houses in Wapping under a title of con cealment called par presture, that is to say, encroachment upon the King's Waste, as if they had won the ground their houses stand upon out of the river of Thames, which ' William Baron Craven, of Hamsted-Marshall, Berks; subsequently created an earl. CHARLES TUE FIRST. 1 49 belongeth to none but his majesty. His lordship, as I take it, hath followed this suit these ten years, and sueth for above sixscore houses more ; and it is thought the con demnation of those nine will raake all the rest come in and compound, which, standing upon one level with the nine, will at last be found to be in the same predicament. And, for that purpose, Mr. Attorney is commanded to make diligent inquiry whether there be any par prestures in that place, or no ? On Friday, at noon, came the first news of the taking of Prague, the chief city of Bohemia, frora the emperor by Count Thorne, from Calais ; and the same night was thoroughly and indisputably confirmed by the post of Antwerp, who brought letters in his budget testifying the sarae, not only from Frankfort, Nuremberg, &c., but also from Prague itself. And it is not only confessed by our papists, but even by the Spanish resident himself, and by Signer Alraerigo the Florentine agent, who is as much ad dicted to the cause of Austria as any Spaniard. My lord treasurer likewise had letters to the same effect ; so that it is as clear and manifest as the sun in the meridian. The manner was this : — Count Thorne, the first peer (as I un derstood him) in that kingdom, and the chief worker of the King of Bohemia to that crown, and he that caused the emperor's commissioners to be fenestrated or cast out of the windows of the Castle of Prague, and that ever since the loss of that city to the emperor had lived in exile, stripped of all his goods, lands, and possessions ; this Count Thorne, I say, having with five hundred fore-run ning horse attempted the minds of the people, and prof fering liberty to those whom the emperor had kept in slavery, all the country showed themselves most ready to revolt, and at the presence of the count did actually so. He had (so far as I can conjecture) six thousand raen of the King of Sweden, which, upon the probability or rather certainty of a general revolt, were strengthened with sorae troops of the Duke of Saxony. He sent word beforehand to Prague, that whosoever would depart with bag and baggage, raight; and so accordingly raany did. When he approached near the town, Don Baltazar, a Spanish 150 THE COURT AND TIMES OF governor thereof, and Wallenstein Duke of Friedland, fell a persuading the people and soldiers to help thera to make resistance; but they found their devotions so cold both towards them and their master the eraperor, as, pretending to go parley with Count Thorne, they rode out of the gate, and there turned their bridles, and made all the haste they could towards Budweitz, the strongest town of all Bo hemia upon the frontiers of Austria. The count being entered the city, pillaged the Jesuits and the Jews, and none else. And that he might give his enemies no rest, having added, to his Swede and Saxon, Bohemian forces also, he marched forthwith towards Budweitz ; which those that write out of Germany say, he will not be long in taking in. And for aught that I know, those of Austria may be as ready to revolt as their neighbours of Bohemia, being no less oppressed. They write from Nureraberg, that the emperor's army, and that an huge one of between 50,000 and 60,000 men, was, when the letter was written, viz., November 8, old style, in the marquisate of Anspach, some ten miles from thence, at a place called Rottemberg, They deraanded of Nurera berg provision for 3000 horse, or else threatened they would burn all the villages round about that town. But the Nurerabergers gave them the negative, saying they were already engaged to the King of Sweden, to whora they had lately sent 50,000 rix-doUars. The same man (who is a weekly writer to his correspondent here) saith farther, that both Uim and Strasburg have declared them selves for the king, and do levy as many men for hira as briskly they can. Now it is confessed by all raen, that Tilly died the 23rd of October ; and so we shall no more be haunted with his ghost. The Duke of Ferria, governor of Milan, having taken from the Venetians, that held it in deposito, the Valtoline, hath urged the French king to send an army into Italy, either to hinder or divert his proceedings ; and the Duke of Savoy is now altogether French. The last news I have heard is, that the people of Mes sina in Sicily having slain sorae of the custom-house for CHARLES THE FIRST. 151 setting afoot sorae new iraposition, the governor coming down out of the castle to do justice upon the malefactors, the townsmen made head against him, and drove him back with the slaughter of 500 of his Spanish soldiers. The like tumult upon the same occasion Vi^as lately in Biscay, whither the King of Spain having sent an alcalde or judge to do justice upon the mutineers, they made no more ado but knocked him on the head. Then the king sent word he would visit thera with an army of 30,000 men. They answered, he should then meet with an army of 30,000 raen. Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, December 14, 1631. I will tell you the freshest news first, and for the other, valeant tit valere possint. I was told yesternight by a very good hand that the Lord Ochiltree (he that accused the Marquis of Hamilton, and the prirae of the kindred in Scotland, of treason in the raost transcendent degree), was lately beheaded in Edinburgh. When he carae to be arraigned before the commissioners, he was assigned two advocates to plead for him, NichoUs and Hudson, who, being called to the bar, besought their lordships that were comraissioners to excuse thera, for they were asharaed to open their mouths for so guilty a person, or in so foul a cause. And David Rarasey is like to speed little better here ; for yesterday, at the Lord High Constable's Court, after Dr. Eden, his counsel, had pleaded for hira the best he could, it was ordered that Mackay should, on Monday, produce testimonies against hira for the proof of three things : 1 , of certain exhibits or letters, whereby it will plainly appear that he had written as much as Mackay charged him to have spoken ; 2, that being sent to the Prince of Orange and the States from the Marquis of Hamilton, he deraanded the audience and reception of an ambassador, as if he had been sent from a king ; 3, that since their confinement of the one to Richmond and of the other to Greenwich, Ramsey, contrary to all orders, sent Mackay a private challenge ; which very case, in Richard 152 THE COURT AND TIMES OF II.'s time, cost one man's life, as raaking him guilty of his adversary's accusation. Besides, Mackay is approved for his raodesty and grave temper, not only by the Lords but by the spectators; and the other as much censured for his impatience and interaperate behaviour. And for the clearing of soraewhat in this business, Sir Thoraas Roe, being newly gone down into Northaraptonshire, is sent for in all post haste. The post of Antwerp, which should, according to custora, have been here on Friday, carae not till yesterday ; and, as himself, so his news came far short of our expectation ; for we here dreamed, and it was said to be written out of Holland and other places, that the King of Sweden had taken not only Mentz but Coblentz, Bonn, and Cologne also : and that he meant not to stop till he carae as far as , Wesel and Burick, that he raight make his dominion con tiguous to the territories of the States. But we hear now, it is far otherwise, because these letters report he hath not so much as taken Mentz, nor sat down before it ; for going from Frankfort towards the north side of the Rhine, and Mentz standing on the south side, and the river being there very broad, when he attempted to raake a bridge to pass over his array, he was (sorae say twice, others thrice) repulsed by the enemy. And why should any general at all times expect desired success. True virtue is redoubled by opposition, as in philosophy, heat by anti- peristases of cold. Si hdc non succedat, alid ineundum est vid. Sorae say here, that the French king is gone to conquer Lorraine, not only because he hath harboured Monsieur, his brother, but also for that he is gone in person, with the greatest forces he can make, to aid the emperor. In case it prove true, it will make a brave diversion of Spaniards and Imperialists frora Mentz and out of the Palatinate, for the King of Sweden's advantage, and they say there are 5000 men in garrison at Mentz, whereof 2000 are Spaniards. By one and the same courier, two reasons were given for probability of a parliaraent, as, naraely, that the French king will not pay the other half of the queen's portion, CHARLES THE FIRST. 153 until her jointure be confirmed by Act of Parliament ; and, secondly, because Sir John Eliot and Mr. Selden have lately been courted and caressed by some great men, who are most in danger to be called in question. And two reasons also for the queen's mother coming over : first, in that the king, her son, hath given her notice, that if she will live in any place out of the King of Spain's dominions, she shall have her whole revenues (being not so little as £100,000 a-year) paid her. Otherwise, not a groat. And secondly, because the Duke of Vendome, who cannot abide her, because she was author of his seven years' ira prisonraent, is making haste to be gone out of England, albeit he intended to stay all winter, until he heard tbe news of her coraing. Sir Robert Honeywood, agent for the King of Boheraia, hath been very earnest in persuading his raajesty to a present contribution towards the recovery of the Palati nate, saying, that the raost direct and honourable way is by the sword, especially in this present conjuncture, when the King of Sweden is so victorious near the place. - That the Eraperor and King of Spain have for two years together delayed and deluded his raajesty by treaty, and will do so to the [end,] as intending never to part with that by way of treaty, which they have gained by the sword. And suppose it should be rendered back by treaty, yet that would not be done by those two haughty princes, without iraposing some base submissions and some un worthy conditions upon the King of Bohemia and his posterity. The final resolution was, that letters should be sent both to the king and the emperor by one and the same messenger (which cannot perform the journey in less than two months) ; and if their answers be either negative or dilatory, then raust a second war break out against Spain, and a parliaraent be suraraoned for recovery of the Pala tinate. Sir Henry Vane had his audience of the King of Sweden at Wurtzburg, the 6th of November, and is now returned back down the Meine and the Rhine, and it is thought he will be here again by Christmas. He sent his letters by one Gifford, a Jesuited feUow, who detracts from the King 1 54 THE COURT AND TIMES OF of Sweden as much as he can ; yet hath brought a letter from him to our king, assuring his majesty he will take order that the custom of our merchants' goods at Dantzic and Elbing shall be brought down from 1 4 in the hundred to the old rate of Si per cento. The Queen of Spain is come to Erfurt, the greatest city in Germany, and in the heart thereof, guarded frora Stetin, in Poraerland, only with four troops of horse, and passing as quietly as if she had been in Sweden. The cities through which she passed did starap upon great medals or coins of gold her king's picture and hers, in honour of them both, which were no less than high treason to the emperor, if he were able to revenge it ; but now, on the contrary, even in Imperial towns themselves, it is accounted treason to have intelli gence with the emperor, as lately in Bremen, where sorae of the citizens were clapt iu prison by the raagistrates for the sarae cause. Wisraar is now taken for certain, and the Marquis of Hamilton and Duke of Mecklenburg said to be joined with the King of Sweden. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, December 14, 1631. The King of Sweden had no farther intent, at his first landing in Germany, than to settle himself upon some river, and therefore to fortify hiraself, chiefly, if he could, upon the Elbe ; and then, without any farther proceeding at that time in Germany, to fall upon the emperor's countries of Silesia, Boheraia, and the rest. But his great victory against Tilly, having carried hira beyond the scope of his design, he hath left the execution thereof upon those countries to his lieutenants, and hiraself hath prosecuted the game against the bishops and the body of their league, which was the chief strength of that party, professing his only end to be to restore the true religion and public liberty in Germany, which the emperor, with the help of the said league, had almost suppressed. Concerning the confederate princes of Leipsic, it is true that hitherto the Duke of Saxony and the Landgrave of CHARLES THE FIRST. 155 Hesse have showed themselves alraost the only actors. But although the Elector of Brandenburg do not war himself in person, yet he doth contribute both his men, towns, and raoney to the war ; and both the Duke of Weimar and the Duke of Mecklenburg have put them selves in the field. But the Administrator of Wirtembers:, either out of fear, being threatened by the emperor's forces, or rather out of a bad affection, took a clean contrary course, betook hiraself to the eraperor's party, and deli vered into his hands his two nephews, the young Duke of Wirtemberg and his brother, so as now he is held for no other than an eneray. The other princes of the Confederacy, being able to do little of themselves, are not much spoken of : only we hear that the Duke George of Lunenburg is levying good troops for the King of Swedeland, and that the circle of the Lower Saxony have now declared themselves for hira ; and are likewise preparing a little army for the coramon de fence. The Landgrave of Darmstadt, who had always held strongly for the emperor's side, and had been rauch sup ported by hira against the Landgrave of Cassel, hath now yielded to the victorious fortune, and put hiraself and his country into the said king's hand. Of whose proceedings, since my last, we have not had any certain advertisements, nor of any farther action in those parts. Only there is a report that the Count John de Nassau is come back with his army into Flanders, and hath left his cannon behind him, not being able, by reason of the foul ways, to bring it along with him. And on the other side it is reported that the States are preparing a hundred corapanies of foot and thirty corapanies of horse to go up to the Palatinate ; but under whose coraraand I do not yet understand. At the town of Anspach, where the Electors of Bran denburg use to be buried, I hear the imperialists have been so barbarous as to break open their graves, and scattered their bones abroad. Whereupon the Swedish cried out against them that they did use their cowardly revenge against the dead, because they durst not look the living in the face. 156 THE COURT AND TIMES OF The King of Sweden is made and acknowledged by all the Confederates for the director of the war in Ger many. The two Scottish men's business, which, from Friday last, after the hearing of the Lord Rea's reply, had been put off to this day, to hear Mr. Ramsey's rejoinder, hath been now put off again to Monday next, for the hearing of the proofs. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, December 21, 1631. By a courier come frora Sir Henry Vane since the writing of ray last, by hira despatched from Frankfort the J of this month, we understand that the King of Swedeland being sohcited by those of Nuremberg for relief against the emperor's array, which had besieged them, he turned back from the Rhine with his army that way. But, as soon as the Iraperialists heard of his coraing, they raised their siege, and withdrew theraselves from thence. Whereupon those of the town, being gone forth in the pur suit of them, killed and took a good number of them, and amongst the rest the Count of Anhalt, a raan of good account on the enemy's side, who is now prisoner in the said town. Whereby the Iraperialists have now betrayed their weakness, and the said king confirraed the reputation of his strength, and his credit with his allies, having shown hiraself able and ready to assist them. Which being done, he came back presently towards the Rhine, whereon he had set up a bridge at this courier's coming away from those parts, and was that day gone before the town of Oppenheim to besiege it. He reports that there are ten thousand Spaniards in the Palatinate, and that he met with fifteen hundred horse besides about Namur, going up thither out of Flanders. He doth believe Tilly to be alive, but reporteth hira (as sorae others had done before) to be so weakened in his brains, as that he is no better than a dead raan ; and is confident that Pappenbeira is the raan that coraraandeth now the emperor's army. Here is at present a gentleraan newly come from the CHARLES THE FIRST. 157 queen raother, who, as I understand, doth not now so rauch press her coraing over as she did before. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, December 28, 1631. After the King of Sweden had passed on this side of the Rhine, by raeans of a bridge which he raade with boats taken frora those of Wormes, he went and besieged the town of Oppenheira, wherein were 3000 Spaniards for the defence of the sarae, whora he put to the sword, having taken the town by assault ; and then took by composition the cities of Mentz and Worraes, and the towns of Creut- nach. Stein, and others, in the Palatinate, wherein there are not any able to make hira resistance, saving only the town of Frankendale ; so as by the virtue of that brave king, that poor country is in a fair way of its deliverance frora the claws of the Spanish and Popish tyranny. And though it came not directly frora them into the right owners' hands, yet I ara persuaded there is so good an in telligence between the recoverer and his raajesty for thera, as that, with the perforraance of some conditions which he hath deraanded of us, he will be friendly, and restore it into their possession. To which end I understand that his raajesty hath resolved to assist hira with £100,000. On the other side we have these and other good and admirable tidings out of Bohemia, that the emperor's army, lately driven frora Nureraberg, being entered into that kingdora for the defence of the sarae against the new con queror's, hath been utterly overthrown and defeated in set battle by the old Count of Thorne, with a very great slaughter, naraely, of the General Tiffenbach and divers others of the chief coraraanders of the said array. Where upon, it is reported that the whole country of Moravia is come into the victorious hands ; and that in Bohemia there is only the town of Budweitz remaining for the era peror, who upon this new raisfortune is said to have with drawn himself from Vienna to Gratz. These great news we had this day at court, to cheer up our Christmas with', which the king hath particularly expressed upon this occa- 158 THE COURT AND TIMES OF sion. The Duke of Vendorae is departed this day to go back into France. Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 12, 1631-2. This other day. Sir John Eliot's attorney-at-law told rae he had been with him long since his removal into his new lodging, and found him the same cheerful, healthful, undaunted raan that ever he was. My Lord Rutland, as I ara told by an intiraate courtier, goes to church, and therefore needs pay no raore for recu sancy. Mr. Giffard, (he that brought letters frora Sir Henry Vane, and did pocket up the lie given hira by Sir John CasseU before raany in the queen's privy-chamber) before his return back again, was swom gentleman of the privy-chamber extraordinary, whereat some repining, my Lord of Arundel, his noble patron, to hit their envy in the eye, caused one of his sons to be sworn after him to the like place. Some say Giffard received a double incon veniency thereby ; first, in that being a fellow extremely Jesuited, he was fain to take the oath of supremacy, where upon, some that were by do say that he stared and looked wild, as if he had been distracted : secondly, by this honour laid upon him his mouth was stopped frora asking any other recorapense either for his pains or charges. Mr. Williara Boswell, a clerk of the council extraor dinary, who was joined in coraraission with my Lord of Carlisle when he was in Italy as secretary for the ambas sage, and one of the ablest and honestest men of our nation, is designed by his majesty to be resident in the Hague in place of Sir Dudley Carleton, nephew to ray Lord of Dorchester. The lord high constable's court for trial of Mackay and Rarasey was adjourned from Monday till to-day ; where what the event will be I cannot relate unto you till ray next. The last Sunday night the king's masque was acted in the Banqueting House, the queen's being suspended till an other time by reason of a soreness which fell into her deli cate eyes. The inventor or poet of this masque was Mr. CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 59 AureUan Townshend, sometimes towards the Lord Trea surer Salisbury, Ben Jonson being for this time discarded, by reason of the predorainant power of his antagonist, Inigo Jones, who this tirae twelvemonth was angry with him for putting his own name before his in the title-page, which Ben Jonson raade the subject of a bitter satire or two against Inigo.' Now, to satisfy you what I can touching foreign affairs, I am told at court that the King of Sweden shall be paid the other raoiety of the queen's portion ; the French king being willing rather to pay it to hira than to us. And whereas sorae papists absurdly give out that the French king hath sent a defiance for having meddled with the spiritual electors, the case is quite contrary ; for he hath answered the arabassadors of those electors that, if they will declare theraselves against the house of Austria, he will then raediate for them to the King of Sweden : other wise he will leave them to stand upon their own bottoms. And they say the French king — though not yet in print, yet in words to those ambassadors and agents that are about hira, and in deeds to all the world — hath now pro fessed enraity more than ever against the house of Austria : the main reason whereof is because he knows well enough that if he had not called that victorious king into Ger raany, the Austrians had poured some four armies into France at one clap. And now, it seems, the choler of those two nations or families is grown so settled and so inveterate one against the other, as the flame thereof will not be quenched but with the ruin of the one side. And what hath been the Duke of Bavaria's reward for having cast away ten thousand of his subjects in the emperor's service ? Marry, he hath been fain upon his knees to pre sent a blank paper to the French king for his most chris tian majesty to write thereupon what laws and conditions he pleaseth to impose upon hira. So the king hath received him into his protection ; but, for more surety's sake, now ' Ben wrote many things about this period /)»-o and con., for he was equally skilled in satire and eulogy. In the present instance, he overwhelmed the unhappy archi tect with a torrent of hard names from the storehouse of his reading. See his " Expostulation," which was followed by an epigram, and what he chose to style " A Corollary," addressed "to Inigo Marquis Would-be." 1 60 THE COURT AND TIMES OF while he is marching up into Alsatia, hath left French garrisons in all that duke's strongholds. The Duke of Vendome, since his departure, hath written from Calais that both kings with their armies were at one time within five hours' march one of another. The Queen of Boheraia is lately brought to bed of a son, and sorry she cannot be ready to accorapany her husband hito the Pala tinate. When the King of Sweden first sent for him thither, he made answer (as I told you in my last) he had neither men nor money. " No !" said the king : " what, a brother of the King of Great Britain, and protected by the States, and must he corae to rae in his doublet and hose ! Let hira corae, howsoever, and I will do ray best to restore hira to his patriraony." To which end, I hear, that incora- parable king hath sworn all the towns he hath taken in the Palatinate to the service of their original raaster, the Pals grave. And I am told also that he hath given order to the Duke of Saxony once raore to proclaira him King of Bohemia. Old Tilly, they say, hath at length thrust hira self into a monastery at Brussels, that he raight verify the saying, " Desperatio facit monachum." But I do scarce believe, though it were told me from a good hand, that the emperor hath sent an arabassador extraordinary to the Grand Signer to send hira aid against the King of Sweden. Mr. Gordon, the king's, or rather the merchants', agent, now at Dantzic, writes that he hath deraanded aid also frora his brother-in-law, the King of Poland, frora whom, saith he, it was as easy for him to get a penny as to wring Hercules's club out of his fist. Nor will the state there suffer any men to be sent out, because they will not pro voke so formidable an enemy. IJe writes farther that all Bohemia is re-conquered, saving the two strong towns of Pilsen and Budweitz ; and that old Count Thorne is able to do raore by his old acquaintance and correspondence, than the Duke of Saxony with his army. Sir Robert Anstruther, in a letter dated the 29th of November, relateth that the eraperor, being then still at Vienna, had asserabled the States of Austria to give hira poll- money, upon every head, for maintenance of the war, which was not as then concluded. He saith farther, that CHARLES THE FIRST. 161 the Duke of Saxony, being then about to erect a citadel at Prague, had summoned all the nobility and gentry of Bo hemia to bring in their tenures, with intention to reject all those that were not antienter than 1620, and to restore the antient possessors. He saith, also, that the same duke bears a deadly feud as well to the Duke of Bavaria as to the eraperor. Sir Henry Vane, in his letters delivered to the king on Monday, recanteth the battle in Moravia, said to be fought between the Saxon forces and Tiffenbach, saying that Tif fenbach is yet alive ; and that there was no such matter. It is no marvel, therefore, if ray intelligence soraetimes faileth rae, when so great a raaster in Israel is fain to re cant. The sarae letters report that Frankendale was not as yet taken, but beleaguered by that peerless king with at least 30,000 men, there being within it 4000 foot and 8000 horse. The Spaniards had provided a mine of gun powder at Heidelberg to have blown up the king, if he had come thither ; but, having heard of their stratagem, he will easily avoid it. Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 26, 1631. On Friday last the lord high constable's court for trial of Mackay and Ramsey was adjourned till to-day, when what is or raay be resolved is impossible for me to know. I heard one say, not long since, it is a very airy business, and not to be laid fast hold on by those that have the managing of it. The judges and common lawyers say, in case a corabat be awarded, whosoever kills the other is, by their law, guilty of raurder : and I have heard bishops and di vines say it is a heathenish [act] to seek truth by that way ; and that all duels and combats whatsoever are con demned by general councils. Yesternight I was told by a knowing man that the whole business would be referred to the comraon law ; the truth whereof I shall not be able to tell you until ray next. On Monday, being the first day of the terra, Mr. Selden, to perform his recognizance and save himself and his bail, VOL. II. M 1 62 THE COURT AND TIMES OF appeared at the King's Bench bar, and prayed the judges he might be released. My Lord Chief Justice Richardson appealed to Judge Jones what was fit to be done, because he knew the cause of Mr. Selden's iraprisonraent. Judge Jones put it off to Mr. Noy, the king's attorney : and he answered he had neither order nor instruction about him ; and therefore he could not meddle with him. So the judges would have referred Mr. Selden for farther answer until to-day, which is Thursday, but he would by no means con sent to that, saying, if his appearance were not entered upon record, his recognizance was forfeited, and if it were entered, the recognizance was void. Therefore, if they would not release him, he must enter a new recognizance, which he prayed might be in a lesser sum . Whereupon Judge Richardson drew it down from £2000 to £1000, and he and his sureties were bound for his appearance there the last day of the term : and it is thought that, in .summa summarum, he will be called to be the king's solicitor. The sarae raorning. Sir Walter Long was brought to the Exchequer bar, and there was interrogated by the barons, whether he would appear and answer to a bill there exhi bited against him by Sir Richard Heath, whilst he was Attorney-General, wherein he is charged to have made fraudulent conveyance of all his estate, of purpose to de fraud his majesty of that £1000 fine which was imposed upon him in the Star Charaber, for absence out of his county in tirae of shrievalty. Whereunto Mr. Long said he would neither appear nor answer to any such bill, but would in all the business be a mere patient, and no agent at all: their lordships raight do their pleasure, but he hiraself would have no hand in it. So they gave hira till Monday to consider better thereof, and, if he will not then appear and answer, it is thought they will take him pro confesso, and proceed against hira as they shall think fit. The manner of his coming thither was this : a writ under the great seal of England was sent to the Lieutenant of the Tower to deliver hira into the custody of the sheriffs of London ; and another writ, under the great seal also, was sent to thera to receive hira, and to bring him to the CHARLES THE FIRST. 163 Exchequer bar: and so, likewise, two great seals more must be despatched for his recommitment to the Tower. The same lieutenant coraplained to his raajesty of Mr. Valentine, that being a prisoner in another prison for the sarae offence, yet did he usually and very often visit Sir John Eliot in the Tower. Hereupon, Mr. Weeks, the keeper of the Gate-house, being questioned by the lords, why he had given so rauch scope to his prisoner, produced Sir Robert Heath's warrant, which permitted him to license Mr. Valentine to lie in the rules, and to go whither he would, about some law business he had in hand. Then Sir Robert Heath, being also called in question, made it appear he had obtained leave of his majesty so to do. In fine, Mr. Valentine, by order from their lordships, is drawn back out of the rules into the prison ; but not so strictly kept in these, but that he raay sometiraes go abroad, as he did last Sunday to the serraon at Lincoln's Inn. I hear, Sir John Eliot is to reraove out of his dark sraoky lodging into a better. On Monday morning also, my Lord of Essex and divers others of the nobility appeared before the lords of the privy council at Whitehall, about compounding for their knighthoods. His lordship said, he was not only present at the coronation, but employed also in services very near his majesty's person, as bearing the sword before him, and helping to put on and put off his robes ; and was there ready to have received knighthood, or any other honour his majesty should have been pleased to vouchsafe on him. So, my lord treasurer asked his lordship, whether he would stand to that plea ? He said he would ; and so said all the rest, for they all plead. Now, if you ask me what they do in foreign parts, I raust, in the first place, not omit to tell you that our noble countryman ray Lord Craven, being godfather to the king of Bohemia's son newly born, hath given him a cup board of plate worth £l 500, and a pension out of his lands during his life of £200 a-year. His lordship is now gone up towards the Palatinate with the King of Boheraia, and it is said they set forth on Monday sennight, being the 1 6th of this present. Sir Henry Vane's eldest son, and Cole, M 2 I6i THE COURT AND TIMES OF the post that attended on him, raet thera onward of their journey as far as Arnheira, being, as Cole saith, conveyed along by 2500 of the States' horse, and 500 firelocks, and to be met upon the confines of Germany by the Landgrave of Hesse with another army. At Arnheim, the said king met with the last ambassador he had sent to the King of Sweden, bringing assurance, both in letters and words, of that victorious king's constant love towards hiraself, his queen, and children. Cole told a friend of raine yesterday, that the King of Sweden, as he keeps the most regular camp, so did he now at his late abode in Mentz keep the most glorious court in respect of princes, ambassadors, and other great persons attending on him, of all the kings in Europe. He saith he is now gone to Hanau, not above eighteen English miles from thence, and but six frora Frankfort, to bid his queen so far welcorae into Germany ; and that six commissioners frora the city of Cologne are gone after hira for the rendering up of their town. He saith farther, that the city of Spire, wherein is the impe rial chamber for deciding of all causes, is newly surren dered to that brave king. Also, that he hath taken in all the lower Palatinate, saving Frankendale, Heidelberg, and Cruznach, all which he hath blocked up. And it is thought Sir Henry Vane would not send home his son and heir, but upon some extraordinary message. And it is whispered in court, that the Spaniards will render up Frankendale unto him, as to his Majesty of Great Britain's ambassador, that is to say, when he can hold it no longer, and perhaps upon some intolerable terms of conditions. But, if it he true, which I hear of others, it seems they are well pre pared to render it to the King of Bohemia, when he is corae thither, because they have perraitted some ministers to preach tbe Gospel there. Cole saith farther, that Mag deburg is relieved by Count Pappenbeira, who, with 4000 horse and sorae hundreds of foot, broke through one of the king's quarters into the town. Others tell me that the Jesuits at Prague, having plotted to betray that town again into the emperor's hands, were banished thence, and out of the whole kingdora of Boheraia on St. Stephen's day, and that after their plot was discovered and prevented. CHARLES THE FIRST. 165 The strong fort of Manheim (for the town was dis mantled long agone) was very lately taken by stratagera for the King of Sweden. Two hundred soldiers, hid in a great vessel under a lading of faggots, leaped suddenly on shore, slew the sentinel, found the rest asleep, and so took it without loss of one raan. I hear also that the king hath fortified Mentz during his abode there. As the eraperor is said to make great preparations in Austria, Hungary, &c., so the king, besides others, is now levying of no less than 300 cornets of horse. The French ambassador presented him with 300,000 crowns from his raaster, and departed from him most contented ; and Ra- gotzki's (prince of Transylvania) ambassador offers 60,000 men in his master's narae. The French king hath got leave of the city of Strasburg to pass his array of 2500 foot and 6000 horse over their bridge : and then he may go either into Austria, to hunt the emperor, or into Swit zerland, and thence into Italy. They say. Monsieur, his brother, whatever hath formerly been told of their recon cilement, is for certain at Brussels, where he hath been entertained like a king, and hath had a canopy borne over him ; and yet they say, also, that Brabant and Flanders do refuse at this present to pay contribution. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. Essex House, Januai-y 26, 1632. There is now at the King of Sweden's court betwixt twenty and thirty princes and extraordinary arabassadors. The King of Boheraia hath gone up to hira with eight troops of horse and 1500 rausketeers. Sir Henry Vane's eldest son,^ which carae to town on Tuesday last with a packet of news, affirms the same, and hath, as it is rumoured, brought sorae secret news to his majesty, which sorae con ceive to be the delivery of Frankendale and Heidelberg to our EngUsh ambassador by the Spaniard; which if accepted of upon condition, and in way of thanks to that king, when, as the world seeth, he is forced thereunto by the King of Sweden's arms, it will be as great an affront 1 Who was beheaded after the Restoration. 166 THE COURT AND TIMES OF as can be put upon the King of Sweden by us. I had, yesternight, the sight of a letter from the ChanceUor of Sweden to Sir Thoraas Roe, which confirmeth the report which Mr. Francis Gordon brought over concerning the sudden death of the Poland queen ; a wonder which the tempest and thunder did to three churches in that city, when she made Luther and Calvin such hobgoblins in her procession. The letter incite th Sir Thomas Roe to inform the king and the nation, that, whereas he heareth Mr. Gordon was cried out upon for a liar, he doth assure him frora such, whose credits are not to be questioned, that the sarae day the procession was performed in that raanner the queen died suddenly ; that the terapest and thunder did strike off the head of our Saviour's picture, the crown of the Virgin Mary's and the .... of John Baptist in the Jesuitical church ; and in the Dominical and other churches the crown of thorns from off the head of our Saviour, the candlesticks and cup off the high altar, and divers other the like wonders. This morning, being the conclusive day for the business betwixt our two Scots combatants in the Earl Marshal's court, whither I am now going, I have not leisure to write you any more news at this time. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 30, 1632. We have it confirraed frora all parts, that the princes of Germany are in a very good union amongst themselves, and are still animated both in their councils and wars by the spirit of that heroical and wise king, who, foreseeing, as it were, his destiny, had set down his advice and direc tions for their future courses after his death; which he left as a legacy unto them, and are by them, as I hear, punc tually followed and observed. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, February 6, 1632. We have now here ray Lord of Arundel, newly come back out of Holland, of whose errand you have already CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 67 understood the effect by my former. But, besides, he bringeth this news, that the States have broken off their treaty with the Fleraish, being resolved not to be longer amused, but to get their peace with the sword ; to which end they have made great preparations for the war this year, and have given order to their soldiers to be ready to go into the field the next month of March. The King of France's journey to Metz is put off for a month. We do suppose my Lord Arabassador Weston to be now in his court, being come back out of Italy, where, I hear, he shall be employed to raake an association be tween the two kings for the cause of Germany, and especially for the recovery of the Palatinate. Here we have a young arabassador, the Prince Radzovil's son, from the new King of Poland, to give notice to his raajesty both of his predecessor's death and of his own election to that crown ; who had his audience yesterday in the Banqueting House, having performed that office already in Holland, and being shortly to do the like in France. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, February 13, 1632. Having little to trouble you withal at this time con cerning foreign matters, I will begin this letter with the woeful and lamentable accident of fire which happened yesterday, and burned down about sixty houses on London Bridge, having begun by the carelessness of a maid in a house on this side the bridge, and so been carried by the wind along the same ; whereby not only so many houses, and the goods that were in them, were utterly lost, but some persons also have been burned and hurt. And it was much feared that some of the arches would have been spoiled also, by reason of the quantity of coals and other fuel that was in the cellars or vaults. But I hear that now, God be thanked, the fire is quenched. Touching the passages in the Star Chamber and the Exchequer Charaber this term, I raake no doubt, sir, but you have heard how Mr. Sherfield, the Recorder of Salis- 1 68 THE COURT AND TIMES OF bury, hath been sentenced and fined for beating down a window of a church in the said town, where God the Father was represented in a picture, pretending that it was abused to idolatry. And how certain feoffees' mo neys, bequeathed and given for redeeming of impropria tions, to the sum of £7000 or £8000, have been questioned for it, and those redeemed livings, wherein they had placed ministers of their own choice, resumed and put into the king's hands. You have heard also how a great num ber of lords and gentlemen are called in question, and like to be troubled, for having sojourned here in the city, contrary to the king's proclamation ; and I hear that raany more are like to be questioned, for having likewise broken his majesty's proclamation in eating of flesh at prohibited times, which may be a work reserved for the next term. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, February 20, 1632. We do very shortly expect here the return of ray Lord Arabassador Weston, who is now at Paris, and, as I hear, hath made there some raotion for the re-establishing of the young Princes Palatine, as Sir Robert Anstruther hath done in Holland : whereto, I think, it will be ex pected that we shall first put our hands. The Prince of Radzovil, having with coraraendation finished his arabas- sage in that court, is gone to perform the like into France. And now we have here the Chancellor Oxenstiern's son, a towardly young gentleman, together with a nephew of Count Gustavus Horne, and some other Dutch gentleraen, / that are corae as travellers to see this court, where they are rauch respected and caressed. On Sunday last, ray lord treasurer was created Earl of Portland at Whitehall. Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, February 23, 1631-2. My Lord of Dorchester ^ being now dead, and on Sunday night, with no great pomp, buried in Westminster ' Sir Dudley Carleton. CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 69 church, many there are, both in court and town, nomi nated as competitors for his place. Some lords, as my Lord Cottington in chief, ray Lord Viscount Falkland, my Lord Hobart, and my Lord Aston. Likewise, Sir Thomas Roe, Sir Isaac Wake, Sir Kenelm Digby ; to whora some stick not to annex Mr. Walter Montagu and Sir James Bagg. My Lord of Dorchester, thougli he left no great estate behind him, not above £700 a-year, yet left he a good name, both of an able statesraan, a sincere Protest ant, and of a true Englishman ; bate me only the lean cheeks, canvass trusses, and wooden shoes, which he raentioned once in parliaraent.^ But then we had a duke, since whose death, we raay say of ray Lord of Dorchester, as Virgil says of Hector, " Quantum mutatus ab illo /" This day sennight the Lord Mackay presented, in the Lord High Constable's Court, a solemn and formal protes tation in writing for the truth of his bill. But Ramsey, for his answer, protested only in words, desiring the time appointed for the combat might be shortened. But on * Saturday, when upon better advisement he offered his protestation also in writing, as pleading ignorance in so unusual a case, the lords, because on Thursday he had neglected their Monday's order, would not accept it, but said they would farther consider thereof. My lord high constable also, on Saturday, appointed the weapons of these two combatants should be, first, a lance ; secondly, a long sword ; and, thirdly, sword and dagger. And, for de fensive arms, they were referred to further consideration. But, since, I heard a skilful raan say, that it was in the defendant's choice what defensive arms the appellant and he should put on ; and whether they should wear any at all or no. On Friday, my Lord of Essex, accompanied by my Lords of Warwick and of Holland, was present at the solemnization of his mother's^ funeral in the chancel at Tunbridge ; her corpse in her chariot, covered with black ' See Rushworth, vol. i. pp. 358, 359. 2 Frances, daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham, married, first to Sir Philip Sidney, then to Robert, Earl of Essex, and at last to Richard, Earl of Clanricarde. 170 THE COURT AND TIMES OF velvet, attended on by eight coaches, and a great troop of horse, being brought thither by torches at raidnight. The bishopric of Durham must pay one year's rent to his majesty, ere another bishop be installed. And, since the death of the late bishop,' who was designed for Win chester, sorae say ray Lord of London^ will accept of Winchester. Now, it is current in every man's mouth, that the king's journey into Scotland is put off till another year. But on Tuesday, his majesty carried the queen a pleasanter voyage, namely, frora hence to Theobald's, thence to Royston, so on to Cambridge, where three comedies are provided for their entertainraent, and, lastly, to Newraarket, where their majesties do stay till a fortnight before Easter, and do then return. The statute, as I take it, of 1 2"°' of Queen Elizabeth, enacting, that whosoever builds a cottage without laying four acres of ground unto it, shall forfeit £10, and £40 a-year so long as that cottage doth stand, is now to be put in execution here within twenty miles of London round about, where, and in the suburbs of this town, will be found many thousands of such tenements. I ara told, but not by any of either house, that my Lord Rich,* being newly returned out of France, shall marry the Lady Anne Cavendish, daughter of the late Earl of Devon. ,Her portion to be £8000 from her father, and £3000 or £4000 from her raother: her jointure, £2000 a-year. My Lord Rich's portion, after his father's death, £6000 a-year (all his brothers and sisters nobly provided for), and his present raaintenance, until then, £] 500 per annum. I hear, that the unknighted Catholic lords, lying all under the lash of Queen Elizabeth's statutes (which, whensoever his majesty shall be pleased strictly to put in execution, he raay soon undo thera all), do wiUingly compound for their knighthoods, paying only double to what they are in the subsidy ; whereas, others, if they can get it from them, must pay treble, and one half over and above. My Lord ' Dr. John Howson, who died February 6, 1631-2. 2 Dr. Laud. 3 Robert, afterwards Earl of Warwick, survived his father but one year, dying May 29, 1659. CHARLES THE FIRST. 171 Pierrepoint, Earl of Kingston,' who is £300 only in the subsidy, is required to pay £2000, which is almost seven tiraes as rauch : but his lordship refuseth so to ilo, and standeth upon his plea : and so, I hear, do twenty-five lords more. The Earl of Banbury, aged fourscore and six, is said now to lie upon his death-bed ; but I hear, that his sister, my Lady of Leicester,^ being six years elder, can yet walk a mile in a morning. My Lord Bishop of Lincoln, called this other day before a committee of the Lords, did rauch repine at it, that he, having been lord keeper, and, for aught he knew, being still of the body of that council, should be brought before referees, and not before the body. The occasion was a coraplaint of Dr. Larab, his chancellor, against his lord ship, because he would, by the strength of the canon law, deprive the doctor of his office ; for that he would not renew his patent frora his lordship, when it was proffered him. Whereupon, ray lord's secretary, having obtained the reversion of the place, sues the doctor at the common law, et hinc illce lachrymce. On Monday, one Mr. Sandwich, kinsman to my Lord Aston, giving Mr. Henry Jermyn, a prime servant of the queen, some foul words in the preaching court at White hall, as supposing, while Mr. Jerrayn was at play, he had bandied balls on purpose at him, as he stood in the gallery at the upper end of the Tennis Court. Mr. Jerrayn struck hira a box on the ear. Sandwich drew his sword, and, had not the thrust been put by by a footman, had hazarded Jermyn's life. But how the Lords have cen sured it I know not. If you ask me what they are doing in remote parts, I must first tell you what concerneth ourselves. I hear, therefore, that Burlamachi, by the power and industry of Sir Isaac Wake, hath obtained an assignment out of the imposts of alum, to be paid the other moiety of the queen's portion. And I believe it the rather, because yesterday, ' Commonly called " the good Earl of Kingston." He greatly distinguished himself at the breaking out of the civil wars, fighting for the king, and was acci dentally shot on the 30th of July, 1643, by his own partisans, when a captive in the hands of the Parliamentarians. 2 Lettice, widow of Walter, Earl of Essex, of Robert, Earl of Leicester, and of Sir Christopher Blount. 1 72 THE COURT AND TIMES OF one of our Canada raerchants told rae, they raust send for their people out of the fort of Quebec in that river, which, sorae three or four years agone, was taken frora the French, by Captain Kirke, but now, in respect of the said payment, is to be restored to them again. Wherein they raake a good bargain, for they will gain not so little as 100,000 crowns a-year by the trade of beavers there. Now, let me transcribe verbatim what my cousin, Robin Marsham, one of Sir Henry Vane's voluntary gen tlemen, writes to me, on the 4th of February, old style, frora Frankfort, where both King and Queen ' of Swe den do commonly reside. " In the mean time," saith he, " take this for certain, that Madgeburg is in, and that Pappenbeira, by ray Lord Marquis and Bannier, suffered the defeat of a regiraent, and lost six ensigns. Pappenbeira is now upon the Weser stream, and my Lord Marquis before Wolfenbuttel. Tilly is again made general for the Catholic League, being with his forces in Swabia by Ohne, and the Bishop of Wurtzburg is sent ambassador for the same league to the King of France. Wallenstein prepares against the spring for Bohemia, and the Duke of Saxe, though he be now at Dresden, makes ready to meet him. The King of Sweden parted from hence but yester day to Mentz, and is now marching towards Vanderberg, who, with 10,000 or 12,000 men, is past the Moselle. That king is resolved to give him battle, if he will raeet him. I am going to the array to-raorrow. Therefore, till the King of Bohemia come, farewell." Thus far my cousin. The French King, being now at or near Paris, and, as sorae say, his army also being retired frora the frontiers of Gerraany into France, droops of a raelancholy disease : in whose favour, as I hear a Catholic report, the cardinal begins to decline. Meanwhile, Monsieur his brother spending the King of Spain £250 a day, was lately feasted a day and a half at Antwerp. From which town some have written that Count Henry Vanderberg, mentioned by my cousin, hath been defeated, and made to retire home. The French King, they say, levies all the power he can, intending this spring to invade Artois, leaving Brabant or CHARLES THE FIRST. 173 Flanders to the Hollander, and Liege, Liraburg, and Lux emburgh, to the Swede. The articles propounded in the late truce of fourteen days, by the Protestant League in Germany to the Catho lics, were these : 1 . That all edicts, prescriptions, bans, &c., of the emperor, published in prejudice of any raan since the year 1620, be revoked. — 2. All goods and lands, by force thereof taken away, restored. — 3. Evangelics made as capable for honours and offices as Catholics. — 4. All names that may breed division in religion, buried. — 5. Both leagues to join against the house of Austria. — 6. And to choose the King of Sweden king of the Romans. For, tbey say, he is now like to be chosen king of Poland, his competitors being Ladislaus, son to the late king, and Leopold us, the emperor's brother. And it hath been said, a raonth ago, that the greater part of Hungary, by their arabassadors, have offered to elect hira their king. And if all this prove, then a raan raay say the crowns do come rolling in at his feet. My Lord of Canterbury ' told me, yesterday, from Sir Francis Nethersole's mouth, that the Kings of Sweden and Bohemia are joined, after the king had taken in Heidel berg, Baraberg, and Lindau. The two kings raet, as a raerchant told rae, with two armies of 4000 apiece, in a great field between Frankfort and Mentz. When they ap proached, the armies making a stand, the kings met on horseback, and, having saluted each other, dismounted and embraced ; but he of Sweden the other with such joy and affection, as he lifted him up on high, which was appre hended for a good omen to the King of Bohemia hj all that saw it. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, March 14, 1631-2. As the weather beginneth to grow warm, so are busi nesses like to do where the stages of action are at this day iu Christendom, and especially in Germany, where the Popish electors, and the rest of that league, having re- ' Dr. Abbott. 1 74 THE COURT AND TIMES OF fused to accept of the neutrality with the King of Sweden, upon the conditions proposed by the King of France, and the Duke of Bavaria joining again with the emperor, the opposition is like to grow raighty against the King of Sweden, especially being so powerfully strengthened and supported as it shall be by the King of Spain, who is resolved to set up his rest for the defence of the eraperor, and to that end hath raised by extraordinary ways great sums of money in Spain, and sent Don Gonzales de Cor dova into Flanders, to be general of an army against the Swedish party ; who, being arrived at Paris, is there now in the quality of an ambassador extraordinary to negotiate a peace, if it may be gotten upon any conditions with the King of France, to cut off, if it be possible, his assistance from the King of Sweden, which in human likelihood may sway the balance of the present great quarrel in Christendom. What the said Gonzales will be able to work with the said king I know not ; but hitherto he hath showed his affection most inclined to the King of Sweden and his party, to whom he hath lately sent £100,000 sterling, according to the contract which is between them, and hath promised, as I hear, the like sura to the States' ambassador, who seem to forbear putting their army in the field till they shall have received that money. Besides, I hear that the Marshal de la Force is with his army in the country of Treves, following the King of Sweden's orders, who of late hath taken the town and castle of Creutznach, in the Palatinate; where my Lord Craven hath gotten a great reputation, and received a push of a pike or of an halberd in the thigh. The King of Boheraia was present at that action, to whora the King of Sweden has given the right hand in his own lodging, and that title of Bohemia everywhere ; as do also all the princes of that part, saving the Landgrave of Darmstadt, whom the King of Sweden hath checked for it. Those of Frankendale, notwithstanding their being blocked up, have made an incursion, carried away good booties, and burned all the villages to the city of Worms. There is great suspicion of the Duke of Saxony, that he will play false, and close up again with the emperor. CHARLES THE FIRST. 175 Some of his forces have been beaten lately in Boheraia. Tilly is with an army of 15,000, within two leagues of Nuremberg. Gustavus Horne and Banniev, for the King of Sweden, are about the Upper Palatinate. Wallen stein, for the emperor, groweth very strong. Here is a rumour of a new truce granted by the King of Sweden to the bishops, but I hope it will not prove so. Here we have an extraordinary ambassador from the States, who is gone to Newmarket. At his return from thence we may hear somewhat of the subject, and success of his nego tiation. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Tliomas Puckering, Bart. London, March 20, 1632. From Germany, we hear of great and extraordinary levies that are raade there for the eraperor ; whereupon some have taken occasion to discredit the strength of the other party. But, if we give credit to the last advertisements that are come from thence, their forces are in as good case as his, and as well able to stand upon the offensive as the defensive. Colonel Hepburn, a brave Scottish com mander, although he be a Papist, who went sorae raonths since discontented frora the late King of Sweden into France, is newly come over with a comraission frora that king to raise a regiraent of Scottishraen for his service. My Lord Weston is also newly corae back from his ambassages, and the Duke of Lennox from his travelling with him ; who, in their passage from Calais to Dover, being in one of the king's ships, met with a small fleet of twelve or thirteen Hollanders, that were bound for the East Indies, whereof they warned the admiral to strike down his topsail before the king's ships; which he re fusing to do, they made some eighteen shots at him, whereof some pierced him through and through. Where unto the said admiral made answer in like manner with his ordnance against the ship royal, whose captain would have thereupon pursued and sunk the Hollander ; but they having raore seriously considered of the raatter, they did not think fit to give way thereto ; and so the Hollander 1 76 THE COURT AND TIMES OF went on and escaped away, whose insolence in this action is disallowed and condemned here by the ministers of that State. Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, September 20, 1632. The story of King Henry VIII.'s reign, written in Latin by Sir Henry Bourchier,' was never yet printed, nor will he publish or communicate it till Sir Thomas Cotton's study be set at liberty, that he may compare it with the originals there, out of which he first took it. That which the queen's majesty, sorae of her ladies, and all her maids of honour, are now practising upon, is a pastoral penned by Mr. Walter Montagu, wherein her raajesty is pleased to act a part, as well for her recreation as for the exercise of her English. Ben Jonson, who I thought had been dead, hath written a play against next terra, called " The Mag netic Lady." ^ On Friday, at eleven in the forenoon, her raajesty with her own hands helped to lay the two first square corner-stones, with a silver plate of equal dimension be tween thera, in the foundation of her Capuchin Church, intended to be built in the Tennis Courtyard of Soraerset House ; which stones, in the presence of 2000 people, at least, they consecrated with great cereraony, having caused to be engraven upon the upper part of that plate the pic tures of their raajesties, as founders, and the lower side of the capuchins, as consecrators. One wrote to rae frora Carabridge two things in com mendation of the present Bishop of York;* first, that ' He mentions this work in a letter to Archbishop Usher, from London, April 13, 1629: — " I now spend my time in gathering matter for the story of Henry VIIL, which in time, if God spare me life and health, I intend to publish." — Life and Letters of Archbishop Usher, published by Dr. Parr, p. 406. 2 The poet was not absolutely dead ; although so much neglected, he was obliged to appeal to the lord treasurer Weston for some assistance to keep hira alive. Friends rallied round him in his distress, and he was enabled shortly afterwards to produce ", The Magnetic Lady, or Humours Reconciled;" in which, according to his own description in " the Induction," the heroine is " a lady, a brave, bountiful housekeeper, and a virtuous widow, who having a young niece ripe for a man, and marriageable, he makes that his centre attractive to draw thither a diversity of guests, all persons of different humours, to make up his perimeter." ^ Dr. Nevile, who died in 1640. CHARLES THE FIRST. 177 being by his coachman hurried apace through a town where were many poor people, as if he had meant to save his master's purse harraless, he called him knave for his labour, and made him stand still till such tirae as he had with his own hand freely distributed to them all. Secondly, that being advertised by some of his officers how he raight levy a tenth upon his clergy, as well as his late predecessor' had done, he answered he would in no case atterapt any such raatter : for he was corae to benefit, not to change his clergy. One day the last week my Lord of Arundel and his son, ray Lord Maltravers, having espied my Lord of Canterbury's coach on Banstead Downs coming towards theirs, before they came a butt's length short of it, both their lordships alighted, and went a great pace towards his grace's coach ; who, when they approached, said, " What ! and must my lord marshal of England take so great pains to do rae so much honour? Were my legs as good as my heart, I should have met your lordships the better half of the way." Then ray Lord of Arundel replied, " It might well becorae an earl raarshal to give so rauch respect to an archbishop of Canterbury, besides the particular obli gation from his lordship to his grace for his noble usage of his son and daughter Maltravers, while they were his prisoners." Whereupon ray lord's grace took occasion to congratulate unto both their lordships my Lord Mal- travers's brave and hopeful progeny of three sons and a daughter; and so they parted. His grace by his diet hath so raoderated his gout, as it is now rather an in firmity than a pain. He looks fresh, and enjoys his health, and hath his wits and intellectuals about hira ; so that if any other prelate do gape after his benefice, his grace, perhaps, according to that old and homely proverb, [may] eat of the goose which shall graze upon his grave. Upon the death of the raaster of the rolls in Ireland, Mr. Eraanuel Gifford, who was so great an apologist for the duke in parliaraent, and therefore much favoured by him, should by virtue of a great seal obtained in King James's time, succeed in the place. Against which, I hear, my lord deputy, that now is, will mainly oppose. ' Dr. Harsnet. VOL. II. N 178 THE COURT AND TIMES OF It is as fully resolved as any future contingent can be, that the king's journey into Scotland shall begin before the end of March ; and his majesty saith, God sending him life and health, that nothing shall hinder him from performing it, but (which at this time is very unlikely, and which God forbid !) an invasion. Sir Henry Vane, as I am told from two very credible authors, is returning home from his embassage with the King of Sweden ; but with what success I know not. My Lord Bishop of London, as I hear, is about Michaelmas to enjoy Win chester ; and I have heard heretofore he should keep the jurisdiction of London also, but that the revenue should go to the reparation of St. Paul's. On Monday, in the evening, divers gentleraen of Lin coln's Inn throwing brickbats at a new-built house at the lower end of the garden, towards Holboume, because the owner had turned his house of office that way, one of the house discharged hail-shot upon Mr. Attorney's' son's face, which by good chance it missed his eyes, yet it pitifully mangled his visage. On Monday, at night, there was one read a letter pub licly upon the Exchange, written or pretended to be written by Mr. Lionel Wake, a popish merchant at Ant werp, some eleven days ago, which saith that the news from Cologne was, that the King of Sweden having charged Wallenstein on the rear, his troops turning face about, fought a battle with the king, and slew the greatest part of his infantry, and made hira retire back into his trenches, where, if he would, he had an outlet to escape : but that Nureraberg within few days would be the Eraperor's. The fellow that reiad the letter was by some laughed at for his pains, and told that always before that king's great vic tories, such flams were still cast out by the papists. The last that I can learn of that brave king is, that having upon our 21st of August united his power into one body, was raaster of the field, assailed Wallenstein's trenches, and drove hira into his utmost strengths. And to-day I hear the king hath proffered him many skir mishes ; and that there have been sharp bickerings between ' Noy. CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 79 them, not without loss on the king's side, as well of raen of note as of coramon men. And the last thing of all that I have heard is, that the king has found a way at length to divide the army proper to Wallenstein, from that of Bavaria ; but no general battle, a thing which all men's expectations do hunt after, is yet fought. The Duke of Bavaria, though he have left his army with Wallenstein, yet some say he is gone away discontented, and with a small train, into some town of his own country. General Ossa, if not taken prisoner, is still besieged in Philipsburg, whi ther he fled for succour ; and they write that upon his defeat the garrison at Heidelberg are ready to come to a parley. Pappenbeira hath let himself and his baffled army to hire unto the burgomasters of Cologne, that he may defend thera frora the French and Swedish forces there about. But the news, written not above three days agone, by Mr. Daniel Skinner frora Calais, is that the asserably of the States at Brussels are broken up without concluding anything at all, quoniam Hannibal est ad portas ; that is to say, as he writes, the Prince of Orange is gone with an army to Brussels, and Count Henry Vanderberg with an other army to Mechlin. It is reported and written out of France, that the noble cardinal, desirous to conquer his deadly enemies with courtesy rather than with rigour and revenge, hath ob tained of the king the pardon both of Monsieur and of the Duke of Montmorency, and in the king's edict against the said duke hath made the protestants of Languedoc highly to be extolled for their loyalty to the king, and proraised great favours : which raind, both in the king and in him, God continue. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, September 26, 1632. Our last news concerning the King of Sweden do import that he, not being able to draw Wallenstein to a battle, nor to beat him out of his entrenchments with those bat teries which he had raised upon certain mounts, did resolve n2 180 THE COURT AND TIMES OF to set upon a castle, which, being near joining to the said entrenchments, would have given him a great advantage against them. But he found the sarae so well fortified and defended, as that though he continued his assault nine or ten hours together, yet at length he was forced to give over, and to retire with the loss of 1500 or 2000 of his raen, amongst whom were some of his colonels and other officers ; and amongst those that were hurt. General Bannier hath had one of his arms broken in two places with musket-shot. The Duke of Weimar had his horse killed under him ; and so, they say, had Wallenstein also, who, likewise, by the report of such of his men as were taken prisoners, made a great loss of his side, and found after the fight divers of his colonels wanting. And this is at this tirae the cer- taintest advertiseraent we have of the passage of things there. Some raerchants' letters do affirm that, since, the king hath forced him out of his entrenchments, and driven him into a wood. But this shall remain in suspense till we have a further confirmation of it. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, October 3, 1632. Out of Germany we hear that the King of Sweden, having left ten of his regiments with those of Nuremberg for their defence, is come down himself with the rest of his army into Franconia ; the King of Bohemia being come away from him with ten thousand men into his Lower Palatinate, where he intendeth to raise as many more to prosecute hiraself, and to achieve the recovery of that country, wherein now he is not like to find any great oppo sition or difficulty, those of Franconia being brought now, as we hear, to a very low ebb, till he may be favoured with the like opportunity for the recovery also of the rest of his countries. In the mean time, the Duke of Saxony hath almost raade hiraself raaster of all Silesia, having given a very great defeat to Don Baltazar de Marodas, and after that taken Breslau, the chief city of the country. The Archduke Leopold, the eraperor's only brother, who CHARLES THE FIRST. 181 had also the command of an army for him about Tyrol, is lately dead. In our court the raourning was kept on Saturday and Sunday last for Don Carlos, which was recompensed with the news that were brought there at the same time of the Duchess of Savoy being brought to bed of a fair daughter. My Lord Marquis Hamilton is on the way coming home. Sir George Gresley, Bart., to Sir Thos. Puckering, Bart. Essex House, October 11, 1632. What is done either by the King of Sweden's army or Wallenstein's since their removal, or whether the King of Bohemia be come from the king in discontent, or with the loan of 10,000 men towards the settling him in his own dominions, is so diversely reported, that I refer you therein to Mr. Pory's intelligence. For French news, the Queen of France hath of late received some hurt by a fall out of the coach ; whereupon Mr. Henry Jermyn was sent from our king and queen on Saturday last to visit her. The King of France and his brother are upon terras of peace, which concluded, the queen will return. And it is said our queen endeavoureth to get leave of the king that she may go into France this next spring. Marquis Harailton is landed, and hourly expected at the court ; but I see Mr. Frederick Harailton in town. Here are two of our merchants lately broken for some £50,000, by whora it is said Sir Thomas Roe hath lost five or six thousand pounds. One of their names is Saunders, and they are both now in hold. And it is reported for certain that two of the richest merchants in Spain are lately put into the Inquisition. The Lord Rea is at liberty with his young wife at Green wich, and Davy Ramsey banished the realm with £500 in his purse, which he is to have at the king's return from Newmarket, and so depart the realm. Serjeant Berkeley and Serjeant Crawley are the men now nominated to succeed in the late deceased judges' places. And yesterday the inhabitants which pulled down the new 182 THE COURT AND TIMES OF enclosures within Feckenham forest were censured in the Star Chamber to pay £500 a-piece fines to the king, and to acknowledge their offence at the assizes, and to repair the fences at their own charge. One Mr. Lunsford also, a Sussex raan, and near neighbour to Sir Thomas Pelham, was, for killing divers deer in Sir Thomas's park, and other riots comraitted against hira and his servants, censured to pay £l,000 fine to the king, £500 to Sir Thomas, and £200 to his servants ; to be -bound to his good behaviour in £2000 bond, with suffi cient sureties ; and in that he was either beyond sea or lived obscurely, that a privy seal should go out for hira ; and if he did not corae in and acknowledge his offence at the assizes in Sussex, betwixt this and Whitsuntide, his fine should be doubled, and he abjure the land, according to the statute in that case provided. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. Essex House, October 18, 1632. If by a raore perfect deraonstration I could show my respect, I would not so often with such trivial terras entertain your precious tirae. But since you are pleased still to accept so favourably of ray service in this kind, I shall not fail to inforra you such news as I shall hear. And so at this time, that Sir John Poolie did yesterday in West minster Hall affirm to many there that there were letters come frora the Sound and gone to the king, importing that there were posts sent by the King of Sweden to the King of Denmark to signify unto him that God had given him so good success in the pursuit of Wallenstein's array, that he had defeated it, even to the horse that defended Wal lenstein's own person. Which news being told unto Mr. Burlaraachi by an acquaintance of raine, who asked him what he heard, Burlamachi replied, that whatever he should hear to the contrary, yet he must be confident that the news from the King of Sweden was very good, as would shortly appear by letters from Hamburg. It is also reported that the King of Boheraia, deraanding of the King of Sweden what his intention was towards hira CHARLES THE FIRST. 183 for the restoring hira to his possessions, according to his professions to all and performances to some of the princes of the religion, he bade him repair unto his chancellor, who should within four days resolve him therein : which the King of Bohemia performing, the chancellor told him that the king his master's promise was to restore, if he could, all the Lutheran princes to their possessions ; and if he were one of that number, he had no doubt of the king his master's perforraance. This being related to Sir Francis Nethersole, and asked what he heard, he replied there was sorae such answer given the King of Boheraia; but he could not affirm the truth thereof, until he had seen the King of Sweden's manifest, which he should do within a day or two. It is said for certain that Wright, the Bishop of Bristol, Bowles, the Bishop of Rochester, and Curie, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, have all three their conge d'eslire for their removals; viz., the Bishop of Bristol to Coventry and Litchfield, the Bishop of Rochester to Bath and Wells, and the Bishop of Bath and Wells to Winchester. And it is thought that Dr. Juxon, clerk of the closet, shall be Bishop of Rochester. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, October 18, 1632. Concerning Germany, the post of Antwerp giveth out that the King of Sweden hath been foiled by Wallenstein, and that hiraself has gone no raan can tell whither. But by another advertisement we do not understand that any thing is passed between them since they rose and left one another by Nuremberg. This only we hear, that Wallen stein did after that divide his great array into three parts, whereof he sent the one into Silesia against the Saxons, who are reported to have not only subdued all that pro vince, but invaded also Moravia. The second part of his army he sent against the boors of the river Ems, which in great nurabers have taken arras, and fortified themselves upon the confines of Austria, against the emperor. And himself with the third part, amounting to some 20,000 184 THE COURT AND TIMES OF men, hath retrenched hiraself near Forcheim, a strong place in Franconia, with an intent, if he can, to regain that country. The king, after his retreat from Nuremberg, came to Neustadt, there to refresh his array, especially his horse, which were much wearied and decayed for want of fodder; and after he had visited his queen at Wurtzburg, he went up after those that were sent against the boors, whom after he had secured, he carae back into Franconia. But what he or Wallenstein have done since we do not understand. My Lord Marquis of Harailton is newly landed and gone to the king to Newmarket, who is now fully resolved to perform his journey into Scotland the next spring. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, October 24, 1632. Concerning the German affairs, there are raany rumours spread here to the King of Sweden's disadvantage. But the likeliest news we have from thence are that he is gone towards the upper parts of Bavaria, to countenance the boors, which are strong there in arms against the eraperor ; and that Wallenstein keepeth his camp about Forcheim and Baraberg, in Franconia, whilst the Duke of Saxony is pur suing his conquests in Silesia, and Gustavus Horne with the Rhinegrave, in Alsatia. My Lord Marquis Hamilton landed the last week, and is yet with his majesty at New market, who is expected to be here back on Monday next. Mr. Pory to the Lord Brooke, at Warwick Castle ; or, in his absence, to Sir Thomas Puckering. London, October 25, 1632. That I may now tell your lordship, or at least your two noble friends ray patrons in Warwickshire, first what I heard last, I was told frora a Frenchraan this raorning, that so soon as raonsieur had yielded to the king his brother, the first thing the king did, he paid all the strangers that were in Monsieur's service, and sent them away : but for his domesticals he presently beheaded twenty of them, CHARLES THE FIRST. 185 and caused those that were fled to be hanged up in effigy, and their houses, if they had any, to be rased, and their woods to be cut down. Those towns, also, that took his part, or showed him any countenance, were demolished to the very foundation, to the end that none in that kingdom might. Monsieur is confined to Tours, the Duke of Mont morency imprisoned in Bois de Vincennes, the Duke d'Elboeuf escaped. The cardinal raade adrainistrator of all Monsieur's estate, the queen-mother never to return into France during his and the king's life, and the Protes tants, for their fidelity in Languedoc, rauch caressed by both. Monsieur, indeed, terapted those four great Pro testant towns of Nisraes, Montpellier, Montauban, and Aiguemortes; but found them, like so raany ricks, im- raoveable frora their loyalty to their sovereign. And when the Bishop of Montpellier would have betrayed that city to Monsieur, the Protestants took up arras, and delivered him up to the king. For consideration whereof, that king hath revived the Edict of Nantes, and hath in the Cours des Ay des throughout all the Courts Parliaments in France placed half the officers Protestants, as it was in his father's time : and therefore the " Cour des Aydes " was in all places named " La Chambre my-partie." But now let us tum back and look what is done at home. On Tuesday was sennight, Mr. Mason, of Lin coln's Inn, made a motion to the judges of the King's Bench for Sir John Eliot, that whereas the doctors were of opi nion he could never recover of his consuraption until such tirae as he raight breathe in purer air, they would for sorae certain tirae grant him his enlargement for that purpose. Whereunto my Lord Chief Justice Richardson answered, that, although Sir John were brought low in body, yet was he as high and lofty in raind as ever ; for he would neither submit to the king nor to the justice of that court. In fine, it was concluded by the Bench to refer him to the king by way of petition. Yesterday was sennight, my lord keeper, my lord privy seal, my Lord of Arundel, ray Lord of Kelly, my Lord Wimbledon, my Lord of London, ray Lord Cottington, and Secretary Windebanke, signed an order at the council- 186 THE COURT AND TIMES OF board in these words : " Upon consideration had at the board of the great abuse in the printing and publishing of the ordinary Gazettes and pamphlets of news from foreign parts: and upon signification of his majesty's express pleasure and command for the present suppressing of the same, it was thought fit, and hereby ordered, that all printing and publishing of the sarae be accordingly sup pressed and inhibited. And that as well Nathaniel Butter and Nicolas Bourne, booksellers, (under whose name the said Gazettes have been usually published) as all other stationers, printers, and booksellers, presurae not from henceforth to print, publish, or sell any of the said paraph- lets, &c., as they will answer the contrary at their perils." They say the occasion of this order was the importu nity of the Spanish and archduchess's agents, who were vexed at the soul to see so many losses and crosses, so many dishonours and disasters, betide the House of Austria, as well in the Upper as in the Lower Germany; but this smothering of the Currantos is but a palliation, not a cure, of their wounds. They will burst out again one of these days. I hear of another great sura of raoney come out of Spain to be coined here, and then to be made over by bills to the archduchess. Four of the king's ships and six mer chant ships are to go for the coast of Ireland, to heat the Turks thence. And the occasion was this : Captain Plumley was sent thither with one of the ships royal and two whelps to seek out Nutt the pirate, was raet withal by twenty-seven great Turkish men-of-war, who gave him chase ; and, had he not hied him the faster into harbour, might have sunk or taken hira. There is now a great present of horses and rich saddles to be sent to the Duke of Savoy, where my lord arabassador Weston now resideth, and where his brother-in-law, the Duke of Lennox, is to marry the Duke's sister. I should have told you, in a more proper place, that a minister in St. Mary's at Oxford prayed, very lately, it would please God to inspire the Courantiers with the spirit of truth, that we might know when to pray and where to praise ; which prayer was, I think, ominous. CHARLES THE FIRST. 187 One much conversant at the court told me, this other day, how truly I know not, that my Lord of Newcastle ' is sworn gentleman of the bedchamber, and hath paid £2000 for it. Besides that, Mr. Eliot, the king's page, and Mr. ' Croft, the queen's page, falling at odds, went out into the field, and that Mr. Eliot slew Croft. Another courtier, but of greater quality and more intimate, saith that Mr. Montagu's pastoral, wherein her raajesty is the prirae actress, is extreraely long, for ray lady raarquis's part is as long as an ordinary play. Sidney Bere, Secretary to Gerbier, the English agent at Brussels, is newly come over with letters to his majesty, wherein sorae think the archduchess craves his raediation for obtaining a truce or peace with the Hollanders ; others, to offer hira the possession and protection of the coast towns of Flanders. Sorae ten days agone, there was a debate at Newmarket, before the king, whether his ships ought to be manned with for every ton a raan, or with a raan for every two ton only. Sir Robert Mansell, Sir SackviUe Trevor, and others of the old captains, were of the forraer opinion ; and some of the newer captains of the latter; but the king, when he came to town, will add the brethren of the Trinity House to the consultation, and will be judge and umpire himself. To-day my Lord of Middlesex was to plead his own cause in the Exchequer Chamber, about an account of fourscore thousand pounds that is laid to his charge. How his lordship sped I know not. Wallenstein for certain is gone into Saxony, and the king they say is marched into Austria to join with the tumultuous boors against the emperor. The King of Bo hemia is in the Palatinate, but what he doth I know not. Pappenbeira hath raised the siege before Wolfenbuttel ; and they say is going about to join with Wallenstein, in coun terpoise of whom the king hath sent Duke Bernard of Saxe Weimar to aid the Duke of Saxe with ten thousand men. ' William Cavendish, Earl, and afterwards Duke of Newcastle; one of the king's most celebrated commanders during the Civil Wars. 188 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, October 31, 1632. The best news I can write unto you, at this time, is that the king, God be thanked, is come in good health this afternoon from Newmarket, two days after the queen, who arrived here on Monday. Other news we have not had any from any foreign parts with any certainty, since my last written the last week; men's expectations hanging still Upon the raotions of the King of Sweden's and Wallen stein's arraies in Gerraany, and upon the success of the negociation and treaty at Maestricht. Mr. Pory to Sir Tlwmas Lucy.^ London, November I, 1632, Since my last, Nathaniel Butter told me that a gentle man of his acquaintance having dined this day sennight in corapany of Mr. Taylor, the archduchess's agent, and asked him the reason of calling in the Currantos, he answered the news was so ill, as the lords would not have it known. And besides, he told me that he would (if he dare be so good as his word) complain to their lordships how much Taylor had abused them in this answer. Besides he is getting to be translated divers Antwerp Currantos, to show their lordships how they lie upon us and our friends, and we in the mean time must be muzzled and our mouths stopped. But yesternight I met him at Whitehall, after he had been in Mr. Secretary Coke's chamber ; and he told me he hoped ere long his Currantos would be revived. My Lord Bishop of Lincoln was at first suramoned up to the Star Chamber by a letter from my lord keeper, as peers use to be ; but having excused his not coming up for default of health, he was then served with a writ as a common man, to which whether his lordship have yet ap peared I know not. My lord treasurer hath made a new discovery in Scot land of masts to serve any of the king's ships, and of pitch and tar (the trees I mean that do yield thera) as much as will serve for the whole kingdom as well for ships as for ' Grandson of Shakspeare's Justice Shallow. He was member for Warwick shire in six parliaments. CHARLES THE FIRST, 189 sheep, I have heard of these commodities talked of to be in Scotland, twenty years ago ; and they are now related by sorae Scotsraen, but the truth lies in the trial. The two Bristol raen, after the expense of two summers in discovering a North West passage, are returned back re infectd : only I heard John Tradescant tell my Lord of Ca, that they had discovered an island where were store of unicorns' horns, long and wreathed like that at Windsor, which I have heard to be nothing else but the snout of a fish, yet very precious against poison. I heard a lord say, yesternight, here is much contention between Captain Porter and Captain Plumley who should be general of those four ships royal (for merchant ships I hear not of), and it is thought Porter will carry it. Nutt the pirate, who hath played freaks any time these two years between the coasts of England and Ireland, and is now at his adrairal to ship off thirty-six pieces of ordnance, and his vice-adrairal, and scorns to take any other booty but raoney, hath sent word to my Lord Wentworth, the new lord deputy, that he attends in these seas to waft his lordship over. Yesternight, his majesty being returned from New market, and having among other lords raet with ray lord privy seal, did highly congratulate and extol unto his lord ship the rare parts of Mr. Walter Montagu, his son, in poetry and otherwise : so that he is a favourite of both their raajesties. Sir John CasseU, that had been kept so long close pri soner, was last Saturday brought forth and examined by ray lord treasurer, my Lord Cottington, and Secretary Winde- bank ; and one of the queries was, whether he had any private intelligence with the King of Sweden, One Mr. Palmer, a gentleman of £1200 a-year land lying in So mersetshire and Sussex, is cited by Mr. Attorney into the Star Chamber for having broken his majesty's late procla raation in living here in London, albeit his house in the country be burnt, he being an unraarried raan, and one that pretends physic here for his health. There are now, also, in that court bills depending against sorae of the six clerks, some of the prothonotaries, and the clerks of the 190 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Hanaper, for exorbitant fees : and it is thought that all the ministerial officers of any worth here about London must pass through the sarae purgatory, it being a fruit of the commission which hath been on foot these three years to make a scrutiny into them. On Monday, beingmylord mayor's day, his lordship seeing the prince stand in a window in Cheapside to behold the pageant, went up to him where he was, and kissed his hand, and the day following, he and the aldermen sent his high ness a purse with £5000 in gold therein. A letter dated in Nuremberg our 5th of October saith, that the king had left his chancellor Oxenstiern in that city with eight regiments to defend it. That Wallenstein was gone directly into Saxony, and the first enterprise he went in hand Avithal was the hesieging of Coburg, a strong fortress of the Duke of Saxe Coburg, who being therein himself sent to his cousin Bernard Duke of Saxe Weimar for aid, who in answer bade him have patience and stand out but four or five days until he could put himself in a readiness, and then he would relieve hira, or lose his life. The king, as saith that letter, is gone directly into Bavaria, where he first recovered the town of Rain, being the first he took there ; and the only town he put garrison into at his coraing away. From thence he marched towards Deck- endorff, a town in the Lower Bavaria in the way towards Regensburg and Passau, where met him an ambassador frora the revolted boors in Austria ; to whora he presently sent coraraanders, and followed himself with his whole army, to take part with those boors against the emperor. Whereupon they say the emperor demolished the suburbs of Vienna. Yet some say the king is followed after Wal lenstein, and think it absurd and senseless for a man to be of any other opinion. I might have told you raore, but that the post of Ant werp is not yet come. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, November 7, 1632. Concerning Germany, we hear that Wallenstein is now in the Duchy of Coburg, a part of Saxony, which he hath CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 9 ] miserably wasted and ransacked ; and that the King of Sweden, having sent a good number of raen to the Duke of Saxony, under the comraand of the Duke of Weimar, went hiraself with the rest of his army upon some design towards the Danubius, where the rumour is since (but how true I know not) that he hath taken Ingolstadt. A little while before, the Duke of Bavaria's men having regained the little town of Rain near Donawert, the king did so bestir himself for the importance of the place, which maketh his entrance into Bavaria, as that he recovered it again within three or four days after, and beheaded the governor that had surrendered it. Whereupon the Duke of Bavaria, as we hear, came away from Wallenstein's carap with 20,000 men to the relief of his own country. Montecuculi, who was lately beaten by Count Gustavus Horne, is with 5000 more at Ratisbon. I hear that the Duke of Saxony, being rauch incensed against the eraperor for the spoil of his country, hath for bidden, through the same, the use of the ordinary prayers, which were yet made there for hira. Sir Henry Vane hath been a long tirae at Strasburg, expecting the return of his secretary Curtius from hence, whom we suppose to be by this tirae with him ; so as we shall shortly look for him here : and the said Curtius is gone with a commission to remain agent with the King of Sweden. The King of Boheraia is now in the town of Mentz, and hath sent Colonel Poplitz hither, to see for sorae iramediate help and assistance from hence to finish the recovery of his country ; since that the treaty could not take effect with the King of Swedeland. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. Essex House, November 7, 1632. I am heartily glad not only to hear of the hope of your own perfect recovery, but also of your little daughter's. That Sir Thomas Lucy is your new sheriff wiU, I conceive, be no news unto you by that tirae this coines to your hands. Sir Thoraas Wharwood is for Staffordshire and Mr. Manners for Derbyshire. The Earl of Northumber- 192 THE COURT AND TIMES OF land ' died at Petworth on Monday night last, about ten of the clock. One Mr, Palmer, a Sussex gentleman, was this day (November 5) brought ore tenus into the Star Chamber for disobeying the proclamation for living in the country, and staying in town all this last vacation, as by his con fession to Mr. Attorney upon his exaraination he had twelve years together, having £600 a-year land in Sussex, no house, and £240 a-year in Somersetshire and an old mansion-house ; and that £60 a-year of his rent in So mersetshire was rent of assize. And farther, that for to avoid a composition for knighthood he had pleaded his not having £40 a-year land. Being asked what he had to say for himself, why he should not be censured for his conterapt to the aforesaid proclamation, he alleged he never was married, never was housekeeper ; indisposition of body, and no house fitting for a man of his birth to live in : and that what he had was burnt, some part of it a year and a half ago with most of his furniture ; and he had not as yet done any thing either towards the repair or furnishing it. And sorae raore such excuses ; which in the opinions of the Lords did rather aggravate than exte nuate his offence, so that he was fined £1000. So you see what is sure to befal such, as shall not observe the proclaraation. The churchwardens and constables of every parish are commanded to give in the names of such strangers as live in their parish, and how long they intend so to do. The great Cardinal of France hath had twice conference with Monsieur, who hath revealed all his copartners and their plots, insorauch as Duke Montmorency and sixty more persons of quality are beheaded thereupon. The archduchess is still in treaty of peace with the Prince of Orange, and either are met or shortly do raeet at the Bourse. Count Henry of Vanderberg hath, they say, two or three towns near Cologne, and sorae say Cologne itself is besieged by him, and some forces of the King of Sweden. And the Papists do now begin to con- ' Henry, ninth earl. CHARLES THE FIRST. 193 fess that the king is raaster of the field, notwithstanding their late brags to the contrary. Sir George Gresley to Sir TTiomas Puckering. Essex House, November 14, 1632. Pappenbeira is said to have burnt the city of Wolfen buttel, and rased all the fortifications about it. He is yet in Thuringia and the land of Brunswick, and is now raarching to join with Wallenstein. The Prince of Orange, Vander berg, and General Bannier, with their several great arraies, are corae before the city of Cologne. They demand, first, 80,000 rix-doUars, which they paid Pappenbeira also. Secondly, forty ton of gold for the charges the States have been at before Maestricht, which they would have taken sooner, if Pappenbeira had not been. Thirdly, a restitution of all the daraages which those countries have sustained by reason of Pappenheira's coraing down. Wallenstein is yet in Saxony and , and having forsaken Coburg and divers other towns in Saxony, seems to take his raarch towards Nureraberg again. The Duke of Saxony is coraing with the Brandenburg forces out of Silesia, to join with the forces of the Duke Weiraar, in Saxony, The great city of Breslau, which at last is corae to agreement, was the cause why that duke could not sooner depart with his forces out of Silesia, Tbe Swedish general, Dubuld, is left stiU in Silesia, to prosecute the viceroy, and is now marching towards Moravia, The eraperor hath granted to the boors free exercise of their religion ; but they refuse it, and persist in their re bellion. The High German Courants raention 20,000 Transylvanians which their prince, Ragotski, hath sent into Bohemia to aid the King of Sweden. The King of Bo hemia is still in the Lower Palatinate, without any forces ; and, as the letters speak, pro hospite agnoscitur, in his o'wn country. Some letters, which those of Frankendale sent to tbe archduchess, have been lately nitercepted. They coraplain exceedingly of their mortality, hunger, nakedness, and other inconveniences ; but the King of Bohemia hath no VOL. II. o 194 THE COURT AND TIMES OF forces at all to besiege those places. The King of Sweden doth not proceed in his march towards Austria, but is coming down with his greatest forces towards Nureraberg. He hath regained two great towns near Nuremberg, which Wallenstein had lately taken. The whole array raarcheth towards Saxony. The king hiraself went through this city with 500 horse. The Duke of Bavaria is stUl in his own country, with 10,000 raen. General Bannier is left in Bavaria, with 15,000 raen, to resist the duke. Gustavus Horne is yet in Alsatia with his army, about Benefield. The King of Sweden hath levied 10,000 Switzers, which are now on their march. It is said by some letters that the sickness is in Nuremberg and Frankfort. The archduchess hath sent sorae comraissioners to the Bourse to treat of peace. The King of France sends his forces for the most part into Picardy. The Polonians are for certain to raake an end of the election of their king this raonth. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, November 14, 1632. Of the Dutch treaties we hear nothing as yet ; but, in the raean tirae, the Prince of Orange hath, with a part of his array, strengthened with some garrisons, taken by force the town of Orsoy, a little above Rhynberg, and is now, as we hear, besieging the said town of Rhynberg, having sent up the other part of his army to live and winter in the country of Cologne, in revenge of the passage and favour afforded there to Pappenbeira, at his coming down to the relief of Maestricht. To the same end, and for the same cause, Count Henry Vanderberg's troops, on the one side, and Bauditzen, with his forces, on the other, are fallen likewise upon the said country, where Bauditzen hath first taken a strong and rich abbey, called Siburg, and then the town of Lintz which lieth upon the Rhine.' The King of Sweden having left Bannier, with 15,000 men, in Bavaria, to make head to that duke, is gone with some 20,000 foot and 6000 horse, to meet with Wallen stein in Saxony, who, upon his coming, withdrew hiraself into Boheraia, where, we hear, the king is following of him. ' The Danube. CHARLES THE FIRST. 1 95 Here we begin now to prepare and proceed for the intended journey into Scotland, which, I hear, is to begin the 11th of May next. Mr. Pory to the Lord Brooke. London, November 15, 1632. Mr. Palmer, whom I raentioned in my last to Sir Thomas Lucy, that one calamity raight not light on him alone, since his censure in the Star Charaber, is prosecuted by Mr. Attorney, as touching his knighting; for, having forraerly pleaded he had not £40 land, and now confessed to Mr. Attorney that he had £600 a-year (his lands, they say, being really worth 1400 per annum) his second plea or request is, he may be legally fined by the barons, and uot arbitrarily by the Lords. His younger brother cora plains of hira to the king for having detained frora him all this while his inheritance of fourscore pounds a-year; whereby it hath come to pass, that having run unavoidably into debt, and being now prisoner in the King's Bench for it, Mr. Palmer allows him only 20*. a-week to find him victuals. On Monday, I was told by the clerk of the entries of the Star Chamber, there is now a bill really exhibited into that court against ray Lord Bishop of Lincoln, which chargeth his lordship (as the sarae clerk, upon superficial view, tells me), with spreading false news and rumours, with disclosing secrets out of council, and with extortion in some things while he was lord keeper. The sarae night, having met with Sir John Eliot's attorney, in Paul's Churchyard, he told me he had been that morning with Sir John in the Tower, and found him so far spent with his consuraption, as not like to live a week longer. I hear that my Lord President of the North hath so scoured the popish recusants of that climate, and hath drawn so much politic blood out of them as araounts to £30,000, and hath sent also Mr. Radcliffe, his forerunner, into Ireland, whora he hath advanced to the place of king's attorney there, to inquire into the state of affairs, thereby to raake preparation for his lordship's arrival. 0 2 1 () 6 THE COURT AND TIMBS OF " Mr. Treasu.er «.-- H ^e^^^^^^^^^ ^Mr^ Wrl^r^hlY- -t^^^^^^^ of Gray's Inn, and c erk of the'Comrnons House of Parliament, and that, as Mr G related it unto me, m manner foUowing. When he went ambassador into France, he sold his office of clerk of the crown, and left the said sum of money, in deposito, in Mr. Wright's hands, whom he trusted with it even until now of late. But not long since, either hearing that Mr. Wright was sick, or having some occasion to use the money, he despatched a messenger to him for it. Wright, having retumed a general and ambiguous answer, in writing, without acknowledging any such sum, or promising of payraent, did so startle Mr. Treasurer, as made him go in person to his house, and finding the door shut against him, with this answer, that the man lay drawing on, and would not be disturbed, he threatened to break up their doors ; and so they let him in. Then, having demanded his money of Mr. Wright, at his bed's side, he could get no other words from him but, " I pray you pardon me; I beseech your honour to pardon me." Soon after he was gone, Mr. Wright died, and since Sir Thomas hath seized on all those goods of his he can meet withal. Yesterday, one was recounting unto rae all the brave works the Bishop of Lincoln, now called in trouble, hath performed ; as, namely, in the first place, three libraries, one at Westminster, a second at Lincoln, and a third (and that a stately one) at St. John's College, in Cambridge, over and besides his reparation of the north side of West minster Cathedral, and of Lincoln Palace throughout ; his maintenance of a number of scholars, as weU in his house at Westminster as at the Universities ; his buUding of a square court of stone at Lincoln CoUege, in Oxford ; and, which raay be instar omnium, bis purchasing of £300 a- year land, and bestowing it on his present bishopric. And 3'et raust he take up his cross for all that. When the biU was brought unto him by Mr. Attorney's clerk (so Sir C. Y. tells me), he said somewhat merrily to him, " You mistake the party;" quoth he, " this bill belongeth to the Earl of Lincoln, and not to the Bishop." The CHARLES THE FIRST. 197 messenger replied, " If it please your lordship to peruse it, you shall find it concerns the Bishop only." Those four of his majesty's ships that have been so long in preparation are now ready to set sail ; and they say Captain Pluraley (he that ran with his naked sword at Sir Miles Hobart as he sate in the back of his coach) shall go general. And yesterday, I was told that they go neither to be revenged of the Hollanders, for taking ray Lord Maltravers's buss, for they humbly beseech a benign inter pretation frora his majesty of that act, nor against the Turkish men-of-war upon the coast of Ireland, who will not be found there in the midst of winter, nor to fetch Don Ferdinand, the King of Spain's brother, to his govern raent in the Low Countries, being overland already through Italy ; but to transport a great raass of money out of Spain to the archduchess, and to countenance a fleet through these seas, to carry men to her also. Whatever it be, the event will discover the plot. Now, they say, that Nutt the pirate, being cast away upon the coast of Bretagne, but escaping on shore, was, with all his gang of varlets, discovered by the merchants of our nation to the raagistrates there, to be pirates, and so were entertained according to their quality. On Sunday, in the afternoon, and after supper, till mid night, my lord mayor visited as many taverns as he could, and gave warning to the vintners not to suffer any drink ing in their houses, either that day or night ; and the same afternoon also, he passed Moorfields, and put down the wrestling of the Western with the Northern raen, which was there usual on that afternoon. This other night, being with a privy councillor, he told us, by way of discourse, that ray Lord of Northumber land,' upon this great change of fortune, must more majo rum give the king an aid ; and the sum his lordship guessed at was £7000, but I hope that noble lord will scape for less. My Lord H. told me, concerning his friend, the Duke de Montmorency, that he was found content to stand the sentence pronounced against hira in Toulouse, without ' Algernon, tenth earl. 198 THE COURT AND TIMES OF appealing higher. The king sent him word he should have four days' time to prepare for death : but he raade answer, he would not be beholden to the king for four days, no, not for four hours ; for, as he Avas thoroughly prepared, so he desired suddenly to be despatched. When he was raounted upon the scaffold, P^re Arnold, his con fessor, told hira he must put off his doublet : " Yea, hose and all," said he, " if you will ; for I am sure we must go naked into Paradise." The court here is full of it, that Monsieur is once again flown out ; some saying he is gone to Bayonne, the next strong town to Spain. But my said lord saith, he was met on this side Paris, coming northward with his favourite Puylaurens. The bad news out of Germany by this last post is, that the boors of Austria are beaten, though not quite van quished, by the forces of the emperor. Item, that Wal lenstein hath taken and plundered Leipsic, having done the like before to Torgau, and to Coburg, the town, but not the castle, and had, without mercy, overrun a great part of the Duke of Saxe's dominions. But the good news on the other side is, that Duke Bernard of Weiraar hath defeated forty cornets of Wallenstein's horse, that should have helped up Pappenbeira to have joined with him. And they say Pappenbeira hath got a clap from Lunenburg and Kowenhoussen. The king is pursuing Wallenstein, with an array of 25,000 men. Bernard Weimar hath another, of 14,000, and Anheira, in Silesia, of 15,000. All which are to raeet at a point, or rendez vous, in conjunction against Wallenstein : so as it is thought this winter will decide the controversy either on the one side or on the other. My said lord tells me, raoreover, that the Conde d'Ohvares hath a project for raaintenance of his master's wars, to suppress all orders of friars and raonks in the Low Countries, save Franciscans to preach, and they will preach idolatry and superstition enough ; and Jesuits to teach scholars, and they will teach thera knavery suffi cient. And I hope the residue, when the Conde goes CHARLES THE FIRST. 199 about it, will curse hira well-favouredly with bell, book, and candle. The treaty at Maestricht is adjourned to the Busse, where it is thought his excellency (who hath lately taken Orsoy, and is now, as they say, besieging Rhynberg) will winter. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, November 21, 1632. For the matters of Germany we have, at this present, such tidings here and of such a nature, as we dare not as yet believe ; although the report of them seem to carry much probability with it. Yet this particular I may affirm to be true, that the town of Frankendale hath at length yielded to the King of Bohemia, being forced thereunto by the violence of the plague, which had almost devoured all the raen that were in it ; and by the extrerae want that they were brought to. But that the King of Sweden should have taken frora Wallenstein the town of Leipsic, which had newly yielded unto him, and after wards overthrown him and his whole army, with the slaughter of 15,000 of his men, and the gain of 166 of his colours ; it is that which our beliefs stick at, till we have the news thereof confirraed, which are come to divers merchants from Haraburg, by letters dated ten or twelve days since, and brought also by sorae skippers frora Dun kirk. But the truth of such an action cannot long reraain in suspense, which I hope the coraraon rumour will corae into your parts before ray next can come unto you. Sir Henry Vane is newly landed. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering. Essex House, November 21, 1632. There carae news to court on Saturday night, of a great defeat given Wallenstein by the forces of the Duke of Saxony, Brandenburg, Duke Weimar, and sorae Swedish. The town talks of the kiUing of 15,000 foot and 1500 horse, and divers colours taken. But all the certainty 200 THE COURT AND TIMES OF that I can inform thereof is, that the chancellor of Sweden hath written to Sir Thoraas Roe, that if he should write to hira in characters, he could write to hira such news as would make his heart leap for joy : but in that his lines raight be intercepted, as some forraerly had been, he would only write in general that they succeeded as well as heart could wish. The report is here, that Bannier, the Swedish general, offering the inhabitants of Cologne easier conditions than the Prince of Orange or Vander berg demanded, they have yielded the town to him, and he hath put in garrison for the King of Sweden. And it is seconded this week for certain, that Monsieur, being under the custody of a guard, notwithstanding his betray ing of his co-partners, hath made an escape, and is fled to Brussels again. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, November 28, 1632. I make no doubt, but that the coraraon rumour hath already carried to your ears the doleful tidings of the lamentable death of that heroical King of Sweden, who hath buried his life in the most glorious, the raost bloody victory, that hath been in Christendom these many years. The battle was fought the '| and " of this month, between the towns of Leipsic, which Wallenstein had in his hands, and that of Nauraberg, where the king had retrenched hiraself sorae four or five Dutch leagues dis tant the one frora the other. Wallenstein having increased his army with Pappenheira's, Helke's, and Galas's forces, all imperial commanders, which could not make it less than 50,000 strong; and I think the king's array was little inferior to it in nuraber, having the Duke of Weiraar's and Gustavus Home's forces with hia. The fight began in the morning, between the king and Pappenbeira, who held it out a long time against the king ; but at length, he being killed with a cannon shot, his men were put to flight, and almost all cut in pieces, till that Wallenstein, coming about noon with his fresh army, stayed the king's pursuit, and set upon him with such a resolution, as that CHARLES THE FIRST. 201 he maintained the fight with hira aU the afternoon, ^ill at length sorae part of it began to give back, and to take to flight ; but the other part made good the field, and kept it all night : which the next morning, being set upon by the king's -forces, was also utterly defeated ; so, as by comraon report, Wallenstein left there two third parts of his army, and the king no less than oue half of his, toge ther with his own person, which was more accounted of than many armies. He was killed the first day of the fight, with three musket-shots ; and, as our advertisements do relate, lived thirty-six hours after. But the letters that are corae this day out of France, do affirm that, he continuing still in the fight, after he had received all these wounds, was afterwards carried away with a cannon shot, and that his body reraained amongst the rest of the dead till the victory was fully gotten. Wallenstein was carried out of the fight, in a litter, much hurt, to Leipsic, where he was presently besieged by the king's array ; but what followed or happened since, we do not yet know. Of what consequence this great accident is like to prove, you raay, sir, in your judgment, imagine. Our general fear is, that the fall of that worthy and powerful head, which kept not only the two nations of Germany and Sweden, but the Gerraans also amongst themselves, in a firm union, wUl be now the dissolution of that whole body, by the disorders and distractions which will grow, and shall be wrought by their enemies amongst them, unless God do assist them with an extraordinary inspiration. Sir Henry Vane is newly come back frora his embassage, who did much wonder to hear of this battle at his arrival, considering the state wherein he had left the armies at his coraing away from thence. The queen-raother was fully resolved to have come over hither; but her departure having been stayed by Monsieur's arrival at Brussels, raeans have been used in the raean tirae to prevent ber purpose ; and now Mr. Murray, of the bedchamber, is sent over to excuse the matter unto her. 202 THE COURT AND TIMES OF (S'^y George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. Essex House, December 3, 1632. The death of the King of Sweden is now confirraed here by the coming of Dalbier from those parts, who secondeth that ill news with the death of the King of Boheraia,^ who, in putting a garrison into Frankendale, took the infection of the plague there, and reraoved to Mentz,^ and there died of the sickness. The death of these two kings doth so overjoy the opposite faction, that they report the Duke of Savoy and Count Henry Vanderberg to be dead ; and that the King of France, the cardinal, and Prince of Orange, are all dangerously sick. Dalbier's relation of the battle is, that Wallenstein's forces and Pappenheira's were joined together ; that the king's array and theirs were not above 35,000 ; and that there was not above 5,000 killed in the place of both sides ; that the king charged his enemies twice or thrice bravely in his own person ; wherein, having received a hurt in the shoulder and breast, he desired Bernard Saxe Weimar to carry him off a while ; and as they were turn ing away, a horseman of the enemy shot the king and Saxe Weiraar, and killed hira presently. Whereupon the skirmish grew so hot they could not carry the king off till the battle was ended with the death of Pappenbeira, the taking of all the enemies' ordnance, bag and baggage, with raany colours, and the flying away of Wallenstein into Leipsic, who stole from thence also in the night. Farther, he saith, that it is concluded that that array shall go under the narae of the queen, as it did of the king, and that Saxe Weiraar is raade general thereof. I pray God they have the Elector of Saxony's hearty and constant support thereunto, in that they two have not heretofore so well accorded ; which if they now do, the business raay prosper : otherwise, it is rauch to be doubted. We are now here all in raourning, and the king hath been heavy and ill these ten days ; and this day, it is said, it proves to be of the sraallpox, and that they begin to come out. I pray God bless and preserve him, and that ' He died November 29, it was stated of malignant fever. 2 Mayence. CHARLES THE FIRST. 203 he meddle not too much with physic. Mr. Murray is not as yet returned from Brussels frora the queen-raother, and I cannot inform you of her coming or no hither. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, December 5, 1632. Now, sir, concerning tbe woful news I wrote unto you by my last of that brave King of Sweden's loss, it is true that there are divers merchants upon the Exchange that offer yet to lay great wagers upon his life. But here, at court, we make no more doubt of his death, having it confirmed (besides the forraer informations out of the Low Countries and out of France) by the mouth of an eye witness, to wit, of Dalbier, a raan well known in those parts, who, as he reporteth, was in the battle, and came not from the camp till three days after, where he affirmeth that he saw the king's body ; which, he saith, was found, after the victory, stripped and naked, araongst the rest of the dead, having his right arm broken with a rausket-shot, and a pistol-shot in the body, which gave hira his death's wound. And although this happened unto him almost an hour after the fight was begun, yet his men maintained it bravely afterwards five or six hours longer, till they had at length raade theraselves raasters of the field and of the cannon of their eneraies, which saved themselves by the favour of the night, there being not, as he reporteth, above five or six thousand dead on both sides upon the place. What is becorae of Wallenstein and of his raen, he can not tell ; but for those of the other party, he saith, that they presently swore an union araongst theraselves for the maintaining of the cause, and revenging that brave king's death, unto whose queen they have taken an oath of obe dience, having made Duke Bernard of Weiraar general of his array, (who is highly commended for his valour showed in that battle) until by an assembly which they have appointed to be kept shortly at Ulra, there may be a better order taken for the governing and managing of the affairs. 204 THE COURT AND TIMES OF And, as seldom a misfortune cometh single, the sarae Dalbier brought us also the sad news of the King of Bo- heraia's death, who died of the plague in the town of Mentz, a fortnight after the King of Sweden, for whom this court began to put on mourning on Sunday last, the king having expressed much sorrow for it, and sent pre sently Sir Francis Nethersole to his poor desolate sister to afford his best comfort in so great afflictions. His majesty hath not been well of late, having had first two or three fits of an ague, which is now turned into the smallpox, whereof the first spot began to appear on Satur day at night, as he was going to bed to the queen, having since daily corae forth on his body raore and raore, but very favourable, and, God be thanked, without any fever or appearance of any danger; his majesty having never kept his bed for it. Sir Robert Anstruther is lately corae back, together with my Lord of Leicester, from their several erabassages. And here is a rumour that one of them, or Sir Henry Vane, shall be shortly sent back into Gerraany upon these new alterations. Sir Robert Anstruther having raissed by the way of the comraission which was thereupon sent hira to have stayed him at Hamburg. Mr. Pory to the Lord Brooke, London, December 6, 1632. Being obliged, in your turn, to write to your lordship thither into Warwick, whether you be present or absent, the first thing that proffers itself to my raeraory is, that my lord mayor, for avoiding a dearth, will not suffer any town-dwellers to sell raeal in these raarkets, but only badgers and mealraen out of the country. On Saturday, my Lord of Leicester and Sir Robert Anstruther landed at Gravesend out of one and the same bottom, after his lord ship had ended his embassage with the King of Denmark, and Sir Robert his with the eraperor, being now to reside leiger in France. Those four of his majesty's ships royal which had been so much talked of, and have been so long in providing and CHARLES THE FIRST. 205 rigging at Chathara, are now at length gone to sea. Cap tain Pluraley, the general, being not to open his cora raission until he corae into the raidst of the Channel. I was told this other day by a very knowing raan that they are first to take in the queen-raother and Monsieur at Dunkirk, and to carry thera into Spain, and then to bring Don Ferdinand, that king's only brother, to his govern raent in the Low Countries. However it be, tirae will give us the truth of their design. On Saturday also, his raajesty having taken cold after he had heated hiraself at tennis, sorae red spots appeared on his face and breast, which by Sunday raorning were converted into tbe sraallpox. Yet the queen (as I heard a Frenchraan of the court affirm) lay with him both those nights ; and since, also, in the daytime, will never be out of his company. This disease makes him not continually to keep his bed, but all the day long he is up in a warm room, with a fur gown on his back, and is merry, and eats and drinks heartily, and recreates himself with sorae garae or other. And so, God be thanked, there is no doubt of danger in hira. On Friday, Dalbier, a Gerraan, who was Count Mans field's paymaster in all his wars, he that should have fetched over the Dutch horse for the late duke from Emb den, and which hath served sorae tirae under the King of Sweden since his coming into Gerraany — Dalbier, I say, carae to court; and Burlaraachi, that accompanied hira thither, told rae the news he brought out of Dutchland were as followeth : that he was four days in the Swedish array after the battle was fought ; that he saw the dead body of the King of Sweden ; that Pappenbeira, the bravest comraander that ever served the eraperor, was slain in the sarae battle ; that the Swedish array got the victory ; that Wallenstein left his ordnance behind him ; that Bernard, Duke of Saxe Weimar, pursued Wallenstein towards Bo hemia ; that Dalbier, as he passed through Frankfort, un derstood the Chancellor Oxenstiern was gone up to con sult with the Duke Elector of Saxony about the carriage of the main business ; and that wben Dalbier was come to Mentz he found the King of Boheraia dead there of the 206 THE COURT AND TIMES OF plague, which he had gotten at Frankfort. Thus far Burlamachi. The manner of the King of Sweden's death he thus de scribes ; I mean, Dalbier. The king, saith he, being shot on the arm with a pistol, called to his cousin Bernard, Duke of Saxe Weiraar, to raake way for his retreat, that he might go and dress his wound. But, as the word was in his mouth, a horseman of the enemy, prying the king stedfastly in the face, said, " You are the bird we have so long looked for ;" and with that shot him through the body with a brace of bullets, so that the king fell off his horse stark dead, and Duke Bernard slew the raan that had thus killed hira. But that which sounds harsh and incredible in all men's ears, is that the king's body, thus falling, should be so much neglected, as to be left all day and all night in the field, and to be found next morning stripped stark naked araong the promiscuous carcasses. But Browne, that arrived here on Saturday, being sent post by Curtius, the king's agent, from Frankfort, contradicts Dalbier in this, saying the king's corpse, so soon as ever it fell, was laid in a waggon, and that, being since embalraed, it is carried along with the array as an incentive to stir up his soldiers to revenge his blood. Both do agree that the king, by his last will and testament, constituted the queen his wife to succeed him in authority, and ordered a council of war continually to attend her, that she might sign and confirm all their despatches and resolutions. If the King of Boheraia be dead, the eraperor hath a great advantage thereby, because there is none now living hut hiraself that hath any title to that so long con troverted crown. Besides, upon that king's death, our king and state are obliged to do more for a nephew than for a brother-in-law, and raore likewise for a widow than for a wife. Well, the raourning here in court for both kings began on Sunday, and is to continue until New- year's day. And yet sorae, and those not a few, are so incredulous, as they will not believe the death of either; for yesterday there carae letters to town from Amsterdam, Haarlem, tbe Hague, and Delft, which affirmed the King of Sweden to be alive, though those from Antwerp said CHARLES THE FIRST. 207 the contrary. Yesterday there was at least £200 laid in wagers that he is still alive. Mr. James Maxwell's bro ther, hearing them there yesterday affirm the king's life so confidently, said he would lay ten to one the king was dead : such a throng of people came about hira with gold in their hands as alraost put hira out of countenance, and raade him glad to accept no more but three pieces. At night, with the tide, arrived from Delft a servant of one Mr. Berrington, a merchant-adventurer, who saith, that letters from Leipsic and Magdeburg do avow the king to be alive ; and that the reason why it was generally thought he was dead was, because so soon as he was hurt he retired into his tent, and kept himself close there for two days under the surgeon's hands. Some friends of raine do tell rae there will shortly be a parliaraent, for establishing the young Count Palatine in his inheritance ; which, if it corae to pass, the king's journey into Scotland raust be prorogued until another year, notwithstanding the gestes thereof be already set down. On Sunday, the Duchess of Richmond sent to her godson, my Lord of Carnarvon's child, a font of silver, for him to be christened in, and two college pots : one for the nurse, and another for the midwife. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, December 12-22, 1632. I suppose you have been sufficiently informed by my former of the unfortunate death of that brave King of Swedeland, which is now daily confirmed frora all parts, and that he died upon the field of a pistol-shot into the head, after he had received two musket-shots in other parts of his body. But that which made it so variously reported of was, the policy and care which the chief men of his army had to conceal it as long as they could, lest it should discourage their soldiers, and give advantage to their enemies, who suffered a greater loss in that battle than Dalbier reported, and were forced to leave the town of Leipsic four days after it, although they kept stiU 208 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the castle, which hitherto we do not hear that they have surrendered. Wallenstein, with the rest of his army, retired towards Bohemia, and, as we hear, raade a stand in the towns of Shreberg' and Cheranitz, whither it is reported that the princes pursued him, and that they have pitched their camp against them in those parts. The king, God be thanked, is well recovered of his sraallpox, and is now ready to come abroad. Sir Robert Anstruther is raaking ready to go back presently into Gerraany upon these new occasions. Mr. Pory to . . . London, December 13, 1632. Since the writing of ray last, I am given to understand that Sir Robert Anstruther, though newly come home, is with all speed to return into Germany ambassador from his majesty to the Princes of the Evangelical Union, who are to meet in Frankfort, and to hold a diet there, so the plague do not hinder them, upon the 6th of January ; and they say the French king, to observe their proceedings, and have an oar in the business, will lodge himself with an array at Metz. I hear those four ships royal, that have been so long spoken of, are not gone a northern course, as towards Dunkirk, but have stood a western way, towards Plymouth, Falraouth, &c. Sir W. C.^ writes frora Brussels, that the French there, with tbe queen-raother and monsieur, made account to have kept a brave Christmas here at London, and for that purpose had trussed up their trinkets half topmast high ; but it seemeth they reckoned before their host that should have been, K. C.,^ and that Mr. William Murray, of the bedchamber, was not sent to the queen-mother in vain. A gentleraan, not unknown to Sir Thoraas Lucy, told rae frora ray Lord Cottington's raouth, that Sir John Eliot's ' We have not been able to identify this place, as it is not in the map : but such singular liberties were at this period taken with the orthography of proper names, that this difficulty is by no means of unusual occurrence. 2 William Curtius. ^ King Charles. CHARLES THE FIRST. 209 late manner of proceeding was this. He first presented a petition to his majesty by the hand of the Ueutenant, his keeper, to this effect : — " Sir, your judges have coramitted rae to prison here in the Tower of London, where by reason of the quality of the air I ara fallen into a dangerous dis ease. I humbly beseech your majesty you will coraraand your judges to set me at Uberty, that for recovery of ray health I raay take some fresh air," &c. Whereunto his majesty's answer was, " It was not humble enough." Then Sir John sent another petition by his own son, to the effect following : — " Sir, I am heartily sorry I have dis pleased your majesty, and, having so said, do humbly beseech you once again to command your judges to set me at liberty, that when I have recovered ray health I may return back to my prison, there to undergo such punish raent as God hath aUotted unto me," &c. Upon this the lieutenant came, and expostulated with hira, saying, it was proper to him, and common to no man else, to do that office of delivering petitions for his prisoners. And if Sir John, in a third petition, would humble himself to his raajesty, in acknowledging his fault and craving par don, he would willingly deliver it, and made no doubt but he should obtain bis liberty. Unto this Sir John's answer was : — " I thank you, sir, for your friendly advice, but my spirits are grown feeble and faint ; which, when it shall please God to restore unto their former vigour, I will take it farther into ray consideration." Sir John dying not long after, his son petitioned his raajesty once raore, he would be pleased to perrait his body to be carried into Cornwall, there to be buried. Whereto was answered, at the foot of the petition, " Let Sir John Eliot's body be buried in the church of that parish where he died." ' ' One of the most active originators of " Progress" in the seventeenth century was a Cornish gentleman of the name of Eliott, who, having stabbed a man in a quarrel, hastened to London, with the object of getting the favourite Buckingham, with whom he had been intimate, to shield him from punishment. He got off with a heavy fine. The wounded raan recovered, and on applying for a return of the money Eliot had paid, under the belief that the blow had been fatal, he was forced to be satisfied with the honour of knighthood. Sir John, however, received other dignities, such as the posts of vice-adrairal of Cornwall, and chairman of the committee of Stannaries, and was unquestionably bound to the court, till some private quarrel with his patron caused hira to become one of the raost active raembers of the patriotic party in the House of Commons; and the reader raust have noticed with what spirit he led the opposition raeasures, and with what VOL. II. P 2^10 THE COURT AND TIMES OF The next week, Currantos shaU be permitted to be pub lished ; but sorae men say, now that incomparable king is dead, they will buy no raore. On Sunday was sennight, that faraous divine, Mr. Holdisworth,' proraised his auditory, that up on Sunday last he would preach a funeral sermon in lamentation of the death of that brave king. But when Sunday was come, he treated upon another arguraent, be cause, said he, the news of his death had all that week been so neutral and uncertain; for upon yesterday was sennight, at nine o'clock at night, it pleased his raajesty to send his coach for one Mr. Lowe, deputy for our mer chant-adventurers at Delft, to relate unto him what he had told some of his friends upon his late arrival from thence, namely, that a little before his coming away there was a man carae to Delft (and he seemed to be a man of quality, as being attended by three servants), who affirmed, that three days after the battle he saw the King of Sweden sitting, with his arm in a blue scarf, at a sermon and thanksgiving for the victory ; that he had the honour to kiss his hand, and left hira alive and well ; but when he was corae sorae ten miles from the place, there he found rumours spread of his death, which accorapanied him all the way into Holland. The reason whereof, he said, might be, because the king, for two days after he was hurt, remained close in his tent, under the surgeon's hand, which raade the generality believe he was dead. Adven ture his life against nothing, this raan said he would not ; but if the raagistrates, or any other in Delft, would put 1000 guilders (that is to say, £100 sterling) into his hand, he would pawn his head against the king was then alive. Upon this report, Dalbier, being interrogated anew, was so irapudent as to deny some part of what he had said before some of the lords, naraely, that the King of Sweden's body (and that in so well-disciplined an courage he endured the persecution they brought upon him. He possessed con siderable literary as well as oratorical talent, evidences of which are to be found in certain satirical effusions, entitled " Verses, being chiefly invectives against the Duke of Buckingham," and a treatise, called " The Monarchic of Man," which he wrote whilst a prisoner in the Tower. The injustice to which he at last fell a victim, and the unfeeling answer ofthe king to the application of his faraily for his corpse, are among the least excusable of the raany ill-judged acts of this unfor tunate monarch. • Rector of St. Peter's Poor. CHARLES THE FIRST. 211 array) lay neglected in the place where it fell all that day and the night following, and was found next day, stripped stark naked, among the vulgar ; and that he saw it so, and kissed the wounds of it. But what would you have raore from a dresser of felts at Strasburg, for so Sir Thoraas Roe saith originally he was, which is not so noble as a maker of felts or a knitter of caps; and that his wife, in a red waistcoat, sued to him once, as he passed through Strasburg, to be a means to her husband, while he was all in his bravery, to allow her but two dollars a week, and she should think herself a very happy woman. Upon the report of Mr. Lowe, there was upon the Exchange, for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Satur day, such and so many wagers laid upon the life and death of the King of Sweden, as never the like was seen ; and upon Thursday, from two hours before day until night, here was ringing of bells in one place or other for joy of the good news. Yea, healths in raany places were drunk to that good king; and, sorae people, had they not been better advised by their discreeter neighbours, had raade bon fires that night. I had almost forgot to tell you that his majesty, the sarae night Mr. Lowe was with hira, took of , his servants, and others that were about him, seventy pieces, to render to every man an hundred for one (that is to say, 7000 in the sum total), in case the King of Sweden were dead. But the prettiest imposture of all happened on Monday morning. Where Justice Long had swallowed it, I know not ; but he gave it ray Lord Chief Justice Richardson, and through hira unto all Sergeant's Inn. His lordship sent it instantly to the raaster of the rolls, and he to ray lord keeper, and it flew as swift as lightning frora one end of the town to another. And what was it, think you, but that the king, having that raorning received certain news of the King of Sweden's being alive, had reprieved and pardoned these fourteen prisoners which had been con demned at Newgate sessions on Saturday, and were pre sently to be executed ? True it is, those fourteen were reprieved and pardoned (whereof eight were women), but merely at the queen's suit, and upon occasion of the king's 21 2 THE COURT AND TIMES OF recovery from the smallpox, whereof (they came forth of his body in great abundance), his majesty, God be thanked, was never sick. But since, the king's death is raost certainly confirmed, not only by an express to the Holland arabassador, but by another also to his majesty frora Curtius, his agent, not now at Frankfort as forraerly, but in the Swedish army ; so that now there is no more wagering of the business. The Queen of Sweden, being a most dis consolate lady, and the Chancellor Oxenstiern, are now at Erfurt. Duke Bernard of Weimar, being general of the Swedish army, hath given Wallenstein a second over throw at Svvickaw, in his way to Boheraia. The Elector of Saxe was battering his own castle of Leipsic, held frora hira by the Imperials, and Bannier had slain 4000 of the Duke of Bavaria's men. Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 3, 1632-3. Though I have no answer of my last Thursday's letter to my noble Lord Brooke, yet, in hope you also and Mr. High Sheriff' had your shares thereof, I now begin where then I ended ; letting you know, in the first place, that, after I had then written, the first news I heard was that my Lord of Arundel was passed through Cheapside, onward of his journey towards the Hague, whither his lordship, as I am told, goes ambassador extraordinary to condole with the Queen of Bohemia, under the same title and appella tion, for the death of her husband ; and to the States- General also to treat with thera about raeans how to esta blish the young Prince Palatine, her eldest son, in his in heritance, and to secure the queen's jointure in the Palati nate to her, as also concerning the fishing upon our coast, for which purpose old Sir Williara Monson, that hath been a great projector in that business, is gone along ; and be sides whom, I named in ray last the young Lord Sheffield, Sir Frederick CornwaUis, and two of tbe heralds, as, namely. Neve, York herald, and Philpot, Somerset herald. ' Sir Thomas Lucy. CHARLES THE FIRST. 213 His lordship set sail, with a fair wind, upon Sunday, at two in the afternoon, and there is no doubt, by the grace of God, but he is ere this got to the Hague, In case the queen do corae for England, I hear that her lodging appointed in court is the Cockpit, at Whitehall, where she lay when she was a raaid ; and, in the country, is assigned her his raajesty's house at Elthara, With my Lord of Arundel, in this fleet, is gone Sir Robert Anstru ther, his majesty's arabassador extraordinary also to the Diet in Gerraany, which, they say, is to be holden at Wit- tenburg, where the King of Sweden's body lies erabalmed, being attended by a guard of 2000 men. One mad fellow writes frora thence, that the princes have raade thera black banners raingled with red, intiraating blood and revenge for that king's death ; and that they have vowed one to another, they will not abandon the cause until they have buried that renoAvned corpse in Vienna, I have been told also by a courtier, that Sir Robert Anstruther carries with hira fifty-eight letters of credence to several princes and great personages now in Gerraany, The French king, for his ambassador, sends thither tbe Marshal de la Force, to aniraate those princes against the House of Austria, and to proraise them all the aid and assistance he can give thera. And the more to encourage the sarae marshal, he hath bestowed on hira all the offices and charges of the late Duke of Montmorency, in Lan guedoc, which is a very good exchange for the Protestants there, that, from under the governraent of their professed and active enemy, are come to be governed by their true and real friend, I hear also that the French king hath sent to the Duke of Rohan, general of his array in tbe Valtoline, a fresh supply of 16,000 raen ; and also that the French have taken Oudenheira, in the Lower Palatinate, a fortress belonging to the Elector of Treves, The Duke Elector of Saxe, I hear, is so forward to hearken unto the French king's motion, as he hath vowed to spend all his treasure rather than that the House of Austria should any longer domineer. But once more to look homeward to ourselves, on Christmas day, not only Bishop White, the almoner, in his 214 THE COURT AND TIMES OF morning sermon to the household, but the Bishop of London also in his, sorae two hours after to the king, made sharp invectives against some points of popery ; and, which was much marveUed at by the auditory, quoted Calvin divers times with a great deal of respect ; which, when Pb, Bur laraachi was told, in ray presence, he said it was a good julep against a parliaraent. On Wednesday next, the queen's pastoral is to be acted in the lower court of Denraark House, and ray lord cham berlain saith that no chambermaid shall enter, unless she will sit cross-legged on the top of a bulk. No great lady shall be kept out, though she have but mean apparel, and a worse face, and no inferior lady or woman shall be let in, but such as have extrerae brave apparel and better faces. Yesterday, one showed me the copy of a letter from the King of Sweden to the King of Bohemia, dated at Arrastadt, Noveraber 28, but eight days before he was slain in battle, wherein he taxeth the King of Boheraia of too rauch dis trust and incredulity, in that he was jealous the King of Sweden would detain from him his dominions, or any part thereof, and assureth him, upon the word of a king, that, if God did lend him life, he would, without expecting any recompense or reimbursement for his own pains, or for the sweat, raoney, and blood, that bad been and should yet be spent for the recovery of those places, restore him entirely to all, that did formerly of right belong unto hira, or was ever in his possession, only upon these two conditions, first, that he should, throughout his Palatinate, allow the King of Sweden's, that is to say, the Lutheran religion, to all that had a mind to profess it ; and, secondly, that the King of Bohemia should acknowledge him, and no man else, his restorer. The Chancellor Oxenstiern, for his service and industry, since the king's death, is to be loved and adraired by all such as are lovers of the good cause, left by the late king, of famous raeraory, under his charge and tuition, namely, setting up the Germanic liberty, and levelling of the House of Austria, For the first thing he did, so soon as he was sure of the king's death, was his passing with incredible celerity frora town to town, and frora city to city (not CHARLES THE FIRST, 215 omitting the least fort or sconce), and his swearing both the civil magistrate and military officer unto the allegiance of the queen ; whereby he settled their rainds, and kept them from revolting, as the enemy expected they would have done, whensoever God should call Gustavus Adolphus frora among them. And therefore it is verily thought the princes at the Diet will choose him director of the war. Y"et the papists here do report he is taken prisoner ; but upon what grounds, I know not, no more than where Taylour, the archduchess's agent, should find that, upon that bloody day of the 6th of Noveraber, Wallenstein went off with the victory. For, if he did, it was but a poor one, when he was fain, not for triumph or joy, but for haste and fear, to run away with it, and the next raorning, to leave the Imperial garrison within the town of Leipsic to a breakfast of cutting of their throats ; the Wallensteiners in the castle also having since yielded to Colonel Knip- penhausen upon coraposition. Frankendale was delivered up by the Spaniards into the hands of the Swedes, upon the 24th of Noveraber, when the garrison that raarched out were 1300 foot and 70 horse, with five pieces of ordnance, having left raany more pieces behind them than they found there at their first taking it, and great quantity of raunition. Heidelberg was then also [surrendered] upon terms of composition, it being resolved, so soon as the Spaniards were out, that the King of Bohe mia's corpse should be brought in to be interred by his grandfather there. In the roora of Pappenbeira, deceased, is risen up his lieutenant-general, the Count of Gronsfeld, who was lately marching to Cologne, to guard it and Bonn from General Bauditzen, wbo had received his ordnance frora Mentz. Gustavus Horne hath lately taken Stickstat and Colraar, in Alsatia ; and his general of horse, the Rhingrave Otto, hath defeated a Marquis of Baden. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 10, 1632-3. Being now much distracted for the king's service, I cannot make so fuU an answer to your kind letter as otherwise I 216 THE COURT AND TIMES OF would have done ; although for the present the occasions of writing be not very rife, and seem to cool with the weather ; a;ll foreign actions of war being now, in a manner, at a stay tfll the spring revive them again, and bring forth the effect of the consultations which are now in hand both in France, Germany, and the Low Countries. Only, I hear, that Count Gustavus Horne goeth on stUl in his conquests in Alsatia, having lately taken the towns of Colraar and Hagenau, so as there reraains no raore but the town of Brisac, of all that rich province, to be conquered. Likewise, in the country of Cologne, Bauditzen hath taken divers places, and, amongst the rest, the town of Manheim, within a league of that great city, which is thereby rauch straitened and troubled. The Elector of Saxony, as we hear, is levying ten new regiraents for the prosecution of the war. Here we are in expectation of the coming shortly of the Queen of Boheraia, who hath now given assurance thereof, but doth not intend, as I hear, to raake any long abode amongst us. This night, our queen hath acted her costly pastoral in Somerset House, which hath lasted seven or eight hours. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 16, 1633. There being no letters come yet from my Lord of Arundel since his departure from hence, we have as yet no further assurance of the Queen of Bohemia's coming over, than as we hear it frora other hands that she hath accepted of the king's brotherly invitation ; and that she doth intend to come after she hath taken order in some necessary busi nesses which she hath in those parts ; but whether with a resolution to continue her abode here or not, it is doubtful. Upon the return of the deputies that were sent by the Flemish commissioners to Brussels, with a fuller commis sion, they go now in hand with that treaty at the Hague; but, in all men's opinion, with small likelihood of any success. In Germany, the emperor bestirreth himself every way CHARLES THE FIRST. 217 to take advantage of the King of Sweden's death, having not only delivered out a great nuraber of commissions for the raising of raen, to be coraraanded by Wallenstein, who is risen again frora the dead, but also sent divers mes sengers to the confederate princes, to treat severally with them, and to withdraw them, or as many of them as he can, from their union ; whilst, in the raean tirae, he doth employ tbe Landgrave of Darmstadt to treat openly with the Elector of Saxony, his father-in-law, and with the other princes, about a general peace. For the opposing of which practices and frustrating thera, the King of France hath given the princes assurance of a royal assist ance, if they will stick fast in their union, and raake choice of an able leader for the war, having to that end sent one Monsieur de Feuquieres to the Elector of Saxony and other princes, and one Monsieur de I'lsle to the city of Strasburg, and other towns. He hath also sent Mons. de Charnasse to the States, and doth intend, as I hear, to come himself to Metz with an army. The Duke of Bavaria hath deUvered out many com missions for the raising of men, to free his country of those forces which the Palatine of Berkenfeld hath in those parts. The Count of Horne is still going forward, having lately taken the town of Friburg, and blocked up Brisac ; so as he may shortly join forces with the said Duke of Berkenfeld against the Duke of Bavaria. But General Bauditzen is like to be sorely set upon in the country of Cologne, not only by the Count of Gronsfeld, Pappenheira's lieutenant and successor, but by a good nuraber of Spaniards, which are gone out of Flanders and Lunenburg against thera. At whose heels the Prince of Orange, on the other side, hath set the Duke of Bouillon, with a good number of horse and foot. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 23, 1632-3. My Lord Goring, and Sir Francis Nethersole, being corae back on Sunday last, out of Holland, have seconded and confirmed the advertisement which the Earl of Arundel 218 THE COURT AND TIMES OF (who stayeth yet behind) had sent two days before, that the Queen of Bohemia having accepted for her own person, with all thankful acknowledgraent, tbe favour of his raajesty's kind and brotherly invitation for her return hither, hath, nevertheless, excused herself from her coming till his majesty's return out of Scotland, in respect of her children, whose occasions and interests (which she is to regard above any other things in this world) stand now in such need of her personal assistance, as that she cannot so soon leave those parts, without an extreme prejudice to their affairs. Which excuse his majesty hath favourably accepted of; having, out of his tender affection, seasoned his invitation with the proffer of this free choice unto her, either to come or to stay, and to come either alone or with her children, or with as many and such of them as she would be pleased. I hear that the States and the Prince of Orange do take a particular care of those young princes, and have resolved never to conclude the treaty which they have in hand, unless they be fully restored to their rights and pos sessions. Mr. Pory to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 24, 1632-3. Since my last unto ray Lord Brooke, I am given to understand that not only many subpoenas have been made to sumraon such into the Star Charaber, as have been delinquents against his majesty's proclamation, by their abode in town, but the greatest part have been served also upon such as could be raet withal. My Lord Bishop of Lincoln, notwithstanding the last terra's Star Charaber Bill put in against him were overthrown by a demurrer, and taken off the file, is against this term cited, both by letter and subpoena, to appear and answer in that court to a new Bill which Mr. Attorney hath framed against him. On Monday, Sir Francis Stanley, brother to my Lord Strange, and second son to the Earl of Derby, died of the smallpox, which he got by visiting of a great person ' that was lately infected with that disease. ' Probably, the king. CHARLES THE FIRST. 2 1 9 Mr. Prynne, of Lincoln's Inn, hath been examined by one of the secretaries about his " Histriomastrix," that voluminous invective against all manner of interludes and stage-plays, and is to be prosecuted in the high com mission thereabouts. Mr. Noel,^ son and heir to the Lord Viscount Campden, who on Christraas day was married at court to the Lady Anne Fielding,^ hath lost at tennis (in one day, as I take it) to my Lord of Carnarvon, v my Lord Rich, and other young gallants, £2500 ; her portion, which his majesty gave with her, not exceeding £3000. On Sunday, ray Lord Goring and Sir Francis Nether sole returned hither from the Queen of Bohemia, bring ing news, as I hear, that besides her present indisposition, both of body and raind, to undertake such a journey by sea in the raidst of winter, it now behoved her raost espe cially to keep on that side the sea, that, over and besides the aid which his raajesty raay vouchsafe her, she raight continually be at hand to solicit the interest of the Prince Palatine her son, as well with the States' -General as with the princes of Germany : and, in case she should come over at all, yet doth she not think it fitting to come over until his majesty be returned out of Scotland. On Monday, in the afternoon, there were two contro versies in agitation before his raajesty and the lords at the council-board. One between my lord chamberlain, as lord warden of the Stanneries, and Sir Thoraas Richard son, as lord chief justice of the King's Bench : and the other between Sir Henry Martin, judge of the Admiralty, and the said lord chief justice ; and all about prohibitions. As touching the first, ray lord charaberlain coraplained that, whereas suits that raerely concerned the tin-raines in Cornwall raight be raost speedily and impartially de cided by juries upon the place, which were acquainted with the business ; such as were officers there, and could not be spared, were often by prohibitions called up hither, a journey alraost of three hundred raUes, and then ' Baptist, second Baron Noel, and third Viscount Campden, who died October 29, 1683, at the age of seventy-one. He was a faithful partizan of Charles. s Second daughter of William Earl of Denbigh. 220 THE COURT AND TIMES OF held there, God knows how long, for a despatch, the ver dict being referred to a jury of Middlesex, who are mainly ignorant of the tin business. So it was resolved, and the judges coraraanded, that no raore prohibitions should be sent to the Court of the Stanneries. Conceming the second controversy. Sir Henry Martin said, he had often besought his majesty to put some other into his place ; because, by reason of prohibitions out of those superior courts, he could not do his majesty or the subject that service which be desired. And he said, farther, that if their prohibitions continued as frequent as they were wont to be, once within seven years there would be never a ship left in this river to go to sea : for the proceeding in the Admiralty is so suraraary, as in three court days any ordi nary cause raay be deterrained, and so merchants and sea faring raen quickly set free to go about their business ; whereas, in the superior courts, it will be at least a year's work ; and, in the raeanwhile, the master and chief mariners are kept idle from sea, the ship lies rotting by the walls, navigation is hindered, and trade is over thrown. The judges answered, they were bound, by their oaths, to do as they did ; and, therefore, could not deny any subject a prohibition, that should require it at their hands. Besides that raost, if not all, of those suits that were drawn out of the Admiralty, by prohibition, did con cern sorae contract or other, which is an object raost peculiar to their comraon law. Here Sir Henry Martin distinguished between a contract made, and a contract rising, A contract perfectly made, he acknowledged for the object of their law : but a contract between merchants and raariners was still rising, and not perfected until the voyage were ended. Then Judge Jones said he would gladly know, whether prohibitions were de jure, or de gratia ? If they were de jure, then, he said, before he could deny any that were asked of him, he raust entreat my Lord of London to absolve him of his oath. The bishop, as having by this request too rauch of the Pope put upon hira, was so surprised with choler, as for a while he could not open his mouth to speak. At last, having paid Justice Jones home for his dilemma, as he called it. CHARLES THE FIRST. 221 he told hira there was another way to the " wood" besides prohibition ; which was far the more just and equitable. And this Sir Henry Martin explained to be that, after a sentence given, and the same sentence perforraed and executed in the Adrairalty Court, then raight the party grieved appeal to one of those superior courts. And if the sentence were there found to be unjust, then was the party satisfied to pay double to his adversary of what the sentence had been allotted hira ; and the judge was, at his majesty's raercy, to censure hira as he pleased. And here, by the way, I had alraost forgot to tell you how rauch both his raajesty, my lord treasurer, ray lord privy seal, and others, did cry down prohibitions de jure ; affirming, that all prohibitions were de gratia ; and that the judge, salvo juramento, raight indifferently either grant or deny them. Then, his raajesty told the judges he would have thera no more to bring his River of Thames, namely, below the bridge, into the county of Middlesex, by a figure, which they call fictio juris ; hut that he would have his river as free frora their jurisdiction as the raain ocean sea is, or ought to be. In fine, ray lord treasurer, my Lord of London, Sir Henry Martin, and Mr. Attorney, were appointed a comraittee, to consider of Rules and Orders how the Admiralty might comport itself towards those superior courts, and those towards it. Those brave raonsieurs in France do, for the present, discourse of nothing so rauch as of an infallibility that their king raust be eraperor; and no raan dare contradict them, unless he will run the hazard of a duel. And if his great Cardinal Richelieu chance to be Pope at the same time, what will not they two attempt for the honour and ingrandizing of the nation. " Mai dal detto alfatto vi e gran tratto." In a letter, written at Brussels, on Saturday was sen night, I have read, that the Duke of Arschot, the Arch bishop of Mechlin, and the Pensioner of Antwerp, who were sent before Christmas out of the body of their fellow- deputies, now treating at the Hague, to fetch conclusive instructions, either for a peace or truce, are still in Brussels, attending the return of a courier from Spain, sent to fetch 222 THE COURT AND TIMES OF new directions. For their said deputies, the States- General, now asserabled at Brussels, have laboured to ob tain plenitudinem potestatis, naraely, that they might freely conclude whatsoever they should in their discretion think available for their country. But the Spaniards do not like such an unbridled power. The same letter tells me, also, that about a fortnight ago, the inhabitants of Brus sels, in a general assembly, declared and proraised, that whatsoever the States-General there should conclude or deterraine, they would give their consent and obedience thereunto. And it saith, farther, that in iraitation of this, all the rest of the towns in those provinces will do the like, which I apprehend a fair preparative of turning the Spaniards out of the Low Countries. Though they now treat of peace, yet both sides, I raean, Holland and Spain, do rautually prepare for war. Justinian Paget, Esq., to James Harrington, Esq., at Walton-upon-Trent. From the Middle Temple, January 28, 1633. I hear it frora a gentleraan of credit that at Carabridge, about a fortnight since, a hog ate up a child lying in the cradle. Mr. Prynne of Lincoln's Inn hath lately set forth a book entitled " Histrioraastrix, or the Players' Scourge," the sale of which is prohibited, and he to appear at the high coraraission on Thursday next, where, when I have heard what is charged against him, I will, if you desire it, send you a more particular relation. His book is extraordinarily stuffed with quotations of old authors, which they say are his only arguments. He cites St. Austin, who saith, " Si tantum modo boni et honesti viri in civitate essent, nee in rebus humanis Ludi Scenici esse debuissent." But I do not conceive this to be the only cause why he is called in question, but rather sorae exorbitant passage concerning ecclesiastical government ; fori hear he compares the play ing on the organs between the first and second lesson, to interludes and stage plays. It is observable that his book CHARLES THE FIRST. 223 was published the day after the queen's pastoral at Somer set House. If you please to lend me Sir Kenelm Digby's mathe matical discourse, which you once told me of, I shall receive it as a special favour. Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. Essex House, January 31, 1632-3. There is very little raore news this week than I found at my coming to town, and therefore might I imagine that you had as much the last week, or the same, which I now can send. Yet, to show myself not slothfuUer than here tofore to do you any service I can here, I have adventured to inform what I have learned, viz : — That the Queen of Boheraia prays the king's pardon for not coraing into Eng land at this present, in that she rauch desires that their meeting raight be without any mixture of mourning at all, which her late great loss will not as yet permit her to per form. Besides the States and princes in those parts offer ing to go up into the Palatinate with the young prince her son, and to establish him in sorae part of his inheritance this next suraraer, it raight seera sorae neglect in her to depart thence before the expiration of so short a tirae. That the States have broke off the treaty of peace, and intend to be in the field very early this year, and to main tain four thousand horse more than heretofore, whereof they raise two- thousand of their own : the other two thou sand from the Duke of Bouillon, whora they have made governor of Maestricht. The messenger which was sent to leam the truth of the battle, and of the King of Sweden's death, came to town upon Saturday night ; but I have not as yet heard any relation he hath raade thereof. The news from those parts which I hear is, that the Jesuits, endeavouring to increase the dissension betwixt the Lutheran and Calvinist princes, hath caused them to Unk themselves in a more accord than heretofore. That the Duke-Elector of Saxony hath made his three sons take an oath to raaintain a war against the House of Austria to 224 THE COURT AND TIMES OF revenge the King of Sweden's death, who lost his life in defence of thera and their possessions. And that the King of France, offering the Duke of Bavaria to secure his own dukedora unto him if he would leave the emperor and side with hira, and the duke desiring to consent thereunto, hath sent two thousand horse and three thousand foot to join with Gustavus Home's forces, who is lately corae into Bavaria out of Alsatia. And whereas it hath heretofore been voiced in what dis content the King of Boheraia departed from the King of Sweden, I have sent you the copy of a letter which the King of Sweden wrote, as it seeras, in answer to a letter which he had formerly received frora the King of Boheraia, wherein, in my opinion, he gives no cause of discontent to the King of Boheraia. The Duchess of Buckinghara hath put in an inforraation into the court of Wards, against the now Earl of Rutland, whereby she endeavours to overthrow the late earl her father's will, and thereby to recover all his personal estate, with the Castle of Bel voir, and divers other lands, as heir general, frora the new earl. Mr. Prynne, an utter-barrister of Lincoln's Inn, is brought into the High Comraission Court and Star Chara ber, for publishing a book, a little before the queen's acting of her play, of the unlawfulness of jAays ; wherein in the table of his book and his brief additions thereunto he hath these words, " Woraen actors notorious whores ;" and that St. Paul prohibits woraen to speak publicly in the church, " and dares then," saith he, " any christian woman be so more than whorishly impudent, as to act, to speak publicly on a stage (perchance in man's apparel and cut hair) in the presence of sundry raen and woraen ?" Which words, it is thought by sorae, will cost hira his ears, or heavily punished, and deeply fined,' Mr, Attorney is very strict in prosecuting all sort of men and women for staying in town ' The writer's anticipations were well grounded. Prynne had not only attacked the diversions of the court^he had been equally severe on those of the church, and Laud was implacable; but though the church and court mutilated, fined, and im prisoned him with a vengeance truly savage, they did not succeed in extinguishing his spirit. While in prison, he issued a pamphlet, in which he attacked clerical abuses with greater bitterness than ever. CHARLES THE FIRST. 225 contrary to the proclamation. And there is process forth against many, whereof I have sent ray brother Gibbs a copy. Justinian Paget, Esq., to his uncle. Dr. Charles Twysden} February 2, 1633. That which commands my pen's service at this time is a notorious cause which I heard on Thursday last, at the high comraission at Larabeth, which, as ray weak raeraory will help me, I relate to you. Mr. Bernard, late lec turer at St. Sepulchre's church, was informed against by the University of Carabridge in several articles, as follows, viz: — Jst. That he having obtained the favour to preach at St. Mary's last summer, he used these scandalous words concerning the queen, viz: — "Lord, open her eyes, that she may see her Saviour, whora she hath pierced with her superstition and idolatry." 2nd. That in his serraon he said there is a broad differ ence between the substance of religion and the purity thereof. 3rd. That iu his said serraon he taxed the university of idolatry, saying, " he that bows to the high altar is an idolator, and whether there be any such here you know best yourselves." 4th. That he said these treasonable words, viz : — " You think treason to be only against the king, but I can tell you of a far worse treason than that, to wit, the treason against the coraraonwealth, which is so rauch the worse, by how rauch the body is better than a raeraber, and the whole is better than a part." Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering. Essex House, February 6, 1632-3. I have received the letter you sent by Mr. Hunt, the contents whereof gives me just cause both to acknowledge and to strive to deserve your voluntary courtesy therein. I hoped to have sent you, this week, a very true relation ' Doctor of Laws, and Chancellor of Coventry and Litchfield. VOL. II. Q 226 THE COURT AND TIMES OF which is lately come over of the King of Sweden's death and battle. But Butter having got it to his hands, and thinking to have printed it, it is there stopped both from publishing it in print or copying. The news of the princes of Germany is, that business succeeds well amongst them ; for that the princes have sworn to be faithful and hold constantly together ; and that if any one faUs, they wUl all fall upon him ; and that they have sent to Marquis Darmstadt (if I mistake not his narae) who hath hitherto kept himself a neuter, and since the king's death been with the eraperor, to leave off his negotiation with him, or they will presently drive him out of his territories. And the Duke-Elector of Saxony hath given tbe country of Franconia to Saxe Weimar, to salve all fractions which might arise betwixt thera. There is also a ruraour that the Queen of Sweden should be lately brought to bed of a prince, and dead in childbed. Here came to town on Monday last an ambassador from Poland, and had audience upon Tuesday. He is not twenty years of age ; but the most confident man in bis carriage and speech that I ever saw. He is one of the greatest and richest men in that kingdora ; for his revenue is said to be £200,000 sterling per annum ; and that he is able to bring 40,000 horse into the field ; and he is a very good Protestant, and one who much honoured the King of Sweden. My Lord of Arundel carae to town upon Mon day night ; and sorae say that the States have given him so good satisfaction of their true and faithful intendments to the king and this kingdora, that he hath promised thera to be for them all he raay. But our papists say the contrary. The Queen of Bohemia's two eldest sons had a great desire to bring my Lord of Arundel on board his ship at his coming away ; and Sir Charles Morgan seeming to persuade thera frora it, they said he bad nothing to do with them ; and if Sir Jacob Astley would permit them, they would accompany him ; which he giving way unto, they lay all night on shipboard with him. Monsieur de Beuse's effigies hanged up in France. Prynne was comraitted to the Tower on Friday last. CHARLES THE FIRST. 227 Mr. Sherfield's business for breaking the glass windows in Salisbury church bad hearing this day in the Star Chamber ; but the censure put off till Friday. The Lady Wotton was fined £500 the last week in the High Commission Court for an inscription she put upon her deceased lord's tomb, viz., that he died a true Catholic of the Roman Church ; and for reraoving the font to set up the said tomb, he having desired to be buried as near the place he received his baptism as he might. Mr. Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, March 6, 1632-3. I hear that tbe council of Swedeland, since the death of their brave king, have resolved to prosecute his designs ; and have sent some supplies of men out of their country to the princes. Concerning the Palatinate, I understand that the Chancellor Oxenstiern hath promised to the Lords Administrators to restore as much of it to the young Princes Palatine, as is in the Swedish hands, according to the intent and promise thereof raade by the King of Swe den to the King of Boheraia, upon certain conditions, some eight days before his death. Justinian Paget, Esq., to his Cousin Tremyll. August 22, 1633. Give rae leave to tell you of a late accident, which hath much troubled the lord mayor, viz. — As he went the last week toward Rochester, one in his company by chance rode over a man, and left him for dead ; and as he carae back toward London, one of the blockhouses in testiraony of their respect shot off a piece of ordnance. Which by chance having a bullet in it, killed a man rowing along the river in a lighter. You may be confident that Dr. Laud is Archbishop of Canterbury ; for his conge d'hlire was returned the last week, and it is said the king hath given his royal assent ; but it seems every man hath not ; for it is said that a preacher in London, in his prayer, prayed God not to send a Bonner Q 2 228 THE COURT AND TIMES OF or a persecutor of the Church araong thera ; as if he thought Dr. Laud would be such an one. Mr. E. R.^ to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, December 31, 1633. The business of the Earl of Suffolk' stands thus. His majesty was raoved to send the Lord Cottington once more to know the earl's answer; upon Thursday, the 19th December, the earl being in physic, his lordship sent, and he was entreated to corae the next day; but before he could get to Suffolk House the earl was gone to the king at Harapton Court ; but his majesty was gone to Nonsuch. So the earl lost his labour; but the next day, the 21st, the earl got to speak with the king at Whitehall, where he desired his raajesty that he might not send his majesty any answers, but come in person. Here the king began to make a repetition of all that passed betwixt the earl and ray Lord Cottington : so told ray Lord of Suffolk he was not well advised to say he was turned off in disgrace. The earl told tbe king, the rumour of losing this place had drawn all his creditors upon him ; for he was much in debt. Saith the king, " What care I for your debts ? You must look to them. If you will surrender up your office, I shall reward you to your content. If otherwise, I will have the place, and be disengaged of ray promise. And where is your obedience ?" saith his raajesty. Upon which his raajesty shook very rauch. My lord's last request was that his majesty would be pleased to let hira hold his place till the noise of losing it were over, and then he would lay it at his raajesty's feet. The request seeraed so reasonable that his raajesty granted it. The earl took bis advantage with the king, before the lord treasurer or Lord Cottington had spoke with hira, to whom, when his majesty had told the passages betwixt the earl and himself, with what his raa- ' Edward Rossingham. He succeeded Mr. Pory as a writer of news for Sir Thomas Puckering, in which capacity he attained a great reputation. He had been abroad, and appears to have been known to the Earl of Strafford, and to have enjoyed the confidence of Sir Thomas Edmondes, Sir John Digby, and other public men. ¦^ Theophilus Howard, Earl of Suffolk, was commanded by the king to give up his post of Captain ofthe Band of Pensioners, He died June 3, 1640. — Earl of Straf ford's Letters, vol. i., p. 167. CHARLES THE FIRST. 229 jesty had granted, they seemed not to be well pleased, saying, my Lord of Suffolk under this colour will hold off a good while. His majesty replied, his request was so rea sonable he could not deny hira ; but yet he would take such an order as the earl should not long hold it. The earl of Salisbury being willing to resign up his re version of the raastership of the wards, the next thing will be to get tbe raaster of the wards in being to surrender ; that either the lord treasurer or the Lord Cottington may succeed ; for Sir Walter Pye, the Attorney of the Court of Wards, does now what he pleaseth, whom they hold to be a great grievance in this kingdom, whose power they intend to moderate upon exchange. Some preferment raust be sought out for Mr, Secretary Coke, that my Lord Jerom Weston^ might succeed him. Then all will be well. The Earl of Suffolk gives it out that he hath satisfied his raajesty, but does not tell in what raanner. He is shortly to be raarried to the Lady Leigh, Sir Henry Leigh's widow, of Oxfordshire, This lady is daughter to tbe old Countess of Devonshire, I see the earl at court, crawling up and down; and ray opinion is, that a good caudle would be better for his weak body than a lusty widow, as she is, Dr, Goodman, Bishop of Gloucester, was to be removed to Hereford, He petitioned his raajesty that he raight hold the bishopric of Gloucester one year in commendam ; which did so rauch displease the king, that he shall not reraove at all. It is now resolved, and the order is entered, that hence forth there shall be eight Masters of the Chancery civilians, and all the four Masters of Request, The soap business is alraost at an end. The certificate is raade, but not yet published : it justifies the new soap and darans the old. Upon Monday, the 23rd, the lord raayor was sent for to the court, where his raajesty and the lords rebuked hira for his partial proceeding in favour of the old soap, and disparaging the new. Their lordships sent a warrant with four of their hands to it, the lord trea- ' Eldest son of the lord treasurer, the Earl of Portland. 230 THE COURT AND TIMES OF surer's being one, for to bring a poor woraan out of South wark before them for speaking invectively against the new soap. I think she was weU chidden, and so dismissed. The new company of gentlemen soapboilers have procured Mrs. Sanderson,' the queen's laundress, to subscribe to the goodness of the new soap : but she tells her majesty v^he dares not wash her linen with any other but Castile soap : and the truth is, that most of those ladies that have subscribed have all of them their linen washed with Castile soap, and not with the new soap. Sunday, the 22nd, the king sat in the councU. More than half a day was spent about a complaint against the mayor, and the town-clerk, and some of the burghers of the town of Gloucester, for giving an annuity of £20 per annum to a poor minister of that town, that was brought into the High Comraission as a delinquent. That this annuity should be given is an affront to the court : therefore, the boa,rd ordered that they should all of them be brought into the High Commission and answer it there. Mr. Prynne hath petitioned his majesty that he may have the liberty of a subject, that is, to go to his study to his books, and to confer with his counsel before he put in his answer. This liberty he hath given hira, to confer with his counsel and to go to his charaber, where sixteen books are laid out for hira ; but no liberty to go into his study. Dr. Dee,' in his last serraon before the king, upon the text, " Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps that gave thee suck," did so extol womankind as if he had been to raarry a daughter, and had no portion for her ; and in case she would not off without money, then she might apply the latter part of his sermon, which was the glory of virginity. He spake so much in commendation of virginity, as I do verily believe all those women that heard him, that have wicked husbands, or are aged, wish themselves virgins and young again. Sure this doctor ' Bridget, daughter of Sir Edward Tyrrel, knight, and wife of William Sander son, Esq., the historian, who at the Restoration was made gentleman in ordinary of the king's privy-chamber, and knighted. 2 Probably Francis Dee, D.D., educated at St. John's College, Cambridge. In 1606, he became rector of Trinity the Less, and in April, 1615, rector of All- Hallows, Lombard Street. In 1630, he was raade Dean of Chichester; and in 1634, Bishop of Peterborough , and died October 8, 1638. CHARLES THE FIRST. 231 made no good choice of the court to commend virginity in. But the greatest clerks are not always the wisest men. Well, he proceeded so far in the commendations of tbe Blessed Virgin, as he did boldly say, ber body was now more glorified than the bodies of Enoch or Elias, that were translated. In this month, a warrant under the king's hand was sent into the Signet Office, to draw up a warrant for the privy seal to the customers. The effect was this, to bor row or take up £200 beforehand from the customers to redeem certain of the king's jewels laid to pawn for £200, Within a day or two after, other warrants were sent into the Signet, to draw up warrants for the receipt of £30,000 out of the Exchequer. But Sir Robert Pye says there is no money. I wonder much the first warrant was not drowned in the second, the £900 in the £30,000. So needed they not to have discovered the king's necessities ; but they know best what they have to do. Upon Sunday last, the king and the council sat again upon the soap business ; and now it is determined that tbe patentees for this new soap shall have power given them to seize upon all such soap as hath been made since the raiddle of November last, or thereabout; to seize upon the pans and all their other utensils belonging to the trade of soap-boiling; and lastly, to comrait tbe soap boilers themselves to prison. It seems the king and the Lords are well satisfied in the goodness of this new soap, and that part hath been adulterated by the procurement of the old company. Some allege, that by putting into a barrel of soap a small quantity of rhubarb or a glass of sack, either will make that barrel of soap unserviceable. It is granted that this new soap hath blistered the washers' hands, and done other mischiefs. But then again, it is believed that the soap was sophisticated with some ob noxious raatter to work that raischief. It is said that there shall corae forth a Proclamation concerning it. Theu shall we know what to trust to. Upon Sunday last, Dr. Croke,' .Judge Croke's son that ' Charles Croke, D.D., rector of Amersham, in Bucks, and Fellow of Eton Col lege. He was younger son of Sir John Croke, of Chilton, in Bucks, one of the justices in the King's Bench. 232 THE COURT AND TIMES OF was, preached before the king. He made a very short prayer, and as short a sermon. He was miserably out ; and yet he was never in ; for he said, he did not fetch of his text. His two prayers and his sermon were not all half an hour long. Well, however, the man is a good, honest raan, and hath £600 per annum. Besides, he keeps a private school for noblemen's sons, and breeds thera very well. A better schoolraaster he is than a preacher. There are five or six coramissioners appointed, to peruse the certificate about St. John's, in Cambridge, which hath depended so long ; the two archbishops, the lord keeper, the Earl of Holland, sorae say both the secretaries, some but one, that is Secretary Windebank. Sir George Gresley to Sir Tliomas Puckering, Bart. Essex House, January 23, 1633-4. That which, at this present, I ara able to inforra you is the reformation of the prices of all small acates, the offi cers of the Green-Cloth having made complaint that the rates of such manner of provision was grown so high, that the compounders could not furnish the household with provision at the rates they then were bound to do. Where upon, by the king's express comraand, the lord mayor hath set forth his proclamation and a rate upon the prices of small acates, which I have sent my brother Gibbs ; and the price of beef and mutton is to be taxed also very speedily. The wine custoraers, as it is said, will petition the king for a defalcation of their yearly * * * or otherwise they are not able to hold thera. But the vint ners are so circuraspect to observe the decree, that if you bring meat ready dressed with you into their houses, they will not furnish you with a trencher and napkin to eat it. Some of the little innkeepers, as I hear, went to the court, to petition the king, but were comraitted to prison for their pains. And one Mr. Huraphrey, a son of Dr. Huraphrey,' which was president of Magdalen College, in Oxford, is ' Laurence Humphrey, D.D., who died February 1, 1589-90, at the age of sixty- three. CHARLES THE FIRST. 233 committed to prison for prophesying that doomsday should be upon Friday come raonth. The raanner of Sir Francis Nethersole's offence and his coraraitinent was, as it is most voiced, that pressing to have had some speech with the king, and being prevented therein, he wrote a letter to Secretary Coke, which trenched too much upon his raa jesty's person ; the effect being, as it is reported, that as King James was voiced to be the first loss of the Pala tinate, so his majesty would be voiced the second loss thereof, if so be he did longer delay to declare himself what aid he would give towards the restoring the Queen of Bohemia and her children to their inheritance : which being revealed by Secretary Coke, he was sent for and coramitted to Mr. Truraball, and upon farther exaraination concerning his offence, and slipping away from Mr. Trura ball, coraraitted to the Tower. There is sorae muttering of the change of officers ; as that ray lord chamberlain should be lord steward, and the Duke of Lennox lord chamberlain ; that Mr. Noy shall be raaster of tbe Wards, and the recorder, or Sir John Bankes, attorney-general. But it is raost certain that none but civilians shall be hereafter either raasters of Request or Chancery ; by which you raay sraell who looks and hopes to be lord chancellor. As for foreign news, I hear not any but a report that the King of France will set up the Duke of Savoy to make his claim to Milan. Mr. E. R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, January 23, 1633-4. The last week carae out a coraraission about buildings. This coraraission takes force frora the 1 st of March, in the second year of King James ; about which time the procla mation was published about buildings in the city of Lon don and thereabouts. This new comraission is to inquire what buildings have been erected ; whether upon new or old foundations ; whether they have been built according to such orders, ordinances, and directions, provided in tbe proclamation ; if any have had leave to build by the com- 234 THE COURT AND TIMES OF missioners appointed for building. It was upon sorae sug gestions exhibited unto them : now these suggestions are to be removed ; if now they appear false or feigned, to be void. All these things are to be looked into by juries upon oath, by the commissioners' own proper view, and by all other ways and means whatsoever. All such buildings as are precisely according to the directions in the procla mation to stand ; but all such as are contrary, some of them to be deraolished as the commissioners shall think fit. All the others, as are thought fit to stand, to com pound with the comraissioners, and to pay a yearly rent to the king and to his heirs and successors for ever. The coramissioners, the lord treasurer, earl marshal. Earl of Dorset, Lord Cottington, Mr. Comptroller, the two secre taries. Sir William Howard, Sir Henry Spiller, Mr. At torney, Mr. Inigo Jones. This new comraission does not only look into the city, but two miles round about the city. Warrants are already sent out and returned from the parishes of St. Martin's in the Fields, St. Giles' in the Fields, and St. Clement's. How raany new buildings since the tirae abovesaid, whether upon old or new founda tions, by whora built, and the present tenants. It is verily supposed that the delinquency of this proclaraation will bring into the exchequer a round sura of raoney ; and never more need.' The last Thursday, ray lord mayor published a procla raation about the rating of all manner of fowl : and be cause his lordship would be sure to leave out none, the coney is rated amongst the fowl. I think to enclose the proclaraation itself, if they be not all bought up. For any thing that I see yet, ray lord mayor's proclamations are not worth a doit, for fowl continues very dear still. The great lords have many of them ordered their caterers to buy according to the rates, or not at all. They resolve to have no second course, but to feed upon beef and mutton, and lamb and veal, and pig, and such kinds of meat ; and I am sure some of thera have had nothing else. One of the great lords' caterers, offering my lord mayor's rates for ' It was one of the numerous schemes the government had recourse to to bring money into the treasury. CHARLES THE FIRST. 235 fowl, was refused. Upon which he called the constable, and then the market-folk let the fowl go for the price set down. The board hath ordered the clerk of the market in the country to set the sarae rates there. Upon Tuesday last his warrants went out to that purpose : so that now it is hoped we shall pay but honest, reasonable rates for fowl. But methinks ray lord raayor tithes mint and cumrain, and leaves out the greater, as beef and mutton, which the middle and meaner sort of people feed on, unlooked after. Yet sorae tell rae there is a squint eye upon those, too. Upon Friday last, died Sir Edward Barkhara, alderman of London. He hath left behind him a very handsome fortune, above £4000 in land, yearly revenue, besides £25,000 in ready raoney, and a great stock besides. He was a Norfolk raan. Sorae land he had there ; but rauch more in Lincolnshire. " From the devil and Alderman Barkhara good lord deliver us !" God hath heard their prayer in part, for the alderraan will vex them no raore. It is said he died in part like Herod, in the 12th of the Acts, eaten up with lice. He was a hard man, that is raost certain. Andrew Huraphrey, a son of that Reverend Dr. Hura phrey, sorae tirae master of a college ' in Oxford, and Dean of Winchester, the last Sunday in the king's chapel, in the sermon time, reared up upon a stake a parchment with the sun and moon both turned into blood, pictured upon the parchment, and a pair of spectacles. One of the gentlemen of the chapel seized upon it, and reached it to my Lord of London.^ This madraan says, that upon Friday come five weeks, the sun and moon shall be turned into blood ; that the queen shall go to a Protestant church with the king, and hear Protestant service ; and the Jews shall be converted, and the world shall end some few weeks after. This poor fellow hath the Scripture at his fingers' ends, and saith he has had strange apparitions, as a hand, and sometiraes a foot, through a candle, and when he began to lay hold of it, it vanished. These seven years these things have been revealed unto hira; and he was threatened some two nights before, that, unless he ac- ' Magdalen. " Dr. William Juxon. 236 THE COURT AND TIMES OF quainted his majesty with these matters, he should be damned. I cut off all other his lunacies. Upon Friday last, Wither,' the EngUsh poet, convented before the board all or most of the stationers of London. The matter was this. Mr. Wither hath, to please him self, translated our singing psalras into another verse, which he counts better than those the Church hath so long used : and therefore be hath been at the charge to procure a patent from his majesty, under the broad seal, that his translation shall be printed and bound to all Bibles that are sold. The stationers refusing to bind them, and to sell them with the Bible, (the truth is, nobody would buy the Bible with such a clog at the end of it) and because sorae of thera stood upon their guard, and would not suffer Mr. Wither with his officers to come into their shops and seize upon such Bibles as wanted his additions, therefore he complained of them for a contempt of the great seal. After their lordships had heard the business pro et con., at length their lordships thought good to damn his patent in part ; that is, that the translation should no longer be sold with the Bible, but only by itself. And for my part, I think their lordships have done very well in ordering it in this manner. [The correspondence during the next two years does not appear to have been preserved ; nevertheless, the occur rences of the time must have afforded ample raaterials for an active " intelligencer." Laud had now arrived at the zenith of his greatness, and was leading as busy a life as might be expected frora so restless a persecutor. All sorts of expedients were had recourse to for levying contribu tions upon the people, and alraost every form of injustice perpetrated upon those who dared to coraplain or remon strate. The prisons were full of patriots, the streets swarraed with rogues and idlers : there was no confidence ' George, author of "The Shepherd's Hunting," and several other works. At the breaking out of the civil war, he greatly distinguished himself on behalf of the Parliament, for which, at the Restoration, he was imprisoned and persecuted. CHARLES THE FIRST. 237 in the present, and no hope in the future — trade was para lyzed, comraerce at a stand, and nothing seeraed capable of increase but the tyranny which was so rapidly sapping the best energies of the nation. Yet signs not to be mis taken were manifested that there was a spirit abroad the Star Chamber could not quell, and the Tower could not confine — against it, mutilation and beggary, disgrace and ruin, were of no avail ; and when the government fancied it had quelled an assailant, it had created a martyr, whose example was instigating the whole country.] Mr. E. R. to Sir Tliomas Puckering, Bart. London, March 30, 1636. One of those two priests I raentioned in ray last was clapped up by ray lord's grace,' because he preached the serraon the Sunday before in the queen's chapel in Somer set House, that place being only allowed to the queen's chaplains, and not to any other priests, especially any English priests. The other was committed for company ; his fault was his being a popish priest. Tuesday, the last week, the East India raerchants attended all the afternoon to deliver his majesty a petition, which at last the king snatched frora them, supposing it had been against the going out of Sir William Courtney's ships ; but, so soon as he found it otherwise, and that it only tended to beseech his majesty, now that an extraor dinary ambassador was come from the United Provinces, his raajesty would be pleased to take their grievances of Amboyna into consideration, that they might be repaired, the king carae back and told them, that although they had not moved him in it, yet he did always resolve in the first place to propose to be righted in that particular : yet we hear nothing of it. This coraplaint being taken away, in all other things the Dutch and we shall differ very little, or not at all. The prothonotaries, that Mr. Attorney-General had ' Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. 238 THE COURT AND TIMES OF brought into the Star Chamber for extortion of fees, have compounded. They pay to his raajesty £10,000, and their fees are to be regulated henceforward. The last week, my lord keeper and lord privy seal, and my Lord Cottington, sat to regulate thera. I hear that they have cut off a large thong out of one fee ; naraely, whereas those prothonotaries took two shillings for the first three sheets of all bills, and twelve pence the sheet for all sheets above the first three, their lordships have ordered that frora henceforth they shall take but eightpence the sheet for all bills, though there should be a thousand sheets in a bill ; more or less, twelve lines in every sheet, and ten words in every line. The earl raarshal had raoved his majesty to send Mr. Selden, the lawyer, along with him in his journey to Vienna. The king did send to hira to provide to go along; but Mr. Selden had no stomach to it ; and therefore he did use all bis helps in time to get off; which he hath done with much ado, and, as I bear, witb sorae distaste. But now it is said all is well again ; for it is verily believed such a journey as this raay prove to be would kill Mr. Selden, who is known to be a most tender raan. It is said that Dr. Sarauel Turner goes along [with them,] but that is not very certain, nor yet true he goes not. Many gentleraen of quality raake all possible raeans to go this journey ; but my lord marshal is very choice of his company ; and therefore it is thought ray lord hath engaged his raajesty to appoint his company, but only such as his lordship shall approve of. The embassy is for restitution of both Palatinates, the Higher and the Lower, and the electoral dignity. Tbe emperor does offer the Lower pre sently, and the Higher with the electoral dignity, after the Duke of Bavaria's decease, who is an aged man, therefore cannot live long. If this offer of the eraperor should be accepted, and that after the Duke of Bavaria's death the other two were prolonged, and not forthwith delivered, (and many other accidents raight happen before that tirae) the young elector, who is now innocent, raay be engaged in sorae business that the emperor may cavil at ; so all former promises may be rendered void. These and many other CH.ARLES THE FIRST. 239 are said to be the causes why the king refuseth this pre sent offer, and therefore doth send the earl raarshal to treat about restitution of the whole. Because the French king hath raised our gold, (as in my last) therefore there have been sorae propositions here to raise all our coin, to prevent the transport of it. Saturday last the merchants and sorae goldsmiths, Sir Thomas Roe and others, were at the council-board by appointraent, to show cause why the king should not raise the standard both of gold and silver, Sorae few days they have to pro vide their reasons, which it seems were so strong, as his majesty does now believe that he should be the greatest loser hy the abasing of the coin. Those which receive raost money should be the greatest losers, Mr, Mann' and Mr. Harvey,^ the raerchants, did well ; but Sir Thoraas Roe did exceed : and now for certain that project is laid aside, never to be meddled with any raore, to the great joy and content of all parties, but some of the mint-men, who were said to have put his majesty upon this design. It is said that when a king doth abase his coin, it is like a breaking raerchant who takes up goods at £30 in the hun dred loss, to support credit a little longer; and that this is the French king's case right, who spent this last year eight millions and £200,000 sterling. There is a strict command given by his majesty, that all servants shall or will take both the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, and the Comraunion this Easter. This command for the receiving of the Comraunion was the last year, but not that of taking the oaths. Saturday last all treaties of coraposition were broken off between the Earl of Essex and his lady, but very rauch against her will. Mr. Lowe, her counsel, cavils at the strict drawing up of the articles, and saith she raay forfeit her £l300 yearly allowance before she is aware; and having renounced her jointure and thirds, she may so be utterly undone : and therefore, saith he, unless the articles be raore loosely penned, he refuseth to be of her counsel. ' Thomas Man, author of " England's Treasure by Foreign Trade," published by his son, John Man, Esq., at London, 1669, in Svo. 2 Daniel. See the Earl of Clarendon's Life, written by himself, vol. i.. 240 THE COURT AND TIMES OF The articles do only bind her to these four particulars : to renounce her jointure and thirds ; never to coraplain, peti tion, or sue for aliraony ; to disclaira all title to the earl's personal estate ; and lastly, never to seek to cohabit again with her husband. In all other things whatsoever she is left at large to coraplain and to do what she will. It was once inserted as an article that if ever she had any child by ray lord, she should forfeit her £1300 yearly composi tion. It was set down in this manner for the more honour, because, if so be she should have any children, whosoever got them, yet ray lord raust father thera by the law. This article the countess did utterly dislike, and therefore my lord was contented to desert it. It is feared the super abundant caution of the countess may do her sorae preju dice, if my Lord of Essex should be forward to take the advantage of this breach : but, it being no fault of the lady's, it is like to be pieced up again. Sunday last it was resolved that the Earl of Leicester should go arabassador extraordinary into France, but upon what erabassy that is not publicly known. Tbe sarae night, the king sent for the Earl of Leicester, to give hira warning to provide hiraself for the eraployraent. We have certain news out of France that Mr. Noy, the late attorney Noy's son, is slain. Some reports raake it by Captain Biron, who slew him in a duel, and then fled. Another report kUled him by one Brierly (or such a name), and a third saith he was stabbed. But true it is that he is slain, and his next brother is the king's ward. The lord deputy of Ireland is very much offended with the Lord Mountraorris for sending over his wife and chil dren. His lordship hath been before the board to answer it. The deputy, after he had chidden the Lord Mount- morris for it, told him how gracious his majesty had been to him to give him a pardon of his life, if he would sue it out : but he must first acknowledge the king's justice (which is the sentence of the martial court). He must also acknowledge all those charges to be true concerning the corrupt managing of his offices. The lord offers to acknowledge his raajesty's grace, and to sue out his pardon ; but neither to acknowledge the justice of the martial court. CHARLES THE FIRST. 241 nor yet those charges of his corruption : so he was dis missed, to advise better upon it. It is most true that ray Lord Brooke bad such a privy seal as my letter raentioned. Mr. E. R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. [London], April 13, 1636. Mr. Daniel Harvey, the merchant, hath procured a privy seal to extend Captain Milwood's goods, with a non obstante of his royal protection, (as in my last) for to re cover his full debt of £2700, which is not yet due, save about £400 of it ; and all Captain Milwood's power can not overthrow this privy seal, which was granted to Mr. Harvey as being one of her majesty's receivers. This privy seal does very much prejudice the rest of the creditors who should have had about a mark in the pound at least. Our extraordinary Dutch ambassador lies very ill ever since the presents were delivered. He requires no audience, that it is marvelled at why he came over. Mr. Secretary Coke is appointed to treat with him, if he would desire it, as the ambassadors have ever done. This is like to prove a very scurvy business. It is said that the king hath lately sent to all the am bassadors and agents of the French, the Spaniards, and the Dutch, to let thera know, that they may acquaint their masters with it, that it is his majesty's pleasure that nei ther of their people shall fish any more in our king's seas without his especial license. This I hear very confidently spoken, but I ara not certain of the truth of it. It is much feared the Dutch and we shall be farther out than ever. It was given out lately that tbe Dutch had pri vately propounded the old business of Amboyna with the king, the East India raerchants here never being made acquainted with it, but that is false ; there is no agree raent yet raade. This Dutch arabassador that is now corae over is suspected for a bold man, because Monsieur Bracell, that was here some years since to treat about tbe Amboyna business, juggled so with our State, and therefore was sent hence with scorn and reproach. Therefore now that VOL. II. R 242 THE COURT AND TIMES OF some ambassador was to be sent hither about the same business, in the first place at least a dozen of the States refused this eraployraent, till at last this Monsieur Beveren accepted of it, who hath yet done nothing, and our State does observe it to see what he will do. The last week we had certain news frora Paris that the Lady of Purbeck was declared a papist ;' and that she had engaged their Majesties of France and the Cardinal Riche lieu to move the King of England for her pardon, and that she may corae over. They do undertake it, and to that purpose they have sent instructions hither to their arabas sador extraordinary, who is also very zealous in the busi ness. The lady hath written a long letter of three sheets to her raajesty, the story of her life frora her very child hood to her conversion, humbly desiring her majesty to intercede for ber pardon. She hath also written to the Duchess of Buckingham and to some other of the great ladies, to take off ray Lord's Grace of Canterbury. It is said she is altogether advised by Sir Kenelm Digby, who indeed hath written over letters to some of his noble friends of the privy council, wherein he sets down what a convert this lady is becorae, so superlatively virtuous and sanctiraonious, as the like hath rarely been either in raen or woraen : and therefore he does raost humbly desire their lordships to farther this lady's peace, and that she may return into England, for otherwise she does resolve to put herself into some raonastery. I hear his raajesty does utterly dislike that the lady is so rauch directed by Sir Kenelm Digby, and that she fares nothing the better for it. Here hath been an Italian these two or three years in the habit of a priest, that begs of every gentleman, saying he is a protestant. This rogue (for he is no better) had got together £218, and being very lately in Southwark and resolved to go to his w , was loth to carry with him all this money, and therefore hides it in a hole by the side of a ditch, under the high-water mark, and claps a clod of earth upon it ; so leaves it, and to the wench he goes, with whom he continued somewhat long, until the tide had washed away the clod of earth and his purse of raoney, ' Earl of Strafford's Letters, vol. ii., p. 73, CHARLES THE FIRST. 243 which fell into the raidst within the ditch. At his return, raissing his raoney, the rogue cries out as he had been raad, that all the people come about him, and, hearing what the raatter was, they fell to raking for the money, but not finding it, away goes the Italian : but the people continue the search, till at last they found it, and got out of the purse eight pounds before the constable did sense it, who carried it to Sir John Lenthall of the King's Bench. But the parson of St. George's Church soon gives notice of it to ray lord's grace, who acquaints his raajesty with it, desiring this booty raay go to the repairing of Paul's. The king consents — the raoney is sent for — but Sir 'John Lenthall refuseth to part with it but legally ; and upon security to discharge him he parts with it. His grace had warrants out before this accident to apprehend this Italian for some abuse he had done to the Italian preacher of Mercer's Chapel ; and now this £218 must be deposited toward that fine shall be laid upon him in the high commission for abusing the Italian preacher. The coraraission which hath been on foot, every Monday these two raonths, upon the prebends of Westrainster's complaints against the bishop of Lincoln, is now put off till the Monday after Easter week. Monday last, he had a very ill day. A new charge is lately risen up against hira, that his lordship hath received, out of the prebend's allowances, £3300, towards the reparation of the Abbey Church. They charge him, that he hath not laid out half the money; and that he keeps the rest. His lord ship saith, a bargain is a bargain, and gives in no account. But his grace told his lordship it was a base bargain ; so requires the bishop to bring in the accounts, which the bishop hath small mind unto : and whether his lordship can now make a true account, yea or no, is a great ques tion ; because it is said his lordship hath raade several accounts, and then dislikes thera again. The last week, there died of the plague, two French children out of one house, in Whitechapel parish. Upon search, since, it appears that in Stepney and Whitechapel, eight houses have been infected, and fifteen persons have (lied of the plague, and all French, as I hear. Now there R 2 244 THE COURT ANU TIMES OF is strict order taken to send such as are infected to the pest-house, and to burn their goods. Sunday last, the city complained to the king, that the prison of Newgate was so full of poor prisoners, as they feared it might breed the infection there : that there were forty-seven condemned persons, which his majesty had reprieved, that were kept there, which did starve the rest of the poor prisoners. About twenty of them were re prieved at the elector's coraing into England. To put thera out of the gaol, were to send so many ravening wolves amongst lambs ; and none durst venture to carry them over sea. That they of the court and the city knew not how to dispose of them ; and it were hard to hang them now in cold blood. That gaol-damp of Hereford hath already killed a great many that were at the last assizes, and many raore are sick even to death. The stench of one poor prisoner suffocated thera all. Sir * * * Hamilton, near kinsman to the Marquis, goes the queen's agent to Rome, in Brett's stead. Monday last, after their raajesties had spent some time at Ludgate Hill, in perusing Butler's wares (Monstevens's successor), they went to Bethlehem, to see the mad folks, where they were madly entertained. There was every one in his humour. Two mad women had almost frighted the king and queen, and all their attendants, out of the house, by their foul talk. Mr. E. R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. London, May 4, 1636. The last week, there died of the plague 1 3, in the parish of Stepney ; in Whitechapel, 2 ; in Bishopsgate Street, 1 ; and at Aldgate, 1 ; in all 1 7. The City of London hath delivered two petitions to the king. The one is, that bis majesty will be pleased, that all those which die of the plague in the parish of Stepney may not be certified in the weekly bills of London, as his raajesty hath cora raanded lately, but that they raay be certified in a bUl by itself; because, it being included in the city bills, it is generally taken abroad that London is raore infected than, God be thanked, it is : so it not only breeds a fear CHARLES THE FIRST. 245 o in the country-people of coraing to London, but of receivin any coraraodities frora the city. There are divers other reasons, which I cannot set down, because I have not read the petition. The other is, that whereas his raajesty hath been pleased to grant an incorporation to include into one body the Strand, Covent Garden, Westrainster, and all other places whatsoever, within three railes round about the City of London, and within the city, that is exempted out of the corporation of the city ; and also, no way to infringe the liberties of tbe dean and chapter of West minster, to have a govemor, wardens, assistants, and com monalty, to fine all such as refuse to bear office ; the natives, born and bred up in any trade within the said liberties, to pay 4*. apiece for their freedoms ; all trades men of other places to pay 20*. for their freedoms, and aliens to pay 40s. ; all apprentices to have their inden tures registered and enrolled in some hall, which they may purchase ; power to purchase land ; to take quarter age, 12c?. of natives, and 25. of strangers; all these pay- raents being to his raajesty's use ; this grant being already past the privy seal, the city doth petition it raay be sus pended, and not pass the great seal, until they have made their just exemptions, which they humbly desire his majesty would be pleased to take into consideration. Friday last, the officers of the Custom House petitioned the lords of the council agaiust some officers belonging to the new society of soapboilers, who came with a warrant under the hands of sorae of that society, with a constable also, and atterapted to break into his raajesty's storehouse, that had Charles R. upon the door, to take out there a parcel of Castile soap, of six thousand pounds weight at the least, which his majesty's searchers of the Custom House had seized upon, being goods forfeited by his majesty's proclaraation; and, therefore, a third part of the said goods, so forbidden, belonging to his majesty's searchers, which the society of soapboilers would have taken frora them. For this insolency of attempting the breaking open the king's storehouses, the lords have com mitted only those that would have executed the warrant. Before the earl marshal's going out of England, his 246 THE COURT AND TIMES OF lordship had procured a grant under the privy seal to have a fair kept upon St. Mark's day, once in every year, for ever, at Wera, a town in the county of Shropshire, to have the toll and all other profits thereto belonging, to hira and his lordship's heirs for ever. But, before the grant doth pass under the great seal, a writ ad quod dam num is to be returned, that his majesty shall suffer no kind of prejudice, nor yet his loving subjects. There is a new imposition of 18c?. upon every hundred weight of hops, that shall be imported after Midsummer next ensuing. This 18c?. is over and above the imposition set down in the late book of rates made and published at Michaelmas last. There is also a like imposition of 18c?. upon every cow, heifer, ox,--s^eer, and runt, that shall be iraported into England and Wales out of Ireland, to begin at Midsummer next also. Tuesday, in the Passion week, the lord deputy had a Castle Chamber Court in Dublin (which is our Star Cham ber), where the Lord Mountraorris was brought as a male factor, with a guard, and brought to the bar for his con tempt in not putting in his answer to Mr. Attorney's bill exhibited in that court sorae few days before against his lordship. The Lord Mountraorris pleaded he was so straitened in point of time, and also that his counsel were not yet returned frora their circuits, that he could not draw up his answer. My lord deputy took these as excuses only to gain tirae, and that he refused to raake answer, rather in opposition to his lordship, than for lack of tirae or counsel : and therefore his lordship protested, before a year went about, he would raake his lordship more humble. So, for this contempt, and also for joining in combination with Sir Piers Crosby ' to raise a scandal that my lord deputy bad beaten a poor man to death, that had petitioned hira for the release of his barque, which his lordship's officer had seized upon, his lordship was comraitted a close prisoner to the Castle, and all his lordship's papers seized upon by ray lord deputy. Since which tirae, the Lord Mountraorris being ' A military adventurer of conisiderable reputation ; remembered chiefly for having been a witness against the Earl of Strafford. CHARLES THE FIRST. 247 very [ill], and supposing, for want of rest, that he could not live, he desired Dr. Howell, the divine, raight come to administer the Sacrament unto him, to fit himself for another world. But, before Dr. Howell might have leave to go to the Lord Mountraorris, he must take an oath not to convey any raessage or letter to the said Lord Mount raorris, nor yet bring any frora hira, neither directly nor indirectly. Having taken this oath, he had leave, and did adrainister the Sacraraent. Letters frora Ireland of the 22d of April tell us, that ray Lord Mountraorris, for want of sleep, is becorae mad ; and that he can get nothing down, whatsoever he takes, but presently casts it up again ; so much is this poor man aillicted with the heavy displeasure of my lord deputy. Now, as for killing the raan, which is a raere scandal raised upon the deputy, his lordship caused a commission to examine how tbe poor man died, and of his lordship's beating hini. It plainly appeared he died of a consumption, and not of ray lord de puty's beating of hira. It is true, that he died within some days after he was beaten, and that gave life to the report, Monday last, Mr, Secretary Windebanke signified the king's pleasure to Mr. Darcy, one of the three agents sent out of Ireland by the province of Connaught, about Michaelmas last, to treat, or rather to plead their title to that province, which my lord deputy would and had entitled his raajesty unto, by ancient title of five hundred years since. Two of the comraissioners were sent back about Christraas ; and, as it is said, upon their arrival in Dublin, they were comraitted close prisoners. The king- kept this Mr. Darcy here, although the lord deyiuty had often written that the king's business did infinitely suffer by this Mr, Darcy's absence there. Mr. Darcy is a law yer, a stout man and a bold ; and, as it seems, no servant to the deputy. For, whereas the deputy, with others, do farm sorae customs in Ireland, and licenses for exporta tion, at £15,000 per annum, this Mr. Darcy hath lately offered the king £30,000 for these very same customs and licenses. And, if it be true which is written out of Ireland, Mr. Darcy would not lose by the offer, there being raade the last year £40,000, which was £20,000 clear 248 THE COURT AND TIMES OF gains. The king did not accept of this Mr. Darcy's proffer ; and now Mr. Secretary Windebanke hath signified the king's pleasure to Mr. Darcy, that he forthwith, upon his allegiance, repair into Ireland, and there to present himself to the lord deputy, of whom he shall know his majesty's further pleasure. Saturday last, with a heavy sad heart, the poor man went hence towards Ireland ; and it is believed that ray lord deputy will stay Mr. Darcy's arrival, and afterwards set out towards England. Sunday, the news carae to court, that Sir Arthur Capell had slain Sir Thoraas Lenthropp in a duel at Hadhain, (young Mr. Capell's) in Hertfordshire ; a couple of very honest, fair-conditioned raen, and old friends in a very strict raanner ; the business they fell out upon being of no consideration. Sir Thoraas Lenthropp said. Sir Arthur Capell told him my Lord Howard was not pleased, that he, my Lord of Dover, Mr, Capell, and raany country gentlemen besides, came to hawk upon grounds which were in his lordship's liberty, he being there : and that they neither came to hira, nor sent to hira, as if ray Lord Howard had not been considerable : and this was a good while since. Sir Arthur Capell had forgot he told Sir Thoraas Lenthropp so rauch ; " but," saith he, " if I had told you so rauch, raust you, therefore, raake rae the author?" They were raade friends, but Sir Thoraas Lenthropp, two or three hours after, pressed hard upon Sir Arthur Capell to fight, that he could not avoid it. So, to the next close they went, where Sir Arthur Capell, at the second pass, ran hira through the heart. All cry sharae of the corapany that did not presently reconcile this difference. On Monday last, the justice-seat was kept at Stratford Langthen, in Essex, where all the judges delivered their opinions that bythe perambulation of the 29th of Edward I., aud also by a judgment ofthe king's bench in Richard the Second's time, all that part of Essex is forest which was lately delivered to be in the bounds. The Justice-in-Eyre gave the sentence, but yet did heighten the king's raercies, who was ready to shew all favour to his people there. CHARLES THE FIRST. 249 Mr. E. R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. [London,] September 28, 1636. Sunday this last week the Spanish ambassador had his audience at Oatlands. This great don will not abate the least punctilio of the ceremony belonging unto him. He was first fetcht by the Earl of Carlisle frora Greenwich to his house at South Lambeth : frora thence, Saturday, the 17th, attended on by my Lord of Salisbury, to Abscourt, the Lord of Dunsmore's house, to be the nearer : upon Sunday, to Oatlands, My Lord of Salisbury would fain have been spared, but could not, by reason there was none of his quality, both of the council and of tbe order, so near the court as his lordship was. The Prince Elector was at the audience, and was observed to swell to see the pride of the Spanish dons, but they took no notice of his highness. Captain Walter Stuart hath been examined by Mr. Secretary Coke why he did not suffer the king's officers to search the king's ship which brought the Spanish treasure, it being objected there might be raore Spanish treasure sent aboard here than was entered, and raore than was agreed upon. Notwithstanding all this noise for the trans port of the Spanish treasure, nothing will corae of it in the end, for I cannot yet learn of any just charge upon any of the actors in it. The deraur about the going out of the new ship-writs was only to resolve whether so great a sura should be levied by tbese new writs as was raised by those of the last year. ^ I hear by sorae good letters out of France, that my Lord of Leicester is in extraordinary esteem there ; and that his lordship does raanage a private treaty between us and France, which the French king's ambassadors here have no knowledge of. Friday, the 1 6th, Mr. Henry Percy,^ hunting the stag with his majesty in Windsor Forest, they came in both to the fall of the stag. Mr. Percy took a knife to strike into ' Younger brother to Algernon, Earl of Northumberland, created afterwards, by King Charles I., Lord Percy, of Alnwick, in Northumberland. 250 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the stag, but, his glove being wet, his hand slipt down to the blade, and hath cut two of his fingers in such manner, the queen's surgeon that dresseth him does fear he will hardly ever recover the use of those two fingers. Rochester Car, Sir Robert Car's brother, of Lincolnshire, hath been mad all this sumraer, and kept up ; but, sorae ten days since, he broke loose into the streets, and said, in the audience of raany people, that he would go to the court ; that he had no business there, neither with king, queen, nor state, save only to kill the king, and then he would marry the queen. The people knocked him down for these speeches. This being told her majesty, she fell into such a passion as her lace was cut to give her more breath ; but, God be thanked, she was soon well again. Now she is very visibly with child. Monday, this last week, a poor man, Bumsted by narae, soraetirae serjeant to Sir John Thirablebee, was sent a prisoner frora Oatlands to the Tower of London. His offence was for saying he would cut off the king, or the king must first be cut off. But what the circurastances were, that I cannot learn yet. I do hear it is a very poor silly fellow, but such language is not to go unpunished. The 16th, my lord adrairal weighed anchor in the Downs, and set sail for Yarmouth, where he arrived the 18th, but had in his passage very foul weather, that they had much ado to keep the Roebuck, the king's pinnace, from sinking, and my lord admiral's kitchen ship. Wed nesday night, letters came from my lord admiral to be sent in post haste to Captain Cartwright, riding in the Downs. He is captain of the king's ship, the Happy Entrance. This ship is one of those eight considerable ships my lord hath to attend him in this commission, to distribute licenses to the Holland's busses now fishing at Yarmouth. There are two other small ships, but those two are baubles in respect of offensive ships. I do hear of sixteen Dutch men-of war that are with the Dutch busses at Yarmouth. It is, therefore, believed my lord admiral hath sent for the king's ship, the Happy Entrance, to come to him with all possible expedition. Whereas it was said that the Dutch fishermen were willing enough to acknow- CHARLES THE FIRST. 251 ledge and pay the toll deraanded, and that the Provincial States did rauch oppose it : I do hear, now, that there was no such thing ; that neither the one nor the other do con sent, and that those Dutch captains of the States' ships of war have been soundly rebuked since they carae into Holland, for persuading those busses in the north seas to take the aforesaid licenses. I do hear frora court that the king and his lords are to be all this week in council at Windsor ; and that upon the 10th of October his raajesty goes towards Newraarket to stay there until AUhoUand-tide. But the queen is to con tinue still at Oatlands. This week the ship-writs will be delivered ; and it is supposed this fishing iraposition upon the Dutch busses will be again in consideration. The household is to be at Windsor till AUhoUand-tide : then their majesties are to remove to Hampton Court. The last week our East India raerchants had news of two East India ships that were safely arrived in Plyraouth, but very weakly manned, very raany of the sailors being dead, some of them falling down dead as they were handling the ropes. The Dutch have also news of a rich ship of theirs, the Amboyna, which is also come frora the East Indies. This Dutch ship touched at the Cape, where, seeing our two ships, she set sail and would not speak with them ; yet give it (the Dutch pretend) that this ship left our ship in great want of such things as they could not spare them ; and hearing our ships were not arrived, they cast out some jealous suspicions, as if they had been cast away, only to advance the prices of their own coraraodities. But within two days after, our ships came into Plymouth to contradict all these Dutch reports. But yet the Dutch have the better end of the staff, for their one ship is rauch richer than both our ships sent together. Captain Cartwright's ship, the Happy Entrance, is not coraraanded to Yarmouth, but to waft over the merchant's letters, which if he shall neglect, another shall be put in bis place. This was the contents of ray lord adrairal's letter which went down the last week in so rauch haste. 252 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Mr. E. R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. October 5, 1636. The Spanish arabassador hath already removed his habitation from that house in South Lambeth, which was sorae tirae Sir Noel Caron's ; the States' ambassador and he hath taken Nottinghara House, in Chelsea, whither he "is already come. Sunday, this last week, there was much ado at the court at Windsor. The French arabassador urged veheraently the sending over of the Spanish treasure against sorae of the privy council ; and I hear some great ones did side with him. But nothing came of it, save only that Captain Walter Stuart was committed a prisoner to the Fleet at Reading during this time of infection at London. I hear he was coraraitted, not because he car ried over the treasure, but because he would not suffer the king's ship that came with it from Spain to be searched by his majesty's officers. It is said at the court, that Sir John Pennington hath taken one of those Turkish pirates that had so much raolested the western coasts. But our letters from the west country tell us only, that he is there arrived, with so raany ships, to clear those seas of them. But we hear frora Southampton of a ship, belonging to that town, that hath brought in a Turkey ship, thus : — The Turks, marking this Hampton barque, manned out their long-boat to take her ; but this long-boat was cast to leeward, and could not fetch them up, which the barque observing, and also being well provided, and taking notice that the Turks' ship was very much weakened by the absence of so many of their men as were in that long-boat, she beat up the helra, sets upon the Turkish ship, and takes her without any great difficulty, and brings both the ship and raen into harbour. The west-country people have no great belief that the king's ships will do any good against these Turks. They rather believe, that if so be the counties did set out ships, the west-country searaen would be rauch more zealous in prosecution of those Turks in revenge of their sufferings. Thus say the letters of the 27th of September from the CHARLES THE FIRST. 263 fleet riding at anchor ten leagues out at sea, north of Yarmouth, where the fleet hath endured very hard weather, the winds blowing high at south-west. Two of their great ships were gone God knows whither, the James and the Nonsuch ; two of the merchant ships, the Jonah and the Great Neptune, were discharged by ray lord admiral, their victuals being almost spent, only so much left as to bring them into harbour. My lord general can neither find nor hear of any of the Holland busses ; but a Scotsman, coining from Campveer, a town in Zealand, to which belong divers busses, did assure my lord general that whilst he was there a comraand came thither from the lords of the States, that no busses should go out to fish this latter season of the year; which, it seems, is very true, because our fleet can find no busses there, which at other times did never fail. Our fleet is like, therefore, to be called home presently, but their victuals will force thein within one fortnight. I do now hear frora the court, that letters are sent to recal ray lord general, who is to leave the fleet, and land at Yarmouth the 12th of this raonth. But his raajesty hath been very earnest to raake the Dutch acknowledge ; for ray lord had a command to put out more to the north of Yarmouth, to seek out the busses, and either force thera to take licenses [or prevent] them from fishing : but the lords the States have prevailed for this year. The court of wards is to be kept at Acton from AU- hoUandtide till the end of the terra, because otherwise his raajesty will lose rauch in his profits : and to this end proclamation comes out suddenly. Mr. E. R. to Sir TTiomas Puckerii^g, Bart. October 11, 1636. That Scottish report I wrote in my last, that the Lords the States had commanded no busses should go out to fish this second season, is now contradicted by other letters from the fleet. For my lord general, according to his wonted vigilancy, plied to and again, from day to day, till at last he met with a fleet of busses, newly come from Holland, an hundred or thereabouts, part of these having 254 THE COURT AND TIMES OF been licensed at their last being in the North Seas ; the rest, about sixty, took licenses, and paid the duties de manded. They used all industry to avoid our fleet, and our fleet as rauch to surprise thera. This happened on the 29th of Septeraber. The next day, about evening, they espied another great fleet of busses of about 800. Those had thirteen raen-of-war to guard thera. Our fleet raade after thera with all the sail they could pack on, but all in vain, to come near them. For first they were so far to windward, that our heavy ships could not weather them ; and, secondly, the winds were so high, that though our ships came in tbe skirts of the raost leewardly of thera, yet they durst not raan out their long-boats to board thera. All the advantage, therefore, our fleet have of thera is, that they raust fish in the night : then our ships plying it up in the wind are with thera in the morning before they can well get up their nets. But hitherto, the winds have been so high, that they could neither fish, nor our ships well follow them ; and therefore our fleet rides at anchor out in the sea, for fear of being driven upon the sands, with those easterly winds they had had there. Those two ships which were blown away are corae to thera again ; one of them, the James, a very great ship, having escaped firing very narrowly. They were boiling of pitch within board ; the flame took some part of the ship ; and but that one of the sailors ventured his life to quench it, which he did, the ship had surely perished. My lord general hath most nobly rewarded this poor fellow. Sunday, the last week, the high sheriffs throughout all the counties of England and Wales were pricked. It is said, the king resolves they shall all stand, like the laws of the Medes and Persians, irrevocable. Friday last, the ship writs were all sealed, and carried (to the court on Saturday, with the high sheriffs' patents, j and power given to take and give the old high sheriffs 1 their discharge in the country. These writs, with the jpatents, and the bonds for the high sheriffs of all the jWelch counties, are forthwith to be sent down, that the iwrits in the Welch counties may be presently put in exe- jcution. Why the patents of all the sheriffs of the English CHARLES THE FIRST. 255 , counties were not sealed at the sarae tirae, I can give no certain account, unless it be a statute in force, that no I high sheriff in England shall enter into his high shrievalty j tiU * * * * * * * ; for I hear tiiat was objected I presently, after the sheriffs were all pricked. But I ara told ; it was the resolution that the high sheriffs' patents and these new ship-writs should have all gone down together presently. And whereas, heretofore, Sussex and Surrey have ever had but one high sheriff to serve both those counties, the I like for Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire, frora henceforth those counties shall have their peculiar high sheriff, this _being the first time. I hear that all the county o£ Galway, in Ireland, have submitted all their estates they hold in that county wholly to his majesty. They will no longer contest against his majesty's title. My lord deputy is sent for to come to the court. It is supposed it is only that upon this submission the king will give some instructions to my lord deputy, before his lord ship's going over, about the ordering of this business. Our merchants do rauch complain of some Portugal Jews here in London, that trade greatly for Spain, to their great prejudice. But this is not all : tbey do receive daraage by thera another way, as thus : a ship of London being laden with linen cloth at St. Malo, in France ; this ship the French took, as she was homeward bound, and, searching what lading she had aboard, they find, by tbe bills of lading, some parcel of this linen cloth was consigned for Lisbon in Portugal, and to be first landed at Dover, to be shipped presently again to go for Spain. This landing of these French goods was only a deceit, to avoid the French king's edict, that no French commodity should go for Spain, under the penalty of forfeiture of the ship, and all the goods aboard her. This ship is carried to Boulogne, our merchants having near £6000 in her, which goods were to be brought up to London ; but the other small parcels belonging to sorae Portugals have confiscated all. Our raerchants complain ; but the French will not forego that advantage ; so we lose all. 256 THE COURT AND TIMES OF My Lord of Leicester, arabassador extraordinary with the French king, hath sent over his secretary. We have been in treaty with France of late, the French courting us very much. I do hear there is some new confederacy con tracted between the French and us. There is a whispering, as if it were already concluded ; but that is raore than I dare avouch. It seeras the French press upon us to make good some old article made between us, when Sir Thomas Edmonds was ambassador to the French, at the king's first coraing to the crown, which is said to be, that when soever either of the two king's dorainions is invaded by a third prince or state, each king is to give his assist ance against the foreign invader. It is now the French king's case, the Spaniard having invaded part of the French dominions ; and the French now sue the perform ance of this article. What is like to be done in this par ticular, I cannot yet learn. But so rauch I do learn, that the French and we are at this present upon excellent good terms ; and it is said that the ambassadors extraordinary do not use to send over their secretaries upon any ordinary occasions. It is certain the French can raake no new confederacies; but the United Provinces are to be included, by reason of their league offensive and defensive against one another's enemies. And, therefore, it is believed the fishing difference between the Dutch and us will be cora posed in this treaty between the French and us. About some ten days since, here arrived the two sons of the Landgrave of Hesse; yet some say they are his brothers. They are but young ; the eldest not above sixteen years of age. My lord treasurer hath feasted thera ; and I bear the king sent for them tbe last week to come to Windsor. The Landgrave of Hesse's business at the Hague was for sorae aid, which, I hear, he hath ob tained of the States, and is now returned again to Hesse Land. Mr. E. R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. November 23, 1636. When ray Lord of Northumberland was at sea, two places fell void iu the king's ships, a purser's place, and a cook's CHARLES THE FIRST. 257 place. According to the express words of his lordship's comraission, he disposeth of thera. Sunday, the 13th, his lordship being at Windsor, these two, whora his lordship had put in, petitioned hira to assist thera ; for by a letter sent by Mr. Secretary Coke, with the hands of the com raissioners of the navy, they were put by their places. My Lord of Northumberland, the king being at council, corn- plained of this to his majesty, spake very discreetly, and very stoutly. Mr. Secretary Coke and his lordship argued pro and con. the business before tbe king and his council, the attorney by. After much debate, it was adjudged on ray lord's side, who did nothing but what his commission in express words warranted him to do. And Mr. Attorney affirraed it was the same my Lord of Lindsey bad. So it was coraraanded by the king to Mr. Secretary Coke that by ray Lord of Northumberland's warrant alone they two should be admitted again ; which he should signify to the officers to be his pleasure. There hath been raore fighting at court, for the same day the two corabatants. Will Crofts and Peter Apsley, were before a coraraittee of lords to exaraine their difference. *-»*****-**! Crofts replies somewhat sharply, calling hira fool, telling hira his tongue was as long as his nose. Peter steps to him and mumbles him about the nose ; sorae looking on who were friends to both. So that night it passed away. Apsley kept his chamber all the next morning, expecting to have heard from Crofts, but did not. Mr. Crofts came to dinner to my Lord of Holland's. There somewhat was let fall by some of them which made Mr. Crofts know that he was somewhat slow in putting off his calUng of Apsley for mumbling his nose. Not long after Peter comes in. Here they fell to cuffs indeed after some little arguing, but were parted and made friends by Mr. Goring and Mr. Neville. Mrs. Seymour being told of this, thinking herself much injured, complains to the king and queen ; which they hearing, they utterly denied these passages. The king called for Apsley and examined him. He confessed the words, and both of ' An offensive expression has here been struck out, which was not to the credit of Mr. Peter Apsley, and bore a scandalous allusion to one of the queen's ladies. VOL. II. S 258 THE COURT AND TIMES OF thera were coraraanded to attend at Windsor. There before sorae few of the council it was heard. Crofts came off well enough, got comraitted to my Lord Dorset, and Apsley to his chamber with a sharp admonition and reprimand. Our merchants have complained of the Dunkirkers for making prize of some goods of theirs of £2500 value, which they sent over to Arasterdam in a small barque of eighty tons. Amongst divers parcels of goods there was £300 worth of oils for the dressing of cloth. These oils the Dunkirkers make to be provision for the belly, and therefore prohibited goods. The master of the barque was a subject of the Duke of Holstein, who is in amity* with the Spaniard. What oath this master hath taken our mer chants know not; but be hath his barque restored him. The Dunkirkers very craftily hath procured a chapman under hand to give a great price for the oil, as if it were meal- oil, to prove the goodness of it by the great price in their courts of justice against our raerchants, who raade affi davits this last week here in town what oil it was, and for what uses, and that it was no raeal-oil. This is to be cer tified to Dunkirk ; yet our merchants have no great hope to procure justice there, unless our state be jealous in it, for they sold their oil under pretence that they were , before it came to be pleaded in their courts of justice. Divers of our merchants have been in great fear that the Spaniard and we should fall foul, although the state had not intimated such jealousies unto any of thera, as is usual in such cases, that the raerchants raight by that warning withdraw his goods out of the Provinces be longing to that crown. Others of our raerchants have better hopes, because they observe sorae alteration within these new days ; for they hear that Mr. Arthur Hopton is now to go for Brussels to be his raajesty's agent there (he was agent in Spain), and of this there is little doubt made. There was order given to raake over £800 by exchange to Paris for sorae rainister of state there, or going there, very lately. That is countermanded by another order to CHARLES THE FIRST. 259 make over the £800 to Brussels, for Mr. Hopton's use there, it is believed. Mr. E, R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. Jannary4, 1636-7. Some letters out of the west country tells us of a ship of Sallee of 1 7 pieces of ordnance riding at anchor near Rochelle. A ship of Exeter, laden with fish, came to an anchor close beside the Sallee ship. That the Turks boarded her, took out all her men, and the best of her lading, and then sunk the ship. But since, by a leak in the Sallee ship, she was forced to corae into Rochelle, where the ship was laid ashore. That all the men aboard her walked freely ashore. The English which live there have procured the Christians liberty, sorae sixty persons, which do now sue for damage for that ship laden in the French king's harbour. And it is said that the articles between the French and those of Sallee are, that they shall not corae within ten leagues of the French shore. Only with those of Sallee have the French raade a league, and not with the Turks of Algiers or of Tunis. Sunday before Christraas, the bishop,' dean, and chapter of Lichfield, sent up a complaint to the lords of the council against the Lady Eleanor Davis. It seems the cathedral church in Lichfield is lately very beautifully set out with hangings of arras behind the altar; the communion-table handsomely railed in ; and the table itself set out in the best manner, and the bishop's seat fairly built. This lady carae one communion day in the morning with a kettle in one hand and a brush in the other, to sprinkle sorae of her holy water (as she called that in the kettle) upon these hangings and the bishop's seat, which was only a coraposition of tar, pitch, sink-puddle, water, &c., and such kind of nasty ingredients which she did sprinkle upon the aforesaid things. This being the act ofa mad woraan, the lords to prevent further raischief have given out two warrants, the one to bring the lady to Bethlehem ; the other to the keeper of Bethlehem to receive her. There are messengers gone into Stafford shire to bring her up. ' Dr. Robert Wright. s2 260 THE COURT AND TIMES OF There have been this last sumraer, and now lately again, sorae jealousies put into ray lord's grace, that Sir Robert Howard was in France this last suraraer; that he was also there with my Lady of Purbeck just before Christraas, which is contrary to his raajesty's coraraands, and his bonds, that he shall not go into her ladyship's company. Upon this complaint their lordships sent three letters ; the one to my Lord of Suffolk, being at Dover ; another to my Lord Vaux, in Northamptonshire ; and another to Lord Edward Howard, forthwith to send Sir Robert Howard to the board, or to give a true account of what was be come of him. This last Wednesday Sir Robert Howard appeared, having been at Dover just at that tirae that these letters came to the lord warden of the Cinque Ports. My lord warden's letter to the lords was, that he had examined his brother whether he had been in France, yea or no ; that he had sworn deeply to him that he had not been over, neither had he attempted it since his raajesty denied to give him leave this last spring; and that Sir Robert Howard, if their lordships so pleased, would take his oath upon the Holy Evangelists to the sarae purpose. St. George's feast is put off again. Sir Thomas Roe, the chancellor of the Garter, hath sent letters to all the knights to put off the feast till the 18th of next April. The 23rd day following is St. George's day, so that two St. George's feasts will come close together. These letters were sent this last week for the proroguing of it. In one of my last letters I wrote, that Mr. Burton had refused to take the oath ex officio. I hear since that he hath not only been suspended from the execution of his ministry, but also from the profits of his living. He is said to have written a book, called " Divine Judgements upon Sabbath-breakers." He confesseth, as I hear, that he wrote the book, and gave it to a printer, who printed it against his knowledge ; but he absolutely denieth that he wrote three or four leaves at the end of the book, which, I hear, do very much scandalize Mr. Attorney Noy, because he prosecuted Mr. Prynne. I have not seen the book, therefore I can say little of the contents of it ; but sure Mr. Burton was guilty, because he was not to be CHARLES THE FIRST. 261 found. I do further hear, that Mr. Burton is had in sus picion to be the author of the scandalous book, entitled " News from Ipswich." When he is found, it will be laid to his charge. Since the death of my Lord Spencer,' ray Lord of Hol land hath gotten the wardship of the young lord's^ body only, that is to have the benefit of his marriage ; but his majesty reserves the benefit of the ward's land. But I hear the Lord Spencer had made over a great part of his estate to raise portions for younger children ; and if so be that conveyance be good in law, the benefit of the ward ship will be rather small. Lord Wimbledon's lady was delivered of a son the Friday before Christmas. My lord marshal landed one day this last week : he came to the king at Harapton Court upon Thursday last. The week before Christraas we had news of an East Indian ship, called the Discovery, worth £100,000, which was put into Plymouth. She brought news out of the Indies, that a small ship, called the Roebuck, which went out of England in April last, was twelve months ; that this ship hath taken two junks in the Red Sea, and in thera about £60,000 in raoney; how they tortured the poor Indians, by setting burning matches to their fingers, to make them confess where their treasure lay, that they have burnt their fingers to their hands. These two junks belong, the one to D — , which the Portugals hold, the other to the great mogul's people. Those of D — were tortured, but not the people of the other junk, because our East India merchants have much goods in the mogul's country. Upon complaint of the great wrong done by the English to the mogul's subjects, all our factors at Surat and at * * * are clapt up in prison, and £20,000 seized up, to repair the losses in one of the junks ; and our raer chants expect daily to hear that £40,000 raore are taken frora their factors, to repair the losses of the other junk. Yet this is not all : for our merchants fear that before this ' William Lord Spencer. He died on the 19th of December, 1636, aged forty-five. 2 Henry, created Earl of Sunderland, 8th of June, 1643. He died on the 20th of the following September. 262 THE COURT AND TIMES OF complaint is at Constantinople, how the English have robbed in the Red Sea, whereby the trade there is dis tracted, to the infinite loss of the grand signor in his revenues in those parts, it is feared the grand signor, in revenge, will raake an attack upon all the English goods in Turkey, which are at this time worth £400,000 and upwards. Sir Williara Courteen was part owner of this ship, the Roebuck, and one of those who set her out, having procured letters of reprisal, to take frora any people in those parts which were not in amity with England. There went at the sarae time in consortship a great ship, called the Samaritan ; but we have no news of her yet, nor of what she hath done. So soon as Christmas is over, the East India and Turkey merchants will complain to the Lords against the owners of the Roebuck, to require reparation of their damages from them. There are two particulars much spoken against in this business. The one is, that Sir Williara Courteen having an estate of £200,000 in lands and raoney, that he should not be satisfied with it, but must procure letters of marque, to take from those that bad never done him any ¦wrong. The other is, that the English in the Roebuck should torture the poor Indians; which the Hollanders will cast in our dish, when we lay their cruelties done in Amboyna to their charge. What the iU consequences of this hit upon the Indians will be, we shall see shortly. In the raean time, our merchants are in great distraction. The going out of these two ships was carried with so much secrecy, as the owners of these ships might uot know to what parts they were bound, fearing the merchants of both companies would have used all possible means to have stopt them. Mr. Walter Stuart, that went lately over to Brussels, of whom there were so many various reports, is now re turned, and hath been with his majesty this Christmas. We have letters from a Scot's minister in Sweden, Mr. Duric, that hath been employed by sorae well-disposed here in England, about a pacification in Gerraany between the Lutherans and Calvinists. He writes over to sorae of CHARLES THE FIRST. 263 his friends and benefactors, that the churches of Sweden have consented to this pacification ; that they have cora posed a symbol of fundamentals, which both the Lutherans and Calvinists do hold without interfering one vrith another, leaving out aU controverted points. But how this pacification wUl be accepted in Germany, of that we have heard nothingr vet. Mr. E. R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, BaH. January 11, 1636-7. Some letters out of Ireland teU us, that my Lord Mountraorris, since my lord deputy's arrival there, is content to submit, to acknowledge the sentence of the martial court against him to be raost just, and that he hath subscribed unto it, whereby he hath avoided, through the kings mercy, a very heavy sentence of the Castle Chamber Court, which is our .Star Chamber, upon that biU exhibited against him for exaction and extortion of fees in some of those offices he held. Also it is written, that the jury of Galway, that would not, upon full evidence given in, find his majesty's title to that country, have also submitted to the kings mercy, whereby they are not only released out of prison, but also about twelve of them being fined £4000 apiece in the Castle Chamber, their fines are drawn do^vn to £8000 amongst them ; not to be paid by equal portions, but to be proportioned according to their several abilities — some to pay more, and some to pay less. Now, whereas three of the four counties of Connaught were aU found by their several juries, by the eridence given in, to be his majesty's, the king demands but this composition of them : first, the fourth part of aU those lam is ; and, for the other three parts, two-pence halfpenny per acre for yearly rent, besides fractions, which I under stand not. But the county of Galway is not like alto gether to speed so weU, because they obstinately opposed his mnjesty's title at the trial; but finding since their error, they shaU have some favour, though not in that measure with the other three counties. It is acknow- 264 THE COURT AND TIMES OF ledged that my lord deputy does proper in all he takes in hand, his lordship does manage things with so much courage and wisdom. I wrote lately of £150,000 of Spanish treasure which was put in at Dover; that two parts were to be coined at the Tower ; the other third, by the agreeraent, was to go over to Dunkirk in specie. This third part is not yet gone over. The reason is, I hear, they cannot get a good convoy to go along with it. This was not wont to be so, but it is said the world is a little changed with the Spaniard. The Spanish ambassador was at court Friday in the Christmas week, and had private audience with the king above two hours. But yet neither hath the English ship laden with Dunkirk goods been released, nor hath the Spaniard gotten a convoy for this treasure to his mind ; and therefore, it is said, all that third part of the treasure shall be brought up to the Tower also to be coined, as being the cheaper way, rather than be at the charge of hiring a convoy. The west counties having been much oppressed by pirates, have often petitioned the board for licence to set out ships to take these pirates to their best advantage, so to secure their coasts ; but because such a licence might have much prejudiced the admiralty, it was not over- suddenly granted. But yet now lately their petition is granted, by reason of the continual clamours of this great oppression of the Turks upon their poor seamen, and others. The last week died the lieger arabassador of France, Mons. * * *. He had the reputation of a very honest raan. It is said, that since his coraing into England he never received one sou of his entertainraent frora the state of France, but spent of his own estate. Upon Twelfth-day the East India Corapany went to Harapton Court, to petition his majesty to give thera leave to sue those merchants and others that set out the ship the Roebuck, for reparation of all such daraages they sus tained in the Indies, by reason of the piracies coraraitted in the Red Sea by the Roebuck. Also they desired his CHARLES THE FIRST, 265 raajesty would please to give his letters, to be sent to the great mogul, and to the governor of Surat, to disavow his giving any way to any of his subjects for the committing of any such piracies. His majesty was pleased not only to grant their petition, but to give a raost gracious hearing to the reading of the long relation of all the particulars of tbe piracy, of their torturing the poor Mahoraetans, as it was sent out of the Indies. His majesty was most piously sensible of many passages in it, which raentioned the dishonour of our nation, the dishonour of God (which should have been first), and the ruin of that trade ; and all by this late cruel piracy. His raajesty was pleased to take notice, that he knew of the going out of these ships, the Roebuck and the Samaritan ; but did utterly disavow that he gave any comraission to do any act like this, and therefore they should all answer it. It was resolved, that the terra raust be kept in London ; but it was lately questioned, by reason that the two last sick Bills have increased in and about London. His raa jesty hath sent his letters to the lord raayor of London, and also to the justices of peace of Middlesex, with in structions what they shall do in their several jurisdictions for preventing the increase of this infection, which doth not only keep his raajesty frora London, but does also infinitely distract his raajesty's affairs at present. Tuesday, this last week, their raajesties carae to Somerset House to lodge there. Wednesday morning, his raajesty went to Arundel House, to see those rarities which ray lord marshal had brought out of Germany. One of those rarities is a manuscript, most curiously written in vellum, of the way how to raake the elixir and the philo sopher's stone ; which, though ray lord raarshal raay have no great faith to accoraplish by this manuscript, yet, for curiosity's sake, he was content to purchase it at Ratis bon, being presented him there for the price of fifty rix- doUars.^ Sunday last, there was read in some churches, in the afternoon, in the city, some directions frora the Lords of ' The delusions of alchymy still exercised a powerful influence over the minds of men even of education and intelligence. 266 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the councU ; first, that aU such householders as had lived in the country all the time of the infection, whose houses in and ahout the city had been infected, these were for bidden to return to their houses before the next justice of the peace should give way to it ; which he shall not do until he be assured that those sarae infected houses, and all the stuff in them, have been thoroughly aired ; for, indeed, the want of this care hath been the cause of the increase of the plague in some of these last weeks. Also, no lodgers are to be admitted this next term in any of these said infected houses, but by the next justice of peace's approbation, as aforesaid. Upon Twelfth-night, the Royal Slave,^ which had been acted at Oxford before their majesties the last sumraer, was acted by the king's players at Harapton Court. These players had procured frora the university all their apparel and the scenes, which the university did not alto gether approve of; yet they lent thera, but with a letter to my lord charaberlain, that because they had provided that entertainraent only for their majesties against their coming to Oxford, they humbly besought, that what they had done for the entertainment of their raajesties might not be raade coramon upon a stage. And this was the request of the university in general. Mr. E. R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. January 11, 1636-7. Some of his majesty's council learned by assoilment, have been searching the records in the Rolls, as also in the Tower, to find out some precedents where his ma jesty's subjects, that hold their lands by knight's service or by escuage, or by carnidge (which last is blowing of a hom upon the marches of Scotland or Wales before they were annexed to the crown), have by virtue of these tenures served his majesty in his wars beyond the seas ; and when they could not go in person, they had either supplied their place with a good man, or paid a certain yearly sum of raoney for the finding of sorae other. There ' Written by William Cartwright, M.A., student at Christ Church, Oxford. CHARLES THE FIRST. 267 were raany comraissions found in the Rolls, but not one so full as was looked for. How they sped in the Tower records, that I do not know. The Bishop of Lincoln hath sent to the board letters of complaint against one Shelley, as assessor of ship-money in his lordship's town of Bugden ; as also against Sir Robert Osborne, a justice of the peace thereabouts. The business I cannot learn perfectly. Thus I hear it: because the constable did not comply with Shelley in the raanner of his assessing, therefore does Shelley snatch the roll out of the constable's hand, and put it up in his pocket, and would not return it back again, which the bishop understanding, he commits Shelley to the jail, without bail or mainprise. But Sir Robert Osborne approving what Shelley would have done, he bails him. Of this the bishop complains ; and so possesseth their lordships by his letter, as if he had been very zealous to do his majesty service, which their lordships do apprehend, and thereupon return the bishop letter of thanks. Yet, when this business was in agitation, there was an attachment granted out of the Star Charaber Court against the bishop for not bringing in a corarais sion for his exaraination of witnesses ; which his lordship having notice of, he sends it in before this attachraent was signed, saying, he had thought the Star Chamber office had not opened during the twelve days, and that was the reason he delayed putting it in according to the day ap pointed. The bishop's cause will be put off till the first day in Easter term ; because, before it can come to hearing, sorae orders about expunging of witnesses raust be settled in court in that cause : but then both bills will be ready for hearing. Upon the bishop's coraplaint, Shelley was sent for up. He tells a fair tale for hiraself, casting all the blarae upon the bishop ; that the lords are all at a stand ; and therefore they have appointed a day to hear all parties. Sorae say that Shelley's report makes the bishop to have done his raajesty a great disservice ; and that he, having eight hundred acres of land in that town, he would have forced it from being charged with ship-money, and have laid it upon the poorer townsmen. But, whether this be 268 THE COURT AND TIMES OF true or no, I am yet uncertain tUl their lordships have heard all parties. Wednesday, the 18th, the queen comes to lodge at Somerset House. The king goes to Theobald's. They both raeet at St. Jaraes upon Saturday, to keep there. The household coraes to Whitehall ; but the lords of the council meet at the Star Chamber, because they will not draw too much company to the king's house at Whitehall this time of infection. Sir Robert Howard, according to their lordships' letter, attended at the court to know their lordships' pleasure. My lord's grace being made acquainted with it by his brother. Sir William Howard, his grace told hira his proofs were not ready. His majesty coming into the room at that instant, and knowing what the business was, his grace did protest to his raajesty he honoured that family, but was zealous to prevent the living in such a train as Sir Robert Howard and ray Lady Purbeck had been accused for : that though his proofs were not ready at present, yet he doubted not but he should prove that Sir Robert Howard and ray Lady Purbeck had raet privately together this last sumraer. His grace did reprove Sir Robert Howard's living so much at Dover Castle, which was too near to France, but wished Sir Robert Howard to live at Audley End until he had more leisure to question him for breaking his bonds. This last week, the East India Company served one Kenestone, belonging to the Custom House, first with a writ ne exeat regno ; then they laid an action upon him of £10,000, for damage done them in the Indies by the ship the Roebuck, which he is said, with some others, to have sent out. Bonele, which was Sir WiUiam Courteen's man, was also to be served ; but he is fallen desperately sick. Young Courteen is also to be served ; but there is a little deraur whether an executor is liable to answer daraages. I do hear amongst the merchants that there is no great question to be made of it, but having the estate, he shall be responsible for damages. Kenestone can get no bail ; therefore, he lies in the Corapter. I hear that Endyraion Porter hath been with ray lord keeper, to move his lordship that sorae raore mild course CHARLES THE FIRST. 269 might be taken in this business, that honest poor raen raight not be undone. But I hear the East India Company will not be taken off. It is said by some that Mr. Porter had a chief adventure in the Roebuck, but no action is laid against hira, unless his partners do bring hira in. This suit is to be laid in the Court of Adrairalty, before Sir Henry Martin. The Spanish treasure is at last gone for Dunkirk. His majesty had one half per cent. So one of bis raajesty's ships did convey it over. But there hath been rauch dif ficulty about it, as sorae of the agents to procure it were extremely tired about it. There are half a score of the merchants' ships of the greatest burthen taken up in the river Thames, for the king's service, to be filled against the spring ; but there is a little question whether the owners will victual thera and pay sea men's wages. Tbe last year, the king allowed £3 a man monthly, which was good pay. His majesty will allow so rauch this year, but he will abate the third part of the raen : because it is confessed all the ships were over manned which had infection araongst them, though not of the plague, yet of other diseases. The owners are well enough pleased with it, if so they might have larger allow ance for those men, towards the wear and tear of their ships : for, whereas the past year they had £300 for their ships, they are like by this reckoning to have but £200 per month this year, which they are loth to consent to. But if they refuse, the king will victual and pay the wages, and allow thera, by the statute, but half-a-crown per ton monthly for their ships, according to the burthen of each of thera, which would be a much greater loss unto them, which they know well, and therefore they will be better advised, and take his majesty's offer. By this great abate ment of seamen, there will be the more to serve the mer chants in their voyages, which is taken into consideration. The talk at court is, that my Lord Edward Howard shall raarry the widow of Sir Francis Crane. One report ' raakes her worth £20,000 in personal estate, and £2000 yearly jointure. Another report abates to £5000 yearly estate and £l 400 jointure. 270 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Mr. E. R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. February 1, 1636-7. The last Wednesday there was one John Wray, a mer chant, fined in the Star Charaber, £2000, imprisonraent, good behaviour, and to be examined upon oath what other delinquents he can discover for the same offence he is punished for, which was for, transfer of fuller's earth. He confessed he had transported sixty-four loads, which cost six shillings the load, which he sold at Rotterdam at ten shillings the barrel. He paid no custom, and it was prohibited by two proclamations. Lord Finch alleged that a bill had passed the Lower House to make transport of wool, felts, and fuller's earth, to be felony. My lord's grace said that the Hollander cannot make cloth without soap, if we keep from them our fuller's earth. Wray saith there was no custom due for transport of fuller's earth, because it was prohibited : which my lord keeper denied, and said there was custom due. Upon Wray's undertaking that no fullers' earth shall be transported hereafter, the lords did proraise to raediate for the king's raercy. Sir James Bugge's cause, plaintiff and defendant with my Lord Mohun, was put off by his majesty's letter tUl the next terra. There hath been another quarrel lately at court between Will Crofts and Mr. Goring, thus. Mr. Crofts carae to Harapton Court Garden, and sent to call to him Mr. Berke ley, who is going for Sweden. He desires Mr. Berkeley to call Harry Jermyn, promising to speak nothing to him in repetition of old grievances. Mr. Jerrayn is called. One present saith Mr. Crofts did renew his old quarrelj contrary to his promise, for which Mr. Berkeley would have questioned hira, but that Mr. Goring took it to do himself. The other report saith, that WiU Crofts did corapUraent with Mr. Jerrayn, desiring hira to renew old friendship before his going out of England. All this he spake aloud to satisfy Mr. Berkeley. And then he takes Harry Jerrayn aside, and then he challenges hira, which was accepted ; the length of the weapons given, and the place to fight in CHARLES THE FIRST. 271 appointed. Sir Frederick CornwaUis ' is Harry Jerrayn's second. That day they were to fight coraes ray Lord Went worth to Mr. Berkeley's charaber, he being in bed, and desires to know of hira where the place of fighting was appointed, for Mr. Crofts had quite forgot it. Mr. Ber keley tells ray Lord Wentworth he was no foraenter of quarrels, and desired to be excused. Mrs. Seyraour taking notice ofthis quarrel, acquaints their majesties with it. The king presently sends to my lord chamberlain to prevent their fighting. His lordship sends to Mr. Jermyn, who retums, that all was ended between them. And how it ended I hear not, unless it was that Mr. Crofts did not meet. He is now gone for France. It is said he was jealous that Mr. Jerrayn did hira sorae ill offices at court, which kept back his restoring hither. Friday last, seven raerchants of London were fined £17,000 in the Star Charaber for transportation of gold. Sorae are fined deeper than other some. The same day there were two ore tenus ; one man for counterfeiting my Lord Dorset's hand to the commissions for building, that they should not pull down some houses that were built this summer contrary to the proclamation of building. There were two other men sentenced for counterfeiting divers of the lords' hands, to fetch before them Sir William Courteen, and one Abraham Becke, both very rich men. Of these two they got fifty, which betrayed thera to the hands of justice. I do hear that all that the emperor's agent had to say to his majesty at his last audience, was only that a King of the Romans was elected and crowned ; which it is said his majesty took very ill, the rather because it was expected the agent should have somewhat concerning my lord marshal's embassy. Some letters from Ireland tell us that ray Lord Mount raorris hath subraitted to his raajesty thus. He was made acquainted that it was his raajesty's pleasure he should make such a subraission as ray lord deputy should approve of. My lord deputy, therefore, sent his lordship a sub- ' Created Lord CornwaUis, of Eye, in Suffolk, April 20, 1661, He died January 3, of the following year. 272 THE COURT AND TIMES OF mission fairly written, and required his lordship to sub scribe it, which his lordship did very wiUingly, never so much as reading it over. This being brought to his lord ship, and the manner of his subscribing it related, my lord deputy within a few days after causeth my Lord Mountraorris to be brought into the Star Charaber there before the lords and the judges. This paper, with ray lord Mountmorris's hand subscribed, was presented to him. He was asked whether that were his hand or no, which he con fessed to be his hand. Then was the paper given to one of the clerks to be read, that the whole court might be witness to his lordship's submission, and then his lordship was re leased out of prison. I do hear ray lord Mountraorris was not pleased that his subraission was so pubhcly read. His sub raission to ray lord deputy is not yet raade; so it is written. I cannot yet learn whether the argument will be pleaded this terra between the king and the subject, concerning the legality of the writ for the levying of ship raoney. The Earl of Lincoln and ray Lord Say do prosecute the under sheriffs for distraining their goods, I ara told it is likely to be argued before all the judges in the Exchequer Charaber. It is said Mr. Solicitor is provided for the king ; but I hear the subjects' counsel is not yet ready for it. One tells rae that in the last assizes, hefore Judge Jon es,^ in Shropshire, this ship-writ was tried. An under sheriff was prosecuted for distraining, and a jury there found it for the king against the subject. But I will learn the truth of it, and set it down in sorae of my next. The sheriff of Essex lately did assess an hundred near unto hira at so much. Then he sent to the high constables to proportion it to the several towns and persons, which they did not do in the time limited. He sends to them a second time and gives them so raany days raore ; but they were as negligent as before. The high sheriff taking notice of their carelessness, he forthwith gets half a dozen of waggons. With these he goes in person to the houses of the afore said high constables, and distrains their goods, which he causeth to be put into these waggons. Then he sells them, so raiseth that sura of raoney laid upon the whole hundred. ' Sir Williara Jones, one of the Justices ot the King's Bench. CHARLES THE FIRST. 273 Mr. Stroud, that lives in Dorsetshire, was lately sent for up to the board by a pursuivant, thus : — He refuses to pay the ship raoney. He was distrained. He sues to the she riff for a replevin, which was denied hira. He goes to the county court. There he gets it to replevin his goods frora the under sheriff, for which he carae up to the board this last week ; and being questioned about it by his raajesty hiraself, he pleaded that he was over-rated, and that raade him get a replevin, which he would not otherwise have done ; and so he hath got free of his pursuivant ; but he is to pay the pursuivant's fees. - His raajesty taking into consideration the increase of the plague in Westminster, and in St. Martin's parish, he hath therefore given order to all the judges to despatch the business of the term, and for the Lent assizes to be all done by the end of the term, that the people may retire out of the city, so to avoid the increase of the plague, so much as may be. Friday last, the East India Company were with his raa jesty. He required thera to take sraall bail, £13,000, to let Kenestone out of prison, who was clapped up upon an action of £100,000. Though the Corapany had no great storaach to it, yet, to give his majesty content, who desired it, they did release him upon Monday following. The old Countess of Derby ' is lately dead. Mr. E. R. to Sir Thamas Puckering, Bart. February 7, 1636-7. There hath been much looking out to find the author of that scandalous book, entitled, " News from Ipswich." A great bundle of these kind of prohibited books were lately taken in one Mr. Boye's house, a silenced rainister dwelling in an alley in Coleraan Street : but the rainister himself was not taken ; and since he hath concealed hiraself. The pursuivants have been waiting about these six weeks to take Mr. Burton, a London minister,^ of whora I ' Alice, daughter of Sir John Spencer, of Althorpe, in Nottingharashite, and wife of Ferdinand, Earl of Derby, who died April 10, 1594 The Countess died January 26, 1636-7. 2 Rector of St. Matthew's, Friday Street. VOL. II. T 274 THE COURT AND TIMES OF have written before. He is had in great suspicion to be the author of " News frora Ipswich," So rauch they have against him, that a hundred of those books were sent down to a clothier in the county of Gloucester, to dispense thera abroad in the country at eightpence apiece, afterwards the raoney to be returned up to London to be paid to Mr, Burton, These books were sent to the clothier without any charge that he should be wary to whora he distributed thera. And he being careless, my lord's grace had sorae notice of thera. It is well known this clothier is a very precise raan, and full of zeal to have dispersed these books, therefore he is to expect little mercy in the way of justice. Wednesday night this last week, my lord treasurer's servant Dandy, by a warrant under divers of the lords of the councils' hands, came to Mr. Burton's house in London, and by the assistance of sorae constables, and one of the sheriffs of London, he broke open his doors and seized upon his person. Tuesday night, Mr. Burton was carried to the Fleet, and there raade close prisoner, because he will not take an oath ex officio, to raake true answers to all such articles as are exhibited unto hira out of the High Coraraission Court. By virtue of that high coraraission, that court does not only confine a man to close iraprison ment that refuseth to take the oath ex officio, but also there is power given, that the party refusing shall have a fine laid upon hira sorae High Comraission Court-day, which is sorae Thursday in the terra. It is supposed Mr. Burton is careless of this tine, being suspended frora the profits of his living, which was all his livelihood ; and now he bath no raore to lose. Friday last, bis wife carae to the lords of the council, to divers of thera apart, and presented them with an appeal drawn by her husband, during his house keeping, which was all the time the pursuivants did look out for him. This appeal is from the high coraraission ; upon which court, itis said, he doth cast raany foul asper sions, which still doth aggravate Mr. Burton's offence. His wife was the sarae day, by order of the board, sent a pri soner to the Fleet for presenting these appeals. p The distraining for non-payraent of the ship-money was CHARLES THE FIRST. 275 not tried before Judge Jones, as in my last. However, all things were ready for the trial. Counsel were fee'd on both sides. Mr. Serjeant Cresswell was for the king. But a juror was withdrawn, that it might be tried at Westminster Hall at raore leisure. The last week, the high sheriff of Essex, that was this last year, was served with a writ of scire facias out of the exchequer, to return the names of about three score refusers of ship-money in that county. I do hear, by sorae of those whose naraes are to be returned, that they have no disposition to plead against the king, neither yet have they resolved to pay their raoney. There is some kind of hope, that some of them have, that ray lord's grace, with sorae others of the lords, will join to move the king to remit this trial, to let fall the ship-money ; then to call a v parliaraent. But, for aught I, can learn, this is a raost -^ond fancy, which they will find to be so in a few days. What hath been the ground of this supposition I cannot leam, unless it be that the king's agent, M. Augier's, coming to court this last week, who brings the assurance frora France that the French will conclude no peace with the house of Austria, but that shall have relation to the restoring of the Palatinate. But as the French do proraise this, so they expect the perforraance of sorae proraises upon our part ; but what they are I do not yet know. M. Augier hath not brought over, as was expected, a full ratification of those articles in treaty between France and us ever since ray lord of Leicester's going to France ; but only that the French will treat upon thera, and that they are in a fair way of agreement. It is supposed this delay may be, because, without the consent of the lords, the States of the United Provinces, the French may con clude no more treaties, being in a league, offensive and defensive, with the Low Countries. Tuesday, this last week, the Spanish ambassador had audience. It is supposed he took notice of that rumour which was spread all the town over, that his majesty had given way that the prince elector should set out ships to the prejudice of his raaster, the king of Spain. That, therefore, he required audience to understand from his t2 276 THE COURT AND TIMES OF majesty how far he had given way to it. It was observed that the ambassador's countenance was very cheerful at his going into his majesty's presence, but very cloudy at his return, which was very speedy ; such a short audience as the Spanish ambassador's have not been accustomed unto here these many years. His raajesty sits very often in the council with the junto for foreign affairs. All is said to be about the Prince Elector Palatine. I ara told we shall have sorae declara tion very suddenly printed and published against the house of Austria, to protest against those new wrongs done to the Prince Elector Palatine. We have very late letters frora Sweden of the arrival of Sir George Fleetwood, colonel, whora his majesty sent over after Michaelmas, that he was heartily received by the state there, and much the rather because of those pro positions he brought with hira frora his majesty; and, saith the letter, whereas, the Swedes were treating of a peace in Germany, upon the arrival of Sir George Fleet wood with these new propositions, the Swedes did fully resolve to break off all treaties of peace. Some letters from Paris tell us of three English com raitted to the Bastille : Sir Thoraas Gage, a young gen tleraan of Bon College, in Paris ; Mr. Yatts ; and, two days after thera, Father Talbot. The perfect cause of their iraprisonraent this letter raentions not. Three causes are suspected for Mr. Yatts's iraprisonment, that he hath either dipt or rounded the Spanish pistoles, or that he hath let fall sorae words against the State, or that he hath given some intelligence of the State of France to the State of Spain. This is all we do yet hear touching their con finements. Friday last, the lords heard that difference between the Bishop of Lincoln and Shelley, as in some of ray last. I hear it did appear upon examination that the bishop was much to blame. He would have taken in that roll where he was cessed £ll or £I2 (I know not whether), to have raade a new roll to have eased himself, and to have laid upon divers poor people that received alms of the parish (as it was the last year). The bishop was over-passionate, CHARLES THE FIRST. 277 and Shelley was not so dutiful as it became hira. The lords spent rauch time to hear it, but concluded nothing at all against the bishop, because the king had all his rights. The judges are to begin their circuit the next day after the term, that the town may be cleared of as many people as have business in the country. Mr. E. R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. February 14, 1636-7. There have been ruraours about the town this last terra that his raajesty's attorney-general should be reraoved, and sorae other be put in his place. The ground of this report was the coraplaint of one Cralett, a goldsraith in Lorabard Street, against Mr. Attorney's raan, Cockshott, who was accused to have left out of the Star Chamber bill some rich men that had been transporting of gold, and that he had only been prosecuting such men as were not able to pay the king the one-half of the fine imposed upon them. This complaint reflected much upon the attorney. My lord keeper and my lord's grace had the examination of it. Their lordships, having fully exarained the business, found Mr, Cockshott clear of all those charges laid against him ; and Mr. Attorney was found to have exceeded his prede cessors in his diligent prosecuting of those delinquents. And so it certified to his majesty : whereupon the king, in the presence of his lords, took notice of this report, the attorney being in presence. He also acknowledged the faithful and good service of his attorney; telling his attorney that he was his friend, and although he had many enemies, yet, so long as he was his friend, they should do him no harra : and much raore to this purpose. Then gave the attorney his hand to kiss in token of his favour. I do hear that one Mr. Cole, a justice of the peace, about Haverill, in Suffolk, giving tbe charge the last ses sion at Bury, araong other things gave this in his charge. That if tbey knew any who used on Sundays any of those sports perraitted in the king's book, and against the statute, or any rainister that shall or doth refuse to ad minister the communion to any unless he come up and 278 THE COURT AND TIMES OF kneel at the rail before the comraunion-table, that they should indict thera, both the one and the other. In some church within the county of Bedford, there was lately an altar of stone, with four pillars altarwise erected. It seems there had been one there before : for, in digging thereabouts, the altar-stone was found in the ground. This being coraplained of to the diocesan, the Bishop of Lincoln, he carae to the church to see if it were so, yea or no, and finding it there, his lordship caused it, in his own presence, to be digged up, and to be taken quite away, telling the parson that, if he pleased, he raight set the coramunion-table there, but altars were forbidden by the statute. In that business between the bishop and Shelley, wherein the bishop was so passionate, upon the relating it to his raajesty, the king hath commanded the Lords to allow Shelley good costs, because the bishop hath so much troubled hira, besides Shelley's false imprisonraent. Thursday, ray Lord Say's counsel moved, in the Bench, that he having sued the sheriffs upon an action of trover, and conversion, for taking two of his oxen for not paying ship- money, which was a business of great consequence, there fore his lordship raoved it raight be tried at tbe King's Bench bar, and not at the assizes. The king's counsel being called for, and appearing, they raoved against my Lord Say and the sheriffs for a corabination, because the sheriffs had pleaded not guilty. Whereupon, ray Lord Say's counsel moved that a day raight be appointed against the next term. In the mean tirae, they consented that the defendant raight raend bis plea, which the king's counsel accepted of; so a day was granted. Sorae day this last week, all the judges raet about the legality of the ship-writ : and it is generally said that they have all subscribed that his raajesty raay, in tiraes of necessity, irapose what suras of money he pleaseth upon the subjects for defence of the kingdom, for setting out of ships, for providing of amraunition ; and that it is only in the king's breast to deterraine all those tiraes of necessity. There was a talk that this shall be entered into all the courts at Westrainster. Indeed, I have heard that his CHARLES THE FIRST, 279 majesty should so far declare hiraself that, but in times of necessity, he would never send out those writs, which his loving subjects should find, when those times of uecessity were once over; but now that his prerogative in tbe Narrow Seas was questioned, it was high tirae to vindicate it. It is well known that the Cardinal Richelieu hath had a long design to make the French king the lord paramount of the Narrow Seas, which is now no raore thought of, since his raajesty's fleets have been abroad. Yet we have a very late complaint, that, as Sir Henry Martin, with one ofthe king's ships, and a whelp, was Mafting over about fifty barques, laden with Spanish silver, three or four French ships put out of Calais to have taken sorae of those barques. That they kept out their French colours, and to windward of the king's ship. And when Sir Henry ^Martin dis charged out of the great ship upon them, thev let fly again at the whelp, refusing either to take down their flag, or to come to leeward of the king's ships, which, as his majesty is lord of the seas, they ought to have done. Wednesday last week, there was a cause heard at the council-table about the sealing of Ireland. Some had gotten a grant of the king to seal iron, pretending the subject was much abused. Therefore, to prevent abuses, they undertook, with two seals, to distinguish the better from the worse. They had licence towards their charges, to impose so much upon the ton of iron as amounted to eight shillings and ten pence the ton. The king's rent was but a hundred marks a-year, and, by computation, they would raise £l 5,000 a-year. Wliereupon, said my lord privy seal, it is fit the king shall have £] 0,000 a-year out of it. Their lordships did appoint, to hear the busi ness more at large, the Sunday following ; for the iron masters in Sussex and elsewhere refused to pay the imposi tion, and did endeavour to prove this grant, besides the imposition of eight shillings and tenpence, to be otherwise very prejudicial to the subject, and to themselves in par ticular. It is said my Lord ]\Iarquis Harailton had a share in this patent, t^pon Thursday, his raajesty sent to the Lords not to meddle any raore in that cause till he should give further order ahout it. 280 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Those EngUshmen which were coraraitted to the Bastille, their offence, I hear, is that Father Talbot, the Jesuit, hath been a long intelligencer to Spain, and that he sent his despatches soraetiraes by Sir Thoraas Gage, and other- tiraes by Mr. Yatts, besides the suspicion of Yatts's rounding of pistoles. - Saturday, the king's counsel raoved, in the King's Bench, that the defendant sheriff to my Lord Say's declara tion, that no plea of his to my Lord Say might be taken, unless the king's counsel's hands were to that plea ; for it was supposed that both plaintiff and defendant did hasten to bring this cause to trial at the assizes. Sunday, the opinion of the judges about the ship-writ, of the lawfulness of it in times of necessity, before said, with their names subscribed, was read at tbe council-board, to be recorded to clear that difference in after-ages.^ Saturday, the protestation against the election of a King- of the Romans, and the translating the Palatinate and Elec torate upon the Duke of Bavaria, carae out in print in the Prince Elector's narae ; but so raodestly set down, as, with more modesty, it could not have been expressed. It is said his raajesty is very suddenly to publish his raanifesto of all those several treaties, and promises made for the restoring of the Prince Elector's honours, dignities, and dorainions back again. The Lady Davis, that was sent for before Christmas by a warrant from the board for her misderaeanour in the cathedral of Litchfield, is now corae up, and to go to Bethlehera to lodge there. But she is so poor, as the ques tion is at the board, who shall raaintain her there. It is ordered that her husband shall be sought out, and, if he shall refuse to allow her corapetent raaintenance out of her own jointure, then so rauch shall be levied upon those lands, whether he will or no. Saturday, the following cause was tried at the Exchequer Bar. A great, rich Spaniard, soraetirae a custoraer in sorae of the King of Spain's ports, carae into England to ' John Harapden had brought the legality of levying ship-money as a question for the consideration of the Court of Exchequer, and although the twelve judges, after twelve days' deliberation, decided against him, the gross injustice of this acted as a lever on the public mind, in a manner most injurious to the crown. CHARLES THE FIRST. 281 live here, and brought a great estate with bim, as fearing to be called in question, to give an account how he raised his estate. The last spring, he had a great quantity of treasure brought him frora Spain with his money. There was about a £1000 in jewels, set and unset, all which came here amongst the raoney to pay no custom. It was made known to one of the searchers at the Custom House that this Spaniard had jewels, which he showed to such as came to his house, in the nature of merchandize. They, therefore, got a warrant to search his house. They find them, and take thera all away. He brings an action against thera. He pleads they were his wearing jewels; that he was no raerchant; that he never sold jewels, or anything else, by the way of merchandize, all days of his life. I cannot learn that ever he sold any jewels, but it seems he was proved to be a raerchant of other coraraodities, which he yet denies ; so all his jewels were confiscated. I hear of a proclaraation coming out, to raise powder from 12c?. to 18c?. the pound, which is £l 10*. the barrel. But the king is to have the benefit of it. Mr. E. R. to Sir Thomas Puckering, Bart. February 21, 1636-7. All this (the king's letter and question to the judges about ship-money, and the judge's answer^) being read upon Tuesday last week in tbe Star Chamber, ray lord (keeper debated upon it in his charge, saying, that the judges are the king's witnesses of his benign proceedings ; that the lands and lives of all the subjects were deterrainable by the judges : a coramand to enter this into all courts, to the end that every refuser may reform himself: great honour to the king that he descends to have his preroga tive determined by the judges, that justice and mercy may meet. All that will refuse to pay this ship-money may sue and have the law open : but then the king's council raust be raade acquainted with it. If any one oppose, be shows his ignorance : and the younger lawyers, sons of the ' Printed m Rushworth, vol. ii. 282 THE COURT AND TIMES OF law, are not to dissent against the fathers of the law, who have given their judgraents of the lawfulness of this writ. The sarae day, ray Lord Finch' moved, that Mr. Attor ney .should bring into the Star Chamber the author and the printer of a book which sets down the opinion and judgments of the judges upon the interpretation of several of the statutes ; which book hath been abroad these three or four years, so I hear. Also, the same day, the judge's opinion, which is in the nature of a decree, was read conceming inmates, to stop the increase of them, which breeds such mischief in the Coraraonwealth. It was, that all such inmates which fell to decay, and so to be kept by the parish, they were to be continued in their houses rent-free, and to be kept at the only charge of the landlord which admitted thera. Now, concerning the sixty Essex refusers that were to appear in the Exchequer by a scire facias. Wednesday, the 8th of this February, they appeared, and the rule of the court was, they should put in their plea the Saturday following. Thursday, Sir Richard Saltonstone petitioned the lord chief baron ^ to assign hira counsel, but his lordship would not do it alone. Friday, he petitioned in court, but the chief baron being absent, it was neither granted nor denied. Saturday, he appears again, as fearing judgment upon a nihil dicit ; and, at the rising of the court, raoves again for counsel to be assigned him, and time, till the first day of next terra, to put in his plea. He hath counsel assigned, but raust bring in his plea the Monday following. Monday, Mr. Attorney raoves for judgraent against all the Essex refusers, upon a nihil dicit, for not one had appeared, only Sir Richard Saltonstone, who raoves again for longer tirae to bring in his plea, alleging the return of the sheriff was so uncertain, he could ground no plea upon it until both the sheriffs had agreed upon the rule. For Sir Cranmer Harvey had rated him but £4, and Sir Humphrey Mildmay had returned hira £8 for one and the sarae writ. The attorney alleged it was against the ' Chief Justice of the Comraon Pleas. ^ Sir Humphrey Davenport. CHARLtlS THE FIRST. 283 rules of the court to give two rules against the king : and also, that this was only to protract tirae. So the barons did order Sir Richard Saltonstone to deposit the £8 in court, then to have till the next day to bring in both the sheriffs to settle the rate, whether it were £4 or £8, which his counsel did yield unto. But judgment passed upon the other refusers upon a nihil dicit. And now this £8 is deposited, it is yet a question what raanner of proceeding will be upon the putting in of the plea. Thursday, the king sat in council, to hear the differ ences between William Sandys, Esq., plaintiff, and Sir William Russel, defendant. Sandys hath undertaken to raake the river Avon, in the counties of Worcester, Glou cester, and Warwick, navigable, by an invention he hath, and was encouraged to do it by the general approbation of the principal raen of those counties, and of the towns corporate through which this river of Avon runs, it being eighty railes in a deep vale ; counties raost part of the year not passable with carts. His majesty, finding Sir William Russel to have mainly opposed this public service in a popular way, pretending the great prejudice of tbe co'unties, and that to hinder this work, by his procure ment, many riots were committed, he was very earnest to have his attorney to have put a bill in the Star Chamber against hira ; but yet at last was pleased only to send him to the Fleet until he should submit and conform to his majesty's comraoners, the best men some of them in those counties. Friday, the justice in Eyre sat in Essex forest. He gave charge to the high sheriff to pull down all fences within the bounds of the forest, as brick walls, pales, &c., that the deer might have their full range. It is believed this charge will draw those within the forest to a com position. One Mr. Bonham raade his raost humble submission in that court, for killing a stag and the daughter of a hind ; acknowledging the offence to be of so transcendant a na ture, that his whole estate and his liberty rested wholly at the king's mercy, a;nd rauch raore to this purpose. 284 THE COURT AND TIMES OF He was fined £500, and imprisoned during the king's pleasure. The same day, there were divers merchants and gold smiths fined in the Star Chamber, about transporting of coin. There are pretty cases in this sentence, which I will leam, to set down in ray next letter. Sunday last, the arrears of ship-raoney uncollected yet in Northamptonshire came in question at the council- table, where it appears that Sir John Dryden and Mr. Cockayne, the two last high sheriffs successively, had not perforraed their duties, in distraining for non-payraent of the ship-raoney, of the last writ before this now in collect ing ; which writ was directed to Sir John Dryden, but Mr. Cockayne succeeding him, the fault lies upon both of them ; therefore, they are like to be raade examples : for Mr. Attorney hath order frora his majesty to exhibit an information into the Star Chamber against both of them. [The letters for several raonths are wanting in this collection ; but this raay partly be accounted for, by the death of Sir Thomas Puckering, which terminated the correspondence which had been carried on so long and zealously. Extract of a letter of Edward Norgate, Esq.'^ to Robert Read, Esq. , secretary to Sir Francis Windebank,^ in Drury Lane. Barwiok, May 29, 1639. The king made an halt at Alnwick, upon some alarm that was in tbe camp, whereof he received information ' Son of Robert Norgate, D.D., master of Corpus Christi or Bennett's College, Carabridge. He was one of the clerks of the signet to Charles I., and for his skill in ornamental and heraldic drawing was made VVindsor Herald. He also possessed considerable knowledge and judgment in painting, for which talent he was employed by the Earl of Arundel to collect pictures for him in Italy. Fuller, in his "Worthies," styles him " a right honest man." He appears to have accompanied Charles I. in his expedition against the Scots, of which he gives a lively account. He died December 23, 1650. ' Secretary of State. CHARLES THE FIRST, 285 frora ray lord general, so that persons of great quality lay in their coaches, carts, &c., the town being little, and company great. So at Morpeth I staid, but the next day went on to Alnwick, whence the king was gone that morning to the army at Gaswick, five railes short of Bar- wick (for the alarra was false). The next raorning, passing through Belfort (nothing like the narae either in strength or beauty, it being the raost raiserably beggarly sodden town, or town of sods, that ever was raade in an afternoon of loara and sticks), there I sturabled upon Mr. Murray, one of the cup-bearers to his majesty, who had taken up the every and only room in the only ale house. Thither he kindly invited me to a place as good as a death's head, or memento for mortality ; top, sole, and sides being all earth, and the beds no bigger than so raany large coffins. Indeed it was, for beauty and conveniency, like a covered sawpit. Our host was a raoving, uncleanly skeleton. I asked him who had con deraned hira thither. He said, durum telum necessitas ; that he was fearful other gentleraen of quality (a horse troop), being billeted the night before at a little vil lage three railes further, coming to the place after a long and weary raarch, found no other accoraraodation than a dark and rainy night ; in all the town not one loaf of bread nor quart of beer, not a lock of hay nor peck of oats, and little shelter for horse or raan ; only a few hens they roasted and eat without bread, but not without water. Their horses had nothing. He told rae I should find the army in little better condition, the foot corapanies having stood in water up to the ancles by reason of the rain : that in forty-eight hours they had no bread, nor other lodging but on the wet ground, the carap being low, near the sea-side, nor any shelter but the fair heavens. After dinner I rode to the array, where I think there was not above seven thousand foot ; the horse, elsewhere disposed into villages, about three thousand. There I found the cause of the late want was for want of carriages to bring bread to the array ; but now they were better accoraraodated, yet lay sub dio. The king was in his tent. 286 THE COURT AND TIMES OF about whose some of the lords had pitched theirs. I think none that loves him, but must wish the army ten times doubled, and those ten fifteen tiraes better accoraraodated ; especially seeing this town as ill provided as the other, and the hourly reports of the Scots advancing, ten thousand in one place, fifteen thousand in another, to second their fellows. Yet are we told they corae with a petition, but it seems they mean to dictate the reference theraselves, wherein I believe Sir Edward Powell will have little to do. To this town (Barwick) I came last night, where Sir John Borrowes and I could hardly get a loaf of bread to our supper ; a black cake we got, scarce edible. I went to Mr. Secretary's [Sir John Coke] to beg one, and had it given me with much difficulty ; Mr. May protesting that his master was glad to send to my lord governor's for bread for him and his the day before, and that he got but two halfpenny loaves. This day, our host fetching us some to dinner, had it snatched from hira by a soldier, who much coraplain. The people here say that, if some present and speedy order be not taken, they shall want bread for their families, the soldiers devouring what can be got ; and the Scots, by whom it seems this town was formerly supplied with victual of all kinds, and that in a plentiful manner and cheap, being debarred, they fear, extreraely the want of provisions; the country in Nor thumberland side being very barren, but plentiful beyond the boundred towards Scotland. Rev. Arthur Jackson,^ M.A., to A. Bownest. London, July 10, 1640. I would be raost glad to see you at Stoneberry, but I fear ray business will not perrait me. And, besides, being full persuaded, so far as I yet see, that I have not now any long tirae to preach (unless God doth rairaculously ' Rector of St. Michael Woodstock. He was educated at Cambridge, where he took the degree of M.A., in which he was incorporated at Oxford, July 15, 1617. He was rainister of St. Faith's, under Paul's, both before and at the time of the Restoration, but was ejected from that living for nonconformity, in 1662. He died August 5, 1666, at the age of 73. CHARLES THE FIRST. 287 help) I would willingly follow the plough as close as I can, before it be taken out of ray hands. My brother will send you the book of new canons, wherein you will find an oath, which, if God be with rae, I hope I shall never take. The Lord be merciful to us ! Upon Saturday last, all the silver and gold which merchants and goldsmiths had, as they were wont weekly, put into the raint, to have it out again in money coined, was stayed for the king's use. Mrs. Snow's son-in-law, Mr. Snell, had £4000 there. Mr. Noel, of my parish, £400 ; but many had raany thousands. One goldsmith in Lombard Street, £47,000, which he had bought of several merchants, expecting to pay it when it came out of the Mint. The whole quantity of that which was stayed carae to about £300,000. Great heart-burning this hath made in the city ; and now, at last, it is come that they must lend the king of this £40,000, and be allowed to take the rest. It is thought this will overthrow the Mint, mar all trading, undo the best custoraers, and so turn at length to his raajesty's extrerae prejudice. I hear also that the king hath taken £60,000 of Paul's raoney ; but whether that be true or no, I know not. Remeraber us, I pray, to my father and raother, and beg their prayers for us. Jo is going to take ship upon next, in troublesorae times, God knows. I would have persuaded his master to have stayed his goods for a time, till I saw what the issue of these things would be ; but he would not. [The increasing sense of insecurity which was pervading the country, and the feverish state of exciteraent into which the people were thrown by the irritating raeasures of the governraent, if they did not check correspondence, raade its preservation alraost impossible. This accounts for the scarcity of news-letters after this date ; but the great incidents of the tirae are so well known as to render such illustration the less necessary. With the year 1 640, 288 CHARLES THE FIRST. coraraenced the last stage in the career of Strafford ; the deliberations of a new Parliaraent, and its speedy dissolu tion ; the coraraotions which ensued in consequence of this precipitate raeasure ; the raarch of the Scottish Cove nanters into England ; the consent wrung frora the king for another parliaraent ; and its irapeachraent of Strafford, and his execution. Then followed the preparation of Charles for a struggle to support his authority ; the raising the king's standard at Nottinghara, and the organization of the popular force that was to be led against it ; the rise of the parliaraentary generals ; the vain struggles of the victim against the power he had goaded into hostile action ; the trial and execution of Laud ; the final overthrow of the sovereign ; and, last scene of all, the gloomy tragedy at Whitehall, in which a weak and selfish nature rose to the highest honours of martyrdora. With the close of the first raonth of the year 1649, the people of England beheld the hapless terraination, by the hand of the executioner, of the reign of Charles the First.] MEMOIRS MISSION IN ENGLAND OF THE CAPUCHO FRIAKS OF THE PROVINCE OP PARIS, FROM THE YEAR 1630 TO 1669. BY FATHER CYPRIEN OF GAMACHE, ONE OF THK CAPHCHINS BELONGING TO THE HODSEHOT.D OF HENRIETTA MARIA, QUEEN OF CHARLES THE FIHST. VOL. II. U DTTRODUCTION. The foUowia; Memiirs. cow £rjT translat ei n-?ra the orl^rinsLl French raartii/njt. tdiich has never been poblishexL will be found X-: ill^rxatr the Oillevtion ot letters that pr^.^^e-ies it. in a manner eqnallT otirioiis and interesting. Miss Stri;kland. in the eighth volrane of ter ¦• Li-res of the Qtieens oi Zr^lanL" has n^^uently referred to the Memoirs of P^ne CVpiien oi Gamache, which aSbided her nia;h interestin; material ::r her admirable bio.:rraf hy of Haarietta Mazia ; but it is inir-'.isibie for the reader to xhrm an a-le^^nate ac-tion >:¦: this sin^ilar r^r^dnetion -withitit having it be- fire him in its entire siaie. It has, therethre. been mithfaliT rendered into English, ¦srithont the slightest alteration or omission. We rrfer to the writer for an aeeonnt of himself; ani th oa^h he may be sometimes rver-rrelnlrns ani pr¥;nii:e'l in fiiTonr of his own &ith and of his o-tm relirijtis order, he may be rerariei as a new anthority on many anairs oi great important that t-rok pl5.:-e in the reigns oi -James I. an i Charies !„ ani even down to the reign of Charles II_ he brings forsrard evidence -well -worthT of consi ieration. Bnt the chiei pi'int on which he is hkely to be qnrtei is the state of relieiras feeling in Tl- clani in the seven- teoith centurr. and the enrrts made t :> briru: ba':k the people to the old faith. For this stand obje-rt. it -^fl be seen that the Ca- v-2 292 INTRODUCTION. puchins,! of which fraternity Father Oyprien was so distinguished a member, were put forward as the chief agents ; and certainly, if zeal and activity could have realized the purport of their mission, their labours would have been crowned with success ; but the old system of religion had left such painful recollections in the mass of the population, that the impressive spectacles and the capti vating oratory of the missionaries realized few and unimportant results, and the religion of the country, in its Puritan charac ter, became more and more antagonistic to the Papacy. In the progress of these changes, the observant reader can scarcely fail to recognise the singular similarity of the efforts then made by the Roman Catholic Church to re-establish its old domination in these kingdoms, with those which have recently been in opera tion here, for the same object. The agents may have different names, but their powers are the same, and identical are their sources and purposes. By the religious world, peculiarly sensitive as it is at this period to every influence, the Memoirs of Pfere Cyprien are sure to be read with attention. We place it before them not only as a great Fact, but as a great Moral. 1 The Capuchins were a branch of the Franciscans ; for several interesting notices of their missions, the reader is referred to Ranke's " History of the Popes." MISSION IN ENGLAND OF THE CAPUCHIN FRIAIIS OF THE PROVINCE OF PARIS. " That man," says the great St. Augustme, "is not a lover of equity, who dislikes to do a just and reason able thing." I should be guilty of this fault, if I were not to obey cheerftdly the order of my superiors, to di'aw up some memoirs of my mission in England, since it concerns the glory of God and the honour of our Order. I comply with this command with as much sub mission as I feel regret at having received it so late ; that is to say, after forty years spent in those virtuous and profitable duties : for, in that long space of time, having no other object but to gain souls for God, and to advance his glory, without having had the slightest thought of ever giving an account of my 'proceedings to others; nor could I recollect so many different occurrences, so many adventures, so many memorable actions ; add to which, that all the Capuchins of that illustrious mission, in the first times, labouring with great zeal for the con version of souls, said nothing about the happy success of their labours, too well satisfied that they should be known to God alone. Now that death has removed those good servants from this world, lea-ving me alone behind them, this narrative must of necessity forego many interesting conferences with the ministers, diffi culties overcome, dangers escaped, conversion of Pro- 294 THE COURT AND TIMES OF testants to the Catholic faith, and other remarkable cir cumstances : so that it wiU comprehend chiefly what has happened to myself individually, and much even of that is effaced from my memory at the age of seventy-four years to which I have attained. In what follows, I shall relate nothing of which I have not a perfect recollection, Madame Henriette Marie de France, daughter of the great Henry IV,, sister of King Louis XIIL, was mar ried to Charles Stuart, Prince of Wales, son of James, the first of that name. King of Great Britain, in 1625, Very soon after her arrival in England, her quality of Princess of Wales was changed into that of Queen, by the death of her father-in-law, King James, and by the legitimate succession of the prince, her husband, to the royal dignity.^ M. de Belule,^ founder of the Oratory, afterwards Cardinal, had at that time great influence at the court of France, and he employed it in bringing about an agreement between the two crowns, that a certain number of Fathers of the Congregation should, ¦with himself, attend that princess to England, and serve her in the functions of the chapel, under the authority and direction of Monseigneur, the Bishop of Mandes, our grand almoner. The Fathers of the Oratory, on their arrival in London, were lodged in the suburb of St. James, in sight of the royal residence, to which access was not obtained of the sentries without extreme diflficulty by the Catholics, who repaired thither to attend divine service,* Besides this obstacle, which prevented those Fatliers from promoting the affairs of religion, mahcious spirits excited in the court a violent animosity in the English against the French, and a disagreement between the Queen's people and the Duke of Bucktnkam, who stood high in the favour of the King, and who had the greatest share in the government of England,* This disharmony increased ' The celebration ofthe marriage did not take place till after the death of James ; therefore, Henrietta Maria was never Princess of Wales. See letter from John Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, vol. i., p. 18. ' Mentioned as le PSre Berulle in the letter of Sir William Boswell, vol. i., p. 26. ' Compare this with the account given of the proceedings of these priests, vol, i., p. 33. * The disputes between the two religions appear to have been first occasioned by CHARLES THE FIRST, 295 to such a degree, that the strong persuasions of the duke induced the King to resolve to order the French to leave England and to return to France, after he had told them that he would send one of the gentlemen of his court to the King his brother, to inform him of the causes of this dismissal,' Thus, the Fathers of the Oratory and the rest ofthe French quitted England, without any advancement of the Cathohc rehgion. The Queen was grieved at this dismissal, but was obhged to yield to necessity. One of the principal articles of her marriage was, that she should always have, in the chapel, the free exercise of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Rehgion; to this end, she was always to have priests ; the King, her husband, there fore detained two of those of the Oratory, till matters should be arranged, and till others who were peaceable and disinterested should be given him. The Duke of Buckinkam, who was no friend to the Cardinal de Richeheu, and who had been charged with the removal ofthe French, in order to annoy and embroil him in these generous and holy enterprises, induced, by his address and influence, the King of England to give a fiivourable reception to the rebel deputies of La Rochelle (besieged by the army ofthe King of France, its legiti mate sovereign), and, to support their damnable rebel lion, he strengthened it vnth a powerful naval force, the command of which he gave to this same Duke, who was particularly solicitous to obtain that post. As soon as the ships were equipped and supphed with all necessary stores, he set sail and steered for the Isle of Rh6, where at first he had some advantage, but which lasted not long : for soon afterwards he saw, with ex treme grief, his whole force put to the rout by the violent attacks of the Sieur de Thoyras, who commanded in that island. Part of his troops were cut in pieces, the cavalry lost in the marshes, four pieces of cannon and forty- four colours taken, sixteen hundred men killed, -without the new queen dismissing her Protestant servants, and acting in an insulting manner on many occasions. See vol. i., p. 39, 40, 50. Her priests now began to be very troublesome, and displayed very little discretion. Ibid., p. 52. ' See vol, i.,p. 119, 134, &c., for a full account ofthis proceeding. 296 THE COURT AND TIMES OF reckoning those who were drowned in their great haste to regain their ships ; six score prisoners, among whom were the general of the cavalry, five captains, twelve gentlemen, whom the King of France soon set at liberty, generously sending them back to the Queen of England, his dear sister,"^ This noble civility did not prevent the King, her hus band, from equipping a new armament of one hundred and forty ships, the command of which he gave to the Earl d'Amby [Denbigh], who filled the place of the Duke of Buckinkam, assassinated in England, when he was taking leave of a gentleman and on the point of putting to sea. The fleet, having a fair wind, anchored off St. Martin de Rhe, when aU the soldiers landed from their ships and made their attacks, which were received by the French with such firmness, and repelled with such vigour, that, after losing a number of their men, two transports, and a fire-ship of forty tons, they found themselves obliged to return to England, However, the repubhc of Venice applied itself so successfully to the reconcihation of the two courts, that it saw the mediation crowned with a noble peace,^ It was accompanied with many conditions which related to religion and the State, It was necessary to keep up the exercise and the various functions of the Ca tholic religion in the chapel ofthe Queen of England; for this purpose, it was requisite to send her several priests,* The most Christian King Louis XHI., and the queen- mother, Mary de Medicis, esteemed the Capuchins, and honoured them -with their affection; they even kept about their royal persons the Reverend Father Joseph of Paris, Capuchin preacher, a man of extraordinary understanding, profound learning, and eminent virtue, who had governed for several years the province of Touraine in quality of Provincial with remarkable pru dence. Among so many virtuous and learned priests, ' The whole of this precious enterprise will be found narrated in the first volume of this work. ' Father Cyprien hurries over many important events ; but these have already been related at sufficient length. ^ They are first announced at p. 418, vol, i., again vol. ii,, p. 35—47. CHARLES THE FIRST. 297 regular and secular, who greatly contribute to the splendour of France, the Capuchins had the honour to be selected and appointed by the Most Christian King to go to England. He arranged that ten Capuchins of Paris should go and alone serve the Queen of Great Britain, his sister, in quality of confessors, chaplains, and almoners ; that they should wear the habit of Capu chins in the place where they lodged, and in the Queen's chapel, where they should freely perform aU the eccle siastical functions, such as those required in celebrating the august sacrifice of the mass, administer the com munion to the people, preach, catechize, baptize, marry, confess, &c. The Queen of England, who had always honoured the Capuchins with her affection, and who desired them for her service, was highly pleased with this article of peace. The King, her husband, likewise agreed to it, having a high esteem for the Capuchins, whom he had known in Spain. He had heard the Reverend Father Bouerick speak, in a learned and illustrious conference, on the subject of rehgion : he had even had some famihar conversation with the Father, a man of extraordinary merit, as well for the noble -virtues which he practised aU his hfe in our holy Order, as for the books which he composed in an elegant style, and which he gave to the public. He wrote one for the conversion of that prince, to whom he dedicated it. The others were "Demon strations of the Faith," tn two volumes foho; "Annals of the Capuchins," also in two volumes; "Answer to the apostate de Dominis, Archbishop of Spalatro. " ' The King was therefore well pleased that the Capuchins should serve his wife ; and, above all, Pope Urban, who had a brother a Capuchin, expressed particular satis faction on this occasion, and gave his benediction to the Capuchin missionaries, who should be destined for this noble and profitable office. This being the case, out of the great number of friars distinguished for virtue and talents, who belong to the province of Paris, and render it illustrious above ^ For several notices of him, see " Court and Times of James I." 298 THE COURT AND TIMES OF all the other provinces, it was requisite to select such as were fitted for this noble and important employment: after having invoked the Holy Spirit and maturely de- hberated, the Reverend Father Leonard of Paris, who had already been twice provincial, was elected Superior of that mission, having been previously appointed Pre fect of the general mission of England and Scotland. Eleven other Capuchins were nominated to accompany him, and to live under his superintendence ; namely, the venerable Fathers Cherubin, of Amiens; Esme, of Beau vais, preacher and reader in theology, and at that time warden of the convent of Mondidier ; Ange, of Soissons, preacher and reader in theology ; Lambert, of Fliscour, preacher; Jean Louis, of Avaney, preacher; Joseph, of Paris, preacher; Cyprien, of Gamache, preacher and reader ; F. Blaise, of Paris, and F. Sebastien, of Bar sur Seine, — all these for the service of the Queen ; and for the chapel of the ambassador, the Marquis de Fontenay Mareuil, were chosen the most venerable Father Basile, of Rheims, preacher, and the most venerable Father Seraphin, of Compiegne, also preacher. After this elec tion, the Capuchins chosen were withdrawn from the convents in which they were dispersed, and coUected in the great convent of Paris, to be prepared for their de parture. The hberality of the Most Christian King sup phed everything that was necessary for their mission, such as new clothes, &c., and he provided also for the expense of their journey. A grand almoner was needed to succeed Monseigneur, the Bishop of Mandes, who had been sent out of the kingdom, with all the Queen's people, by express com mand of the King. To this office was appointed Mon seigneur Bertaut, Bishop of Bazot, a prelate equaUy pious and learned, who had recently answered the book of Dumoulin,' the celebrated minister, intituled "Le Boucher de la Foy," vnth which aU the Hugonots of France were wonderfiiUy taken, and which they had almost always in their hands. The merits of this worthy prelate were the motive that induced France to appoint ' Peter de Moulin. See " Court and Times of James I." CHARLES THE FIRST. 299 him to this post : I am not sure that they were not also the cause of the refusal of England to receive him, saying that she wanted no bishop in that post, but would assent to its being given to any other priest who had not that quahty. This affair, which was not very speedUy settled, pre vented our departure for a time. MeanwhUe, his Most Christian Majesty sent to England the Marquis de Chateauneuf, as who was very serviceable in cementing the peace that was concluded, and who skUfuUy managed aU the affairs of his commission, one of the most con siderable of which was the estabhshment of a grand ahnoner, and of the Capuchins about the Queen; be cause the King, her brother, in order to obtain the dis pensation for her marriage, had promised his Holiness to use his endeavours and his authority to keep con tinuaUy about the Queen, his sister, churchmen com mendable for learning and -virtue, to assist her in the exercises of religion and in matters of conscience. As soon as the Marquis de Chateauneuf arrived in England, he treated with the King and the Queen about the coming of the grand ahnoner, and of the Capuchins, The King at length roused up, and refused a bishop for grand ahnoner. After this answer, the ambassador quickly sent a gentleman to France, to bring back -with him the Capuchins who were destined for the service of her Majesty. His Holiness had already given the pre fecture of the missions of England and Scotland to the Reverend Father Leonard, and to the Reverend Father Joseph, of Paris ; and there were at the moment in the two kingdoms disguised Capuchins, who laboured in the mission with great edification and profit: in Scotland, the Reverend Father Archange, whose life has been written under the designation of a Scotch Capuchin, and the Reverend Father Epiphane de Lindesay, who had wrought admirable conversions in that country, where he died at the age of eighty-four years : we shall speak of him more at large at the end of these Memoirs. Those who carried on the mission in England were the Reverend Father Anselm, who had been reader of theo- 300 THE COURT AND TIMES OF logy in Germany, the Reverend Father Ange Parnel, and the Reverend Father Richard, aU Enghshmen by birth. ^ The gentleman who had come from England to take back the Capuchins had the mortification to return without them, by order of the councU of the Most Christian King, foreseeing with great -wisdom that such an army would make a great noise in England, not only on accomit of their religion, but also of their way of life, and their dress, the hke to which had never Ijeen seen in that kingdom since the unhappy change of religion. The most judicious of the councU were of opinion that it was expedient to defer sending the Capu chins tUl after the departure of the Marquis de Fontenay Mareuil, who was appointed to go thither soon as ordi nary ambassador. This delay exceedingly vexed M. de Chateauneuf, in the thought that the glory of the esta bhshment in England was here from time to time to be given to the Marquis de Fontenay MareuU, who was his inferior. This persuasion excited in him great dissatis faction, and caused him to resort to aU the most in genious devices of his acute understanding. In order to set aside this arrangement, in fact, he exerted himself so effectuaUy at the court of England as to produce a change in everything that was previously determined, and especiaUy in the orders of the King, his master, and he cleverly contrived to keep about the Queen the two Fathers of the Oratory, who were to have gone back to France on our arrival in England. This intrigue not being known to the council of the Most Christian King, his ordinary ambassador, the Mar quis de Fontenay MareuU, left Calais, and the Capuchins with him, on the 24th of February, 1630; and, as if the demons had foreseen the future prosperity of that mis sion and had resolved to prevent it, soon after their em barkation, there arose a tremendous storm, which seemed as if it would have buried aU in the waves. However, after several difficulties, the wind preventing them from reaching Dover, they landed in the Do-wns, ' Some notices of the Catholic priests in England, at this period, will be found in vol. i., p. 397 and 452. CHARLES THE FIRST, 301 Thence they proceeded incontinently to London, where the Reverend Father Leonard, accompanied by Father Cyprien of Gamache, was conducted by the ambassador extraorduiary to the King and to the Queen, and received vnth strong demonstrations of affection; and lodgings were assigned them, -with aU the friars, in a house which the Queen had bought, quite close to her palace of So merset House, which her truly Christian and royal libe rality had fm-nished -with every thing necessary for their condition, adding a garden to it and enclosing it with a strong waU, The intrigue of Monsieur de Chateauneuf, who had gained the ascendency in the council of the King and Queen of Great Britain, and prevaUed also against the orders of the Most Christian King, became known by this time. He caused the two Fathers of the Oratory to remain, though they were to have returned to France, as I have observed, on the arrival of the Capuchins in England. This affair greatly shocked the Reverend Father Leo nard, who was destined to be confessor to the Queen, and caused him to resolve to leave England and to go back to France, and to indu^ce aU the friars to return thither. He took their opinions thereupon, that he might not be alone in the enterprise; aU agreed in thinking that it would be better to stay, and that, without having the confession ofthe Queen,' the Capuchins might greatly promote the glory of God in the assisting of Catholics and in the conversion of Protestants. Having come to this conclusion, they began to learn the English language, and in a year they qualified themselves to hear confes sions. At that time, they wore cassocks and long sleeves, like the secular priests, and were extremely desirous to have permission to resume their religious habit. The Reverend Father Leonard asked and obtained it of the Queen, and received orders, at the same time, to make aU necessary preparations for public service in the ' The poor Capuchins, for such unworldly mon, appear to have been strangely disconcerted, at finding a queen taken out of their hands by members of a rival order. 302 THE COURT AND TIMES OF chapel and for preaching on the Sunday foUowing, which was the third Sunday in Lent. On this agreeable news, they immediately rehnquished their cassocks, resumed their Capuchin dress, appeared next day in the chapel, where they celebrated the sacrifice of the mass, and chanted vespers and complins. The Reverend Father Esme of Beauvais preached with wonderful satisfaction to her majesty. The lesson was concerning a dumb man, which furnished the preacher with occasion to say to the Queen that if, since the dismissal of the French and the war "with France, the preachers were dumb to her majesty's ears, the master of all preachers, the Holy Ghost, had spoken to her heart. The rumour of this divine service held by the Capu chins spread over the whole city of London, and drew an innumerable multitude of people of both sexes and religions to the Queen's chapel. The Catholics looked jwith joy upon the Capuchins as men sent by Heaven to show, in the profession of their hfe, the truth of the faith which they had received from their ancestors, and who had always boldly maintained it, at the expense of their fortunes, their honour, and their blood. They could not turn their eyes from that dress, in which they contemplated the poverty of Jesus Christ, in the humility of the Gospel and the contempt of wealth. They com pared this simplicity with the luxury of the ministers, and thanked God for having kept them in that religion of which their fathers were genuine professors. A gentleman whose obstinacy and false zeal rendered him remarkable among the Puritans or Calvinists, came with some one of his sect to see and to make game of these new Capuchins, clothed in dresses so extraordi nary and so strange in this kingdom. He saw them, surveyed them -with attention, reflected long upon the modesty of their looks, the gravity of their demeanour, the poverty of their dress, the reverence in their prayers. A ray of hght, flashing upon his mind, convinced him that these men were the real professors of religion.' He ' This conviction must have been of wonderfully rapid growth ; bat still more ex traordinary is the rapidity with which the convert is subsequently disposed of: a CHARLES THE FIRST. 303 conceived an idea of embracing their faith, and, after matm-e consideration on the subject, he resolved to become a Cathohc, spoke to a priest, opened his heart to him, received the necessary instructions from him; and, having deplored the long years that he had remained with the Pmitans in ignorance of the true religion, he made the general confession, received absolution of his sins, feU Ul, and, provided with the holy sacrament of extreme unction, he departed this mortal life, to live, as it is reasonable to believe, etemaUy in heaven. The tmth of this history is confirmed by Monseigneur the Bishop of Chalcedon, who officiated at that time as ordinary and superior ofthe secular priests in England. As England is fiUl of various sects opposed to one another, and aU hostUe to the Cathohcs, the King's councU, apprehensive lest the great noise of this happy beginning in the Queen's chapel shoiUd excite some dis turbance in it, forbade the English Catholics to go thither, and to attend the divine service there, and gave commissions for imprisoning aU who should violate this ordinance;' in fact, many Catholics only left the chapel, whither their devotion had led them, to enter dismal prisons, to be confined among persons of various classes, A very -virtuous young lady, big with chUd, wife of an officer of the Queen's, was dragged thither vnth such violence that she was extremely Ul in consequence, and was delivered before her time of a dead infant. The zeal of the Queen was kindled by this affair, of which she made grievous complaint to the King, obtained an order for the release of the Cathohcs from prison, and the confinement there of the persecutors by whom they had been consigned thither with such inhuman violence. The state of religion was afterwards quiet, and the Catholics enjoyed a sweet and agreeable peace. The pursuivants, who are of the meanest class, and mostly apostates, furnished with commissions for taking the priests and the papists, as they caU them, were happUy feature, however, which the reader will find a common result of the Capuchin con versions. 1 See vol. ii.,p. 67 and 68. 304 THE COURT AND TIMES OF taken away : the people began again to come eagerly to the Queen's chapel, to hear mass, the catechism, the disputations, the sermons, vespers, complins, to confess their sins, to receive the adorable sacrament of the eucharist, to be married, and to have their chUdren baptized. This happy success was increased by the arrival of a grand almoner, sent from France and accepted by England. I have said that the councU of his Britannic Majesty had refused the Bishop of Bazot, and would not have a prelate invested with that character. For this reason, France artftdly had recourse to compliance for fiUing that office of grand almoner to the Queen, and sent M. du Peron, a man adorned with aU the exceUent qualities befitting an iUustrious ecclesiastic. He was nephew of the most eminent Cardinal du Peron, and was afterwards his successor in the bishopric of Evreux. He conducted himself in the court of England with such moderation, such suavity, such modesty, that Protestants as well as Catholics entertained only love and respect for him. The bishopric of Angoul^me being vacant, he was appointed to it by his Most Christian Majesty. The King of Great Britain, having experience of the mildness of his disposition, and taking pleasure in his conversation, consented that he should continue to hold the office of almoner with the quality of bishop. From the bishopric of Angouleme he went to that of Evreux, upon the nomination ofthe King of France, and by the bulls of Pope Urban VIII. concurred to place him in a See which his uncle had so worthily occupied. It is an ancient custom in England, that, soon after Easter, when the weather is fine, the court sets out on progresses, that is to say, the King, the Queen, and aU the courtiers, leave London and go into the country to various royal residences in the provinces, staying six weeks at one, two months at another ; the whole king' dom thus having the satisfaction to see its sovereign, The Reverend Father Leonard received orders to attend the Queen in these progresses. For this purpose, a carriage was given him by her direction for himself and CHAKLES THE FIRST. 305 his companion, and a cart to carry his little stock of furniture, because that good Father insisted on doing everything or nothing in the Queen's chapel, and thought that, if he adhered firmly to that resolution, the Queen would send back to France the two Fathers of the Ora tory. He excused himself, therefore, fi-om attending the Queen, at which she was greatly offended, and com plamed to the French ambassador, who wrote on the subject to the councU of the Most Christian King, made the Fathers of the Province of Paris acquainted with it, particiUarly the Reverend Father Joseph, who was pre fect of the mission, and the Reverend Father Paschal Dabuisse, the then Provincial, who sent word to the Reverend Father Leonard that, the term of the Reverend Father Paschal's provincialate having nearly expired, and he having always acquitted himseff so worthUy in that post, it was best that he should cross the sea and return to the province, in order to occupy it once more. Accordingly, he went back, and was elected Provincial for the third time, and afterwards definitor-general to the chapter which was soon after held at Rome. This Reverend Father was endued with a wise pru dence, a charming suavity, and a great zeal for regu larity. As he had received a good part of the Capuchins belonging to the Province of Paris, he had there acquired such great authority, and so much love and deference for his person, that every one complied cheerfully with his orders ; wherefore he was universally vrished for in the office of Provincial. It was an inter position of Divine Providence which disposed things in England in the manner which we have related, in order to invest him again with that honourable quality in which he attended our general chapter at Rome. Pope Urban VIIL, who had great zeal for the con version of England, was apprised that this Father had resided there as Superior of the Queen's Capuchins. He expressed a wish to see him, gave him a kind recep tion, heard him with satisfaction speak of the state of rehgion in that kingdom, of the moral virtues and kind ness of the King and the zeal of the Queen, of the pro- VOL. II. X 306 THE COURT AND TIMES OF gress which the Capuchins made under his authority, and ofthe great benefits that might reasonably be hoped for there. This account was highly pleasing to his Holiness, who gave his benediction to the Reverend Father Leonard, and granted all his requests. To these favours our chapter added the quality of definitor- general of the wliole Order of the Capuchins. So this Father left Rome, and returned to France to govern the Province of Paris, where we wUl leave him, and continue the memoirs of England. There are three royal residences in London. The principal, the usual place of abode of the King, the Queen, and the whole court, is caUed HoithaU [White haU] ; the second is called St. Jemes's [St. James's], an iUustrious palace, to which are attached a very fine garden, and an extensive park full of [blank in orig.] and one of the finest MaUs that are to be seen. The thnd bears the name of Somerset House, which belongs par ticiUarly to the Queen, and is the finest palace in all England. Of aU these houses, the Queen chose St. Jemes's for her lying-in, having with her two Capuchins, whUe the others remained at Somerset House, who, in the habit of seciUar priests, met all together on Sun days and festivals to chant vespers and complins, and to preach before her Majesty, who was happily delivered, and gave England a fine prince, then caUed Prince of Wales, and now Charles the Second, King of Great Britain. As soon as he was in the world, the King, his father, sent a gentleman to teU the Capuchins not to trouble themselves about the baptism of his son, as he would attend to it himself, and satisfy the Most Christian King, his brother, on that point. He acted in this manner for the purpose of eluding one of the most important articles of his marriage, namely, that the children born of it should be brought up and instructed in the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion tUl the age of fourteen or fifteen years, and that they should afterwards choose the religion in which they should desire to live and die. France, which was then rent with intestine war and factions, did not make all the CHARLES THE FIRST. 307 resistance that could be wished to the iiifi-action of an article, the observance of which was so necessary to the welfare ofthe King and of aU England.' To fiU the place of the Reverend Father Leonard in England, there was sent the Reverend Father Jean Marie de Tresson, who fi-om Knight of Malta had turned Capuchin on the foUowing occasion. His bro ther, who was his elder and his only brother, was learning to dance, and led the daughter of the master who iiistmcted him. She was fan-, handsome, good- tempered, agreeable in conversation, and so charmed this young gentleman that, notwithstanding her low condition, he married her. His father, who had a noble and proud heart, coiUd not submit to this disgrace : to keep up the glory of his family, he sent for his Cheva lier, made him return from Malta, obtained from Rome a dispensation from his vows, with power to marry, and told him that he would leave him sole heir to all his pos sessions on his marrying a woman of condition. The Chevalier most humbly thanked his father, and begged for time to think about the matter ; the upshot was that he coiUd not find a woman who pleased him, and with whom he should like better to aUy himseff than with the religion ofthe Capuchins.^ The Reverend Father Jean Marie de Tresson brought with him Brother Marin, of Paris, a friar fuU of fervoiu', in place of F. Blaise, who had returned to France with the Reverend Father Leonard. Both were heartUy welcome to the Queen, who had long meditated the building of a church for the exercises of rehgion and for the benefit of the other Catholics. Divine service had previously been performed in a spacious room, fitted up in form of a chapel; the zeal and address of her Majesty having obtained the consent of the King her husband, she immediately gave directions for laying the foundation of this sacred edifice immediately adjoining to Somerset House. ' Why the young prince being christened according to the Catholic ritual was " so necessary to the welfare of the King and all England," the good Father has not ventured to state. ^ Surely his researches amongst the sex must have been very limited. X 2 308 THE COURT AND TIMES OF On the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which was the 14th of September, when HeracUus, loading upon his imperial shoulders that sacred wood, bore it to Mount Calvary, whence the fiiry of the Persians had carried it away, the piety of the Queen planted the cross upon the mount of Somerset House, the first place from which heresy hurled it at the time when the religion was changed in this unhappy kingdom. A plot of ground, on which the chapel was to stand, was very tastefully fitted up in form of a church; rich tapestry served for walls; the most costly stuffs for roof; the floor was strewed with flowers, which diffused an agreeable odour. At the further end was seen an altar, garnished with magnificent ornaments, with large chandeliers of sUver gilt, and with a great number of vases, the costliness and workmanship of which ren dered them worthy of being compared with those of Solomon's Temple. The Queen knelt upon a cushion of crimson velvet under her dais, attended by the Mar quis Fontenay MareuU, ambassador of the King of France, and by a great number of other Catholic gen tlemen and ladies. M. du Peron, her grand almoner, performed high mass with solemnity, and granted some indulgences, whUe harmonious music ravished the heart. The concourse of people was so great, that it seemed as if aU the inhabitants of London had concerted to attend this noble ceremony. Mass being finished, her Majesty was conducted by the ambassador to the place where she was to lay the first stone, which she touched with her royal hand ; and then, laying hold of a trowel, the handle of which was covered with fine fringed velvet, respectfully presented to her by the in- tendant of her buUdings, and taking mortar from a large glittering basin of silver gilt, and with a grace which imparted devotion to the people, she threw it at three times upon the stone, in which was enchased a large silver plate with this inscription : — Henrica Maria, Henrici IIII. GaUorum Regis filia, Caroli I. Magnas Britannise Regis conjux, Ludovici XIII, in Gallia regnantis, et Philippi IIII, Hispaniarum Regis CHARLES THE FIRST. 309 Soror, Templum hoc singulare pietatis monimentum ad Dei optimi maximi gloriam sicut Religionis Catholicge ex- ercitium, R.R. P.P. Capucinorum provincise Parisiensis (quos in suum peculiare obsequium vocare dignata est) ad usum est Cathohcorum commodum sub fehcibus Beatissimge Virginis Marise auspiciis evexit, et primum ejus lapidem Jacobi Peronii magni sui Eleemosinarii benedictiohe consecratum, sua manu Regia posuit, die 24 Septembris, anno 1636. If the devotion of the Queen appeared great and re ceived much praise as weU from Protestants as from Cathohcs in this ceremony, her hberality was not less conspicuous. Though the workmen who began this edifice were few in number, and their experience of the bounty of her Majesty caused them to hope for large gifts, her magnificence nevertheless surpassed all their V expectations ; for, in presents and in money, they received to the amount of six thousand fi-ancs, with which they were so satisfied that they gave a thousand blessings to the Queen and made the air ring -with shouts of joy, crying and repeating a thousand times, " Long live the Queen ! — long hve the Queen !" The rumour of this ceremony gave greater eclat to the name of the Capuchins, and spread it throughout every part of the vast and populous city of London. People talked of them in their houses;" they said that they were persons so strange, wearing dresses so extra ordinary, leading so austere a life, that every one con ceived a desire to see them. Accordingly, persons of quahty, mimsters, people of aU conditions, who had never been out of the kingdom, came to see them, as one goes to see Indians, Malays, Savages, and men from the extremities of the earth. England is an abundant country, and has no taxes ; the inhabitants lead a luxurious life, far removed from the poverty of other places, for which reason austerities touch them deeply. To edify them, and to render them the more disposed to a holy conversion, the Capuchins, whom they came in crowds to see, resolved by common consent to add something striking to their austerities. 310 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Their beds are usuaUy composed of a paUlasse and a hard piUow of straw, and a blanket. They took away the paUlasses and the piUows, leaving nothing but the bare boards to he upon, using a wooden desk, instead of piUow.' This httle self-denial was admfred by the English whom curiosity had brought into their chambers. With this disposition they talked to them of the siiffer- ing life of Jesus Christ, whom it was right to imitate, of the great St. Paul, who, all confirmed in grace, chas tened his body ; of the importance of living and dying in the true religion in which such things are practised. England, formerly fuU of monasteries and of holy friars, who led that sort of hfe before the reign of Queen Eli zabeth and of King Henry VIIL, who made the schism in the Church, thus disposing them, exhibiting to them our mysteries, and grace operating in them, a great number, of all sorts of conditions, forsook heresy and embraced the orthodox faith; but the highest and the lowest conversions were not tUl after the completion of the church which her Majesty had buUt. For, all things being quieter, we acted with more fi-eedom, and never theless with great moderation, taking care that nothing should appear and occasion a noise. The English lan guage had become more famUiar to us, and easier ; one converted person brought several others, who were either related to him, or friends of his. On Sundays and festivals, our confessionals were surrounded by a crowd of penitents. At every mass there was a great number of communicants. We car ried the sacraments to the Catholics in prison, and to the sick in various places in and out of the city of Lon don, so commonly that this happened almost every day, and in such number that in one forenoon a single Ca puchin carried the sacraments sometimes to eight sick persons, in quarters and places far distant from one an other. The buUding of the chapel royal being finished, in 1636, in order to give more glory to God, and greater ' The simplicity with which these little Capuchin arts are narrated provokes a smile. CHARLES THE FIRST, 311 esteem for the Catholic religion to the Huguenots, the Queen resolved that the first mass should be held there with aU possible pomp and magnificence. To this end she gave orders to the Capuchins to omit nothing that they coiUd devise to render this solemnity august. An eminent sculptor, named Fran(;:ois Dieussart, had lately come from Rome for the Count Lacoudelle. They ap plied to him, and begged him to assist them in this pious design. He complied with a very good grace, and made a machine, which was admired even by the most inge nious persons, to exhibit the Holy Sacrament, and to give it a more majestic appearance. It represented in oval a Paradise of glory, about forty feet m height. To accommodate it to the hearing in the chapel, a great arch was supported by two pUlars towards the high altar, at the distance of about eight Roman palms from the two side walls of the chapel. The spaces between the pUlars and the waUs served for passages to go from the sacristy to the altar. The choir of music was placed with the organ and the other instruments, on either side over those vacant spaces. The piUars being planted and the arch erected, the openmg was found to be twenty-six Roman palms in -width, and thirty-seven in height. Over each side ap peared a Prophet, with a text from his prophecy. Be neath the arch was placed outside the portable altar, ten pahns in height. The ascent to it was by six steps, disposed in three orders ; the largest, which was in fi-ont with the balustres, left an unobstructed view of the altar to the persons present, and the others, on the sides, in theatrical form, were also surrounded with balustres, in order that the priests, wearing their ornaments, might easUy reach the altar without being pressed by the crowd of people. Behind the altar was seen a Para clete,' raised above seven ranges of clouds, in which were figures of archangels, of cherubim, of seraphim, to the number of two hundred, some adoring the Holy Sacrament, ^ others singing and playing on all sorts of musical instruments, the whole painted and placed ac- ' A dove, the emblem of the Holy Ghost. " The Host. 312 THE COURT AND TIMES OF cording to the rules of perspective. The Holy Sacra ment formed the point of view, with hidden hghts, but which kept increasing, so that the distance appeared very great, and the number of figures double what they were, deceiving, by an ingenious artifice, not only the eye but also the ear, aU conceivmg that, instead of the music, they heard the melody of the angels, singing and playing upon musical instru.ments. The first circle, in the form of an oval, was twenty- seven palms in height and eighteen or twenty wide, and so the other circles, decreasing in proportion to the last, which was only six and ten palms in height and vridth. The first circle contained Angels larger than life, sit ting on clouds, singing and playing on instmments : in the fourth and fifth there were Angels in the habit of deacons, some -with censers, others with incense-boxes, some kneeling in the attitude of supphcants, others prostrate, pointing at the Holy Sacrament to their com panions, all of them of a size proportioned to the dis tance. In the sixth and seventh circles were seen chil- di-en with wings in various postures, like so many httle Angels issuing from the clouds, playing together with gestures full of respect, some turned towards the centre, others showing the adorable Sacrament to the people, inviting them to rejoice and to adore it with them. In the eighth and ninth circles appeared cherubim and seraphim among the clouds, surrounded with luminous rays, with extraordinary skiU. The place where the Holy Sacrament lay had a bottom of gold, and as for the lamp to the cloth covering the Tpyx, it was a red oval with rays, the whole of which was so weU con trived and appropriate, and with such splendour, that the painting seeming to vanish, there was left nothing but the brUliancy of the lights, which caused that place to appear aU on fire. The number of the lights was about four hundred, besides the great multitude of tapers uigeniously arranged upon the altar, which hghted the first circles.' AU these things, being thus disposed, were covered with two curtains. ' Extremely ingenious and imposing: but surely such machinery was much better suited to a theatre than to a religious temple. CHARLES THE FIRST. 313 It was the 10th of December, in the year 1636, that the Queen came with aU her court to hear mass. As soon as she had taken the place prepared for her, the curtains being draAvn back, aU at once gave to view those wonders which excited admiration, joy, and adora tion in her Majesty and in aU the Catholics. At the same time, the music, composed of excellent voices, set up an anthem, the harmony of which having no outlet but between the clouds and the figures of Angels, it seemed as if the whole Paradise was fuU of music, and as ff the Angels were themselves the musicians ; those who sung being in fact concealed and not seen by any body ; thus eye and ear found at the same time gratifi cation in this contrivance of piety and skiU. The anthem being finished, the acolytes, sub-deacons, and deacons, and Monseigneur du Peron, then Bishop of Angouleme, and grand almoner of the Queen, in the pontifical habits, came forth from the sacristy, and as cended to the altar by eight steps, and celebrated with the greatest solemnity the holy mass, which was sung in eight parts so melodiously that one must have had a heart of stone not to be moved by it. Tears of joy seemed to trickle from the eyes of the Queen, con sidering, in this pious and striking ceremony, the grace which God bestowed on her to erect a church where woiUd thenceforth be celebrated aU the divine services which heresy had banished from England. It was about one hundred years since mass had been ponti- ficaUy celebrated; a multitude of Catholics thronged to receive the Holy Communion from the hand of the bishop, who gave his benediction and indulgences to those present. After dinner, her Majesty again went to attend ves pers, complins, and the sermon. The musicians, having perceived the satisfaction which the charming melody of then- singing afforded the Queen, were animated to such a degree that they far surpassed what they had done in the morning. After vespers, Monseigneur du Peron ascended the pulpit, and dehvered a very learned, very eloquent, and very pathetic sermon on this text of the Psalms : " This is the Lord's doing, and it is mar- 314 THE COURT AND TIMES OF veUous in our eyes." He dwelt with wonderfiU force upon the grace which God vouchsafed to the Queen to have a Cathohc Church, with liberty to have the whole divine service performed there, after it had been abohshed and forbidden for so many years in aU Eng land, Ireland, and Scotland. The sermon being finished with the satisfaction of the Queen, with the applause of the whole audience, which was very large, her Majesty retfred. Those who were in the chapel had great difficulty to leave it on account of the crowd of people who were bent on forcing thefr way in to see the magnificence displayed there. The crush lasted so long that it was impossible to close the doors of the church tiU the thfrd night, when the King gave orders that it should be cleared of strangers, for he was desirous to be himself a spectator of that magnificent representation. Accordingly, he went thither, attended by his grand marshal, the comptroUer of his household, and some other gentlemen. He admired the composition, kept his eyes fixed upon it for a very long time, and said aloud, that he had never seen anything more beautiful or more ingeniously designed. To satisfy the devotion of the Cathohcs and the curiosity of the Protestants, who never ceased coming in crowds from aU parts to behold this wonder, the report of which had spread in aU quarters, fi-om the 8th of December, the day consecrated to the immaculate conception of the most Blessed Vfrgin, the Queen, with great prudence, ordered the chapel to be left vrith aU its decorations tUl Christmas. This religious and brUliant ceremony was foUowed by exercises of piety, which her Majesty's Capuchins continued ever afterwards in her chapel. From six o'clock in the morning there were successively masses, and in general communions, tUl noon. Not a day passed without bringing some penitents to the con fessionals. On Sundays and festivals, the throng was so great that one could not get in without great diffi culty. Persons were obliged to wait two or three hours before they could enter a confessional. On those days. CHARLES TIIE FIRST. 315 a controversial lecture was held from oue o'clock tUl two, immediately before vespers, which the Capuchins and the musicians, placed in two galleries opposite to each other, sang alternately. When vespers were finished, the preacher momited the pulpit, and preached for the space of an hour or tlu-ee quarters on the gospel of the day, tou.ching occasionaUy upon certain contro versial points, to confii-m the Catholics in their faith, and to draw Huguenots thither. Compline was then sung. Then followed various conferences, some of piety with Catholics, others of rehgion -with the Secta ries, who came eagerly to be instructed in our creed, and to have their doubts resolved. The Christian doctrine was publicly taught in French and English on three different days in each week. Every Thiu-sday there were expoimded in French for the French all the symbols of the faith, the command ments of God and of the Church, the Sacrament, the Lord's Prayer, the way to confess and communicate properly, and to pass the day in a Christian manner: and for the English the same things were taught in their language every Wednesday and Saturday. The Capuchin employed in this holy duty first catechised all the children, who were very numerous, and then held a short discourse, expatiating upon the great gratitude which they owed to God for all the benefits which they had received from him, and particularly for their voca tion to the Catholic religion, as it was really true that there was no salvation for those who are separated fi-om it, and die in that uiUiappy separation. This touched the Protestants who attended those lectures. Concei-ving this proposition to be false, they wished to inform themselves more solidly and more at leisure of the reasons and grounds in private conferences, in which they were convinced of this tmth, afterwards renounced their errors, and desired to be reconcUed to the Catholic Church, which their forefathers had criminaUy forsaken. The Queen had obtained from the most Reverend Father General of the Jacobins the establishment of the 316 THE COURT AND TIMES OF confraternity of the Holy Rosary in her chapel, with that of the thfrd order of our seraphic Father St. Francis ; the Father Superior of the Capuchins, destined for the service of the chapel, was director of the two confraternities. The Queen, who had always regarded the most Blessed Virgin as her good mistress and her dear mother, and who had always had great reverence for the seraphic Father Francis, applied very humbly to be inscribed and incorporated in both confraternities. The Cathohcs of her court, gentlemen and ladies, small and great, and innumerable people with them, followed her in this devotion. Every Saturday in the year, the litanies of the Blessed Vfrgin and other reverential services were sung with great solemnity in that chapel dedicated to the glory of that celestial lady, who was held in such great veneration by the Catholics, French and English, The brothers and sisters of the confra ternity of the Rosary met, confessed, and communicated regularly on the first Sunday in every month. The brothers and sisters of the third order did the same every second Sunday. On these days were held celebrated processions, which were attended out of curiosity by many sectaries, some of whom, touched by them, sought conferences and were converted. Monsieur the Marquis de Fontenay MareuU, a very prudent and very vfrtuous gentleman, who had conducted us to England, having finished his embassy, had orders to return to France. The Reverend Father Basile, of Reims, and the most Venerable Father Seraphin, of Compiegne, who had served him as preachers, almoners, confessors, and chaplains, during his embassy, accom panied him on his return. He had for his successor in this iUustrious post the Marquis de Poigny, a gentleman of high probity, who desfred to have two Capuchins of the Province of Paris, hke his predecessor. The ad vanced age of Father BasUe of Reims required rather retfrement and rest than the laborious duties of mis sionary. This idea led our Superiors to resolve to leave him in France with his companion, and to give M. de Poigny two other Capuchins. These were the Reverend CHARLES THE FIRST. 317 Father Vincent, and Father Charles, both of Beauvais, and both endowed with estimable qualities. The most Venerable Father Charles has shown his zeal and pru dence in the office of guardian, confessor, and director of nuns, at Senlis. As for the Reverend Father Vin cent, God had ennobled him with a penetrating mind, and a great facUity of speaking learnedly about every thing, on aU sorts of subjects, and with ability to express his ideas with pecuhar clearness. These valuable talents caused him to be in great request in England, won for him mightUy the affection of the ambassador, who avaUed himself of his counsel and loved him dearly. He saw with pleasure his chapel always fiiU of Catholics and Protestants, drawn thither by the excellent sermons of that Father; but he rejoiced much more at the secret conferences which he had with the principal ministers, particular friends ofthe Archbishop of Canterbury, who wished with him to bring the Protestant rehgion so near to the Roman Church, that a union should ensue almost imperceptibly.' The devil, fearful of this important result, which would tend to the ruin of his power, excited an unfor tunate persecution against the Reverend Father Vincent, which caused him to be recaUed to France -with his companion. The ambassador was so deeply affected at this, that the violence of his grief put an end to his life and consigned him to the tomb. The Reverend Father Joseph, prefect of the mission, learned too late how much that good Father promoted the prosperity of the Catholic Church in England, and repented of having given his assent to his recall. On his return to France, he was elected chief warden of the Pro-vince of Paris for the general Chapter, and afterwards first definitor and warden of the great convent of Paris, where he died a holy death. Before him the Reverend Father Esm6, of Beauvais, had returned to France by order of our Superiors, who ' This archbishop was Laud : he was tho leader of the " Puseyites"of the seven teenth century, and an intrigue was on foot at Rome, at this period, to procure him a Cardinal's hat, for his eminent services in advancing the Romish religion in England. 318 THE COURT AND TIMES OF sent for him to take the office of warden of the convent of Amiens. He had preached four or five successive Lents before the Queen, to her extraordmary satisfaction, for which reason she wished to keep him for her chapel; however, after several efforts and importunities, she per mitted him to return to France. From the very Iirst sermon that she heard from his lips — it was, as I have already remarked, on our arrival in London, the third Sunday in Lent — she talked of it to the King, with warm commendations, and ever continued to entertain that high esteem for his insinuating suavity and per suasive eloquence. I never saw a man stronger in reasons and less envious of petty advantages, even in things which are commonly connected vrith devotion; such as rosaries of rare wood, handsome medals, cruci fixes of superior workmanship, fine and well bound breviaries. Obedience kept him for a long time at the convent of Soissons. He taught our young friars phi losophy and theology, and afterwards held the office of warden, in which he ended this miserable hfe, to com mence, as we trust, a happy one which shall have no end. His virtues rendered him, agreeably to his name, beloved of every one, especially of the gentlemen of the town of Soissons, and, above all, of Madame d'Elboeuf, abbess of the royal monastery of Notre Dame. Having known the great prudence and strength of his mind, she made him superintendent of her affafrs, and foUowed his counsels. On this account she manifested great grief for his death, and formed the design of erecting a tomb to perpetuate the memory of so worthy a friar. This intention, which, for reasons, was not carried into effect, showed the great piety and the constant affection of that princess. The successor of the Reverend Father Esm6 in the mission of England was the most Venerable Father Francois Marie Boduel, a friar of a superior under standing, of angehc purity, of ardent zeal, and most exemplary character. Now that he is dead, I can say this to his honour, for I knew him intimately in quality of his confessor, during the course of several years. CHARLES THE FIRST. 319 After his return to France with the other Capuchins, whom an order from the Parliament obliged to leave the kingdom, the knowledge of his virtues induced our Reverend Fathers to give him first the office of Master of the novices at Paris, in oiu^ convent of St. Jacques, and afterwards that of warden at the same place. He was thence sent to the convent of Troyes, for which he had a more particular affection, because he had been, as it were, regenerated there by the exercises of his noviciate and by his religious profession, and there renewed his first fervours, gave himself up entfrely to prayer and to attendance on the sick, who were very numerous in the convent. He there foimd what he sought, namely, the grace to end, by death, his regular Iffe where he began it. His attentions, his fatigues, his watchings with the sick, brought upon him a violent fever, which reduced him to extremity. He begged pardon of all his brethren, both absent and present, received aU the last sacraments vrith great devotion, and expired ; pronouncing thisword of Jesus, " Mary," whom he had always greatly loved. The most Venerable Father Jean Louys, of Arancy, having passed six or seven years in the service of the Queen's chapel, and in the exercises of the mission, re ceived from our Superiors an obedience to return to the Province of Paris. As he was of noble birth, of a gene rous heart, and of great zeal, for the defence and the advancement of the Cathohc religion, he thought, in his youth, that he coiUd not succeed better than by making himseff a Knight of Malta. Accordingly, he was re ceived into that Order, and employed in expeditions against the Turks, in which he signalized his courage and valour. This success did not puff up his heart, but kindled there a desire to raise himself to stOl higher perfection. He turned his thoughts to aU the conditions, on all the professions, on aU the religious orders, in which he might be most certain to acquire it. He con sidered all of them with attention ; and, at last, after long meditation on this subject, the religion of the Capuchins seemed to him most apostolic, and best suited to his 320 THE COURT AND TIMES OF purpose. He resolved, therefore, to embrace it, and to change his cuirass for a hair shirt, his helmet for a cowl; his baldrick for a thick cord, and his sword for a bre viary ; in short, he resolved in his mind to pass, if he could, from the Order of Malta into that of the Capu chins. He besought this favour, addressed earnest soh- citations to our Superiors, and, foUowing up the business with ardour, he obtained his desfre, to his great satisfac tion.' In the year of his noviciate, and in that which followed profession, there were remarked in him a fervent soul and a spfrit so mortified that he usuaUy added fiirther austerities to those prescribed in our Order. His fer vour, together with his other exceUent qualities, induced our Superiors to put him to the study of philosophy and theology, in which he succeeded weU. He received the sacred character of priest, and was chosen for the mission in England, in which he made wonderfiU pro gress. Knowing from experience that it was necessary to speak the language of the country, in order to con verse with the Protestants, and to draw them gently to the true faith, to serve the English Catholics in the con fessionals, in catechising, in preaching, he apphed him self to the study of that language with such assiduity, that he outstripped aU the other missionaries, and was the first who heard the confessions of the English. Frequently he had not leisure to take his meals, so much was he occupied with confessions, with attending the sick, and vrith conferences with heretics, the number of whom converted was very great. The devil, enraged at this progress.^ raised up for him a wicked sorceress., whom he had infinite trouble to withdraw from the slavery of Satan ; and, to gain her for God, he employed fasting, discipline, prayer, exorcisms, and inexpressible labours, which seemed to have obtained from Heaven the con version of this wretched creature ; but, after several re nouncements of the devil, after many protestations to live as a true Christian, she always relapsed into her ' This is the second instance related by PSre Cyprien of a Knight of Malta having turned Capuchin CH.^RI.ES THE FIRST. 321 diabolical engagement. I know not how this ended;' but I know that Father Jean Louys, after his return to France, greatly advanced the glory of God there, by his fervent preaching, by his catechising, by the confessions of the penitents whom he converted, by aU the functions of missionary, which he performed in various places for several years ; lastly, by his mortified and religious ex ample, which excited to -rirtue those who considered -with attention the greatness of his zeal and the holiness of his actions . The most Venerable Father Victor, of Paris, was sent in his place ; and, after him, the most Venerable Father de Vautelet, by the special favour of their Britannic Majesties, under the foUowing circumstances :— M. de Vautelet, equerry to the Queen, and his -wife, dame des atoms., earnestly besought her to prevaU upon the King, her husband, to permit Father Robert de Vautelet, Ca- puchm Preacher, their brother, to go from France to England, and to be added to the ten Capuchins, who, by an agreement between the two Crowns, were em ployed in the service of the chapel of the Queen. Without ha-ving power to increase the number, the King granted the request, and this Father came to be incorporated in the famUy of her Majesty's Capu chins. He was a friar of great sanctity, and extremely la borious, who had long performed mission duties, and the office of warden in France. He slept very httle, was endowed with so exceUent a memory as to forget nothing of what he read, and preached extempore vrith the greatest facihty on aU occasions and on all kinds of subjects. After his banishment from England, with the rest ofthe Queen's Capuchins, having learned that theHoly Congregation de Fide Propaganda was applying to our Reverend Father Provincial for some Capuchins to un dertake the mission duties at Neocesarea, he offered himseff, with great fervour of mind, for that employ ment, which was given to him. He embarked, there- ' Father Cyprien has just said that the Sorceress " always relapsed:'' conse quently, the struggle must have ended to the disadvantage of Father Jean. VOL, II. Y 322 THE COURT AND TIMES OF fore, with some other Capuchins, as their Superior. After several great difficiUties and some terrible dangers, he arrived at Neocesarea, where he spared neither pains, nor labour, nor address, to advance the glory of God ; but, meeting vrith powerfrU obstacles, which thwarted his pious designs and rendered aU his efforts useless, he was obhged to go to Constantinople. The ambassador of the King of France, who resides in that capital city of Greece, received and kept him for some time in his house. Such were the pleasure, instruction, and conso lation which he found in his company, that he could not suffer him to depart. The extraordinary memory and extensive reading of that Father furnished ever new subj ects of conversation. They were, nevertheless, obliged to separate : the Reverend Father Prefect of the missions having given him the office of Superior in our convent at Smyrna. He went thither, and acquitted himself worthUy of that duty. No sooner was Monseigneur the Bishop of Cehca acquainted vrith his merits, than he honoured him vrith the -appointment of his grand vicar, at which some Friars of another Order, who aspired to that dignity, manifested great discontent. He persevered, however, and acquitted himseff of it to the satisfaction of every one, and particularly of him who had conferred on him that office. He laboured powerfuUy for the conversion of the schismatic Greeks, at confessions and Christian instructions, and in preaching. At length, God, to reward his merits, sent a disease, which removed him from the earth to place him in heaven, as we have every reason to beheve, from the innocence of his life and the hohness of his actions. Previously to the coming ofthe Capuchins to England, schism had infiised an extraordinary aversion to the Pope and the Catholics into the minds of the Protestants. They held, as an article of faith, that the Pope was Antichrist and the Catholics idolaters, infidels, blood thfrsty, seditious, enemies of peace and of kings. In fact, all those men, coUected from aU parts of the king dom, who composed the Parhament, haring enacted against them those terrible statutes which I shaU pre- CHARLES THE FIRST. 323 sently eniunerate, how could the simplicity of the most reserved faU to be taken by surprise? how was it pos sible to entertam any good feeling for a religion jjto- hibited as highly dishonourable to God and most perni cious to the State, condemned by three or four hundred persons assembled, by lords, by prelates, by doctors, by men of all professions, by the whole elite of England, publishing horrible ordinances against those who pro fessed and practised that religion? I have coUected some of these ordinances, which will show you the pitiable state of the Catholics who lived at that time in England, Scotland, and Ireland. They are from a grave and trustworthy author, who extracted them from the Acts of divers English Parliaments, and, to make them known to aU Europe, inserted them in a book printed at Treves in the year 1583, and intituled " Concertatio Ecclesise Catolicse in Anglia, adversus Calvinos, Papistas, et Puritanos." These iniquitous ordinances are of two sorts : some end in the privation of temporal goods, the confiscation of lands, pecuniary fines, the loss of revenues, imprison ment, and banishment; and others, much more severe, requfre blood and death, condemn priests to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, their quarters to be exposed upon iron spikes on London Bridge ; by a horrible confiision, causing them to pass for egregious traitors, for the most atrocious malefactors, though not accused, much less convicted, of robbery or murder, of any attempt against the King or the State, or of any other crime, but merely of being a priest; so unjust and detestable are those laws, the first of which, relative to pecuniary punish ment, is as foUows : 1. Whosoever shaU refuse to attend the preaching and prayers of the minister tn the Protestant church, and shaU pass a month without paying that attendance, shall be obliged to pay twenty pounds sterling — (a pound sterling is equivalent to 13 or 14 francs of our money) — Wlioever is unable to pay that sum, shaU abide in prison till such time as he has paid that fine. 2. Whosoever shall be convicted of having heard y 2 324 THE COURT AND TIMES OF mass, though privately, shaU be imprisoned for one whole year, and shaU not be released fi-om prison tUl he has paid two hundred and eleven crowns; and the priest who has said mass shaU be imprisoned for the same time, and pay four hundi-ed and twenty crowns for each several time that the eridence of witnesses shaU attest his having performed that ceremony. 3. Every ecclesiastic who wiU not pubhcly renoimce the Romish Chta-ch, and the authority of the Pope, shaU be deprived of aU benefice and ecclesiastical dig nity whatsoever. 4. Scholars and masters shaU not be received into the CoUeges of the Universities, nor admitted to degrees, tUl they have ffrst swoi-n that the Pope has no authority in the affafrs of the Church. 5. No person shaU act as a magisti-ate, or hold any office, tUl he has pubhcly made the same renunciation of the Pope and of the Romish Chm-ch. 6, Wards, having attained the competent age, cannot be put into possession of thefr property, tUl they have taken this oath, 7, The same oath must be taken by the members of the lower House of Parhament; otherwise, thefr votes shaU not be received, 8. AU persons beneath the dignity of Baron, refiisuig at two different times to make this renunciation of the Pope and the Romish Church, shaU be deprived of their goods, possessions, revenues, and be imprisoned during the term of thefr natural hves. 9. AU those who shaU deny that the Queen is the supreme head of the Church of England sliaU be hable to the same punishment. 10. AU who shaU receive or keep medals, crosses of gold or sUver, crucifixes, and such hke things blessed by the Pope of Rome, shaU also suffer the loss of aU thefr goods and imprisonment for hfe. 11. Whosoever shaU keep in his house, for the in struction of his chUdren, a teacher, Avho shaU not attend the Protestant church, and who shaU not be approved by a Protestant bishop, shaU pay every month a fine of CHARLES THE FIRST. 325 thirty-three crowns, and continue this payment till he has dismissed such teacher from his house. 12. AU the property, moveable and immoveable, houses, lands, and revenues, of one who shall know that some person has reconciled another to the Church of Rome, and shall not, for the space of twenty days, have declared it to the magistrate, shall be confiscated. As for his hfe, that shall be disposed of according to the good pleasure of the Queen. 13. Wliosoever shaU know two persons, one of whom has reconciled the other to the Chm-ch of Rome, though he himself does not belong to it, if he does not inform against both before the pubhc magistrate, shall suffer the like penalty. 14, In like maimer, he who shaU have reconciled another, and in any way aided such reconcUiation, though not himself reconcUed, shall be liable to the same penalty. 15. Whosoever shall know that any one has adrised obedience to be paid to the Pope of Rome in ecclesias tical causes, and not have denounced him to the magis trate, shaU forfeit aU his goods, as above. 16. Whosoever has suffered another to talk to him about obeying the Pope of Rome in ecclesiastical matters, and not given information against that person, shall be punished by imprisonment and loss of goods, 17. Whosoever knows that a priest has given abso lution to any person, and does not make it known to the magistrate, shaU suffer the like punishment, 18, Whosoever knows any priest that has power to ab solve, though he does not exercise it, if he does not give information against him, is liable to the same penalty. 19, Whosoever knows some one who says that he has power to absolve, though he reaUy has not, and does not inform the magistrate, shaU be punished with imprison ment, and the forfeiture of aU his. goods, 20. Whosoever knows that some one has absolved another, whether the absolution was solicited or not, and does not denounce both parties, shall incur aU the penal ties above mentioned. ,326 THE COURT AND TIMES OF 21. Wliosoever knows some one who has dissuaded from the religion now public in England, that is to say, the Protestant, and endeavoured to draw away some other person to the Romish religion, and to obedience to the Pope, if, in the space of twenty days, he faUs to inform the magistrate, his goods shall be forfeited, and he shaU be imprisoned for life. Such were the most unjust, accursed, detestable, pe cuniary laws : yet there were others which far exceed them in cruelty, which make innocence pass for the crime of lese-majesty, that is to say, for the greatest of all crimes, which breathe nought but mm-der, blood, fire, and carnage, with the infamous calumny of treason, to throw odium upon the Catholics put to death in this manner, and to rob them, in the estimation of the people, of the glory which belongs to them — that of martyrs losing their lives in defence of the true faith. The first of these laws is the foUo-wing : 1. Whosoever shaU have said, written, affirmed, or signified, in any manner, by ciphers, or, being required, shall have confessed that the Pope of Rome is head of the Church of England, or, that he has power in eccle siastical matters, such person shall be guUty of the crime of high treason, and suffer the punishment ordained for traitors to the State. 2. Whosoever shall have made any appeal to the Pope, and obtained from him any bulls, or the like, and brought them to England, shall undergo the pimish- ment due to the crime of high treason. 3. Whosoever shaU bring to England agnus dels, beads, medals, and such like things, blest by the Pope of Rome, shaU be held guUty of the crime of high treason. 4. Whosoever shaU have said, written, signified, or confessed, that the Queen of England is heretic or schismatic, shall suffer the same punishment, 5. Whosoever shaU have reconcUed any one to the communion of the Romish Church shall be liable to the like punishment. 6. Whosoever shall have refused three different times to renounce the Pope of Rome and to avow the supreme CHARLES THE FIRST. 327 authority of the Queen in ecclesiastical matters, shaU be giiUty of the same crime of high treason, 7. Wliosoever shaU have been voluntarily reconciled to the commmiion of the Romish Church shall suffer the same penalty ; which is likewise awarded in all the fol lowing cases, viz. : — 8. "^Vhosoever shaU have procured the reconcUiation of another to the commmiion of the Romish Church ; 9. Whosoever shaU have advised some one to be recon ciled, though -vrithout having managed that reconcihation ; 10. Whosoever shaU have persuaded another to obey the Pope of Rome in ecclesiastical matters ; 11. Whosoever shaU have aUowed himself to be per suaded to that obedience ; 12. Whosoever shaU have procured or instigated the persuading of any one to this obedience ; 13, Whosoever shaU have promised to obey the Pope of Rome in ecclesiastical matters at some future time ; 14, If any priest absolves one of the Queen's subjects ; 15. Whosoever shaU have the power to absolve in England, though he never exercises that power ; 16. Whosoever says that he has that power, though, in fact, he has not ; 17. Whosoever has received that absolution, whether he has applied for it or not ; 18. Whosoever shaU have procured absolution for another ; 19. Whosoever shaU have advised another to get absolved, though he has not procured that absolution ; 20. Whosoever shaU have advised absolving in gene ral, vrithout having decided any particular person to that absolution ; 21. Whosoever shaU have dissuaded from the Pro testant religion, wilfully preventing another from em bracing it, to draw him to the communion of the Romish Church and to obedience to the Pope of Rome : This last, and all the others convicted on the above- mentioned charges, shaU be guUty of the crime of high treason, and as such condemned and taken to prison from the prison dragged on a hurdle to the place of execution, and there hung by the executioner to the 328 THE COURT AND TIMES OF gaUows ; and, when it shall be admitted that they are strangled, he shall cut the cord that held them sus pended, he shall lay them upon the ground near a great fire, strip them stark naked, cut off their privities, which he shall throw into the flames, rip open the beUy, tear out the bowels, separate from them the heart whUe stUl palpitating, which he shaU hold up to the people, crymg vrith a loud voice, " This is the heart of a traitor!" cut the body into four pieces, which he shaU boU and stick on the top of iron pikes, which shaU be set up in various pu.blic places, as a mark of their perfidy and in horror of thefr treason.' Are not these executions barbarous, horrible, and frightful, and for innocent crimes, for holy actions, for noble practices, which, in the sight of God, are deserving of eternal rewards ! Can the most detestable crimes of which enraged malice is capable be prohibited with more laws, in more different ways, with more subtilty, more address, more captious cfrcumstances, to catch the most moderate, and are there punishments more atrocious ! This it is that renders the memory of Queen Elizabeth infamous, exe crable,^ aU these new ordinances having been made at her instigation and under her authority ; but, on the con trary, it is what gives wonderful lustre to the piety and zeal of Queen Henrietta Maria of Bourbon, who under took to bring over a nimcio from the Pope to England, notvrithstanding that horrible aversion to the Pope and to the Romish Church.^ The conversations of the Protestants with the Capu chins contributed greatly to promote that holy and generous undertaking. Having heard talk of thefr way of hfe and their dress, they were brought by curiosity to the Fathers, They spoke to them, conversed with them, were tamed by degrees, inquired concerning thefr ' These barbarous penalties are unfortunately derived from the dreadful code of punishments for religious offences first instituted by the Romish Church, and prac tised in various countries, either through the agency of the Inquisition or other ecclesiastical court, and indicate the impression left on the public mind by the burnings and torturings that disgraced the reign of Queen Mary. 2 And renders still more inlamous and execrable the memory of her immediate predecessor — her example m religious persecution. 3 For an account of Henrietta Maria's proceedings with the Pontiff, the reader is referred to Dr. Lingard, chap. 5, vol ix. CHARLES THE FIRST. 329 faith, which they found totaUy different from what it had been represented to them. From the ministers they learned vrith astonishment that the Cathohcs were far from the sentiments which were attributed to them re specting the person of the Pope, not believing that he was a God, or some such divinity, to whom adoration is paid, but a mortal man, and in his own person a sinner, hke other men, although vicegerent of Christ, successor of St, Peter, head and pastor of the universal Church ; that such was the faith of the true believers, who were in lilce manner taught to adore no other sovereign than God alone, to flee from rebeUion and sedition, to pray for their princes, to obey them in every thing that is not contrary to God; to endure vrith patience persecu tion, banishment, imprisonment, loss of property, and death itself, for the maintenance and the defence of thefr faith. These genuine persuasions, impressed upon the minds of several who risited the Capuchins, insinuated them selves among those of the court and the palace, even to the King, The piety of the Queen avaUed itself of this favourable occasion to solicit the King's permission to have pubhcly in England a nuncio of the Pope. She had shortly before sent to Rome the Chevaher ChavU- ton' and the Chevaher Digby as her agents to Urban VIIL, who then filled the chair of St. Peter, and who manifested great kindness. for aU the Enghsh, Catholics and Protestants, but who had a particular affection for the Queen, whom he honoured as his dearest daughter with presents, among others, of a very rich shrine, con taining the rehcs of St. Martin. Her Majesty, being at Paris, gave it to the Carmelites ofthe Rue St. Jacques. In this favourable disposition, the Queen, assisted by grace, obtained what she desired -with such ardour ; to the great delight and astonishment of aU the Catholics, she had the King's consent that nuncios on the part of his Holiness should come over to her. The first was Monsieur de Pansany [Panzani],''' canon of St. Peter's, ' Sir William Harailton, brother of Lord Abercorn. 2 Dr. Lingard says the first was Leander, an English Benedictine monk, and the second, Panzani, an Italian priest. — History of England, vol. ix, p. 314. 330 THE COURT AND TIMES OF at Rome; the Pope made him a bishop on his retm-n; the second, Monsieur Carne, a native of Scotland, who was created cardinal on his return to Rome, where he died on his arrival; the third. Monsieur Rosetty, who saw the commencement of the troubles of the regicide Parliament, from whom he suffered many vexations, which his Holiness compensated with a cardinal's hat. He is highly esteemed at Rome at the moment that I am writing these memofrs. These nuncios had successively their chapels open to all the Catholics, to the great discontent of the Puritans, who, filled vrith animosity and fury against the Pope, were enraged to see these ecclesiastical prelates sent from Rome so well received by the King, -with permis sion to profess pubhcly what they caUed Popery. From morning till noon, masses were continuaUy said in thefr chapels; the Cathohcs attended them: there were no pursuivants to hinder any persons, or to oppose their devotion. The nuncios paid thefr court to the King and to the Queen. They were known to every body. Their carriages roUed along the streets of London, without any one daring to say a word against them ; and the sectaries, undeceived, began to believe and regard as a real prince, a legitimate lord, and an amiable sove reign, him whom the envenomed calumny of the clergy had before caused to be reputed a wicked usm-per, a bloodthirsty tyrant, an enemy of God, a detestable anti- Christ. Zeal for religion having rendered the Queen so estimable to all the Cathohcs, particularly in the court of Rome, it is no wonder that those whom she sent thither were soweUreceived. Here is one instance among others. A bad lying-in had placed her Majesty in evident danger of death. As she had always been brought up in very great devotion to the Blessed Vfrgin, and was singularly attached to her, she had recourse to her powerful intercession. With great humility and fervour, she prayed, in this extreme necessity, for her assistance, and she received immediately an extraordinary ease, which was foUowed by a very happy delivery and per fect health. In gratitude for so great a benefit, she CHARLES THE FIRST. 331 made a very rich, very valuable, and very magnificent present to the chapel of Om- Lady of Loretto, and ap pointed the Reverend Father Jean Marie de Treston, then Superior of the Capuchins of her chapel, to be the bearer of it. Honoiu-ed vrith this royal commission, he went to Rome, where he had no sooner arrived than the Pope and the cardinals desired to see him. He received such welcome, such testimonies of affection, such caresses, such honours, that his humUity must have sunk under them, if it had not been very sohd. At this time, aU was quiet in England. There were no persecutions against the Cathohcs; aU the King's subjects lived in universal peace, through the vrise con duct and counsels of the Earl of Portland,' high treasurer and president of his Majesty's councU, He had private correspondence with the Reverend Father Joseph of Paris, a Capuchin, whom Cardinal Richeheu kept about him out of respect. This nobleman favoured the Queen's Capuchms, but underhand, clandestinely, and in secret ; to prevent its bemg known that he had an inclination to Popery, as they term it. This intercourse with the Reverend Father Joseph, and this secret affection which he entertained for the Capuchins, were followed by a success highly conducive to his salvation. For, some time afterwards, a grievous iUness obliging him to rehnquish eartlUy affairs, and to think only of those of heaven, grace opened his eyes, to see the newness, the instabihty, the falsity of the Protestant sect, and the continual antiquity, the mvari- able firmness, the infaUible truth, ofthe Catholic Church, in which his ancestors had hved hohly and died happUy. In these pious sentiments, he apphed for a priest, re nounced heresy, embraced tlie orthodox faith, was honoured with a visit by the King, to whom he de livered the stick of the office of high treasurer, with these few words : " Sire, with respect and gratitude I re tm-n this stick mto the hands of yom- Majesty, lamenting exceedingly that I have been less faithful to God than ' As he was created Earl of Portland in 1633, and died the following year, we are enabled to mark the date of this tr-anquil period. 332 THE COURT AND TIMES OF to yom- service." — " No, no," said the Kmg; " the stick cannot be better than in your hands ; there I wish it to remain." — Whereupon the treasurer replied, " Sire, I am no longer capable of holding it, for two reasons : the first, because I do not expect to recover from this iUness; the second, which wUl appear hatefiU, but which I neither can nor ought to conceal from your Majesty, is, that, by the grace of God, I am now a Cathohc." — " Only get better," rejoined the King; "the Catholic religion shaU not prevent your retaining this stick." His Majesty returned deeply affected at the dangerous iUness of so good a minister, who took, instead of the baton of treasurer, the baton of the cross. And, kissing that, having received the sacrament and extreme unction, he departed this life vrith the marks of a predestined soul. His successor, as first minister of State, was the Arch bishop of Canterbury,' who, under the authority of the King, undertook to effect a uniformity of the Protestant i-eligion throughout Great Britain, which comprises England and Scotland, resolved to introduce the cere monies into the Church, and ordered the clergy to wear the surphce in the performance of thefr duty. To back this prelate, several ministers began to preach publicly quite the contrary of what had before been believed — such as the foUovring truths : that the Pope is not Anti- Christ ; that ceremonies are necessary in the Church ; that auricular confession is obligatory on every one who has sinned; that in the Christian religion there must be altars. Not content with proclaiming these truths from the pulpit, they composed divers books, which were printed, pubhshed, and distributed in aU quarters, I leave you to conceive with what consolation to the Cathohcs ; while the Puritans, that is to say, the Calvinists, were inflamed with wi-ath, fury, and rage. Peccator videbit et irascetur ; dentibus suis fremet et tabescet. At that time we were much visited by Pro testant ministers, who conversed very familiarly with us, wiUingly listened to the reasons of our belief, in- ' Laud. CHARLES THE FIRST. 333 quired concerning our ceremonies, came to the Queen's chapel to learn the practice of them, admitted that the Catholic was the true Church, but, withheld by the con sideration of their benefices and of their wives, imagined that they coiUd be saved in the Protestant Church, having, they said, the same fiindamental points as the Church of Rome.' An English Countess, who had always been brought up in the Protestant religion, living very near our house, desirous to know what sort of people we were, came fre quently to see us. By degrees, she took a liking to our conversation, and conceived a totaUy different opinion of our faith from that with which ministers had fiUed her mind; was assailed by various doubts touching the Protestant religion ; became finally persuaded that the Catholic rehgion had always subsisted'^ that her ancestors had lived and died in it ; that, ever since the first preach ing of the gospel, all the saints who reign gloriously in heaven had been Catholics ; that, before the schism of King Henry VIIL, England, united to the Roman Church, had peopled Paradise vrith great numbers of saints.^ These truths, accompanied by other solid reasons, excited in that lady a profound respect for the Cathohc religion, and urged her to embrace its faith : but, in a matter so difficult and so important, though endowed vrith an exceUent understanding, nevertheless, diffident of herself, she inquired if we would agree to a conference in English, upon her business, with two Enghsh divines, chaplains to the King. We answered that the proposal was very disadvantageous to us, because the English language was foreign to us and natural to those ministers ; yet, for the sake of her con version and the salvation of her soul, we would joyfuUy ' I'his movement of a certain portion of the Established Church to assimilate its ceremonies as closely as possible to those of the Catholics is almost identical with that of the Puseyites. ^ The good lady might have been persuaded, but, if she possessed any historical knowledge, she could not have been convinced ofthis. ' The object of the Reformation was to return to that pure faith in which the Saints had died, and from which the Church of Rome had, in each succeeding century, more and more departed, till it hail degenerated into a confused jumble of idolatrous ceremonies and superstitious legends, the greater portion of whioh were as much at variance with common sense as with genuine Christianity. 334 THE COURT AND TIMES OF accept it, provided that the whole should be kept secret, so as not to give offence either to the King or to the State. She gave us a solemn promise to this effect. With this assurance. Father Cyprien of Gamache, who spoke English, went to her house with Father Fran9ois Marie Baduel, who merely served for companion, not understanding the English language. They found in the house of this lady two of the most eminent Enghsh dirines. After several civUities, they entered into dis putation on the reality of the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Holy Sacrament and on the communion, in one kind only. God gave such a blessing to the disputation that the lady left the Protestant Church, and made a generous profession of the Catholic faith, in which she stUl continues to this day to manifest great zeal and fervour.' Prince WiUiam of Nassau, son ofthe Prince of Orange, having come to England to seek Mary Stuart, eldest daughter of King Charles I. in marriage. Dr. Vane, .almoner, otherwise chaj^lain, to his Majesty, one of the ablest and most eminent of his dirines, was appointed to preach before that young prince' in a large apartment in Somerset House, The Queen's chapel was very near to it. Father Cyprien of Gamache was then preaching there, and saw the mmister famUiarly, mani fested gi-eat friendshij) for him, conversed "with him mUdly on the diversity of religions, one of which only was the true one; proved, by strong reasons, that this true religion was that of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Romish Church. The minister admitted that one might certauUy be saved in it, but that salvation was not ex cluded from the Protestant Church, which agreed with the Romish in aU those fiindamental pomts. He was told in reply that the sacraments are fiindamental points, and particularly the Lord's Supper, in which the two religions are opposed : and, since it was admitted that certam points were fundamental and not others, all that ' We should have been better satisfied of the truth of this statement, had Father Cyprien given the names of the lady and the " most eminent English Divines ;" but the good Father continually perplexes us with a deficiency of memory in respect to names and dates. CHARLES THE FIRST. 335 God has revealed and that is proposed by the Holy Church belongs alike to the faith, and must be alike believed by true behevers. These reasons, and several others, threw the minister into great agitation; but worldly interests, the revenues of several benefices, which he must have lost on embracing the Catholic religion, induced him to continue in the Protestant. A few months afterwards he feU so sick that he ex pected to die. AU the conferences which had passed on the subject of religion then recurred to his mind. He made serious reflections upon them ; weighed vrith great care the reasons adduced in favour of the Church of Rome ; and, finaUy, being convinced that it was the only true one, he sent at night to beg Father Cyprien to come to see him. On his arrival, " Father," said he, " om- conferences, with the grace of God, have en hghtened my mind. I doubt no longer that the Cathohc, Apostolic, and Roman Church is the true one. I am resolved to live and die ih it. I believe aU that it beheves, and reject and condemn all that it con demns. I wUl make, if you please, the profession to you." After some mstructions on so important a sub ject, he confessed with a strong feeling of grief, received absolution of his heresy and of his other sins ; and the foUowing night, according to his desfre, the Holy Com munion and extreme unction were adminstered to him. Instead of dying in these holy dispositions, as it was vrished, being so weU prepared, he recovered his health, preached in his parish with the permission of his con fessor, a thoroughly Catholic sermon, which deprived him of all his temporal goods, and banished him from England. His wife and his children, after several re fusals, followed him in his conversion and banishment. They live -with him in Paris, where he -wrote an English book, intituled " The Stray Sheep Retm-ned to the Fold," which has made a great number of Catholics in England. In order to subsist, theology being thence forth useless to him, he applied -with ardour to the study of medicine, took his doctor's degree, and, when he had begun to support himself by that profession, God pur- 336 THE COURT AND TIMES OF posing, as we may beheve, to bestow upon him a happier hfe, sent a fever which consigned him to the grave, after receiving aU the sacraments of the Church, exhibiting many acts of contrition, rendering devout thanks to the Divine Majesty for having caUed him to the Cathohc, Apostolic, and Roman religion. He left a disconsolate wife and several children, of whom Pro vidence took such care that they are all weU provided for: some in honourable offices in certain religious orders ; others are employed in the court of England ; and his wife is married again to a gentleman of piety and condition, to whom she shows equal respect and love, and by whom she is reciprocally so fondly loved, that their union may serve for a perfect model to mar ried people. Two other young ministers, who were not yet mar ried, came frequently to walk in our garden. They usuaUy addressed themselves to me, expressed pleasure with our conversations, which were frequently upon re ligion. After several very civU disputes, several alter cations, several objections and replies, at length, grace operating vrithin them, both acknowledged that the Roman was the true Church, in which salvation was to be sought ; and that, the Church being but one, the Protestant opposed to the Roman could be but a sect in reahty, and a Church in appearance, from which salvation was shut out for aU those who lived and died in its profession. These two ministers, therefore, re nounced it, forsook its creed, embraced the faith of the Romish Church, and made a solemn profession of it, went to France, and, after some studies and long exercises of piety, received holy orders, were both priests, celebrated the holy mass for the space of seven or eight years, laboured charitably for the conversion of souls, gained for the Church several of thefr country men who were in Paris, and then disease removed them both, one after the other, from this miserable life, to put them in possession of one infinitely happier in heaven, as we may reasonably judge. A young Catholic lady was earnestly desirous of the CHARLES THE FIRST. 337 conversion of a Protestant fiiend of hers. Her zeal sought all means, and found none more efficacious than to take her to the Capuchins, recoUecting that several had been converted in that way. Her address con trived to excite in her friend a sfrong desire to see the Fathers, saying that they were extraordinary men, who dressed in a strange fashion, that they hved whoUy upon alms, though several of them had been rich, without reserring any thing for themselves ; they had given aU they had possessed to the poor, that they might be poor with Jesus Christ, who never had either home or income. The Protestant lady, admiring all this, requested the speaker to obtain for her a sight of these extraordinary people. They came, therefore, to gether to see me. In conversation, I learned from the lips of the Protestant that she was the daughter of a Puritan father and a Cathohc mother, who had suffered much for her rehgion, who had hved and died in it, notvrithstanding the Ul usage and persecution which had attended her through life, I praised this con stancy, and said that it was a great blessing to be the daughter of so rirtuous a mother, whose good example of rehgion and piety she ought to foUow. I added that it was one of the most important affairs in the world, since it regarded our eternal salvation; that the Catholic rehgion was the only true one; that we must hve and die in it to be saved; that there was no salva tion for those who were separated from it, and who died in that awful separation. I supported all these propositions by proofs and by reasons adapted to her capacity. She yielded after some resistance; strong grace caused her to resolve to renounce her father's sect, to hve and die in that religion in which her dear mother had displayed so firm and so holy a persever ance, and in which she had so happily ended her days. She afterwards refeted to me a remarkable circum stance, which had left in her heart some good feeling for the Cathohc religion. When she was a little girl, her mother had left her at home, while she went secretly to the house of a Catholic gentleman to hear mass there. VOL. II. Z 338 THE COURT AND TIMES OF The Puritans, sworn enemies of the Cathohc religion, knew of it, and resolved to go thither in force, to break open the door of the place in which mass was said, to secure the priest, -with all the ornaments of the Church, and aU persons whom they should find there. A good fi:iend acquainted the little girl with this mahgnant design, and desired her to run off as fast as she could to teU her mother that there was a great conspfracy against the house where she was, and that she must come away immediately and return home. The chUd obeyed, but, meeting by the way vrith a young play fellow, she loitered a long time. The conspiracy was meanwhUe carried into execution. After the consecra tion, when those who attended the august sacrifice of the mass were about to communicate, the furious sateUites arrived, broke open the door with violence, entered the house, searched every where, found the secret oratory in which mass was said, seized the priest and the persons present, carried them off prisoners, took missal, crucifijf, cup, a smaU pyx, in which were kept the consecrated wafers, the cope, stole, in short, every thing which, as they said, smelt of Popery, and threw aU into a large fire kindled in the great place of the city. A great number of people collected there saw with astonishment the pyx, containing the con centrated wafers, open with a loud noise amidst the flames, and the host soar away into the air, without re turning to tke earth, or being ever seen afterwards} The young lady whose conversion I am relating was present at this miraculous sight, which left in her heart favour able impressions of the Cathohc rehgion, in which happily she died. Scotland, England, and Ireland, are three distinct kingdoms, governed by one and the same sovereign, commonly called King of Great Britain. The various rehgions are so mixed in these three kingdoms, that each professes a particular one, which there predomi nates over the others, and is more generally practised. ' After perusing this sentence, we are afraid the reader's confidence in P6re Cyprien will be very much disturbed. CHARLES THE FIRST. 339 In Ireland it is the Cathohc, in England the Protestant, and in Scotland the Puritan or Calrinist, which boasts of following the pure Scripture alone, and is therefore extremely hostUe to the Catholics. A young Scotch gentleman, having finished his studies at Edinburgh, the capital of the kingdom, was desfrous to see England, particularly London, which he had often heard spoken of as one of the largest, wealthiest, and most commercial cities in Europe ; and he wished his eyes to be faithful vritnesses of the marvels which his ears had heard. Accordingly, he prepared for the journey and set out, arrived safely in London, risited his friend, a Scotch Catholic, who had settled there to serve God vrith less hindrance and in greater tranquUhty than in Scotland. This friend, very zealous in behaff of his rehgion, was extremely glad of his coming, in the hope of gaining him for Jesus Christ. He talked to him about the most remarkable things which he would see in the city, and among others, about certain extraor dinary men caUed Capuchins, who had come some time ago from France to serve the Queen in a magnificent chapel, which she had lately had buUt. The young gentleman immediately conceived a desfre to see that chapel and those Capuchins, He came thither with his friend, who knew me, who honoured me with his affec tion, and desfred that I should be called. The young Scotchman was greatly surprised to see so strange a dress. At first he was as if thunderstruck. After some civUities, he wished to know what was our faith, our way of life, our exercises, what worship we paid to God, wherefore those altars, wherefore those images, where fore those confessionals, wherefore we made the observ ance of those things such an essential point. I gave him the reasons, which he would not entertain at first, being prepossessed vrith contrary opinions. In the sequel, after much reflection on the subject, he called upon me several times to obtain fiirther elucida tions of the matters which he had propounded to me-. At length, finding that what I answered him was ac cording to the rules of the Gospel, from a powerful z2 340 THE COURT AND TIMES OF movement of grace, he renoimced the heresy in which he had hved, made profession of the Cathohc religion, found om- Capuchin hfe so conformable to that of the Apostles that he resolved to embrace it, went for that purpose to France, caUed upon our Reverend Father Pro-s-incial, manffested so strong a desfre, besought and urged him vrith such earnestness, that he admitted him and named him Brother Juhan of Scotland. In his noriciate he was aU fervour, wliich greatly increased at his profession. He was then sent to Soissons, where he feU iU, suffered riolent pains vrith gi-eat submission to the wUl of Heaven, expressed the most himible thanks and gratitude to God for his vocation to the Cathohc rehgion and to the religious hfe of the Capuchins, begged pardon of his brethi-en for any bad example that he might have set them, and, prorided vrith aU the sacraments, displa}-ing several acts of contrition and love of God, he passed from this miserable hfe to a better, after living three years in our Order vrith great edification. An Enghsh gentleman of the Protestant rehgion, who held honourable offices, and was a member of the King's CouncU in Ireland, had business which happUy obhged him to come to London ; and, as Di-rine Prori dence takes particular care of the elect, and has admfr able expedients for leading them into the way of heaven, when heresy or the disorders of any other sins cause them to stray from it, it happened that I was summoned on account of some works of charity to a Catholic house where this gentleman was, whom I did not know, and had never heard of. Having finished the business on which I had come, I was told that he had recently arrived from Ireland, that he led a moral life, though in the Protestant sect, that he had a docUe disposition, and that, without much controversy, dispute, and alter cation, he would acquiesce in the truth, and embrace the Cathohc, Apostohc, and Roman rehgion, if strong reasons should convince him that it was the only true one. This gave me occasion to join the company in which he was, to converse ci-vUly with him upon in different matters, to talk of the state of Ireland, of the CHARLES THE FIRST. 341 manners of the Irish, of their customs aud their way of life; lastly, of thefr Catholic rehgion, to which they had always inviolably adhered, as they had received it from thefr ancestors, in spite of imprisonment, exUe, loss of goods, and other calamities, which had served only to display their generous constancy, to augment their merit, and to render it praiseworthy in time and in eternity. This gentleman was at first somewhat sur prised at hearing me advance these things, and speak with such fi-eedom: but his surprise ceased when he knew that I was one of the Queen's Priests ; and he agreed with me that there is nothing we ought not to do and to suffer for the defence of the true religion, in which alone one can be saved. I then proved to him by sohd reasons that there is not and cannot now be any true religion but the Catholic, Apostohc, and Roman, After much discourse on this subject, many objec tions, many questions, many answers, he at length acquiesced and yielded to the truth; whereat greatly rejoicing, after pointing out to him the great obligation which he owed to God for that important grace, I gave him some instructions concerning our mysteries, on the obligation to lead a Christian hfe, and the means of doing so; and on the manner of duly confessing and communicating. Being thus disposed, he received abso lution of his heresy, confessed, took the sacrament with extraordinary fervour, returned to Ireland, practised secretly aU the exercises of his religion, at the same time attending the King's CouncU as usual, retaining his offices, which he would have lost, and done a great wrong to his famUy if he had declared himself a Catholic. Two years passed in this manner, when business again caUed him to London, where he feU Ul, He apprized me of his condition, I visited him. His disorder in creasing, he made a second general confession to me, received the sacrament and extreme unction, gave a thousand thanks to God for his vocation to the Catholic religion, deplored tha years spent in the belief of the Protestants ; and, after various acts of faith, hope, and A 342 THE COURT AND TIMES OF charity, he passed happily fi-om this moi-tal life on eiu-tli to tlie immoi-tjil in Paratlise. His frmeral was aocom}>aiiied with some ivmarkablo circumstances. You must know that iu Lt)udou there are but two Catholic cemeteries belonging to the two churches of the Quoous, when>iu are iutorretl none but thefr officei-s aud sorvivuts, of both sokos, who tlio iu the faith of the Churoli of Rome, The other Catholics m'o bm-ied by tho miuistors iu the cometorios t)f tho i'rotos- tjiuts, after the priests >\ho attend them at their death lave blessed some mould, put it into tlie coHin with the body, said prayers, aiul })orformed secretly all the other usual ceremonies of tlie Church, The gentleman \vht)m I am speaking of had a great desire to bo burieil in tlie coinotory of tho Quoeu's Clia])ol, He begged of me to soHcit this favoiu' of her INiiijosty, who choerfully as sented. To prevent the uotico which this action niight excite, the body was convoyed at night in a oarriiigo ; we rocoivod it iuto our church, and did aU that the Romish ritual presoribes for the burial of the dead, .\11 this was to be kept quite secret; otherwise, tho miuistors would have maile a great iu)iso, the })Ooplo would have been sti-ongly excited, and gront complahits, very pro- judicial to the English C^itlH)lics, and ospooiiilly to the family of the deceased gentleman, would ha\o boon made to the King. To prevent this mischief, his relations and liiouds i-e- solved to have a coffin, to put iuto it stones iind other thmgs of the weight of a body, to make tho miuistors beUeve that tho remains of their rolation were oiu-losoil ill it. So this coffin was carried solemnly to tho Pro testant church, in a hearse, with pomp and maguilioeuco, with flags and the sound of trumpets. All that is done at tlie most expensive funerals was observed at this; — sevei-al ministers, a large iissouibly, a great number of gentlemen and otlier pei-sons of quality, a liiiieral dis course in praise of the deceased, by ouo of tho most emmeiit preachers, who apostrophized the stones under the idea thai he Avas addressing the body of tho de ceased. CHARLES TIIE FIRST, 343 The multitudo of converted Huguenots was so great, that the number of the Catholics who came to the Queen's chapel was such, that they never entered or left it but in a crowd. While some were vrithin, at tending the august sacrifice, the others were waiting at the door. There was a continual elib and flood of people from sbc in the mornmg tUl twelve at noon; and the King, looking at them from a window of the Queen's palace, and by his sUence approving of their devotion, seemed to condemn the unjust laws of the Parliament against the Catholics; who are in fact the most faithful and the best subjects of Kings, from the principles of thefr creed, which oblige them to pray for them, for their famUy, and for their State, Not a week passed but there were two or three con versions of Huguenots, who renounced heresy, and em braced the orthodox faith. The exercises of the Catholic religion, to which I have adverted, flourished with such success, both in and out of the Queen's chapel, that zealous persons could not behold them without tran sports of joy. Mary of Medicis, Queen of France, who at that time came over from Flanders to England, where she resided nearly four years, expressed to the Queen, her daughter, her extraordinary satisfaction at the mUd treatment en joyed by the Catholics, and the great progress of thefr holy religion in the kingdom where it had formerly been so persecuted. The gentlemen and ladies of her suite, having heard talk of the great afflictions which the Cathohcs had formerly suffered in England, were like wise astonished, and had the same sentiments as the Queen, thefr mistress ; but, above all, her confessor and preacher in ordinary, the Reverend Father Suffren, of the company of Jesus, a man of extraordinary merit, whose signal piety and the fervour of whose sermons had gained him such wonderful reputation in the great city of Paris as to make him pass for a saint, and for the most famous, the most devout, the most popular preacher of his time, — this great man blessed Heaven a thousand times on finding in England those fervent exer- 344 THE COURT AND TIMES OF cises of the Capuchins, and that notable advancement of rehgion which he would not before have ventured to imagine. These cfrcumstances afforded him great con solation, which was changed into grief, on learning the iniquitous ordinances of the new Parliament, which obhged the Capuchins to live as prisoners, and to keep thefr chapel closed. This wofiU inteUigence being brought when Father Cyprien, of Gamache, was vrith him, "Father," said he, weeping, '¦'¦bene currebatis; quis vos impedivit ?" which are words of St, Paul. There were seen at this time three melancholy things at once : Queen Mary de Medicis forced to leave England, and to seek refuge at Cologne ; Monsieur Rosetty, nuncio of the Pope, expeUed from the kingdom, after incurring imminent danger of his Ufe from the fury of the people; the Capuchins prisoners, out of hatred to the Catholic re hgion and the Queen, for whose service they had come. They wrote on the subject to the King of France and to Cardinal Richeheu : copies of their letters are subjoined. Letter of the Capuchins of the Queen of England to the King qf France. Written in their Prison. Sfre, — We throw ourselves at your Majesty's feet, to implore in all humUity the aid which piety and justice induce us to hope for. In the absence of the Queen, your dear sister, and our good mistress, the Parliament of London has pronounced a decree, which violates the articles of her marriage, which insults the glory of God and the honour of your Majesty. We wUl write more at length upon it to his Eminence Monseigneur the Cardinal Duke de Richelieu, beseeching his usual zeal for the interests of God and for yours, to represent to yom- Majesty the strange injustice of this edict, the shameful treatment of crowned heads, and the sufferings to which we are reduced. Whereupon we await the commands of your Majesty, for whom we offer our prayers to God in quality of, Sfre, Your most humble, most faithful, and most obe dient Servants and Subjects, the Capuchins of the Queen of England. CHARLES THE FIRST. 345 Letter of the Capuchins of the Queen of England to Monseigneur the Cardinal Duke de Richelieu. Written after their chapel was shut up and themselves imprisoned by the unjust decree ofthe Parliament of London. Monseigneur, — We make bold to write to the King as our Sovereign, and to your Eminence as the singular Protector of the interests of God and of his Majesty, to represent in aU humUity how much both are in jured by the riolence which we are at present suffering. We pretend not to add to the information given you by Monseigneur the ambassador, but merely to acquit our selves of the duty which we owe to God, to the King, and to your Eminence. To this end, we have judged it proper to send you a true relation of aU that has passed up to this time, that your exceUent understanding may make its usual reflections, and form, according to its custom, a sohd judgment thereon. Your Eminence is aware that the Queen, on learing this place, would not take with her more than two Capuchins to serve her during the journey, and com manded aU the others, for the benefit of the Cathohcs, to remain in London, and to perform thefr usual fimctions in her chapel : being at Dover, on her way to HoUand, she did us the honour to reiterate this order, and to re commend us to Monseigneur, the ambassador of France, that we might have his protection in any case of need which might arise during her absence, Notvrithstanding this, here is om- chapel shut up, and we prisoners, by an unjust edict, which breaks the articles of the peace be tween the two cro-wns, riolates the respect due to the King who sent us, is a manifest outrage against thefr Britannic Majesties, and a pernicious example of re beUion of subjects against thefr lawful sovereign. The penetrating mind of your ExceUency -wiU discover more mischief in this infamous sentence than we are capable of representing to you, Monseigneur, Your most humble, most obedient, and most faithful Servants, the French Capucliins, Missionaries in the Service of the Queen of England. 346 THE COURT AND TIMES OF The government of the Kingdom of England is at once monarchical and aristocratic. The King is sove reign in such a way that he cannot impose any tax upon his subjects, nor draw any money from them vrithout the consent of the assembled States, or what they caU the Parhament, It is composed of two chambers, an upper and a lower. In the upper are the lords, the archbishops, the bishops, the dukes, the marquises, the earls, the riscounts, the barons. The lower chamber contains the baronets, the knights, the mere gentlemen, the burgesses chosen liy the to-wns of the kingdom. The sovereignty of the King consists in convoking this assembly when he pleases, and in dissolving it when it wiU not comply vrith his pleasure. His domains being most ample for defrajring the expense of his household and supporting the dignity of the Crown, he has no need of the Parhament, unless when he is obliged to proride for some extraordinary expense, as for carrying on war, buUding ships. In the reign of Charles I., the rehgion practised, and the only one permitted, in England was the Protestant, which admits of bishops, altars, and ceremonies. The Puritans, who reject these and stop, as they say, at the pure Scripture, have so prevailed, and have so»«strangely multiphed, that they exceed the Protestants in number. The Archbishop of Canterbury being the first minister of State, resolved to destroy or to reduce them to the Protestant religion. For this purpose, he obtained from the King an ordmance requiring aU mimsters to wear surplices in the churches, and to observe there certain ceremonies which were not previously practised. The Scotch, obstinate Puritans, and animated by those of England, refused to obey, preached up rebeUion, raised the people, and maltreated the partisans of the King, persecuted the bishops of thefr nation, sought their lives, wluch were safe only in flight or concealment, formed a powerful league against the King thefr sove reign, ruined those who refused to enter into it ; in short, they set the whole kingdom of Scotland in commotion and rebellion. Force was required. The King, who CHARLES THE FIRST. 347 had no guards, which his predecessors had constantly kept, gave commissions to several captams to raise soldiers and to levy a strong army. It was soon ready, marched, arrived at the field of battle. Strange success ! many Puritan officers, and soldiers of whom it was imfortunately composed, said that they would not fight against their brethren, thus making a mock of the arch bishop and of the King. What was this prince, thus affi-onted, to do ? He was told that he must have a Par hament. He convened one. The Puritans were in a majority, and bent on ruining him. They promised traitorously to give him aU the money that he asked for, and to make him one of the greatest monarchs in the world, if he would engage not to dissolve the Parhament. The King, misled by abominable counseUors, complied with the demand, and at the same time stripped himseff of his authority, which consists particularly in this point — ^to convene and dissolve the Parhament when he pleases. No sooner had this assembly obtained the word and promise of indissoluble contmuance, than it caused this to be proclaimed by sound of trumpet, that it might be publicly kno-wn. It possessed itself of the forces of the kingdom, and appointed a captain of the faction to com mand in the Tower of London, which is in that city what the BastUe is m Paris; and began to make ordinances prejudicial to the Crown, through the criminal practices of five or six persons of that wretched assembly. The King, accompanied by one hundred gentlemen, went to the Parliament to seize them. They had warning of his coming, and vrithdrew before he arrived. Not having found them, he contented himseff -with causing seals to be put in thefr houses on the doors of the cabinets, in which were the papers of thefr cursed correspondence and of thefr abominable faction; but these men, animated by the spirit of the devU, acted in such a manner that, by their persuasion, the Parliament ordered, with horrible outrage, that the King's seals should be broken, to the great contempt of his Majesty.. Accordingly, the King's seals were broken, the doors of 348 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the cabinets were opened, and the papers of the seditious members were removed. To them may be applied what St. John says : — Superbia eorum qui te oderunt a.scendit semper. The detestable Parliament made the seditious come back, not as criminals and culprits, but in triumph, with the beating of drums, the flourish of trumpets, and the firing of cannon. The King, unable to endure this infamous confusion, left London, which he never entered afterwards. Queen Mary de Medicis had previously retired, to go to Cologne; the Queen of England, her most dear daughter, was obhged also not only to quit that rebel lious city, but to separate herself from the sweet and amiable conversation of the King, her husband and her lord, to cross the stormy sea, to saU to Holland, to take over the Princess Mary, her eldest daughter, the future consort of WUliam of Nassau, only son of the Prince of Orange, and to find through this marriage more easUy and more abundantly supphes of money, arms, and soldiers, to resist the detestable Parliament, which had possessed itself of all the forces of the Kingdom, and which had on foot a powerful army against its lawftil sovereign. She took with her two Capuchins only, to serve her spirituaUy in this voyage, which she expected to be short, and left aU the others at Somerset House, after recommending them to the ambassador of the King of France, her brother. There happened at this time a lamentable accident, which threw us aU into great consternation, and caused us to augur the calamities which followed. The ordi nances of the Parhament obhging us to keep our chapel closed, and forbidding us to celebrate the august sacri fice of the mass, we said it in a httle oratory of the house, that amidst so many misfortunes we might not be deprived of so great and salutary a benefit : there we kept the most holy eucharist, for the supply of the sick, for our lay brethren, and for some Catholics in par ticular, who came to us in secret. One day, on going to take up the pyx, to administer the communion to some one, the priest found nothing in the tabernacle. CHARLES THE FIRST. 349 He began to tremble, turn pale, and weep. He left the altar, and related this lamentable news, which was like a thunderbolt to us, and caused us to think that God was forsaking this place ; recoUecting how he had abandoned the hapless city of Jerusalem, after the voice of an angel had been heard crying in the temple, " Let us go hence !" In spite of aU the pains that were taken to ascertain what had become of this pyx: and of the wafers which it contained, aU our search proved useless; we never could learn anything about them, except that the sequel brought forth those disasters wliich this melan choly accident had caused us to dread. As the King and Queen were passionately attached to each other, they could not part -without extreme regret and grief. After many kisses, many tears, which con jugal love drew from the afflicted eyes of the Queen, the anchors were weighed and the ships stood out to sea. So she parted from the King, who never ceased looking at her standing upon deck, tUl the great distance with drew her from sight. Then, taking off his hat, he waved it round several times, bidding her a very affectionate, but very sad and painfiil adieu. It seemed as if Heaven designed to portend to the Queen the lamentable cir cumstances which foUowed. A furious tempest sud denly arose, contrary winds began to roar, and drove, tossed, and battered the ships vrith the utmost violence, as if they were bent on sinking them all : some actuaUy perished, and with them many valuable things and men. But, at length, God, who reserved this generous princess for other trials, enabled her to reach HoUand safe and sound, but very weak and very dejected. She was received vrith great joy and magnificence; and then commenced rich and splendid preparations for the marriage of Madame her daughter vrith Prince WiUiam, Nothing was omitted that could contribute to the mag nificence of this great solemnity, which seemed to ease aU pains and to hghten aU past sorrows. The mind of the Queen, however, was stiU suffering anxiety about the state of the King ; and, in spite of all the diligence she used, to go and rejoin him soon, she was obliged. 350 THE COURT AND TIMES OF contrary to her intention, to stay a long time in Hol land. One of the principal objects of her voyage was to take back to the King mUitary stores and forces to resist the riolent proceedings of the Parliament. She laboured assiduously at this business, which being completed, she embarked to return to England. The weather was mild, the afr serene, the -wind favourable, but lasted so not long. Presently the vrind shifted, and continued so contrary that the fleet, after being tossed about to its great perU by a horrible tempest, was forced to put back to the port from which it had sailed. It was obhged by necessity to stay in HoUand, and to wait for weather more propitious for navigation, on the first appearance of which, the Queen and aU her people embarked a second time, and again found themselves in the greatest danger from contrary vrinds and furious tempests, which threatened every moment to bury all the ships in the deep. SaUors who had made several voyages to India had never found themselves in such extremity. AU cried for mercy; the Catholics con fessed, to prepare themselves for death; enmities were changed into affectionate reconcUiations; those who previously hated one another embraced, and all begged forgiveness of each other. Several ships foundered, among others that which had on board her Majesty's chapel, in which there was a fine piece of the true cross, and the goods and clothes of the gentlemen and ladies. The ships which carried the horses were all lost, with the carriages, the grooms, and other servants. In this great disaster, the Queen, as devout as she was generous, had recourse to Heaven, and implored the aid of the Blessed Virgin, whom she had always loved, and whose favourable assistance she had received on several occasions. She made a vow to go on a pil grimage to the church of Our Lady of Liesse, to found in it certain masses in perpetuity, and to give it a sUver ship. After this vow, the wind lulled, the tempest ceased, the sea became calm, the Queen arrived safe in port, and repafred very soon afterwards to the CHARLES THE FIRST. 351 King, who received her with inexpressible joy and satisfaction. The Capuchins who had remained in London during the voyage of the Queen, thefr most dear mistress, whose return they were continuaUy expecting, coiUd not receive the very agreeable tidings of her arrival vrithout transports of consolation. AU went to the altar, to render their most humble thanks to God for it. AU offered to him for this purpose the adorable sacrifice of the mass; all, with great joy and fervour, sang the Te Deum ; and then conceived great hopes of seeing their church again open to aU the Cathohcs, and the holy rehgion flourish once more. But, alas! deplorable circumstances ran counter to these pious thoughts. The gentlemen of the Parha ment, enraged at the return of the Queen, resolved to carry things to the last extremity. They dreaded the subtilty and address of that vrise princess, could not bear the faith put by the King in her prudent counsels, were fiUed -with animosity against her person, and vrith furious hatred of the religion which she professed. They knew that she had brought from Holland large sums of money, aU sorts of arms and munitions of war, and that a great number of brave officers and generous soldiers had accompanied her and entered into her service. They recollected that the outrages offered to thefr King, their legitimate sovereign, were so atrocious, that they could not expect any pardon from his clemency, though it was extraordinary. They gave orders, therefore, that the Queen's Capuchins, whom they had doomed to imprisonment, should be removed from Somerset House, thefr usual abode, and taken into the city, there to be detained prisoners, tUl fresh orders. As soon as this resolution was pronounced, the Puritans, triumphing -with joy, coUected a furious band of officers, soldiers, and other most malignant and determined per sons that they could meet with, to come, they said, to the ruin of the Papists, to the ruin and banishment of the Capuchins, to the seizure of their provisions and their goods, to the plunder of aU their houses, AU this 352 THE COURT AND TIMES OF being concluded on, unkno-wn to the Capuchins, they were much astonished to see aU at once thefr house invested, thefr doors broken open with riolence, their rooms fiUl of armed men, thefr provisions earned off, their furniture, for which they were indebted to the hberahty of the King of France, plundered, and them selves seized by officers -without pity. France was then in the most profound peace with England. The Capuchins hved in London by common tonsent of the two Crowns : they hved in great retire ment, whoUy engaged in the duties of thefr profession. They were not accused of any misdemeanour : nobody had any complaint to make against them. Tf the Par liament had agreed that they should leave England, and had signified to them this resolution, though unjust and riolent, without reason, and contrary to the agreement and aUiance of the two Crowns, the Capuchins would nevertheless have obeyed it, and would have gone : but, without speaking to them about any arrest, without giving them any notice, without saying a single word to them, to send armed men against them, to break open thefr doors, to use aU sorts of violence, to treat them as the greatest criminals in the world, to seize their persons, to pUlage thefr house, to enter their chm-ch insolently, to commit aU sorts of impiety in it, to break in pieces the confessionals, to demolish the altars, and — what my pen cannot record without trembling — to vent their rage upon Jesus Christ himseff, in the mystery that demands of us most love and reverence, to renew his painful passion, to scourge a crucifix, and then break it in pieces, pierce another vrith halberts ; in short, practise cruelties which the greatest barbarians would hold in abhorrence ! It was on Thursday in Passion week that the Parlia ment committed these strange violences and these hor rible outrages. Monsieur the Duke d'Epernon, having unfortunately fallen into disgrace with Cardinal Riche lieu, had retfred to London, whither Madame his vrife and MademoiseUe his daughter had come to seek him and to stay with him. In compliance with an injunc- CHARLES THE FIRST. 353 tion to be observed at Easter, they all desired to confess and to receive the holy sacrament. On that day, I have said that the chapel of the Capuchins was shut, and that the Pope permits missionary priests to say mass privately in the houses of the Catholics. Agree ably to this power, Father Cyprien of Gamache, who was confessor in ordinary to Monsieur, Madame, and MademoiseUe d'Epernon, and their household, had been requested to come in the morning secretly to theirresidence to receive their confessions, to perform the holy mass there, to administer the holy sacrament to all ; and, as the Parliament had forbidden the Capuchins to leave the place where they dwelt, in order that the Father should not be seen, and come more safely, M. d'Epernon sent a chair for him, in which he was brought. No sooner had he finished the adorable sacrifice of the mass, and administered the holy sacrament to all present, than a man entered quite breathless to say that the Capuchins were apprehended, that their doors had been broken open, that their house was fiiU of soldiers, and a multitude of other persons, who made a tremendous noise, were pouring forth all sorts of abuse against' Papists, laughing at the Capuchins, taking away their slender store of provision, and their furniture. These dismal tidings rendered M. d'Epernon apprehensive that his house might be invested and pUlaged, if it was dis covered that Father Cyprien was concealed in it: he ordered him, therefore, to be carried in the chair to Monsieur the ambassador of the King of Portugal, the ambassador of the King of France not being then in England. The Capuchins had received orders from the King of France to remain in London, notwithstanding the absence of the Queen, which lasted above a year ; and, inasmuch as the strange injustice of the Parliament had seized aU the revenues of the King, the Capuchins, who cannot beg in those heretical countries, and who had previously lived exclusively upon the alms of the Queen, being unable to subsist, the Most Christian King commanded his officers to furnish them -with all they had need of, and had even the goodness to write VOL. II. A A 354 THE COURT AND TIMES OF to them, by the pen of Monsieur de Chavigny, Secre tary of State. At that time, you heard nothing talked of in London but the ruin and desolation of the Cathohcs. They had no longer any divine service ; the Queen's chapel was shut up. They durst not now go, as formerly, to the ambassador's : the vehement animosity of the Puritans inflamed the people against them. Their house was plundered, their goods were carried off; plots, designs, enterprises, criminal con-espondence, which they had never thought of, were attributed to them. I recoUect that a noted Puritan, inspfred by the devil, invented this detestable trick to render them odious to the most mo derate Protestants. He carried a packet which he said he had found by accident, which was addressed to the Parliament, and he recommended that it should be opened. This packet contained a bloody handkerchief and a letter, the tenour of which was that those who should act against the Cathohcs would soon see their shirts stained -with their own blood, as the blood of another had stained that handkerchief. Accursed, in fernal, diabolical invention, which made innocence pass for criminal, and which fiUed the Parliament with fury against the poor Catholics, and against aU that they hold in veneration ! After England had emerged from the darkness of paganism, to foUow the hght of the true faith, it made .such great progress in Christian perfection that it gave to the Church mihtant an innumerable multitude of most virtuous persons of all classes and conditions, aud to the Church triumphant many holy ecclesiastics, bishops, doctors, priests, monks, seculars even of the highest ranks, kings, queens, princes, princesses, mar quisses, earls, and the like. It displayed its piety in so many churches, so many monasteries, so many sacred edifices, which it planted in the most conspicuous and pubhc places, to keep up in the minds of the faithful a respectfiil and affectionate memorial of him who sacri ficed himself upon it, and who gave his blood and his CHARLES THE FIRST. 355 life that we might live eternally with the angels in Paradise, In the largest and most commercial street in London caUed Jaipsaide [Cheapside], had been seen from time immemorial an Ulustrious monument of the ancient and fervent devotion of this kingdom — a lofty, rich, hand some, gUt cross, -wrought vrith extraordinary skiU, sur rounded by statues or representations in relievo of the twelve Apostles, Besides exhibiting to tlie eye the adorable mystery of our redemption, it was a handsome ornament and a noble antiquity to the city of London ; hence it had subsisted amid the most raging fury of the heretics, amid the most vehement animosities against the Catholics in the reign of Queen Ehzabeth, who had declared herself a sworn enemy of the Romish Church, whose faith she had nevertheless professed, and had lived in it during her youth. She renounced it after the death of Queen Mary, in order to possess a king dom which did not belong to her,' embraced the Pro testant rehgion, inflicted dreadftU cruelties upon the Cathohcs, banished some, ruined others, had these be headed, those strangled, threw them all into deep afflic tion, caused the execrable laws to which we have ad verted to be enacted against them, was insatiable of the blood of priests, for whom her sateUites made strict search everywhere, pardoning none, rippuig up their bellies, tearing out their bowels, cutting their bodies into four quarters, and putting them afterwards upon iron spikes, and setting them up on the gates of towns. Although, however, she manifested so rancorous and so strange a hatred against the Catholic religion, she never suffered the beautiful cross in Jaipsaide [Cheapside] to be touched ; on the contrary, she had some of the gild ing repaired, which the course of several centuries had effaced ; so that this rich monument of the very fervent and commendable piety of the ancient English was not merely suffered to stand, but was embelhshed during the reign of that barbarous Queen. Her cruelties were ' Here are a few mistakes : we are afraid the zeal of Pere Cyprien for his faith outruns his regard for truth. A A 2 356 THE COURT AND TIMES OF not great enough to demolish and ruin it ; for that the raging fury of a regicide Parliament was required. It would not suffer what the Queen had tolerated in a good Spanish lady, a marchioness, a widow, and wealthy. Having heard of the sanguinary persecutions to which the Catholics were exposed in England ; animated with a holy zeal, she went thither, in the genuine spirit of Christianity, to relieve the poor with the riches which God had bestowed on her, and to suffer with the perse cuted. Her alms to the needy were very extensive; and, to draw upon herself every kind of contempt, con fusion, and insult by a virtuous act of religion, she did honour publicly to the great cross of Jaipsaide [Cheap- side], prostrating herself before an innumerable con course of people, who loaded her with abuse, pelted her with mud and stones, hustled her, struck her. The generous marchioness took pleasure m this ig nominious and dangerous treatment, and by so holy an example, she animated the Catholics to endure suffermg, and accused the insolence and the cruelty of the Pro testants. To prevent simUar circumstances, and to abolish in England all Catholic marks of rehgion, the rebel Parliament, surpassing in its fury the diabohcal animosity of its most passionate heretical predecessors, ordered that noble cross to be pulled down, demolished, laid level, vrith the statues of the twelve Apostles, which were around it. The Puritans, triumphing in this ac cursed decree, carried it immediately mto execution. The report of this proceeding spread throughout the whole city of London ; people thronged to the spot from aU quarters : drums and trumpets were sent for ; ladders were raised against the cross. The first whom fury urged to mount, drew upon himself a just punishment for his saci-Uegious outrage, by a faU upon the iron spikes surrounding the statues of the Apostles, which pierced the body of the wretched man, and put an end to his life.' This fatal example, which ought to have made the others tremble, rendered them neither more timid nor less furious, attributing ' This incident appears to have escaped the chroniclers of the times. CHARLES THE FIRST. 357 the accident to chance, and not to the effect of the divine justice, which avenged the criminal hardihood of that man transported with passion. They therefore mounted the ladder after him, put ropes about the cross and the necks of the Apostles, which were puUed by a number of men vrith such violence, as to drag all of them down one after another. When their fury had succeeded in puUing down and smashing one, shouts of joy were raised, the drums beat, and the trumpets flourished, as for the gain of a great victory, or the taking of a town. These outrages to the images of the servants were transfened to those of the master, from the figures of the Apostles to the cross of Jesus Christ : and, without considering that he had so loved it that he had chosen it and bathed it with his precious blood; that he submitted to be attached to it ; that his disciple St. Andrew honoured it, respected it, as bemg sancti fied by the precious death of his dear Master ; in short, that it was the noble instrument of our salvation — stifling all these holy and true thoughts, those men, transported with rage, puUed down that beautiful and ancient cross; they sapped it at the foot, demolished and razed it so completely that not a vestige of it was left. Then the drums redoubled thefr rolling, the trumpets thefr notes of gladness, the people thefr shouts, their rejoicings, thefr hooting, their mockeries, their abuse, thefr revUiugs against the Cathohcs, whom they caUed Papists, idolaters, cursed race, servants of Anti christ, It seemed as though it had been a representation of the things that were seen at the death of our Saviour, when all sorts of abuse were heaped upon him, when he was reproached -with havmg saved others and bemg unable to save himself, " Look," said they, " at that man, who boasted that he would destroy the Temple and rebuUd it in the space of three days." Some wagged thefr heads, out of the great contempt whicli they entertained for his person; others laughed at him as a cheat and impostor, and, without being touched even slightly by the horrible torments which he was suffering, said that 358 THE COURT AND TIMES OF his crimes had deserved them, that the scourgings, the thorns, the naUs, which had covered his whole body with blood, were a just punishment for his offences : whUe his apostles and his disciples kept concealed, for the fear which had seized them deterred them from appearing. You would say that these impieties were transfened from the original to the figure. The Jews abhoned Jesus Christ as an impious wretch; the cross was a scandal to those furious heretics, who regarded it as an object of abhorrence. The Catholics, who hold it in veneration, were by them reputed idiots, idolaters, dolts. Not satisfied with holding them up to derision, they loaded them with all sorts of contumely, particularly on account of the worship which they paid to this blessed instrument of om- salvation. The Jews mocked Jesus Christ ; they hooted him, wagged thefr heads in scorn ; these heretics did the same by the cross. Jesus Christ was scourged by the Jews, and the cross outraged by the heretics. The Jews represented Jesus Christ as an impostor, and these heretics say that the cross was a false sign of piety and an imposture of devotion. Mount Calvary rang with the noise of the confiised voices and clamour of the people, saying, "Let him die! let him be crucified !" and in the great street of Jaipsaide [Cheap- side], one ofthe highest in London, strange cries of an infinity of voices said, " Let the cross be thrown down, ruined, demolished, completely razed !" Exinanite, ex- inanite, usque ad fundamentum ! The Puritans, having so unhappily but so ftiUy suc ceeded in thefr pernicious design, transported with joy, puffed up with pride, set about nothing less than exter minating aU the Cathohcs in England, and abolishing their very name, beginning with the Queen's Capu chins. The shop-boys, whom they caU 'prentices, are very numerous there ; they raised them, and instigated them to go to Parliament to the number of three thou sand, petitioning that the Capuchins should be expelled from England. Those Fathers heard every day nothing but threats of death, and expected no other than that fatal effects would ensue. They went several times in CHARLES THE FIRST. 359 a body before the altar of their church, that they might be slaughtered there all together, not by order of Par liament, but by the fury of the people and of the 'pren tices, animated, as I have said, by the strong solicitations of the Puritans. To escape these sanguinary threats, the Capuchins concealed themselves in a secret place in the Queen's house. After consulting together, and dis covering that their death was sought only out of hatred to the Catholic rehgion, they generously offered them selves to suffer, very glad to die in so good a cause ; but this divine Providence did not permit. According to the decree of the Parhament, they were taken from Somerset House into the city, where they were kept in prison for a month, and, by another decree, banished from the kingdom of England and sent back to France, being, for this purpose, put on board a ship, which car ried them to Calais, It was already more than nme months that the Queen had been with the King, her husband, by whom she be came pregnant, soon after her return from HoUand. The time for her Ijdng-in being near at hand, she re solved to pass it in the city of Exeter, where she was happUy delivered of the Princess Henrietta Anne, who was married to PhUip of Bourbon, oiUy brother of the King of France, and Duke of Orleans. The favourable issue of this accouchement gave great joy, but it did not last long; for, the army of the Parliament being not far off, and preparing to besiege the city, the Queen, who knew it, was obliged, a fortnight after her delivery, to leave her new-born infant to the mercy of her ftirious enemies, to retire precipitately on board a ship, weak and Ul as she was, to expose herself to the tempests of the sea, and to seek in France, her dear, native land, a sweet and secure asylum from the rage and persecution of her subjects. On her passage, this afflicted princess was several times at the point of death, from extreme weakness, fi-om riolent apprehensions for her infant, abandoned to the fury of those tigers, and from a very serious and distressing accident, which divine Providence permitted 360 THE COURT AND TIMES OF to try the firmness of her courage, and to heighten her vfrtues. The Parliament, which had possessed itself of aU the Kmg's forces, had given the command of the fleet to a cruel enemy of the King's. He weighed anchor at the moment ofthe Queen's embarkation, and, crowding aU sail, pursued her ship, but was not able to overtake her, otherwise he would have made prize of her, as he designed and attempted to do, when her Majesty was returning fi-om Holland to England ; for then his rage rose to such a pitch that he ordered his guns to be fired, for the purpose of destroying the Queen and the crews of her ships, but God reserved her for other sufferings. In all her travels by sea and land, she always had two Capuchins about her. In passing from England to HoUand and from HoUand to England, the fury of the tempests, by which several of her ships were lost, and the unwholesome air of the sea, made her attendants so sick and weak that not one of them was able to wait upon her. The Reverend Father Jean Marie Treston, who was then with her, rendered her aU the services which she had previously received from twenty or thirty different persons. Having been a Knight of Malta, much at sea, his constitution had become so habituated to a naval life, that he received no inconvenience from it, and employed his health in charitably assisting all the sick, and jDarticularly the Queen, for which she after wards returned him many thanks, and of which she liked to talk to the King, to the gentlemen and ladies, and to the persons of quahty who came to see her. I have related above that this good Father had refiised an illustrious marriage, renounced a large fortune, and relinquished high honours and expectations to embrace the cross and to foUow Jesus Christ in his poverty, his suffermgs, and his humility, in the Order of the Capu chins. Ever since he had taken the habit, he had so conducted himself that his holy life was an exemplar of the noblest virtues, which made him appear a genuine imitator and disciple of our Seraphic Father, St. Francis, He had an extraordinary aftection for the most Blessed Virgin, recurred to her in all hi.s necessities, CHARLES THE FIRST, 361 fested every Satm-day in honoiu- of her, and never passed a day without addi-essmg some prayers to her, God, being pleased to reward his good sen-ices, visited him with a severe illness soon after the persecution of the Parhament had forced the Queen to seek refiige in France, As soon as he found himseff attacked by the disorder which at last laid him iu the gi-ave, he relin quished the secular habit which he wore ^rith the per mission ofthe Pope, resumed with joy the di-ess of Capu chin, endm-ed his riolent pains with admu-able patience and resignation, expressed the gi-eatest son-ow for liis offences, begged pardon of aU his brethren, received most devoutly the Holy Sacrament and exfreme unction, and passed happUy fi-om this miserable hfe to a better. Father Cyprien of Gamache took his place bv order of his Superiors and by the good pleasui-e of the Queen, who desired to have him about her. Accordingly, he attended her in aU her joui-ueys : wherever she went, in France or in England, wherever she abode in the royal residences in France, at St. Germain en Laye, at the Louvi-e, at the Palais Royal, at the chateau of Colombo, he paid her respectfiUly aU the assiduities which she desired of him, and scarcely a day passed without his seeing her in private, agreeably to the order which he had received from her o-wn hps, to converse with her on subjects of devotion which that pious Princess sought with the more evident ardour, the more the convulsions of her kingdom convinced her by fatal experience of the instability of honours, wealth, grandeur, pleasure, of aU eartlUy things, and caused her also to regard them only with disgust. It was devotion that engaged her whole heart, and that inspfred her -with the thought of speedUy fulfilling the vow which she had made at sea to Our Lady of Liesse, As soon as she had landed and arrived in France, she commissioned one of the most eminent goldsmiths of Paris to make her a beautiful ship of sUver, complete in aU its parts, vprought with the utmost perfection of which his art was capable. The goldsmith received her Majesty's order, with great submission and joy, commenced the Avork without delay. 362 THE COURT AND TIMES OF and in some weeks, haring finished it, he carried it to the Queen, who put it into the hands of the Capuchins, ordering them to go and offer it in her name in the church of Our Lady of Liesse, tiU inconveniences should cease to prevent her from performing the pil grimage herself The Capuchins, honoured by this commission, executed it forthwith. Six of her Majesty's Capuchins, who had then returned to France, carried this present to offer it to God and to Our Lady in the chapel of Liesse, celebrating the holy mass in thanks giving for the preservation of the Queen, and then put into the hands of the Treasurer this present, with the following inscription : Authori Perpetuae Laetitise, Henrica Maria, Regum GaUi^e Henrici quarti fflia, Ludorici XIII, Soror, Regis Britanniarmn Caroli primi uxor, quod e Batavia rediens, gravissimis jactata tem- pestatibus, quibus demersse sunt aliquot in ejus comi tatu naves, incolumis in Angham appulerit, votivam navem argenteam posuit. Orans. Componat tumidas animosa Britannia turbas, Ut gravis insani concidit fra maris, Votum, Hanc Domino ponit Christo Christique parenti Sospes ab Oceano Regina Britannica navem, Et vovet insanas sic oderit Angliae turbas Ut Pelagi fluctus voto cessere praecantibus, Patres Capucini Serenissimae Reginse cum eleemosinis, concionibus, et sacro ministerio, hoc clementissimum donum haec in aedes laetitiae detulerunt 4° Maii, an, 1664, Letter of the Queen of England to Monseigneur the Bishop of Laon. Monsieur the Bishop of Laon, — I have been informed of the attention whicli you have paid to the reception of a httle offering which the Capuchin Fathers have brought on my behalf to Our Lady of Liesse, as a token CHARLES THE FIRST. 363 of gratitude for having been preserved from shipwreck, through the goodness of our Lord and through the intercession of his most holy INIother, in a tempest which befel me last year at sea. Having also purposed to found a mass to be said every Saturday in the year for ever in the said chapel, I have ordered at the same time whatever is necessary to this end to be dehvered, so that there is nothing further to be done than to draw up a contract. For this purpose, I send a Capuchin, one of my almoners, -with power to do all that shaU be needful on this occasion, promising myself that, as you have afready taken some pains about this good work, you wUl continue to bestow such as are in your power and authority for terminating it, to the glory of God and to the honour of the most holy Vfrgin, and as a perpetual token of my gratitude to both. This is what I request of you, tUl I come in person to pay my vows in the said chapel, when I shaU express how much I am obliged to you for everything. I pray God to have you in his keeping. Your good friend, Henriette Maeie R. Monsieur the Bishop of Laon, at St. Germain en Laye, 7th September, 1644. Letters of Monsieur the Treasurer and Monsieur the Receiver of the Chapel of Our Lady of Liesse. I, the undersigned. Canon of Laon, and Treasurer in the chapel of Our Lady of Liesse, certify that I have received the sum of fifteen hundred hvres from the Queen of England in the chapel of Liesse, at the charge of having low mass performed on the Saturday in every week for ever, promising that a contract to this effect shaU be drawn up as soon as possible in the needfiU form. Done at Laon, the 8th of July, 1664, A, Le Voiviee. We, the undersigned. Masters and Receivers of the Bishop of Laon, certify that Monsieur Le Voirier, Canon of Laon, and Treasurer of the chapel of Liesse, put into the chest of Our Lady of Laon, in our pre- 364 THE COURT AND TIMES OF sence, the sum of fifteen hundred livres, given by the Queen of England, at the charge of celebrating, ac cording to her intention, low mass in the chapel of Liesse every week on Saturday. Done 8th of July, 1644. Maequet. De Ponty, Peeein, Aubeet, Now that the life of the Queen of England is out of danger in France, let us return in spirit and in thought to England, to witness there the bloody death of the priests, executed during and after her departure. The fury of the abominable Parliament was excessive, not only against its mild and lawful King, against his amiable Queen, against his whole royal house, but also against the English priests, AU that the detestable laws had formerly enacted against them was renewed. The pursuivants, who are vicious men and mostly apostates, who knew the priests, went and ransacked Cathohc houses in quest of them, for the purpose of seizing and dragging them to prison and the gibbet. When convicted of being priests, either by thefr own confession or the deposition of -witnesses, without being guUty or even accused, the judge hnmediately sentenced them to that kind of death, which the hangman did not in general execute tUl three or foui- days after appre hension. During the whole time of their imprisonment, the Capuchins, disguised so that they could not be known, went to render them spiritual and corporeal assistance, to the utmost of their slender abUity, Several Cathohcs did the like, especiaUy in the two, three, or four days which intervened between apprehension and death. The money which they gave to the gaoler had two effects : it opened the prison-doors freely to them, and closed that of the priests' room, so that the exer cises of rehgion practised could neither be seen nor known. For the priests said mass there, heard confes sions, administered to the people the adorable sacra ment in thefr disguise. Father Cyprien of Gamache, and Father Sebastien of Bar sur Seine, passed the night before their martyrdom with them, received images signed by their own blessed hands, with the promise of their prayers, confessed to them, heard their masses. CHARLES THE FIRST. 365 took the sacrament from their hands, said with them the litanies of the most Holy Virgin, of aU the Saints, and many other prayers, to thank God for the great favours which he bestowed upon them, and to obtain from his bounty the especial grace to die hohly, for his glory. Thus prepared, these faithfiU and generous warriors left the prison, found at the door a hurdle upon which they were required to seat themselves, and then the horse moved away, drawing them to the place where they were to be sacrificed. The Capuchins foUowed them, and, mingling unknown among the multitude of the people, stayed till the conclusion of the sanguinary tragedy. The priests, on aniving at the place of execu tion, kept upon their hurdles, spoke standing to the people, prayed to God, thanlced him aloud for the favour which he confen-ed on them to die for so good a cause, said that they were not condemned for any crime which they had committed, though they acknowledged them selves great sinners, but solely because they were in vested vrith the character of priests, which in past ages had been venerable in England, offered prayers to God for the King and for his whole kingdom, forgave, from their heart, for thefr death, the judges who had unjustly condemned them, declared boldly that the Cathohc, Apostohc, and Romish religion was the only true one, and that it was necessary to live and die in it in order to be saved. The officer of justice who is present, and presides at this fatal tragedy, imposed sUence upon them, and made them get up into a large cart, where there were several criminals. An unknown priest, who was in the crowd, then gave them the last absolution, after an act of con trition communicated to the priest by a sign previously agreed upon between them ; for instance, lifting up the hands, or stooping the head, MeanwhUe, the executioner put the ropes about thefr necks, did the same to the other criminals, fastened them to the gaUows, and, the cart drawing off, they were left hanging. Without weighing upon them, or using any other violence, they were thus left tiU they were half strangled, and, the 366 THE COURT AND TIMES OF priests being only haff dead, the executioner cut the rope, placed them on the ground, stripped them of their clothes, cut off what decency forbids to be named, ripped open their belhes, tore out the bowels, separating the heart, which he held up to the people, crying aloud, " This is the heart of a traitor," He then threw the parts and bowels into a great fire, which was burning there. At last, to conclude this bloody tragedy, he cut the body into four parts, which were afterwards exposed on the point of iron spikes upon London Bridge, The Catholics present at this horrible sight mani fested unexampled fervour, dipping white cloths in the innocent blood of these generous martyrs. They ex posed themselves to aU sorts of dangers, in order to save from the fire their hearts, or some other part of their entraUs, which they kissed, honoured, and preserved as sacred rehcs. The Capuchins brought away several which thefr zeal rescued from the flames ; one of them was on the point of being despatched by the crowd ; when, seeing a condemned priest arrive, in a wonderful trans port, he went and embraced him, kissed him, and took him by the collar, to draw him away, and so preserve him most carefuUy, Instantly several cried out, " A priest! a priest!" which is a crime of State punishable with death in this unhappy country. At this outcry he was obhged to loose his hold, and quickly buried himself in the crowd with such address that he escaped. In the first persecution which the detestable Parlia ment caused against the Catholics, two priests were apprehended and declared priests, one upon his own avowal, the other upon the declaration of vritnesses : one was a friar of St, Benedict, the other a secular priest. Both were sentenced to be dragged upon a hurdle, hanged, drawn, and quartered, and then set up on spikes erected on London Bridge, This sentence, though cruel, was so agreeable to the friar, that he expressed excessive joy upon it. The secular priest, led by another way, was not in the same sentiments. He did aU he could to obtain his pardon and his release CHARLES THE FIRST. 367 from this dreadful kind of deatli. On the eve of the day appointed for the execution, while we were at table in the prison taking a light supper, the person em ployed to obtain the pardon arrived, and said aloud that neither pardon nor favour was to be expected; that the Parliament was determined to put to death five priests who were prisoners, notvrithstanding the pardon which the clemency of the King had granted them (his Majesty had promised not to grant any more, pro vided that the Parliament did not put to death those who had received that favour from his bounty), that now they must make up their minds and prepare for death. The priest, hearing these tidings, of which he was forewarned by extraordinary favour, was totally changed. Death, of which he had previously entertained such dread, now seemed desfrable ; what he had before found bitter was in an instant rendered delicious, to our great astonishment. The joy which he felt could not be repressed, to such a degree did his heart overflow in these words of transport : "AU for the best," said he, " 'tis aU for the best: we wUl die to-mon-ow for the cause of Jesus Christ. Ah ! what a favour ! how un worthy am I of it ! I receive it purely from thy merits, O my Sariour !" And then, looking at us, " My Fathers," said he, " let us all together address our prayers to him, to thank him for this signal mercy, which ought to rejoice us. Let us then enjoy our selves ;" and putting his hand into his pocket, " Here," said he to an attendant, " take this money, and fetch us some Spanish wine." This was done immediately, AU the conversation, during the remainder of supper, was on cheerful subjects mixed with holy rejoicing. Very soon after we had supped and retumed thanks to God, one of us commenced the vocal prayers, which were continued alternately with the mental, tiU day break. These good priests then celebrated the holy mass one after the other, and both offered themselves to the Eternal Father in sacrifice vrith the adorable sacrifice of the body and blood of his Son Jesus Christ. 368 THE COURT AND TIMES OF We received the communion from their sacred hands, after receiving from their lips absolution from our sins at the tribunal of penitence. So they went generously and cheerfully to suffer the barbarous punishment ex pressed in thefr sentence. We had the happiness to foUow them, and to witness thefr great courage and their exceeding zeal to die for the faith. Another priest, fiUed vrith holy resolution, who, in the heat of martyrdom, was inspired by the Holy Ghost, surprised the officer of justice by a praiseworthy subtilty, in order to proclaim to the innumerable con course of people there present the falseness of the Pro testant rehgion, which they professed, and to show that the Catholic was the only true Church, the high esteem which he felt for it, his unshaken resolution, and liis great joy in dying in it, in yielding his life and blood in defence of a cause so just, so noble, and so excel lent. This generous soldier of Jesus Christ, being at the place of execution, the rope round his neck ready to be tied to the gallows, looking round upon the people, and fixing his eyes upon him who presided on this tragic occasion, " Sir," said he, " here am I con demned to die for no crime that I have committed against the King and against the State, but merely for having said mass in the quality of priest. It is true that death is very frightful m itself, and capable of striking terror into the stoutest hearts ; stiU your de cree obliges me to undergo it because I am a Catholic and a priest; but, sir, if I were now to renounce the Cathohc rehgion and to turn Protestant, what would be done with me?" "I swear," replied the president, " that not only shaU your sentence not be carried into effect, but that you shaU be exempted from that igno minious and bloody death, aU the preparations for which are before your eyes, but with life, which is the best gift of Nature, you shall be recompensed vrith some good living." This was what the priest expected ; not that he inight avail himself of it according to the intention of the President, but to render his proposal and his Protestant CHARLES THE FIRST. 369 rehgion ridiculous, to dissuade the people from it, and to dispose them to the Cathohc religion ; for, on this flattering answer of the President, the priest, animated with the spfrit of the Holy Ghost, raising his voice, said in a loud and very grave tone, to the whole assembly, " Gentlemen, you have heard the very ad vantageous offer made to me ; you see that it depends only upon myself not to die here quitting the Cathohc religion; you have heard that I have been promised both hfe, and recompence, and hving, in the Protestant religion : but, no ; it is not a rehgion ; it is only a sect of which Luther and Calvin were the first authors. There is no other rehgion but the Cathohc, Apostolic, and Roman ; it is the only true religion, founded by Jesus Christ, cemented by the precious blood of an in numerable host of martyrs, confirmed by an infinity of mfracles ; it was in this faith that our ancestors lived and died, (the English of past ages) and it is in it and for it that, by the grace of God, I shaU rejoice to die," These words, uttered with very great fervour, as tonished aU the people, greatly rejoiced the Catholics, deeply touched some Protestants, covered the President with shame and confiision, and in a fiirious rage he ordered the executioner to hang up that wretched traitor, as he caUed him, and to execute the rest of the sentence, wluch was accordingly done,' The death of these good priests being founded only on the Cathohc rehgion, the truth of which they sted fastly defended, there was not one of the faithfiU but beheved them to be real martyrs. Under this firm persuasion, the ambassador of Portugal, who was then in London, urged by a holy zeal, ardently desfred to have the head of one of those whom I have just spoken of To this end, he sent for the hangman who had ex ecuted them, treated secretly vrith him concerning the matter, agreed for a very considerable sum of money, one half of which he paid down immediately, and pro mised him the remainder on his bringing that blessed I I have not been able to discover any corroboration of this ; or of the equally incredible statements which it precedes. VOL. II. B B 370 THE COURT AND TIMES OF head, Wliat do you think the hangman did? — why, a real hangman's trick. He found to his thinkhig the execution of this affair easy by the foUowing expe dient. That same day a Protestant who had died -was buried. At night, after dark, the hangman dug him up, cut off his head, put the body back into the coffin, covered it vrith earth, as before, carried the head so cut off to London Bridge, where was the priest's head stuck on the top of an fron spike, climbed up to remove that precious head and to put that of the Protestant in its place, that the fraud might not be discovered, and that nobody might perceive it : but his inhuman covetous ness was punished, for, being very high and striving to accomphsh his bloody design, he fell heavily upon the pavement, which bruised his whole body, and very narrowly missed faUing into the river Thames: the earth from which he had taken the dead refusing to receive him, the element of water desfring to stifle him for his cruelties. So this wi-etched man, bruised, haff killed, and unable to walk, had great difficulty to crawl to the ambassador, to withdraw his promise, saying that, while endeavouring to reach the head of the priest, he had been on the point of losing his own, and that he had lost much more than he had gained by his bar gain, for he had only gained a trifle of money, and lost the sound health of his contused body, A pursuivant, as cruel as this executioner, was more clever than he in his wickedness, I have said that those who are caUed in England pursuivants are in famous persons, most of them priests, friars. Catholics, apostates, blasphemers, in short, extremely vicious men, armed,*nevertheless, vrith commissions for maltreating the Catholics to discover where mass is said, for im prisoning those who attend it, for extorting money from them, and, above all, for hanging priests. One of these pursuivants, traveUing in the country, feU in by the way with a priest in plain clothes, whom he took for a layman. He saluted him very civUly, inquired whither he was going, and, having learned this by the answer, he expressed great joy, because he should CHARLES TIIE FIRST. 371 have the honour of his company, as business called him to the same place. Thus they proceeded together. They con versed about passing events, about the difl'erent rehgions in England — Quakers, Papists, Independents, Brownists, Protestants; and in these conversations the priest, being upon his guard, was very reserved, and said nothing that coiUd betray his character. This reserve caused the pursuivant to suspect that this man, so modest and so retfring, might possibly be a priest. He strove to discover him, put several questions, which the priest answered so adroitly that he left nothing for the pursuivant to lay hold of. At night they went to a tavern, and supped together. After supper, the pursuivant retired to his bed, and, affecting to be a Catholic, in order to catch the priest, he took from his pocket a long chaplet, muttering as if he was praying. The priest, seeing him in this apparent devotion, beheved him to be a Catholic, and, rejoicing at this meeting, he took out liis breriary, which he kept concealed. This was what the pursuivant expected. Next morning he had his companion thrown into a dismal prison. Ingenious but diabolical artifice of this vricked man, who in this manner surprised, imprisoned, and caused the death of several good priests. After so many crimes, could you ever have conceived what was to happen to him? Infinite mercy of God, how admir able art thou ! This persecutor of the Catholics, being forestaUed by mighty grace, turned Catholic, and died penitent. It is likely that the priests whom he had martyred on earth, obtained for him this signal favour in heaven ! At this same time, a young English lady, to whom I was confessor, manifested such wonderful zeal and courage for religion, that she was apprehended, and put in prison, through the infamous treachery of her maid servant, who received some money from the Puritans to accuse her of haring harboured a priest in her house, and haring permitted him to say mass. The judge knev her, and was anxious to find means from her answers not to be obliged to pass sentence of death upon her. bb2 ,372 THE COURT AND TIMES OF " I am greatly astonished," said he, " that a young lady like you, of noble bfrth, and possessing abundance of good sense, should amuse yourself vrith the super stitions ofthe Papists, and attach yourself to them." "And I, sfr," answered she, "am much more as tonished that you, who are a scholar, a man of learning, who know that the Cathohc, Apostohc, and Ronian rehgion has flourished so much in England, and supphed heaven -with so many saints in the course of several cen times — you, who cannot be ignorant that the rehgion which you profess is not a religion, but a new sect un known to our ancestors — I am astonished that you should foUow it, forsaking the true faith of aU our ancient fathers," The judge, confused at this reply, heard by two or three hundred persons, rejoined: "We are not here, madam, to resolve these questions, and to enter into controversies, but to examine if you are criminal or not. It is not -within the sphere of women to be acquainted with the laws. You know not that our laws condemn to death aU who harbour English priests in their houses," " Begging your pardon," answered the lady, " I know that well enough. I heard it mentioned long ago, for I had the happiness to be brought up a Cathohc, I was told of that unjust law in my chUdhood," " In that case," rejoined the judge, "you ought to speak vrith more respect of the laws of this kingdom. You are somewhat ruffled : one must excuse your httle effusion of anger." And, endeavouring to save her, and to find the means of doing so in the innocence of her words — " Confess frankly," said he, " that you knew not that he whom you harboured in your house was a priest." Had she said " No," as the judge desired, and as he had made an opening for her to do, he woiUd have sent her back vrithout condemning her. ¦ She ardently -wished to die for so good a cause, wherefore she boldly answered that she weU knew the man afready condemned to be a priest, that she had received him under that quahty, and that, if it were to do again, she would do the same. T'.>, CHARLES THE FIRST, 37 She sought death, from which the judge ^\as desirous to exempt her. He employed aU sorts of devices to save her, and she exercised innocent a.ssiduity to die, Accorduigly, aU these depositions obhged the judge to pass sentence of death upon her, condemning her to be hung, which is the usual punishment for aU persons, both gentle and simple, iu England, This -wished-for sentence gave great satisfaction to the servant of the young lady, who returned quite joyous to prison. One thing only caused her uneasi ness : this was a very young chUd, a boy, whom she left destitute of fortune and assistance. I recommended him to the Duchess of Epernou, who was then in London, and whom I knew to be very charitable. At my request, she received the chUd iuto her house, and undertook to bring him up and provide for him. This good news wonderfiiUy cheered the condemned lady, who was immediately reheved from her uneasiness, and gave a thousand blessings to Madame d'Epernon, Thus feeling in her heart an internal ease and peace, she forgot aU earthly things, and employed the httle time she had left in holy preparations for death. She could not thank God sufficiently for the innumerable blessings which she had received from his bounty, and particu larly for the signal favour to be condemned for the defence of the true faith and of the true rehgion. She made a general confession, begged earnestly to be en roUed in the proud Order of our Seraphic Father, St, Francis; she retained the habit which she gloried m being invested vrith, and wearing outwardly as weU as inwardly, at execution. She passed the preceding night in prayer, was present at the adorable sacrifice of the mass, and, to strengthen herseff by the heavenly nourishment of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, she received the holy communion. Morning being come, she took the money she had left, and put some pieces into her pocket to give to the exe cutioner who was to perform for her the good office of putting her to death for so just a cause and on so noble an occasion. Her heart was fiUed vrith joy at the thought 374 THE COURT AND TIMES OF that, Jesus Christ, her Lord and her God, having died for her, the greatest felicity that could befal her in this life was to die for him. In this lK)ly dis])osition, the cart which was to convoy her to the ])liice of execution having arrived, she got into it oheerluUy. The horse, which we followed, did not go so fast as sho wished, so strongly did she desire to suffer immediately. That desire, however, was not fulfilled, through a particiUai- mercy of the Providence of God, who, satisfied with her i>ood-will, and her sincei'o resolution to sacrifice her dear Isaac, would not permit this bloody resolution to be ac complished : He, therefore, })reveiited Isaac from being sacrificed. As the cart approached the place ajijiointed for the death of the criminnls, tho judge, who followed, mounted on a fine horse, ordered the driver to stop; and tho lady, apprehending that she should l)t> provouted from dying, cried, " Come, diivor, como along, I wiU give you a crown." The driver was obliged to obey tho judge, aud to set tho lady down at the prison which she had just left, — a, circumstance incomparably moi-e dis tressing and painful than death coiUd hfi\e been was it, in her eyes, to he sent back, and left there for a long tune; but sho left it at last, and diod holily a natural death, at the time of the last voynge of the (^uooii of England. The devU, who has always boon the ;ipe of God, see ing him highly honoured iu the Catholic religion by the holy and generous martyrs whom it gave to him, so bestirred himself, and was so active, that the heresy of which he is the author sacrificed others to him, as the foUovring incidents show. It is wonderful to see in England the number of diflerout sects, which all bo;ist. of following the genuine doctiine of Jesus Christ, and which, nevertheless, attack, and aro at irreconcilablo enmity with one another. We have made fre(iuoiit mention of the Protestants and the l*uritaiis, who, among these sects, form tho two most considei'.'iblo bodies, and are the most inveterate oivch ;igaiiist the other. .\s thoy jnolosw contrary creeds, ;ind aro obstinately CH.\RLES THE FIRST. 375 attached to them, there is no violence that they do not employ in defence of them. The Protestants manifest the gi-eater moderation of the two ; but the outbreaks of the Puritans are extraordinary. This war of rehgion rages not only between province and province, but be tween town and town, between family and family, between servant and servant, between sister and sister, between brother and brother, of the same sect. If these differences did but terminate in mere disputes, in alter cations, in words — ^but they go beyond tlireatening words and outrageous abuse, to cruel, barbarous, and sanguinary acts. Here is an instance. Two brothers in the country, who would not be mar ried, dwelt in the house of their mother, who was a widow, and hved respectably upon the produce of a farm which belonged to them. One of these brothers was a zealous Puritan, the other a moderate one. Con versing one day about the time, manner, and posture in which the sacrament ought to be taken, they were of totaUy different opinions. The zealous Puritan boasted that he followed pure Scripture ; insisted that the Lord's Supper should be taken as the Apostles took it. The other said that there was no obligation to foUow aU that had been done in the observance of this sacrament; that the zealous Puritans, who piqued themselves on being so rigid in the observance of aU things, did not practise it, since our Lord had held what is caUed his supper with the Apostles, in the evening after supper, and they take it in the morning before dinner. He added that this sacrament requfres of us respect, devotion, rever ence, both inward and outward ; consequently, it ought to be received kneeling, not sitting. He adliered firmly to this argument, pressed it strongly, and several times the other had nothing to reply, grew warm, flew into a pas sion, instead of answers poured forth abuse ; at length, in a furious rage, he used most outrageous language, stormed, and threatened. His eyes flashed, he foamed at the mouth, he could not brook being conquered, Boihng vrith rage, he meditated revenge, and employed his hands to obtain what his understanding could not 376 THE COURT AND TIMES OF gain for him. He imagined that it was making a sacri fice to God to remove from the world a man so opposed to his word, and resolved to render him that pitUess service. He made up his mind to this sanguinary deed, and determined to be the executioner of his own brother. Abominable resolution, which he carried into effect with savage ferocity. He armed himself with a large and very sharp knife, went in quest of his brother, crept softly into his room, looked about, perceived him. He approached him, and, favourably for his design, found him asleep. Rejoicing that easily and without resistance he could procure him an everlasting slumber, and send him into the other world, he grasped the knife, he lifted his arm to cut his throat, wounded him, and raised shrieks which reached the ears of his mother. She could not conceive what was the matter, and ran in great haste to the place whence the noise proceeded, to ascertain. When she reached it, O God, what a sight met her eyes! She beheld one of her sons dying, drowned in his blood ; the other furious, foaming with rage, holding the great knife in his hand, distained with the blood of his poor expiring brother, which he had shed. The heart of the mother was rent with grief; her strength failed her, and she fainted. Recovering, after some time, fi-om her swoon, and eyeing the fratricide with affrighted looks, " Ah, vUlain!" she cried, " what hast thou done, -wretch that thou art? Thou hast kUled my son ; rage and fiiry have made thee the butcher of thine own brother ! What ! imbrue thy cruel hands in his innocent blood! Go, abominable murderer ; begone from my presence, and never let me see thee more ! When I produced thee, it was not a human being that I brought into the world, but a mon ster, a lion, or a tiger. Would to God that thou hadst never existed, or that death had stifled thee at the moment of thy birth I" The proud murderer, unable to brook these reproaches, threw off aU respect, and renounced aU the feehngs of Nature ; his raging fury, burning more violently than CHARLES TIIE FIRST. 377 before, inspired his heart with the detestable resolution to employ the weapon dripping with his brother's blood to spiU that of his mother, and to put cruelly to death her from whom he had received life. Accordingly, gnashing his teeth, he went up to her, aud, with a rage more than savage, raised his arm and tlinist the knife into the body of her who had given him being, as if fratricide had not been sufficient for his execrable cruelty, without adding matricide to it. If we are to judge of the tree by its fruit, who but must feel horror of that obstinate and accursed adherence to one's own opinion, which is inseparable from aU sorts of heresies, and especiaUy the Puritan ! ' Here is another incident which happened nearly at the same time, and shows the extraordinary aberrations of that -wretched sect, and the aversion which aU genuine servants of God ought to entertain for it. Several Calrinists, vrith thefr mmisters, having met, ordered a good supper to be prorided for them. All being ready, the dishes being upon the table, each took his place, and the minister at the upper end: after some conversation on indifferent matters, the principal persons, keeping their glasses weU fiUed, drank to the minister, and then feU to drinking to the health of one another. Growing warm, they began to declaim against the Papists; they were accused of superstition, raUed at, ridiculed on several points, particularly in relation to the Lord's Supper. The minister, who was a shrewd feUow, and glad to get a treat at the expense of the others, took this occasion to say that their Reformation was in truth a work of Heaven, but that it was not wholly accomphshed, in regard to the Lord's Supper. To render that work perfect, everything that Christ had done at the Lord's Supper ought to be precisely observed. Every one applauded this notable idea : the minister who originated it was warnUy praised; it was even declared to be an inspfration of Heaven which ' This narrative is about the most lamentable instance on record of the moral blindness which religious bigotry will sometimes produce. Such atrocious murders, if they had been perpetrated, would have filled the whole kingdom with horror. Father Cyprien's zeal very far outruns his discretion here. 378 THE COURT AND TIMES OF ought to be foUowed up and put into execution ; and, as our Lord had held this feast in the evening, after supper, without longer deferring so pious a business, one of the party recommended that a good supper should be or dered for the next evening, and that they should after wards hold the Lord's Supper exactly copied from the pattern that Christ had left us. The whole party met again next evening at supper. They ate, drank, and enjoyed themselves. Supper being over, the time arrived for proceeding to the Lord's Supper: — " Gentlemen," said the minister, " we have not attended to one thing of consequence: here are many women in our company. There were none when Christ held his supper; the Apostles only were present. Therefore, to imitate it precisely, and to do exactly what he did, let us adjourn the party untU to-morrow, give orders for another supper, at which there shaU be men only, without any women." Orders were accordingly given, and the men of the company did not faU duly to attend this religious sup per. Having finished, and each being weU primed with good cheer : — " Gentlemen," said the minister, " in the Lord's Supper which we are about to hold, there is one tlung that gives me concern : we ought to observe aU the circumstances, if it shall be in every respect hke Christ's. Now, at the supper which he held, there was a Judas; which of our party vriU be that Apostle?" Nobody woiUd offer to personate that wretched traitor. Again supper passed off, without any imitation of that instituted by Christ. Who can help being astonished at the extravagance of these deluded creatures, and at the cunning of their minister in taking advantage of thefr silly simphcity. This story furnishes only subject for laughter; here is a piteous tale, which can only make the reader weep. One of these zealous Puritans, who cannot endure anything venerated by Cathohcs, beheld, vrith eyes of aversion, a large stone cross which had stood from time immemorial in the parish churchyard. He ardently desired that it should be thrown down and demolished. CHARLES TIIE FIRST, 379 Gladly would he have employed his arms for this pur pose, but he was afraid of the people. Never did he pass it without an emotion of anger; this being, as he said, a mark of Popery and an object of superstition. In this unliappy disposition, he was elected church warden. He joyfiiUy accepted the office, under the idea that he should have it in his power to overthrow vrith impunity that mstrument of our salvation, which his ancestors had erected. Accordingly, animated by a zeal which was not of God, he caused that beautiftil and ancient cross to be puUed down, the quahty of chmchwarden inspfring him with this boldness. The people murmured violently : some reproved him for it ; others threatened him ; but, after aU, nothing more was done. The stones of the cross were placed against the waU of the church, where they lay for many 3^ ears ; till, at length, this enemy of the cross was, for the second time, put into the office of churchwarden. The demo lition occasioned by him being then forgotten, and the stones in the same place, after they had beCn employed for a most sacred representation, he resolved to use them for the most ignominious and infamous purpose that can be imagined : my pen shudders to record it. He ordered them to be hoUowed to serve for a hog-trough. 0 God ! what a change ! To what excess does not Heresy carry the insolence of men! A thing con secrated to the divine worship, destined to represent to us the great and adorable mystery of our redemption, to be afterwards exposed to a honible' outrage, to such extreme degradation as to be turned mto a trough for unclean animals, for the vUest of /beasts, for hogs ! O, divine Justice, wUt thou leave thi^ crime mipunished? No, vengeance followed such atrocious misdeeds. The wi-etched Puritan, who was the aithor of them, went mad. He grew raving, took aU tl/e keys of his house, flung them into the weU, threw l^mself in after them, and thus put an end to his detesi^/tble life. Tragic and fatal effect of heresy ! Ah ! who /an teU all the disasters which it has produced in the wi^rld? the battles which it has fought? the blood whicl/ it has spUt? the pro- 380 THE COURT AND TIMES OF vinces and the kingdoms which it has desolated? the innocent persons it has slaughtered? the crowned heads it has dethroned? and, whose lives, by a strange cruelty, it has taken away? My pen shudders -with hon-or at the infamous and barbarous treatment to which it subjected Charles I. He was a King very strict in his morals, prudent and mUd in his government, exempt from the rices which generaUy suUy thrones — in short, a pattern for good princes, who wanted nothing in order to be perfect but the true religion; and yet his subjects took up arms against him, drove him, as we have said, from his palace and his capital, robbed him of his revenues, made themselves masters of the forces of the kingdom ; and, having conquered those whom loyalty armed in his defence, forced him to leave England, and to seek refuge in his kingdom of Scotland; and, as heresy is disloyal everywhere, this unfortunate prince found no more safety in Scotland than England, The Scotch, arrant Calvinists, who ought to have been transported with joy to possess this good King, refiised him the protection which honour and compassion should have induced them to afford to the greatest criminal that had vrithdrawn to them, and put himself into their hands; on the contrary, had no thought of doing so. They sold him to the English for a sum of money paid down, like a brute beast. Ah! what an indignity to that crown! sold and bought in that manner! The Enghsh, furious and enraged against him, loaded him vrith abuse, offered him a thousand outrages and insults ; and, by a detestable decree, ordered that his head should be cut off by the hand ofthe executioner ; but, though the hand of the executioner was accustomed to blood, stiU it had such a horror of shedding that of its prince, that, to avoid being stained by it, the executioner secretly left London, and kept himself concealed on the day of exe cution. Another man m a mask, who was said to be a minister, took his place, and, more inhuman and cruel than a thousand executioners, holding in his hand a sharp cutlass, with a lion's rage and a tiger's fury. CHARLES THE FIRST. 381 struck his King with such force that, at one stroke, he severed his head from his body, 0 cruelty! O bar barity ! 0 injustice ! execrable, abominable parricide ! — a most innocent King condemned to death by his own subjects ; condemned, after receiving a thousand insults and outrages from them; condemned to die, and pub hcly by an ignominious death, m the presence of an innumerable concourse of people, by the hand of an ex ecutioner, that is to say, of the vilest of men ! Was there ever seen a more extraordinary injustice, a more horrible, more lamentable cruelty, a greater degradation of sceptres, thrones, princes, and monarchs ! The city of Paris was then blockaded, on account of some disorders of certain seditious persons. During the minority of the King, people could neither go in nor out of it vrithout very great difficulty. The Queen of England, residing at the Louvre, had stUl a gentleman at St. Germain en Laye, where the court of France was staying, to receive news from England, During dinner, which I attended for the purpose of pronouncing a bles sing on the table, some one came and apprised me to wait after grace was said, and not to leave her Majesty, but stop and comfort her, upon the sad tidings which were likely to be brought her of the lamentable death of the King her husband. This painful inteUigence made me shudder aU over, and detained me tiU the con clusion; after about an hour, the variety of conversa tion which took place on indifferent matters had not removed the uneasiness of the Queen, because she knew that the gentleman sent to St. Germain was coming back. She complained of his being so long in bringing her an answer ; whereupon the Earl of St. Albans took occasion to say to her that " the gentleman was so faith fiil and so prompt in executing the commands of her Majesty, that he would not have failed to come sooner if the news had been favourable." " What is it then?" asked the Queen. " I perceive plainly that you know." The Earl replied that in fact he did know something ofit ; and, being pressed to tell, after several evasions and many ambiguous expressions to prepare her by little and little for the fatal inteUigence, he at length declared it to her. 382 THE COURT AND TIMES OF The Queen, not expecting anything of the kind, was so deeply shocked that for the moment she was quite overwhelmed, vrithout words, without action, without motion, like a statue. A great phUosopher says that moderate afflictions permit the heart to sigh and the mouth to lament, but that very extraordinary, terrible, and fatal accidents, fill the soul vrith a stupor which renders the lips mute and prevents the action of the senses. Curce leves loquuntur, graves stupent. Such was the pitiable state to which the Queen was reduced. The words and the reasons that we employed to rouse her, found her deaf and insensible. We were obhged to de sist, and to remain about her aU in profound sUence, some weeping, others sighing, aU with dejected coun tenance, sympathizing in her extreme grief. This continued tUl the beginning of the night, when the Duchess de Vendome, to whom she was much at tached, came to see her ; aU in tears, she respectfuUy took her hand, kissed it very affectionately, and then talked to her with such success that she roused this disconso late princess from the extreme heaviness, or rather stupor, which the astounding and lamentable news of the King's death had produced. This world being after wards disgusting to her, she turned her thoughts to the way of life which she should thenceforth lead- Retfre ment strongly attracted her, but she had vrith her Ma dame her daughter, whom the law of God and maternal love obliged her to take care of. Gladly would she have changed the magnificent residence which she had in the Lou-vre, for an humbler dweUing in some monas tery ; but the princess her daughter, eight or nine yeare old, was an obstacle. Having maturely weighed these things, she resolved to retire for a time, vrith some of her ladies and bed chamber women, to the monastery of the Carmelites, in the fauxbourg St. Jaques, at Paris, and to leave her daughter at the Louvre, recommending to the Countess of Morton, her gouvernante, to pay great attention to her morals, and to me of her learning. Thus this af flicted Queen left the Louvre with the tears of her household, went into the monastery of the Cartiiehtes, CHARLES THE FIRST. 383 where she devoted herself more particularly to prayer, to mortification, to meditation, and to mental prayer, in which she adored the inscrutability of the judgments of God, paid her submission to the wUl of Providence, saw the great fraUty of the creature, the inconstancy of the things of the earth, the shght estimation in which the grandeur, wealth, and honours ofthe world ought to be held, the importance of labouring for our salvation, the obligation to pray daUy for the grace of heaven in order to arrive there, MeanwhUe, the affairs of the King her son and of the whole royal family were in a very bad state, and re qufred her attentions, her counsels, and her efforts, I was employed to speak to her upon the subject: she yielded to my reasons, left the monastery, and came and continued to reside at the Louvre, The fui-ious tyranny of CromweU, the author of the execrable parricide of his King, had afready changed the ancient monarchical State of Great Britain into a Republic, caused it to be declared by Act of Parliament that the chUdren of Charles I, had forfeited all the rights and revenues to which they could lay claim in aU and each of the three kingdoms. The Scotch and the Irish did not consent to a decree so manifestly mi- just; the Scotch being desfrous to recover in some measure thefr honour, and to wipe off the stain of having sold their King, which had covered them with infamy, now received Charles II,, who showed no resentment for their unworthy treatment of the King his father. The bad state of his affairs obliged him to smother his just resentment, to use towards those dissembhng people a very ingenious and neces sary dissimulation; he complied, therefore, vrith their humour, relinquished that majestic haughtiness which accompanies royalty, exhibiting to them nothing but an agreeable insinuating famUiarity, which won them and indeed induced them to take up his defence, his cause, and his estabhshment, to begin with. They made him a great number of proposals, demanding several things, which he granted "with a good grace. They declared 384 THE COURT AND TIMES OF him, therefore, at once lawful King of the Kingdom of Scotland, published that declaration every where, gave the necessary orders for the august ceremony of the coronation, which was attended by aU the lords and the gentry of the country, and celebrated by innumerable people with extraordinary rejoicings. The next thing to which they turned their attention was raising an army. The officers, the colonels, and other commanders, formed altogether a considerable army, consisting of 10,000 foot and 3,000 horse, which 400 more, moved by the justice of so good a cause, came from various parts of Scotland to join. This army encamped at Ourcester, [Worcester] where it erected forts and the like fortifications, but which were of httle utUity ; for the ambition of CromweU, who kept vigilant watch for the consolidation of his extensive power, had no sooner received intelligence of this army than he meditated its destruction. He saw that the de feat of these Scotch troops was absolutely necessary for his interest. Wherefore, not content with employ ing all the forces of his army for the purpose, that he might not fall short in so important a business, he hfred as many new soldiers as he could meet -with. He dis posed of aU the revenues of the kingdom, and bestowed largesses on those who joined his party; so, in a very short time, he numbered 50,000 men in his army. Without losmg a moment, he marched it, with thirty pieces of artUlery, dfrect to Ourcester, Near the city there was a fort, which was attacked vrith such violence and by so many men, that the courage and skiU of its defenders could not save it. The siege of the city was immediately formed; the cannon began to play; the besieged made fiirious saUies ; great numbers were slain on both sides, but the forces were too unequal: 13,000 men were not capable of resisting 50,000, abundantly provided vrith all sorts of warlike stores, and fortified by thirty heavy cannon,' On this occasion, the King displayed mar- • Father Cyprien's account of the Battle of Worcester, and of the subsequent flight of the King, the reader will find frequently at variance with the ordinary authorities. CHARLES THE FIRST. 385 vellous courage, appearing sword in hand, animating the soldiers much more by his valorous example than by big words, and as, in the heat of the battle, his royal person was exposed to great danger, his most faithful servants with great prudence besought him to retire. Seeing the rout of his army aud the great advantages of the enemy, the King foUowed their counsel, and found a favourable moment for carrying it into execu tion, for it was dark. Having ordered his captains to escape vrith their men as they best could by different roads, he set out himself, accompanied by the Earl d' Erby, [of Derby] the Earl of Rochester, and two of his colonels only, that he might not be known. He gaUoped without stopping till daybreak, and lodged in the house of a peasant whom the Earl of Rochester was particularly acquainted with, and whose fidelity he had put to the test. The name of the peasant was George Pendril, and he had five brothers, all older than himself. He besought his Majesty to permit him to fetch them to wait upon him. The King, fatigued with the battle and with the exertions of the night, was in no want of appetite, but the danger he was in obliged him to think of what was most urgent. He could scarcely fail to be discovered, for search was making after him in all parts by such a multitude of soldiers. To balk their search and to escape their fiiry, he thought that he could not do better than to disguise himseff, to put off aU the marks of greatness, and to change his quality of king into the apparent form of a peasant, rendering himself by this expedient unknown to any of the parhamentary party who might meet with him. This resolution once formed was pre sently executed. The Earl of Rochester cut off the fine hafr of the Kmg, who stripped off afl his clothes, to his very shirt, which he exchanged for one of coarse linen, green cloth breeches, a leathern doublet, an old rusty hat, thick shoes, and he carried a hatchet in his hand that he might not be recognised. Two hundred Parliament horse came soon after wards in quest of him to that place, but the King was VOL. II. C C 386 THE COURT AND TIMES OF gone out into the next wood, to which Pendril had led him for the purpose of concealment. The two earls and the two other gentlemen, who had accompanied him from Ourcester, proposed to part from him, for fear their presence should excite a suspicion that his Majesty was not far off, and afford occasion for making search after him. The King thought thefr proposition judici ous ; whereupon they all took leave of him with great pain : among so many different roads, one took one, another another, to escape. The Earl of d' Erby, brother-in-law of M. de la Tre- mouiUe, was taken, throvni into prison, sentenced to lose his head, for no other crime but being, according to the law of God, faithful to his King. He hved in the Huguenot rehgion, of the falseness of which a good priest had formerly convinced him ; and of the truth of the Cathohc, Apostolic, and Roman Church. From that time probably this earl would have embraced the faith, if many human considerations had not prevented him. Business having caUed away the priest to a certain place, whUe on his way thither, he felt within him something not to be described, which urged him to take another dfrection, FoUowing the impulse, he went to the town where M, d' Erby was imprisoned. He paid him a risit, recaUed himself to his remembrance, held conferences vrith him on the subject of religion, told him that he was about to appear before God, to have eternal happiness or misery inevocably aUotted to him, that his salvation was impossible out of the Romish Church, that he must be reconcUed to it, and die in its faith in order to be saved ; that, having been so faithful to his King, he ought not to finish this life in unfaithfiil- ness to God, Aided by the assistance of grace, he acquiesced ih these reasons, desfred to be instructed, made his confession, received absolution for his heresy and his other sins, took the communion, and died a good Cathohc, Meanwhile, the King, in disguise, vrith a great hedg- ing-biU in his hand, was in the wood, where the infor mation which he received obliged him to stay, in order CHARLES THE FIRST. 387 to escape the pm-suit of the Parliamentary horse, who were scouring the whole country in search of him. There was in the forest an oak of great size, with many vride-spreading, interlaced, leafy branches, haring at the top of the tnmk a place where six men might harbom- vrithout being perceived. The King climbed up to it, and vrith him a colonel who was attending him. There he rested. He slept for four hours, as soundly and as sweetly as he covUd have done in the softest bed. Not- ¦withstanding his great haste and anxiety to get to this tree, the colonel had found means to fill his pockets with some pieces of bread and cheese, and had secured a bottle of beer. With this fare of a country servant, the King made a meal, to which appetite gave such zest, that the most dainty wines and viands had never seemed to him so delicious. WhUe the King stayed in this tree, the horse soldiers who spread themselves over the whole country, in hopes of taking him, being disappointed of finding him, re tired, and enabled his Majesty to leave the wood and retm-n to Pendril, his first host. He could not remain long there unknown. He was obliged to think of some other place. Several occun-ed to his mmd. After carefuUy considering them, he deemed none of them more suitable and safe than the house of Monsieur Whihgrave [Whitgreave], a Catholic gentleman, with whose fidehty in his service he was perfectly acquainted. He resolved to go thither, and, as the road was long, and he could not travel on foot, Pendril, who was a great friend of the miUer of the place, pretended to have particular occasion for the horse, which he used for carrying out his flour. He borrowed him, took him to the King, who mounted him, and immediately galloped off. In the darkness of the night, the horse, stumbling frequently, gave Pendril, who followed, occasion to say, with a -view to amuse the King, that it was no wonder the poor beast's load was too heavy for him, since, in stead of a sack of flour, which was his ordinary burden, he had now to bear three mighty kingdoms. The King laughed, and arrived very early in the morning at the c c 2 388 THE COURT AND TIMES OF house of M. de Whihgrave, who received him with all sort of respect and with surprising satisfaction. In this house there was an extremely secret place, where a priest dwelt concealed from the research of the pursuivants, who are appointed to apprehend and im prison the priests. The King betook himself to the secret lodge, tarried there in assurance, and took some rest and some shght refreshment. Soon afterwards, my Lord Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, came to seek him. The moment he perceived him, he felt his heart moved by two strong passions — the one pain, and the other pleasure — the one sorrow, the other joy. He rejoiced greatly to behold once more his dear master, and to behold him escaped from so many perUs; but the wretched phght in which he saw him pierced his heart. Agitated by these different feelings, he threw himself at his feet, and, respectfiUly taking his hand, bathed it vrith the tears which joy and grief at once pressed from his eyes. To such a degree was he overwhelmed with as tonishment, that he could not utter a word : he spoke only by his gestures, which expressed much better the feehngs of his heart than the most eloquent language could have done ; and then, recovering from his surprise, " Ah, my prince," said he, " what a happiness for me, and what consolation to meet so fortunately with your Majesty ! What thanksgivuig do we not owe to Heaven, for having so wonderfuUy preserved you, after so mar veUous a protection of your royal person ! No, I have no doubt that God wUl gloriously seat you on the throne of your ancestors!" — "Let him do what he pleases," said the King. " His divine wUl be done, and to him be never-ceasing thanks for aU the assistances that I have received from him. You, too, sir," added the King, " are greatly indebted to him, for having, through his means, escaped so many dangers. How have you come hither, and what has passed since our separation?" WUmot related how, after taking leave of his Ma jesty, my Lord d'Erby and he resolved to take different roads, that they might incur the less suspicion, and be CHARLES THE FIRST, 389 more likely to escape the notice of the soldiers, who were dispersed on aU sides. This plan succeeded weU with him, but was fatal to the other. Divine Provi dence permitted Lord d'Erby to fall into the hands of his enemies, who knew him, took him prisoner, gave information of it to the Parhament, who pronounced sentence of death upon him, which was forthwith ty rannically executed. The King, who was much at tached to the gaUant nobleman, could not learn these disasters, without feeling the deepest grief, and ab- honing the abominable murders of the enraged Par liament, It was necessary to consider of the means of saving the King : after long consultations upon the subject, the result was that there was no safety for him in England, and that it was absolutely necessary for hun to leave the country. The resolution was good, but how was it to be put in practice ? how travel such a distance to reach a port? and having arnved there how cross the sea without being knovm ? Dissimulation was very re quisite ; in this affair, women far surpass men. Monsieur Wilmot knew one who possessed a superior under standing, and whom he beheved to be fit for so great a design. Women have long been employed on such occasions. Heaven made use of the virtuous Judith, to raise the siege of Bethuha, and to dehver the inhabi tants of that conquered town from death, with which they were threatened by the General Holofernes, The ruin of the Jewish nation was decreed, if Queen Esther had not prevented it by thwarting the schemes of the ambitious Aman, and becoming acquainted -with King Ahasuerus ; his detestable malice was justly visited with that punishment which his pride had designed to inflict upon others. People vriU talk for ever with praise of the Maid of Orleans, who, surmounting the weakness of her sex, took arms and fought -with such brUliant success for France, that she rescued the King from the oppres sions which he was suffering, and replaced him glori ously upon his throne. After these glorious examples, it is no wonder if the King of England and the Lord ,390 THE COURT AND TIMES OF WUmot resolved to have recourse to the ingemous artifice of a woman, in order to deceive the eyes of the soldiers, to escape from their hands, and to get out of rebellious England safe and sound, A colonel, named Lane, brave, generous, very loyal, and strongly attached to the serrice of the King, hved in those parts. He had a daughter about twenty-two years old, not remarkable for beauty, but endowed vrith a noble mind and superior understanding. Monsieur WUmot, who was particularly acquainted with them, told them that they might easUy do a memorable action, which would be the means of making their fortune, and which would gain them immortal glory in the sight of God and men : the business consisted in conducting the King to the city of Bristol, whence he might easily pass to France. The colonel and his daughter embraced this proposal with pleasure, protested that they woiUd cheerftilly risk their lives for the service of his Majesty, who received thefr good wUl very graciously, thanked them, and promised to make acknowledgment some day for all the kind offices that should be rendered him. It was then necessary to consider of the means of exe cuting this important design. The King vrished to consult on this subject the opinions of those three persons who then composed his whole councU. Monsieur Wilmot spoke first, and the other two afterwards. The King, having heard them all with attention, remarked particularly from thefr con versation that Colonel Lane had a married daughter at Bristol. This appeared to him a very favourable cir cumstance for his design, and he avaUed himself of it in the foUowing manner. Madmoisel Lane, the colonel's second daughter, was to make an excuse for visiting her sister; she was to perform the journey on horseback, riding behind a servant ; the King, in disguise, was to be that servant ; then, the roads being fiUed and occu pied by soldiers, a passport would be wanted. She obtained one from the officer commanding in that quarter for the Parliament, Care had been previously taken to boil walnuts in their green husks ; the liquor CHARLES THE FIRST. 391 was rubbed upon the King's face, and, instead of his pleasing fafr complexion, gave him a colour darker than olive, and disfigured him entirely so that he was not to be known again. As soon, then, as the passport had arrived, vrithout losing a moment's time, the King took, instead of sceptre, a whip, instead of the royal mantle a servant's shabby surtout, and, thus eqidpped, mounted the horse ; Mad moisel Lane was lifted behind him, and away they gaUoped. Having gone five or six leagues, they met young Lane, the lady's brother, returning from the house of one of his friends, whom he had been to see. Not knowing the business upon which she was going, or the young feUow who was conducting her, and who ap peared in very mean phght, after reciprocal salutations, he said to her in Enghsh, " Who is that rogue — ^that is to say, mean beggarly feUow — who is conducting you? How can you take such a chap ?" She replied that, haring nobody to perform that service for her, and being in haste to set out, she had taken the first that came. And so they parted, to continue thefr journey, the one towards the house of thefr father, the others to Bristol, which they could not reach in one day. Having gaUoped twenty miles, (that is the way they reckon in England) they alighted at an inn, where her conductor paid her aU the attentions ofa faithfiU servmg- man, handed her up stafrs to her chamber, fetched her everything she wanted, and looked after her supper. A maid servant obhging him to turn the spit, on which some meat was roasting for supper, he had so much defer ence for her, that he laid hold of the spit immediately, and began turning. His good vriU, which deserved praise, was rewarded only by Ul language and abuse, for, not being bred to that occupation, he was less vigilant than he should have been, and, at last, the servant flew into a passion with him, caUing him a stupid dolt who was fit for nothing. This treatment he bore with the more patience, because he had great difficulty to refrain from laughing. The spit being snatched from his hand 392 THE COURT AND TIMES OF by violence, he went to give dfrections about his horse, and then waited upon his mistress at table. After supper, he left her in her own chamber, and retfred himself to another, Ha-ring slept soundly for five or six hours of the night, he rose, as soon as day began to dawn, when his vigUance had made every preparation for starting. His mistress was ready, so they mounted and gaUoped off in good style for seven or eight leagues, talking with glee of the innocent deceptions, of the cleverness with which the King counterfeited the servant, of the gravity of the lady, keeping up constantly a forced afr of mis tress, and receiving with authority the submission and the services of the King, During this agreeable con versation, they saw at a distance a party of horse in their road, and coming towards them. They were in quest of the Kmg, who, nothing daunted and vrith head erect, spurring his horse, presently met them. AU looked at him, but none of them knew him, neither had the slightest suspicion or mistrust who he was ; aU took him for a real servant and a mere valet — him, who was thefr lawfiU sovereign. They asked demoiseUe Lane where she lived, whether she had seen the King of Scotland — so they called him, because he had been solemnly crowned there ; if she knew where they were likely to find him ; to which she might weU have given the answer that St, Athanasius gave to those who were seeking him. He told them. Yes, and that he was not far off — and, in fact, the King was before the eyes of these horsemen, but Dirine Providence deprived them of the faculty of recognising him, and permitted him not to faU into thefr barbarous hands, reserving, as we shaU see, this generous prince for something great, for his divine glory. Questions and answers being finished, the parties se parated ; the soldiers going one way, and our travellers the other, that is to say, towards Bristol, where they arrived safely. There they found Lord Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, who was greatly rejoiced at so happy a meeting, of which the dangers of travelling had excited CHARLES THB FIRST, 393 in him great apprehensions. It is an effect of love to feel alarm, and to apprehend misfortune for the beloved object, especiaUy when one knows that it is in some danger. And, the more violent these alarms, appre hensions, and pains have been, the greater is afterwards the joy, when one sees the danger escaped. Such was the state of the excellent Wilmot, who had afready bar gained -with a captain, a friend of his, for a ship to carry him secretly to France, wth twelve or thirteen atten dants. While supper was getting ready, they retfred to an apartment, and related aU the adventures of their jour ney, which made them laugh more than the vrittiest and most amusing comedy could ever have done. In this merry humour, they went to table as soon as they were apprized that the dishes were on it, and that aU was ready, Mr, WUmot took the upper end, and the King, though disguised as a groom, having so fortu nately conducted MademoiseUe Lane, had permission to sit at the foot of the table. During supper, each acted his part to perfection — hunger rendering aU the riands delicious. The captain of the ship came to inform them that it was time to be gone ; but they showed no inch- nation to leave so soon what had been so weU begun. That they might continue more at thefr ease, they pressed him to take a chair, and to enjoy himself along vrith them. He did not reftise; so there he was at table, eating and drinking; and, having pretty weU satisfied his appetite, he looked around him and surveyed each of the party. He remarked a certain majesty in him who was placed below the others; and, as the King was much talked of about that time, he suspected that this might be he. Supper being over, and the table cleared, he stepped up to Monsieur Wilmot, and whispered in his ear the idea which had occurred to him, and which was treated as absurd, and as a mere imagination, and which, in the end, proved true enough : for, as the wind was fair, no time was lost in getting on board, and, after sailing a night and a day, every one rejoiced to find himself off 394 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the coast of Normandy,' On their arrival in port, thefr joy was redoubled, and mingled with thanksgivings to Dirine Proridence for its protection amidst such im minent dangers. Then was the rage of enemies con quered, alarm dispeUed, assurance strengthened; aU disguises ceased. Truth shed abroad her rays, revealing the condition of each, and proving that the captain was not mistaken in holding him to be a real King, who appeared in the character of a servant and per formed its duties. In fact, aU knelt before him, recog nised him as true and legitimate sovereign: all paid thefr submission to him, and, among the rest, the cap tain of the ship, who there received with great joy a trifling present from his Majesty, vrith a promise that he would some day acknowledge the good serrice which he had done him. He returned weU satisfied to the port of Bristol, vrithout boasting of that which, had it been known to the Parliament, would infaUibly have cost him his hfe. The King, having thrown aside the mean attfre of groom, and aU the other marks of disguise, and put on apparel suitable to his rank, with a -wig upon his head instead of his fine hafr which had been cut off, came to Paris to join the Queen, his mother, who received him vrith transports of joy. She knew not whether she ought to beheve her eyes, so strongly had she appre hended that she should lose him amidst the awfiU dangers to which he had been exposed, and from which she beheld him, through the grace of God, unexpectedly and happily preserved. She vrished for the hke blessing for her three other chUdren, the Dukes of York and Gloucester, and Madame Anne, whom the iniquitous Parhament kept closely confined in the royal house of St, Jemes, in London. The eldest of the three was a gfrl, caUed Madame Anne, about twelve years old. She was endowed with perfect beauty, great courage, and a fine understanding, ' It would appear, from Pere Cyprien's relation, that Charles II. embarked frora Bristol ; but, as it is well known, the royal wanderings continued for sorae time after reaching that port, and that he subsequently escaped in a ship from Brighton. CHARLES THE FIRST. 395 which rendered her the more sensible to the misery of her captivity, inasmuch as her royal bfrth ought to have exempted her from it, and those who kept her prisoner were seditious, rebeUious, bloodthfrsty, parricidal sub jects, deserving torments of aU sorts. Conversing vrith her brother, the Duke of York, she often said to him, " If I were the Duke of York, I would not be here now," This advice, several times repeated, induced the Duke of York to resolve to act upon it. He had a valet de chambre, who was faithfiU to him. He told him that he placed perfect reliance upon him, and that, in this con fidence, he asked, in the utmost secrecy, if there were any means to get out of England unknown, to pass over to France to the Queen, his mother. The valet de chambre replied that the affair was one of great impor tance ; that it was necessary to think about it, and to keep it very secret. After long consideration, he thought that the business might be happily accomphshed in this manner. These iUustrious chUdren were accustomed frequently to pass the evening in a game which consisted in one of them hiding, and being then sought after by the others. The Duke of York was to pretend to hide himseff, and, eluding his keepers, whUe the others were engaged in seeking him, he was to slip on hastily a gfrl's dress pro vided for him, and, in this disguise, he was to be con ducted to the River Thames, which is near the palace of St. Jemes, and get into a boat prepared to carry him to Gravesigne [Gravesend], which is only about twenty mUes from London, and where aU the large ships lie. There a vessel would be quite ready to receive him, vrithout Ins being known, an agreement being first made vrith the master to carry two men and a little girl over to HoUand for a certain sum of money. This plan was proposed to the httle duke, who thought it very good, extremely ingenious, and prudent. The author of the scheme got a gfrl's dress made, engaged a boatman, and agreed with the master of a ship. Everything being prepared and quite ready, and the last supper which these royal chUdren were to take 396 THE COURT AND TIMES OF together being over, the Duke of York said that they must have a game ; that his brother and sister had hidden, and he had found them ; but, for his part, he knew so secret a place, that he defied them both to find him. The chaUenge being accepted, he left the room, softly entered the park, to which he had the key, hastened to a place agreed upon, where he found his valet de chambre, who took off his doublet and breeches and put on him petticoats, frock, cap, and dressed him so cleverly by the hght of the moon, that the most sharp-sighted would have taken him for a real gfrl. Thus equipped, he was taken to the boat, and by the boat to Gravesigne [Gravesend]. He went on board the ship which was to carry him over ; but no sooner had he arrived, than the wind, which had been fair, shifted, and became so con trary, that it was impossible to get under weigh. MeanwhUe, his brother and sister kept seeking him, but to no purpose. One hour, two hours, passed in this search, in which they were joined by others, but these were not more successfiU than themselves. A report was soon circulated throughout the house that the Duke of York had escaped. The keepers were in con sternation. There was not a place, not a corner, that was not examined; but to no purpose. The Duke's governor, who was responsible for him, was in riolent agitation : he considered, he meditated, he mused, where the prince could be. He conceived that he could not be unknown in England, that he would of course have been persuaded to leave it; that for this purpose he must have gone to Gravesigne [Gravesend], He im mediately despatched a man on horseback post-haste to that place, where, as we have observed, the young prince was detained by contrary -wind, which prevented his ship from leaving port- Alas ! should he be taken, what can he expect from his barbarous enemy but a dreary prison, harsh treatment, perhaps a ci-uel death ! But, O admfrable providence of God, just before the arrival of the messenger, the wind shifted again and became quite fair; the anchor was weighed, the ship dropped down the river to the sea, and pursued her CHARLES THE FIRST, 397 voyage with such rapidity that in a very short time she entered a Dutch port. What joy for the young prince, and for the valet de chambre who had contrived his dehverance ! After taking some rest, they proceeded to the Princess of Orange, who was delighted to see them. On learning aU the circumstances, she honoured with a valuable present and abundance of praise the valet de chambre who had so ably managed this important business. The taUors were soon set to work to make clothes for the Duke, who put off his petticoats and other female attfre and adornments to appear as a prince. The strong desfre which he felt to see his mother, who was in Paris, soon urged him to set out for France, having begged the princess, his sister, to consent to his departure. She would gladly have detained him longer, had she not preferred the satisfaction of the Queen, her mother, to her own gratification. Accordingly, the Duke set out. Away he went, entered France, arrived in Paris, and immediately repafred to the Louvre, where the Queen, his mother, resided. He appeared before her, fell upon his knees, and humbly solicited her blessing. According to the holy custom of England, the Queen blessed him, raised him from the floor, clasped him in her arms, and kissed him with a joy which my pen cannot describe. Meanwhile, a rumour ran through the city of London that the Duke of York had escaped. His governor was in great tribulation. Cromwell was alarmed, and expressed vehement anger; and, fearful that the Duke of Gloucester and his sister should follow this example, he had them taken from the royal house of St, Jemes, and sent them to be shut up in the castle of [blank in the original — Carisbrook] where the King, their father, had been prisoner. The princess, then about twelve years old, endowed vrith an exceUent under standing, justly appreciating her high birth, vexed at being obliged to leave the royal residence of St, Jemes, was absorbed in melancholy thoughts on approaching the castle to which she was going. There she made 398 THE COURT AND TIMES OF many doleful reflections : she thought that it was the wretched place where rebeUious subjects had imprisoned thefr prince and their lawful Sovereign, where royalty had been treated like a slave by infamous rebels, where enraged malice had oppressed innocence, which the King, her dearest father, had quitted only to ascend a lamentable scaffold, and shuddered on caUing to mind all the disasters and calamities of her royal house. These melancholy thoughts, which she long and studiously revolved in her mind, made such deep impressions on her heart, and so heated her blood, that a violent fever ensued. It seemed at ffrst that it was too riolent to last long, but the event proved othervrise ; for the disorder kept increasing, resisted aU remedies, and at length put an end to the life of the afflicted princess. The Queen, her mother, could not learn her melancholy death vrithout shedding many tears. The King, her brother, the Duke of York, the Duke of Gloucester, and the Princess of Orange, manifested the greater sorrow, on account of the Ulustrious and extra ordinary quahties vrith which Nature had enriched that beautiful princess. They looked upon her as an in strument that might contribute to the re-establishment of their royal house by means of some high marriage. Of aU the children of the late King, the only one now left in vrretched England was the Duke of Gloucester, who, notwithstanding his tender years, was carefully watched, lest he should be carried off, and should fol low the example of the Duke of York, In fact, he had a strong desfre to do so, and would gladly have carried it into execution, had he possessed the power. It was a great punishment to him to find himself separated by riolence from the Queen, his most dear and honoured mother, from the King, and from the Duke of York, his brothers, and from the princesses, his sisters. His thoughts and his affections went every day to risit them ; as he could not be with them in body, he was so, at least, in heart and spirit ; and, keeping his secret to him self without revealing it to any body, he fortified himself in the resolution to get out of miserable Eng- CHARLES THE FIRST. 399 land, and to go to them as soon as Dirine Providence should have opened the way for him, MeanwhUe, a year and more passed on. He in cessantly revolved the design in his head, and thought to draw his valet de chambre into it imperceptibly. He expressed great friendship for and confidence in him : he gave him some slight hint of his intentions, and, perceiving that the valet de chambre showed no repug nance, he opened himself further to him, and spoke to him more freely. The latter, who was not deficient in good sense, applauded the Duke's idea; and, as interest is in general the master-wheel that sets at work aU the others, and the powerful motive which makes people act, considering that the King and the Queen woiild reward him handsomely if he rescued the young prince from his captivity, he offered to do whatever he pleased, and promised him secrecy and fidehty. The Duke told him that he must speedily secure a ship, that he would go on board on the pretext of taking an airing, and so cross to France, As the whole was cleverly planned, so it was successftUly executed. What joy for the King, the Queen, and for all the royal famUy, after so many sad separations, to find themselves aU together again in health, beyond the reach of the barbarous fury of the Parhament! And what subject of admfration to find in the little Duke, at so tender age, a conduct so judicious ! He was endowed vrith such superior understanding, that, after the King's restoration, his brother, then scarcely seventeen years old, having a seat in the Upper House of Parliament, after each had given his opinion on the affafr in hand, and the reasons on which it was founded, would repeat those opuiions, with the reasons, of more than sixty persons composing the assembly. He refuted pleasingly in detaU what each indiridual had advanced, and clearly pointed out the disadvantages; and then he gave his own sentiments, which he supported by solid reasoning. This increased his joy at his deliverance from captirity, on his happy arrival in Paris, and at the wished-for meeting with the Queen, his mother, and his brothers 400 THE COURT AND TIMES OF and his sisters, France gave all of them pensions suitable to thefr rank, and assigned to them royal apartments, at first in the Louvre, afterwards in the Palais Royal, They took their meals together at the same table. Being obhged to attend there to give the benediction, I observed every day a great number of Ulus trious persons and others, who came to see them, and who pitied thefr unfortunate lot, considering them so accomplished and so unjustly expeUed fi-om their kingdom, God, infinitely gracious, who aims only at good in the conduct of all the affafrs of this world, never per mits an eril, but with a view to the benefit which he purposes to draw from if. The convulsions in England by the regicide Parliament have been so strange, that all Europe is astonished that out of such great evils Divine Providence has caused great blessings to arise from the happy conversion of an innumerable multi tude of persons of aU sorts of conditions, who would never have become Catholics had the kingdom con tinued quiet, I place in the first rank of iUustrious persons Madame the princess Henriette Anne Stuart, whom the King, her father, would have kept continually in the Protes tant rehgion, to counteract the ideas which several of his subjects entertained that he had himself a leaning towards Popery, and in the firm belief which he held, that salvation was not excluded either from the Protes tant or from the Cathohc religion, and that one may be saved in either. Monsieur de Vinebant [Windebank?] was of this opinion, and therefore could not suffer the Cathohcs, and particularly the priests, to be maltreated, kindly preventing them, by his devices, from being imprisoned, or causing them to be released from the prisons and dungeons to which the rancorous malice of the Puritans had consigned them. To avoid the fury of the Parlia ment, this gentleman came to France. Conversation vrith the Cathohcs enabled his daughters to discover the error in which they were, and the grace of God imparted CHARLES THE FIRST. 401 resolution to renounce the Protestant religion, and to be received and em-oUed in the Catholic Church. They made this happy change unknown to their father, who learned it soon afterwards from their own hps, who expressed his displeasure, aUeging that in the Protestant rehgion, as in the Catholic, one may go to Paradise. Those pious ladies listened vrith patience to what their father said, answered him humbly, according to the instructions which they had received, found means to make a learned and virtuous priest speak to him, offered up prayers to God for his conversion, which they at length obtained with transports of joy. Some time after wards, he feU sick, exhibited through aU his illness striking sentiments of piety, contrition, love of God, gratitude and thanksgiving for the blessings which he had received, particularly for his vocation to the Ca thohc, Apostolic, and Roman Church, in which, provided with aU the sacraments, he passed happUy from this life to a better. One of his daughters, who laboured hard in this affair, died in the odour of sanctity, and the other is at present one of the virtuous nuns at the Calvary of the Marais du Temple at Paris, Madame the Countess Danneby,' sister of the late Duke of Buckmkam, and first Lady of Honour to the Queen of England, who had gone to France, foUowed the religion of her most dear and honoured mistress, and hved there in such innocence and purity, that, to the glory of God be it said, I frequently had trouble to find in her confessions subject for absolution. She died with aU the marks of a predestined soul, Madame the Countess of GuUdford,^ her daughter, after some troubles of mind, yielded to the truth, and made profession of the Cathohc rehgion. She persevered in it for a long time with extraordinary fervour, which seemed to verify in her the words of our Lord, that the last comers should be the first — Erunt novissimi primi. She suc ceeded Madame her mother in the post of first lady of ^ The youngest sister of the first Duke of Buckingham was raaMed to William Fielding, first Earl of Denbigh. 2 Elizabeth married Lewis Viscount Boyle, who was killed at the battle of Liscarrol, on the 3rd of September, 1642. She was created Countess of Guildford in 1660. VOL, II, D D 402 THE COURT AND TIMES OF honour, and was buried with her in the church of St, Eustache at Paris, I should also place in this rank an eminent minister [chaplain] of the King's, caUed Dr, Gough, who united in his person the character of priest with the quahty of Cathohc, He has placed himself vrith the Reverend Fathers of the Oratory, where he stUl is, after serving our dearest Queen for some time as one of her almoners ; otherwise, one might form a volume of aU the others to whom the temporal calamities of England proved a great spiritual blessing. Divine Providence guiding and turning these unfortunate changes of State into happy changes for others, which grace wrought in them by the forsaking of the Protestant rehgion, and the holy profession of the Cathohc religion. The number of these persons is countless, God has given me the grace to reconcUe m Paris a multitude, whom the disturbances in thefr country had driven into France, I leave them in sUence, God knoweth them — that is sufficient. There are, nevertheless, some more whom zeal for the glory of God requfres me to note here, • The first of these persons is an Irish gentleman, commonly caUed My lord Insinkuin [Inchiquin], who is StUl hving. The Irish are to be commended for many things, especiaUy for the Catholic religion, which they have almost aU preserved inviolable. Their exclusion from places, the confiscation of their goods, imprison ment, exile, the most ftirious persecutions, have not been capable of making them renounce that blessed and ancient faith, handed down to them by their forefathers. It is true that, in the prodigious multitude of people who fUl that kingdom, some have not shown that firm ness, and, accommodating themselves to the times, have followed the rehgion, or rather the heresy, which King Edward and Queen Elizabeth caused to be preached to them. The ancestors of Monsieur de Insinkuin were of this number; forsaking the Cathohc rehgion, they had since. iived in the Puritan, and brought up thefr chUdren in it, who not merely embraced its creed, but added thereto a violent hatred against Catholics. CHARLES THE FIRST. 403 Monsieur Insinkuin, transported vrith false zeal, manifested that hatred against them on aU occasions that occurred during the whole time which he passed in that false religion. The rank of lord, the influence which he had in the country, the appointments with which the King had honoured him, fiirnished him vrith the means of exercising upon those innocent persons all the persecutions that error and animosity prompted. Never was Saul more ardent in such a cause : his fury was -wreaked above aU on the priests, whom he caused to be imprisoned, banished, even tried, and hanged with the greatest criminals. Seeing this, who would not have abhorred such a man ! who would not have said that he was a victim of the DevU, whom heU was yawning to swaUow! O mercy of God, how admfrable art thou! After all these awfiU crimes, the grace of Heaven touched this miscreant, enhghtened his mind, enabled him to see the falseness of his zeal, the errors of his creed, the truth of the Catholic rehgion, the heinous ness of his offences, the tenible chastisements which he deserved, the obligation to pass the rest of his days in the faith of the Romish Church, and in aU the most rigid exercises of penitence. Such were the pious sentiments which he expressed on opening his heart to me, and desiring some direction for his conscience. It may be said of him, after his profession of the Cathohc faith, that grace prevaUed over his offences, and that it siiperabounded where rice had before reigned. God permitted him to be deprived of his possessions, banished from his country, reduced to extreme indigence by the injustice of the regicide Parhament. This was not sufficient to expiate his crimes : Divine Providence destined for him far greater calamities. Being invited to Portugal, to take the rank of general in the army, after a severe sea-fight vrith the Turks, he was made prisoner, -with a son of his, carried to Algiers, subjected to outrages, stripes, wounds, chains, and, at length, redeemed after suffering grievously ; and now he continues his penitence, with a Dutch -wife, who D D 2 404 THE COURT AND TIMES OF is furious against the Cathohc religion, and keeps her husband in a state of continual penance. Neither ought I to omit here a very noble Enghsh lady, caUed Madame Standeley [ Stanley?], kmswoman of one of the most eminent divines, and of the most cele brated preachers in England, with whom I had, in London, several conferences respecting an English lady who renounced the Protestant rehgion to follow the Cathohc — I preached at that time to the English nuns in the Faubourg St. Victor at Paris. Madame de Standeley frequently risited them, haring come to France that she might not vritness the strange disturb ances and convulsions in her own comitry. She at tended our sermons, which afforded me an easy means of speaking to her, of assuring her that I knew her relation, the minister; that I had conferred vrith him, that the lady who was the cause of our conference had become Cathohc ; that I hoped for the hke success with her, wheii the grace of Heaven, together vrith my reasons, should have made her acquainted vrith the errors of the Protestant Church, and the truth of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Romish Church. She told me that she was so firmly founded in her faith, that he must be very clever who could draw her away from it, and induce her to embrace one so contrary. Her reply gave me occasion to produce my reasons in several conferences. She made a great number of objections, which were immediately answered. At length, her mind was so convinced, that she embraced the Cathohc religion, of which she afterwards made a solemn pro fession. She had two daughters, to whom she said not a word about her change of religion, intending to obhge them, without any violence, but with a holy gentleness, to do what she had done. The elder, thirteen or fourteen years of age, fell sick. During her Ulness, thinking of the Protestant religion, which her mother had forsaken to foUow the Catholic, she found herself in a perplexity of mind and ' in doubt, not knovring what to decide upon. In this state, her CHARLES THE FIRST. 405 mother coming to her: "My dear mother," said she, " if I die now, what wUl become of me? what wUl be come of my soul? where would it go to?" — " Why, my dear?" asked the lady.- — " Because," replied the patient judiciously, " I am neither Protestant nor Catholic, I cannot persuade myself that the Protestant religion is good, since you have renounced it; and I am not Cathohc, because I am not acquainted with its faith, and make no profession of it. If you have found the true way to heaven, why do you not teach me it?" — Judicious reasoning of a girl, and inspfred no doubt by grace, to convert her entfrely to God, as it turned out ! I spoke to her afterwards, I propounded the reasons which had won her mother to the Catholic religion; and, havmg explained to her our mysteries, and given her instructions for living as a good Cathohc, she made a profession of that faith; recovered from her Ulness, obtained health of body together vrith that of mind, and afterwards evinced great fervours, which, increasing vrith age, have vrithdrawn her from the world, and made her a perfect nun of the Order of the Visitation, I shaU add one memorable cfrcumstance which ought to be noted, as shovring the force of grace and the power of the Holy Eucharist in a young lady, fourteen or fifteen years of age. Her father was an English Protestant, one of the first gentlemen in England ; her mother, a Frenchwoman and Cathohc, I had always in structed this httle gfrl, along with the others of the court ; and had strongly recommended to her to say every day a Pater and an Ave for the conversion of Monsieur her father. Being at the royal palace, where the Queen was then residing, God sent this young lady a severe Ulness, in which she had the happiness to re ceive aU the sacraments. After she had received the Holy Eucharist, whUe we were foUo-wing the priest who had administered it, and who was returning to St, Eustache, carrying the pyx, she expressed a strong desire to see her father, who went to her the moment he was informed of it. He having asked her how she was: "Papa," said she; "I have just received our 406 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Lord in the Holy Eucharist; I have received it as a provision for performing happUy the great journey to heaven, haring nothing further to do on earth. That good Sariour, who gave his blood and his life to earn Paradise for us, inspfres me to teU you, my dear papa, that you must be a Cathohc to get thither. I am going to die, and I shaU die -with joy, if I see you in the disposition to be a Catholic, Yes, my dear papa, be Cathohc; it is for your welfare, your happiness, your salvation, I teU you this from an inward feehng imparted by the good God whom I have just received, and who is now in my heart," These words, pro ceeding from the lips of a beloved daughter, and that daughter dying, so overpowered that good father, and affected him so deeply, that he was like one thunder struck : his tongue continued mute. He answered only vrith his eyes, which poured forth abundance of tears. Thus weeping, violently agitated, and deeply sorrow ing, he retfred to a secluded place, to give vent to his grigf, and to meditate the better upon the words of his expiring daughter. On our return from the Holy Sacrament, which we had accompanied and conducted to St, Eustache, this good news was brought me, and gave me occasion to go to this gentleman. He was weeping, deeply affiicted, and, as far as I could perceive, inwardly much agitatedi " It seems to me, sir," said I, " that what so deeply grieves ought to console you. Good chUdren are a joy to thefr parents. Your dear child has always been re markable for goodness; and now, in particular, God displays in her evident marks of a chosen vessel. Ah ! what a subject for rejoicmg! Yes, sir, instead of weeping, rejoice and thank the good God, who has bestowed so much grace upon her, I have heard that, during my absence, she has spoken to you. You may think, perhaps, that I have put into her mouth the words which she has uttered ; but, that you may know that they come from God himseff, who desfres your conversion, who has inspfred her vrith what she has said to you, who has spoken to you by her dying lips; CHARLES THE FIRST. 407 I declare, before Heaven and earth, that I have in no way solicited her to speak to you, that I have not prompted a single word of the searching discourse which she has held to you. It is God who has put into her mouth the most important words which she has addressed to you. Think weU of it, sfr; act for your own benefit; comply; give your consent to this extraordinary grace, which caUs you to the Catholic rehgion. Break the chains which have hitherto bound you to the Protestant rehgion. Let these words of Job be verified in you, ' Lord, thou wilt caU me, and I will answer thee, — Vocabis me, et ego respondebo tibi} — ' Hearken to day with effect to the voice which has spoken to you,' says the Prophet, Ah ! beware of rendering it useless to your salvation, by unhappUy hardening your heart, Hodie, si vocem Domini au- dietis, nolite ohdurare corda vestra." Grace, operating with these words, had made such a change in the gentleman, that he appeared afready Cathohc; but, immediately afterwards, the conferences which he had vrith a minister, who is now a Protestant bishop, ruined aU his good sentiments, and, for that time, prevented his conversion, of which, however, there are stUl good hopes,' Madame, the Duchess of Richemont^ [Richmond], only sister of the Duke of Buckinkam, is too iUustri ous a personage to pass over in sUence her conversion, which made so much noise throughout the whole King dom of England, and even in France, where she was weU known. She succeeded the Countesses of Danneby and GuUdford in the very honom-able place of first lady of honour to the late Queen of England — a title which she bore vrith great splendour and benefit. Though the Catholic religion was then in some sort tolerated, during the mUd and quiet reign of Charles II. , still it was not permitted, and there was danger that some dis- ' This appears to be the only instance where Protestantism is allowed the advan tage against Capuchin arguments. 2 Mary, first married to Charles Lord Herbert; secondly, to Esme Stuart, Duke of Richmond and Lennox; and thirdly, to Thomas Howard, brother of Charles, Earl of Carlisle. She died in 168.5. 408 THE COURT AND TIMES OF pleasiire of the Parhament should cause the rigorous laws against those who make profession of it to be put in force. This prevented many persons of quality from declaring themselves Catholics, contenting themselves with following and practising its doctrines in secret; nay, to conceal thefr opinions the more completely, some attended the service of the Protestants, notwith standing the prohibition of the Holy See, 'These are commonly called Schismatics, and are excluded from the sacraments, unless they resolve and promise not to go any more to such assemblies : for, though they are Cathohcs in thefr hearts, their attendance at Protestant preachings is an apparent disavowal of this and an ex ternal profession of the Protestant religion, assumed that they may not be deemed Catholics, and that they may retain their property and hold places which the Catholic religion renders all those who profess it inca pable of doing according to their pernicious laws. Two different briefs of Popes expressly forbid Catholics this attendance at the preaching of Protestant ministers. There are, however, Enghsh priests who explain away these briefs, and who secretly maintain that, on certain important occasions. Catholics may, without offence, fi-equent the churches of the Huguenots, and hear the sermons of the ministers. In this opinion, they admit them to confession, and administer the sacraments to them, vrithout obliging them to desist from those practices. Be this as it may, Madame the Duchess of Richemont was not hke those concealed and timid Cathohcs. Her more generous zeal impeUed her to declare herself openly a Catholic in the face of the whole court of England, to profess the Catholic faith pubhcly, and to perform solemnly aU its exercises, without dreading either loss of her possessions, or disesteem of her per son, or the reports cfrculated among the people to the prejudice of her reputation. All this serves to show what we have said, that God has drawn his glory from the disorders of England, by the holy death of so many generous martyrs, who have cheerfiUly given their blood CHARLES THB FIRST. 409 for the defence of the true faith, and for the happy con version of a great number of Ulustrious persons, who have, by this means, renounced the Protestant Church, to foUow and practise the Cathohc faith. But for these disasters, as I have observed, Madame the Princess Henriette would not have been brought up in France, whither she was taken to withdraw her from the barbarous hands which unjustly put to death the King her father. The Queen, her mother, a fortnight after her bfrth, was reduced to the cruel necessity of learing her to save her life, crossing the sea, and coming to France, The Scripture says that Nature has im pressed on the heart of a woman sentiments which wUl not permit her to forsake the infant to which she has given birth, Numquid oblivisci potest mulier infantem suum? (Isaiah, xlix.) The thoughts of the Queen, on her arrival in France, flew a hundred times a day to wards the princess, her daughter, left behind in England ; and a hundred times her prayers, mingled vrith her tears, demanded her of God. Would he reftise so just a sohcitation? — His heart is too tender not to grant it. In fact, He wUled that the infant shoiUd be restored to the mother ; and, because He found a glory in foihng strength by weakness, he employed weakness in this affafr, and enabled it to triumph over the criminal pru dence and the formidable power of the whole Parha ment, His goodness inspfred the Countess of Morton, the gouvernante of the Princess, vrith the idea of stripping off her rich robes, her costly attfre, her magnificent ornaments, to clothe herself in old rags, to assume the guise of a beggar, to pass for the vrife of a valet de chambre, equaUy meanly clad, counterfeiting the men dicant ; and, in hke manner, the princess was dressed in a httle tattered, patched frock, and caUed Peter, to con ceal her the better. This precaution was not useless. The Countess, having maturely reflected upon the matter, thought that it might easUy be accomplished, set about it, and soon saw her undertaking crowned by the effect, having made all her arrangements very se- 410 THE COURT AND TIMES OF cretly. As she was taU, and of a very elegant figure, in order to appear humpbacked, she had some pieces of linen stuffed under her ragged gown. In this state she set out, carrying the infant in her arms, proceeded, reached the port vrithout obstacle, and went on board the passage-vessel. Those to whom it belonged were very glad to get rirf of this beggar-woman, and that France should be burdened with her. In this manner she crossed the sea. She arrived at Calais, where aU dread of being known was at an end ; the apprehensions of faUing into the cruel hands of the Parliamentarians ceased ; an agreeable assurance took the place of those feelings : disguise was no longer needed ; the rags of mendicity were stripped off; each resumed the apparel stdted to her rank ; the name of Peter was changed to that of Princess. Intelhgence of the whole affafr was despatched to the Queen, who quickly sent her can-iages, and the gouver nante, vrith all her train, reached Paris in safety, and respectfuUy placed in the hands of her Majesty the pre cious deposit, which she had so happUy preserved amidst so many awful dangers. 0, the transports of joy ! O, the excessive consolation to the heart of the Queen ! She embraced, she hugged, she kissed again and again that royal infant. The father of the prodigal son made extraordinary rejoicings on his return; his dehght and consolation were heightened by the reflec tion that this dear son had been lost, and was happily preserved and found, that a sort of death had taken away hfe, and that life was restored. The Queen, having much greater cause to say the same in another sense, had also more reason to open her heart to joy, and to fiU it vrith consolation. Many thanksgivings did she render to God for this mercy ; and, regarding the Princess as a chUd of blessing (un enfant de bene diction), she resolved, with the grace of God, to have her instructed in the Catholic and Roman rehgion, and to use aU her efforts to obtain the consent of the King, her husband. Accordingly, as soon as the sparks of reason began CHARLES THE FIRST. 411 to glimmer in the mind of that precious chUd, the Queen honom-ed me with the command to instruct her, took the trouble herself to lead her to the chapel of the Louvre, where I taught the chUdren the Christian doc trine, and, nobly exercising the humUity of Christianity, she deemed it no abasement of the royal dignity to stay and listen aU the time that I was catechising, hke the lowest of the company ; nay, the Spirit of God, which enables us to profit by the smaUest things, inspfred her vrith such a fondness for these instructions, that she said aloud, on going away, that she would always come to hear them. Such was her resolution ; but it was not carried into effect, being set aside by persons who had not either her zeal or her humihty. However, I then began the instruction of that royal Princess ; I infused into her infant mind the elements of the Christian rehgion, and adapted my instructions to her capacity. In proportion as her judgment became formed, and she advanced in that kind of knowledge, I unfolded to her the secrets ofour mysteries, endeavoured to fiU her mind with Gospel truths, and to impart to her a thorough conception of the three great obhgations which she owed to God : — to be called to the Catholic religion, out of which there is no salvation ; to profit so advantageously in spfritual matters by the revolutions and troubles in England ; to have been chosen from aU eternity to profess the true faith; to be the only one of the royal house to possess that ineffable fehcity to see herself happUy in the way to heaven, whither the princes and princesses of her family could not come, while heresy made them walk in other tracks. I represented to her mUdly the greatness of these blessings, and how highly she ought to prize them, adoring Divine Pro vidence, who had permitted the disturbances in Great Britain to save her; for, had that kingdom remained qiuet, according to aU human appearances, the King, her father, would not have consented to her being a Catholic, as we have afready observed, as well to covm- teract the opinion of many of his subjects that he was inclined to Popery, as from being falsely, but firmly. 412 THE COURT AND TIMES OF persuaded that Paradise is open to Protestants as weU as to Catholics, and that both may alike be saved, whatever be thefr creeds. And, because Madame the Countess of Morton was Protestant, and always present at the instructions which I gave to the httle princess, I frequently urged these points — the great gratitude which she owed to God for her vocation to the Cathohc rehgion ; the importance of showing zeal, firmness, constancy, in it, of never sepa rating from it for any human consideration or any interest whatever; because eternal salvation is prefer able to aU the grandeur, to aU the advantages, to aU the fortune of the world, I impressed upon her, by all the reasons proportioned to her understanding, that this salvation is not to be obtained but in the Catholic re hgion. This truth, so frequently repeated, caused Madame Morton to say, when famUiarly conversing with the princess, " I do think Father Cyprien is work ing so hard at the catechism as much on my account as on your Royal Highness's." This the princess, who possessed a good understanding, related to me after wards in secret, I recoUect that, one day, the Queen, her mother, seeing her vrith pleasure so warm in the cause of re ligion, said to her, " My dear, as you have so much zeal, why do you not convert your gouvernante?" " Madam," rephed the princess, in her chUdish reason ing, " I do as much as I can in that way," — "And what is that?" rejoined the Queen, " Madam," answered the princess, in her infantine innocence, " I embrace my gouvernante, I hug her, I kiss her, I say to her, ' Ma dame Morton, be converted; be a Cathohc: you must be a Catholic to be saved. Father C3^rien teUs me so very often; you have heard him as weU as I: be a Catholic, my good lady, and I will love you dearly !' " God, who makes use of the mouths of innocent little chUdren to draw praise from them, caused this innocent princess to speak thus to her gouvernante, vrith whom I afterwards had several conferences : she became per suaded that the Catholic religion was the safest for CHARLES THE FIRST. 413 eternal salvation; human interests prevented her from admitting that it was absolutely necessary for it. At length, she was convdnced ; she acquiesced in it ; she be heved it ; deferring, however, the practice of that faith from worldly considerations. After long delays, she resolved to go to England, to settle aU her affafrs there, to return to France, and then make a pubhc profession of the Cathohc religion. But how awfiU are the judgments of God! and how dangerous it is not to answer him when, by oft-repeated inspfrations, he speaks to our hearts, calls us, urges us to listen, and to obey him ! Madame the gouvernante faUed sorely in this duty. Success in this conduct proved extremely banefiU to her : for, being in London, on account of her domestic affafrs, she was seized vrith a very riolent inflammatory fever, which led her into thoughts and resolutions contrary to the happy change which she had projected. Seeing a Cathohc lady, a good friend of hers, enter her chamber — " Madam," said she, aloud, " talk not to me about rehgion; urge me not to be a Cathohc, I never wUl be one," Thus died that miserable lady, who pretended to dispose of divine graces according to her good pleasure,' Madame the Duchess of AmUton [Hamilton] expe rienced a lUce fate. Several conversations touching rehgion induced her to resolve to renounce the Pro testant and to embrace the Cathohc, I was destined for her confessor, and to receive her into the Church, This matter was to be kept quite secret, because the duke, her husband, being a stanch Puritan, and a re lation of the King's, would have been in a raging pas sion with his vrife, and would have left no means imtried to get us sent out of England, This idea, to gether with the amusements of the court, and various worldly considerations, were to this lady specious but unhappy pretexts for deferring her conversion from week to week and from month to month. Amidst these delays, she feU dangerously Ul, The duke, her husband, suspected from some appearances that she ' The good Father is evidently here a little ont of temper, and a good deal out of truth. 414 THE COURT AND TIMES OF intended to be converted. To prevent this, he stayed continuaUy vrith her, so that no priest should speak to her. She died without bemg reconciled to the Church, As she would not when she could have been, by a just judgment of God, she could not when she had a desire to be. So true it is that it behoves us to hsten to God when he speaks to us, and to do what he in spires. The duchess was extremely deficient in this point as well as the Countess of Morton. After all these amusing digressions, which are con nected -with the subject of which we are treating, to resume and to continue the history of our little princess, we must state that she was tenderly, loved by the Queen, her mother, as it is commonly the case that fathers and mothers are fondest of the last chUd whom they have brought into the world; vritness the patriarch Jacob, who was more attached to Joseph and Benjamin than to any of his other chUdren. The Queen reckoned the little princess as the last of her children ; though she had a true mother's affection for them all, yet it was remarked that the little princess was the best beloved. She was endowed with a noble understand ing, extraordinary beauty, and uncommon skiU in aU the exercises befitting her royal rank. She was so suc cessful in them, that she equaUed the best performers in dancing, in playing upon musical instruments, in the baUet, and the like. Her agUity, her exquisite figure, her sweetly majestic carriage, aU her motions, were so correct, so well regulated, that there was nobody but praised her. The report of her abUities spread to all quarters, Madame the Duchess of Savoy envied her sister, the Queen, mother of the little princess, for it, expressed her high satisfaction, and, under the idea that she was brought up, like the other princes and princesses her brothers and sisters, in the Protestant rehgion, she added that it were to be wished that as great pains might be taken to form the mind of the princess, her niece, and to fiU it -with Christian truths, as were taken to form her body to all the noble exer cises of her rank. On this intimation, the Queen thought it necessary CHARLES THE FIRST. 415 to make known, not only to France, but to all the neighbouring States, that Madame her daughter was brought up in the profession of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church, For this purpose she commanded me to write, print, and publish the Christian instruc tions which 1 had given to the young pi'incess. This command, and the order of my superiors, obliged me to give to tho world Les Exercices dune Ame Roy ale, con taining the duties which every Christian owes to God, to the Saints, to his neighbour, and to himself, with the instructions and practices of the employments usual on working days and on holidays. These exercises, con tained in three volumes, 8vo,, were preceded by another small book, which explams the obligations of baptism. All these books, being published and distributed, made known what the Queen desired, namely, that Madame Henriette, her daughter, was educated in the Catholic religion. As she advanced in age and perfection, the King, her broth 01', was replaced on his throne, miraculously, as it were, without wai', without battle, without drawing a sword. This peaceful restoration, together vrith the excellent qualities of the princess, induced Monsiem- the Duke of Orleans, with the consent of the King, his brother, and of the Queen, his mother, to solicit her in marriage, before concluding which, it was necessary to confer with the King of England, Orders for this jour ney were immediately given by the Queen, his mother, and thoy set out from hence in the month of November, 1660, They took shipping at Calais, in English vessels, in which the highest nobles of the court of England had come to compliment and accompany the Queen on be half of the King, her son. I know not if there was ever seen so dead a calm, which made the sea look like glass ; the vrind was so completely at rest, that the sails of the ships, deprived of the desirable breezes, kept those large vessels motionless. In spite of all the efforts of the crews, it took two days to cross from Calais to Dover, though the distance is so short, that, with a fafr 416 THE COURT AND TIMES OF vrind, it may be performed in three hours. The Duke of York, high-admfral, came to receive the Queen, his mother, with the whole fleet, composed of such a mul titude of ships, and ranged in such a manner, that their masts appeared like large trees, and resembled a spacious wood. When on board, the guns began to thunder; each ship firing in its turn and order, one after another, they kept up a noise marveUously loud and delightful, which lasted for a good half hour, at Calais and at Dover, All the rarest and the most exquisite viands rendered the supper sumptuous, not only for the Queen and for Madame her daughter, but hkewise for aU those who enjoyed it, gratifying the palate and satisfying that craving hunger which the calm sea air had produced. This regale was at the cost of the Duke of York, who knew that we were fasting — it was then Lent : in order to obtain an exemption for it, he had the goodness to come to us, and said, " I have heard that, at this time, you do not eat meat, and that you are fasting : you wUl fare Ul, for not only have we no supply of fish, but all these people are Huguenots, who wUl not do what they niight to treat you weU; but, whUe I am speaking, I recollect that we have some sturgeon here, I vriU go and order it to be given to you," We returned warm thanks to that prince, in admiration of his rare kindness. On approachmg Dover, the King came to meet the Queen, his mother: the respect, the attentions, and aU the testimonies of perfect joy which he paid her may be better imagined than described. In this excess of joy, and in delightful conversations, the ships advanced and arrived at Dover, where the King had prepared fes- tirities of extraordinary magnificence for his honoured mother, for the princess, his sister, and for aU their retinues, whose expences he defrayed. Arriving about three o'clock in the afternoon, the King, the Queen, the Duke of York, the Princess of Orange, and our princess Henriette, Prince Robert [Rupert], son of the Prince Palatine, King of Bohemia, the parties at the entertainment, were of diffrent re ligions, some Catholics, some Protestants. Several dif" CHARLES THE FIRST. 417 ferent graces were said. The King's chaplain began, and blessed the viands after the Protestant fashion. Immediately afterwards, I did the same, according to the Cathohc, saying m a grave and loud tone, '¦'• Benedic Domine nos, et hcec tua dona quce de tua largitate sumus sumpturi, per Christum Dominum nostrum" and, ex tending my arms, I made vrith the hand the sign of a large cross over the dishes, which had been set on the table, the King, the Queen, and aU the others standing while grace was said. The Puritans, the Independents, the Quakers, of whom the town of Dover is fuU, and who are sworn foes to the ceremonies of the Church, and particularly to the sign of the cross, were highly astonished at the liberty which I took to make it thus pubhcly at the table of the Protestant King, They were much more astonished on the foUovring day, when we said mass in a very large apartment, vrith aU the doors open, in the presence of an innumerable con course of people, most of whom admired the devotion of the Cathohcs, others inflamed with rage, from a blind and highly criminal aversion which they bear to the Romish church. We celebrated the same sacrifice, in the like manner, at Canterbury, in a much more spacious place, and be fore a much larger concourse of people. Several were sensibly touched vrith the reverence with which we treated those high and sacred mysteries, which they compared vrith the meanness and nakedness of their Lord's Supper, ' This solemn and public sacrifice was much more striking in London, particularly at the great festival of Christmas, which, in the kingdom of England, is in some sort august beyond aU other nations. At this time, the ordinances of the kingdom required the gentry to retfre to thefr country houses, for the purpose of practising hospitality, that is to say, keeping a weU- fiirnished table, and open to aU comers, I know a nobleman who treated most sumptuously aU sorts of persons, great and smaU, gentle and simple, who came to his house, from Christmas-day to the feast ofthe Three ¦ The good Father forgets in what manner this ceremonial was first performed. VOL. II. E E 418 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Kings, expending more than 10,000 Jacobuses in this munificent and charitable donation. A thorn from the crown of our Lord, carried to England, and planted there, by St. Joseph, of Arimathea, according to ancient tradition, and the assurance of very grave authors, never misses flowering on Christmas-eve. The people of the place usuaUy bring a branch to the King ; and as, in those parts, they know nothing about the reform of the calendar, they count ten days after us. The late King, laughing, and holding this branch of thorn in his hand, said, that it proved that its calendar was better than ours, because that shrub blossomed on Christmas-eve, kept according to the style of England, and not accord ing to ours. This is said by way of digression, respecting that great festival, which was celebrated in the palace of VuithaU [WliitehaU], where the King usuaUy resides, vrith so much piety, pomp, and magnificence, that a great number of Protestants, who attended, were highly edified, and some reconciled to the Church, The Catho lics, in particular, were delighted to see their religion so publicly and so solemnly professed, even in the residence of the King, after so many persecutions, so many unjust laws, so many atrocious edicts against their property and their persons, so many ruins and desolations, which they had suffered during the detestable rebeUion of the regi cide Parhament, One thing that grieved them much was the return of the Queen to France, However, the severity of this affliction was soothed by a strong hope that the stay of her Majesty at Paris would not be long, and that they should have the happiness to see her again soon in England, never more to leave it whUe she lived. Such was, in fact, the intention of this good princess, but Divine Providence disposed otherwise. These earthly joys are generally mingled with bitter ness. The happy arrival of the Queen in London, the pubhc and peaceful exercise of the Catholic religion, in which she indulged, in the residence of the King, her son, the future marriage of Madame Henriette, her daughter, with PhUip de Bourbon, only brother of the CHARLES THE FIRST. 419 King of France — these things, and several others, were agreeable subjects for rejoicing; but, very soon, there was a sad cause for alarm in violent and mortal pains which aU at once attacked the Princess of Orange, She had been brought up, by order of the King, in the Pro testant rehgion. The Queen, her mother, who could not openly oppose this order, had placed about her a young lady, who was secretly a Catholic, and who in fused into her the sentiments of that holy faith. She represented to her in their conversations, when they were alone, that she was to be married, and, according to aU appearance, either to the son of the Emperor of Germany, or to the Dauphin of France, or to the prince of Spain, who were all Cathohcs, and, of course, it was requisite that she shoiUd be Cathohc. "I have no ob jection," repUed the princess ; "let me be taken to mass : I shall be very glad to go." She habitually canied a rosary in her pocket, which she took out and showed, in order to please us, when her sharp eyes perceived no Protestants. These exceUent dispositions were thwarted by the great troubles of the kingdom, which requfred her to be sacrificed as an innocent rictim for the public weffare, by giving her in marriage to the Prince of Orange, under the idea of receiring through him power ful succours in men, money, arms, and munitions of war, to crush the unhappy rebeUion of the subjects of the King: so that unfortunate princess foUowed the Huguenot rehgion, agreeably to the manner in which it is practised in Holland. Nevertheless, we cannot but beheve that she always retained something of those good dispositions which she had manifested in her chUdfrood. It was necessary to rerive them in her illness ; it was necessary to remind her of them, and to represent to her by sohd reasons the importance of dying in the Catholic religion. Such was the design of the Queen, who did not succeed, through a strange dispensation of Divine Providence ; the disease increasing suddenly to such a degree of vio lence as to put an end to the life of this unfortunate princess before she could be spoken to upon this subject. E E 2 420 THE COURT AND TIMES OF I know not whether it was the Puritans who, when she first feU Ul, spread a report that the disease of the prin cess was contagious, to prevent the Queen from gomg near her. In fact, Madame Henriette was removed from that place, and I had orders to accompany her to another royal house, caUed St. Jemes. We had not been there long before word was brought us that the Princess of Orange had expfred. During the whole time that the Queen abode in Lon don in the King's house, for the space of three months, there was but one table for the King, for the Queen, for the Duke and the Duchess of York, for the Princess of Orange before her death, for her sister, Madame Hen riette, and for the Prince Palatine Robert [Rupert], son of the King of Bohemia. The dishes being placed on table, one of the King's ministers [chaplains] said a short prayer in the English language: immediately afterwards I began the benedicite, which those royal personages heard standing and with reverence. This practice is not observed in the Queen's household, though the Kmg, her son, and the Duke and Duchess of York, Protestants, were at table : the minister [chap lain] was not there, and the Queen's priests alone pro nounced the benediction. It happened one day, in the King's house, that the dishes were upon table and their Majesties ready for dinner; the minister and I, being at some distance, strove to get nearer in haste, but the people who filled the room prevented us from advancing. We were obhged to use some violence, in which the minister feU. The noblemen and gentlemen about the King then began to laugh and jeer, and say aloud that the minister was upset, knocked down, floored, and the priest rictorious.' In the month of February, 1661, the Queen left London to return to France. She embarked at Grave signe [Gravesend] vrith the King, her son, who came to escort her. Madame Henriette, future consort of Mon- ' A few pages back P6re Cyprien testifies to the fiiety of this court : this ex ample of it is just what might be expected from the distinguished circle over which " the Merry Monarch" presided. CHARLES THE FIRST. 421 sieur the Duke of Orleans, was so sick at sea that it was necessary to land at Portsmouth. Duruig the fifteen days or thereabout which thefr Majesties stayed there, I went several times to hear the minister of that Hu guenot town preach, and had afterwards some confer ences with him, the success of which was very satis factory. He admitted that there was en-or in the reli gion which he professed; that the Cathohc was the safest, but that he could not foUow it, haring a vrife and chUdren, and no other means of subsistence but his living, I mentioned this to the Queen, to whose great zeal this favourable news was very agreeable. She ordered me to assure the minister that, if he would become Cathohc, he should not want for assistance, and that, for her own part, she would settle on him for life an annuity equal to the produce of his living. With many thanks to the Queen, he said that, being unable to execute lus design immediately, he would take the liberty to write about it to her grand almoner and me, when we should have arrived in Paris, I know not whether his letters were lost, or whether he was induced to change his resolution, God so permitting, having refused his favours when they were offered to him. Be this as it may, when at a distance we never could learn anything concerning him, nor ever heard talk of him through any that we met with. The illness of Madame Henriette rendered our stay at Portsmouth extremely duU ; and besides, the place itself has nothing agreeable about it but a fine harbour, being destitute of aU other amusing things. As soon, therefore, as Nature had given that princess strength to walk and to endure the sea air, she went on board again vrith the Queen her mother, and afterwards aU their attendants in several ships, which arrived safe at Havre de Grace, We were obliged by necessity to make some pause there, in order to take breath, and to make aU requisite arrangements for the journey to Paris. The Queen was cautioned not to pass through Rouen, because the smallpox was rife there and had carried off several persons. This was thought, at first, to be a trick 422 THE COURT AND TIMES OF of the governor and of the city, to spare themselves the attentions, services, and expense, necessary for the honourable and pompous reception of her Majesty, Be this as it may, the Queen took another route, on which M, de LongueviUe, governor of Normandy, came to meet her with a squadron of horse, composed of the smartest and best mounted nobles in the whole province. He had near at hand a chateau., where he magnificently regaled her Majesty, aU the gentlemen, aU the ladies, and her whole court, N^^t day, the first President of the Parhament of Rouen, foUowed by his whole fine court of justice, came to pay his respects and submis sions, accompanied by an exceUent and eloquent speech, to which she listened vrith attention ; and, as she was en dowed -with a very subtile and ready understanding, she made him on the spot a very judicious reply, and recom mended to him the Capuchins of that province, with reference to some Uttle disagreement vrith the P^res Penitens. The President deemed himself highly ho noured by the approbation of her Majesty, held her re commendation of the Capuchins very dear, and pro mised to employ aU the influence and authority which he possessed to ensure success to it. So, highly pleased, he took leave of the Queen, who got into her carriage and continued her journey, accompanied by M, de LongueriUe and all the gentlemen who had foUowed him. After they had gone a great way, the Queen pre sented her hearty thanks to aU, but particularly to M, de LongueviUe, and obliged them to return home, M, de Montagu, her grand almoner, abbot of St, Martin, at Pontoise, earnestly besought her to do him the honour, before she proceeded to Paris, to alight at his abbatial residence, which he had superbly fitted up and prepared for that purpose. She acquiesced in his re quest, ahghted, and stopped in his house, and found aU things in excellent order, WhUe she was surveying the rich pictures, the jeweUery, the porcelain, the embeUish- ments, there was heard the sound of drums, trumpets, kettle-drums, and presently appeared the King, the Queen, and Monsieur, who came to salute the Queen, CHARLES THE FIRST. 423 and to express then- joy at her happy arrival. The King and the Queen, his consort, conversed tUl night with the Queen of England ; and Monsieur fancied him seff in Paradise on seeing Madame Henriette, whom he tenderly loved, whom he regarded as his future wife, whose absence had given him very great pain and un easiness. Having heard of her Ulness, his fears lest she should die had occasioned sleepless nights, excite ment, agitation, inward pains, dreadful anguish. Look ing stedfastly at her, he scarcely knew whether he ought to believe his eyes, so dehghted was he to behold her again, and so overcome that he could hardly speak when he kissed her. After some pause, after recovering his spirits, he vrished to learn from her own lips the success and the particulars of her journey. He listened with extreme attention and rapturous dehght to the nar rative of her adventures. Gladly woiUd he have passed the night thus, but it gi-ew late, and he was obliged to break off the conversation and return with the King to the chateau of St, Germain, MeanwhUe, M, de Montagu had prepared a supper of the most dehcate viands and the most delicious wines that he covUd procure for the Queen and aU her attendants, Louis XIII,, father of PhUip, Duke of Orleans, was own brother of Madame Henriette of Bourbon, Queen of England, mother of Madame Henriette Stuart, So the two iUustrious persons, the offspring of such near relations, could not be married without a dispensation from his Holiness the Pope, For this purpose, as soon as the articles of marriage were agreed upon, a courier was despatched to Rome from their Majesties, who sohcited the Pope to grant this important dispensation. It was brought during Lent, and the marriage was celebrated immediately in the chapel of the Palais Royal, where the Queen of England then resided. The whole was performed "without pomp, -without ostenta tion, without much ceremony, on account of Lent, which is a season of penance, of tears, of mortifications. Some days after the marriage was contracted. Monsieur wished to have his wife in his apartments in the 424 THE COURT AND TIMES OF Tuileries and at Fontainebleau ; the thing was just and according to God, but nevertheless attended with dif ficulty and vexation. There is nothing so melancholy, so painful, so in supportable as the separation of persons who have a perfect love for each other. Between the Queen and Madame her daughter, the mother loved her daughter with excessive fondness, and the daughter loved the mother vrith a nobly humble and respectful affection. Ever since a spark of reason began to ghmmer in the mind of Madame, she had never been parted from the Queen, her mother ; she saw herself continuaUy as ff in her bosom : so she was her consolation in the calamities of England. After so many years passed in that man ner, judge if the separation could take place without great violence. Hence it was that, when Monsieur came to fetch this princess and to take her to his apart ments in the TuUeries, there was general mourning in the Palais Royal: sighs, tears, sobs, of the Queen and of Madame made some weep, melted the hearts of others, and pained aU. It took some tiine to moderate the grief of these royal personages. Madame desired that the serrice which I rendered to the Queen her mother might not prevent me from seeing her, and con tinuing the same offices which I had performed for her before her marriage. I received orders to that effect from her Majesty also. I was, therefore, obliged to call upon her frequently during her stay at the TuUeries. In private, I conversed vrith her on the dangers of the court and the necessity of grace to avoid them, of humihty and fervent prayer, which must be frequently offered up to God to obtain that grace, I represented to her mUdly that the illustrious quahty of daughter of a King and wife of a very great prince, only brother of a very mighty monarch, ought never to make her forget that she was a Christian, whom it behoved to hve like a Christian, to foUow the precepts of Jesus Christ, and to imitate his life ; that, being married, she owed great love, perfect fidelity, and entire submission to Monsieur, her husband. Sometimes, speaking of CHARLES THE FIRST, 425 the strange vicissitudes of England, I set before her, from fatal experience, the inconstancy of earthly great ness, the instabUity of aU that the world prizes, the wretchedness and the brevity of this mortal life; the importance of attaching one's seff to God and labom-ing for a happy eternity, which one never can arrive at but by purity of conscience and by the merit of good works, enemies of mortal sins, one alone of which is capable of depriving us for ever of that ineffable happiness, as many who are now groaning in heU experience to thefr great disaster, and as the devUs themselves, who for merly were eminent angels, are forced to confess. Such were the subjects on which I talked to Madame, when obedience obliged me to go to see her at the Tuileries, The King left Paris, to pass the summer at the dehght ful and magnificent chateau of Fontainebleau, Monsieur and Madame accompanied him. The Queen of Eng land stayed meanwhUe at her house of Colombe, The obhgation to remain with her separated me from Madame, whom I afterwards saw but seldom, and only when she sent to fetch me to hear her confession, I no longer talked or conversed with her about spiritual things but at such times, and that very briefly ; com pany, business, the bustle of a great court which oc cupied that princess, depriving me then of the means of speaking to her as I had been accustomed to do. Seriously reflecting on what I said to her, she came sometimes to the chateau of Colombe, to pass two or three days vrith the Queen, her mother, I then had opportunity to see her conveniently, to speak with her in private, to touch mUdly and quietly on the affafrs of her conscience, on her exercises of devotion, on the in structions which she had received before her maniage, on the great importance of foUowing them strictly, since a happy eternity depended upon it, in order that, now she had become a woman, she might retain in her memory and in her practice what she had learned as a girl, I reminded her, in the space of half an hom-, of the principal things on which I had conversed vrith her 426 THE COURT AND TIMES OF during the course of several years. Thus passed aU the rest of the time that I was employed in her spiritual guidance ; that was tUl the last time that the Queen, her mother, returned from France to England; for, after so vride a separation of kingdoms and so great an estrangement, it was no longer possible to pay both even ordinary attention. It was, therefore, absolutely necessary to give up one or the other. The person of Madame was very dear to us, but we had the greatest obligations to the Queen, her mother. Among so many holy rehgious orders as there are in France, she had particularly chosen the Capuchins to be continuaUy about her royal person, to serve her as chaplains, almoners, and preachers; she had caUed them from France to England, to officiate in that magnificent chapel which her piety caused to be built, to the great blessing of many Protestants, who embraced the Ca tholic faith, and to the wonderful utility ofthe Cathohcs, who there found masses, sermons, catechisms, confes sions, communions, vespers, comphns, htanies, spfritual conferences, in short, the free exercise of thefr rehgion. Besides these advantages, which imposed on the Capuchins the obligations of the deepest gratitude, and of perfect submission to the desires of her Majesty, her express commands and the order of Superiors were other ties which bound them inseparably to her service. As, therefore, I could not stay vrith Madame, I begged her not to take it amiss ff I accompanied Madame, her mother, and proposed to her at the same time another Capuchin, whom she took instead of me for her con fessor. "This was the Reverend Father Jean Chrysos tome, of Amiens, a monk of uncommon merit and capacity, who had passed through the principal offices of the Order of the Capuchins, and who had worthUy acquitted himself of them. His learning, together vrith his pohte manners, had made him preacher, reader in phUosophy and theology, warden, master of the norices, and several times definitor in the Prorince of Paris. The exceUent qualities vrith which he was endowed rendered him so agreeable to that illustrious princess. CHARLES THE FIRST. 427 that she always retained him for her confessor, and sent for him expressly to be attended by him in her last Ulness, in which she expressed such generous re solutions, so complete a disengagement from the earth, so much contrition for her faults, such ardent love of God, that all present unanimously judged that she quitted this world only to pass gloriously into heaven. The Queen, solicited by the King her son, by the Duke of York, and by the greatest lords of England, to return to London, where she had added a superb buUding to her palace of Somerset House, resolved to leave France, gave the necessary orders for her journey, commanded me to accompany her, vrith the Reverend Father Apolinaire of Paris, who was then our com panion after the decease of the Most Venerable Father Lambert, of Fhcourt, a monk of great rirtue and high example. Before the troubles in England, we were ten Capuchins in the service of her Majesty. The intrigues of the Fathers of the Oratory who had preceded us, who had been sent out of England by command of the King, and who were anxious to establish themselves there again, caused the Queen, through the medium of the Earl of St, Albans, to apply for no more than the two Capuchins, who were then actuaUy in her service. Having recently received that impression which kept her fixed to that number, it was not the time to speak to her about the agreement between the two crowns, that ten Capuchins should officiate in her Majesty's chapel. It behoved us humbly to acquiesce in the application, and to await a favourable opportunity, and to manage adroitly vrith her, to obtain her consent to the re-estabhshment of the old number, ten. Our solicitations, favoured by the grace of God, were actually successftd, notvrithstanding the power of the Earl of St, Albans and M, de Montagu, grand almoner of her Majesty, who was a warm partisan of the Fathers of the Oratory, by means of one Father Gough, an intimate friend of those two gentlemen. From chaplam of the King of England, he had become Catholic, then Father 428 THE COURT AND TIMES OF of the Oratory, and afterwards almoner of the Queen, as I have afready said. Our general chapter was then met at Rome, where the profound learning and the rare prudence of the most Reverend Father Antoine de Carpenedo induced all the Fathers having voices to vote for his being general of all the Capuchins, I wrote him a letter of congratula tion touching his holy election, and informed him of the order which we had received from the Queen for our return to England, After all the permissions, consents, benedictions, of our most Reverend Father General, and of our most Reverend Fathers Superiors of the Province of Paris, we were obhged to hold ourselves in readiness to attend the Queen on her journey, in order to continue in her serrice in England, She left Paris accompanied by Monsieur the Duke of Orleans and his vrife, who escorted her to Beauvais, where they could not separate -without abundance of tears, particularly on the part of the mother and the daughter, Madame, who had always been brought up under the eye of the Queen her mother, could not leave her, haring never found in her any but a holy sweetness, amidst aU the bitter trials attending the disturbances in England ; and love, like a weight, which descends rather than ascends, kept the heart of the Queen pressed to that of her daughter, who could not bear that kingdoms and seas should part their persons : but this separation, being judiciously and sted fastly resolved upon, obliged both to submit : so Mon sieur and Madame took the road to Paris, and the Queen that to Calais, where I found her, and the most Reverend Father Charles Fran§ois, of AbbeviUe, preacher, a Capuchin fuU of zeal, who was learning the English language from a desfre to be some day missionary in England, I did not neglect this opportunity to associate him vrith us, and to increase our numbers by degrees to ten, according to the old agreement between the two Crowns, I took him to pay his respects to the Queen ; I made him say a few English words, and at the same time CHARLES THE FIRST. 429 besought her Majesty to aUow him to come and sei-ve her with us. She comphed ; not knovring in what state her house and our lodgings in London were ; she said we must wait tUl we were there before we sent for him to come to us. In fact, she promised to send for him when she shoiUd be settled in her palace of Somerset House, I made a very earnest suppUcation to her on the subject : she spoke about it to her grand almoner, who was adverse to us, and who inspired her vrith different sentiments ; but I had already written to Calais, to dfrect the Father to come over as quickly as possible. He lost no time, and came in haste. No sooner was he in London, than I informed the Queen of his arrival. She was surprised at it, and by no means pleased : but the thing was done, and she had the goodness to assent to it presently afterwards. When the cruel edict of the detestable Parhament had put to death its rightful King, banished the Queen, imprisoned and then exUed and sent back aU her Ca puchins to France, the magnificent chapel in which they celebrated the dirine sacrifice was, alas ! sacrilegiously changed into an infamous meeting-house of Huguenots, who smashed the images, pierced the crucifix vrith halberts, broke up the confessionals, demolished the altars, as I have afready related, pulled do-wn the house wherein we dwelt. Some private person obtained permission from the Parliament to build another there in its stead. The Queen, on her arrival in London, found that house ftUl, and her chapel a scene of desolation. She was obhged to repair the latter, and to wait tiU the former was empty, in order to lodge us in it. WhUe thus waiting, some months passed away; at length, the whole being repafred and fitted up, we began to perform dirine service in the chapel, to the great consolation of the Cathohcs: the number of the old and the new, of those who were bom of Catholic parents, and of others, Protestants converted to the faith, being very great, and coming from morning tUl noon to the church to be present at the adorable sacrifice of the mass, three Capuchin priests were too few to satisfy their devotion, to con- 430 THE COURT AND TIMES OF fess them, to instruct them, to catechise them, to preach to them. We told the Queen this, and be sought her zeal to permit us to send over to France for more Capuchins to serve along vrith us. The answer was, that she would speak to her grand almoner about it. As she had an acute understanding, was very strict in reserving to every one his right, the superintendence of her chapel, which belonged to her grand almoner, required that he should at least be apprised of those who were taken to officiate there.' We were assured of the good-vriU of the Queen, who had always approved highly of our serrices, who had been much pleased with the instruction that we had given to Madame her daughter, and who had honoured us on a thousand occasions with signal testimonies of her kindness. On the other hand, we knew that her grand almoner would have been glad to see Fathers of the Oratory in our places. Accord ingly, he assented not to the proposal of her Majesty, who persisted in it, and acted so energeticaUy in our favour, that he was at length obliged to consent ; but vrith a cfrcumstance, which sufficiently showed his dis like of us. tiaving more inclination than power to remove us from the service of the Queen, he resolved to have at least the satisfaction of excluding some of us from it. During a period of fifteen years, there had been ten of us Capuchins in this highly noble and useful office. Monsieur the grand almoner to the Queen thought that, on her re-estabhshment, eight would be sufficient for the service of her chapel and her person. She yielded at ffrst, that she might not completely dis please him; but I- afterwards represented to her, that in this number eight there were two friars, and that six priests were not enough to attend to the altar, to cele brate the sacrifice of the mass the whole forenoon, and to perform honourably aU the other functions, as well before her Majesty out of chapel as in her chapel. She admitted that this was true; and, notvrithstanding the repugnance of her grand almoner, she promised to send for seven Capuchins of the Prorince of Paris to be CHARLES THE FIRST. 431 associated vrith us three, and to make up the number ten, which was speedUy done. "The beautiful church, which had served the Hugue nots for a meeting-house after our banishment, being completely repaired, and aU the Capuchins who were to officiate in it having arrived, we began to perform divine service in it. The news soon spread ainong the Cathohcs, who then came in perfect quiet, vrithout being in any way molested for thefr religion, by a holy tolera tion, through the bounty of the King, They came in crowds to this sacred place, to attend the adorable sacri fice of the mass, to confess, to receive the communion, to hear preaching and the catechism, which was taught in French and in Enghsh, to have their chUdren bap tized, to be married, according to the forms and cere monies of the Romish Church, We performed peace ably aU these functions, as we had been accustomed to do before the troubles of the kingdom, -without the two Fathers of the Oratory, who were then in the Queen's serrice, and since happily deceased, finding thefr in terests suffer in any respect whatever. On the con trary, they rejoiced thus to see religion flom-ish, and God glorified, through our ministry. We hoped for the like sentiments in those who succeeded them, where fore they surprised us, when, favoured by Monsieur oui- grand almoner, and the Earl of St, Albans, who had great influence over the mind of the Queen, they pre tended to a superiority over us in the performance of the spiritual functions, and to such a direction of her Majesty's chapel, that it was oiUy by thefr permission that we were to administer the sacraments there, and under thefr authority,' I spoke to Monsieur the grand almoner on the sub ject, and calmly represented to him that, according to the treaty of peace between France and England, the Queen's chapel was to be served by the Capuchins only ; that those Fathers of the Oratory had been left solely through an intrigue ; that, on our arrival in England, ^ The little jealousies of these ecclesiastics prove how unalterable is poor human nature, under whatever circumstance it may be placed. 432 THE COURT AND TIMES OF they were to have returned to France ; that thefr pre decessors had never claimed this right; that, for the space of sixteen or seventeen years, that Monsiem- Duperon, Bishop of E-vreux, had held the office of grand almoner, we had always done the duty of the chapel peaceably under his authority, independently of any other ; that this practice, founded on custom, ought not to be changed, unless for some very extraordinary cause, and no such appeared; lastly, that it was for him to award justice, which was entirely on our side. These reasons, and several others, made no impression upon his mind, which was mightUy prejudiced and prepos sessed. He remained inflexible, and decided, with animosity, against us and in favour of the Fathers of the Oratory, In this extremity, I had recourse to the Queen, who hstened to me with great attention, charity, and patience; and, notwithstanding what her grand almoner and the Earl of St, Albans had previously said to her, she kept the balance so even, that, not con tent vrith continuing to us all the fimctions of her chapel, independently ofthe Fathers ofthe Oratory, she obliged them to apologize to us for their inconsiderate attempt. We have already said that her great devotion to the mother of God had induced her to desfre to have in her chapel the confraternity of the Holy Rosary, to attract Enghsh Catholics to the love of that most blessed Lady. She had actuaUy applied for and obtained this ancient and truly noble confraternity from the most Reverend Father General of the Order of St, Dominic, who had made us Superiors of it, with power to admit all such persons who vrished to be received into it as we should think proper. The Queen was the first who proposed to be received, and, after her, the gentlemen, the ladies, the people of the court, and numberless other Cathohcs, who repaired every Saturday to the altar of the Blessed Virgin, where her htanies were devoutly chanted. They confessed and communicated every first Sunday in the month, attended the solemn processions that were held on those days in honour of that Holy Lady; a beautiful image of whom, exquisitely carved out of that kind of CHARLES THE FIRST. 433 wood which is caRedmontaigu [mahogany ?], which Queen Mary de Medicis had brought from Flanders, and given to her very dear daughter, our Queen, was carried by a priest in his pontifical habit. This devotion of the Rosary was so striking, and made such impressions on the heart, that persons of aU ranks came every day sohciting to be enroUed, Thus it continued for the space of several years, constantly increasing, tUl, in order to extinguish it, the De^^l excited throughout the whole kingdom a furious war against rehgion, and against the King and the Queen, his beloved consort, obhging her to pass nearly twenty years in melancholy banishment. At length, through the mercy of God, that war ended; peace was restored to England, the Queen returned to London, and was reinstated in her palace. The first thing to which she dfrected her at tention was the rerival of the confraternity of the Rosary Ul her chapel ; and she commanded me to ^vi-ite to the most Reverend Father General of the Order of St. Dominic to obtain his permission, which he granted, and highly praised the zeal of the Queen : thus the ex tinct devotion was rekindled ; the brothers and sisters of the Rosary assembled; many others joined them, and increased and fiUed up the number of the persons deceased in that holy confraternity during the war. Solemn processions recommenced, vrith confessions and communions, the recitation of the Rosary, the whole serrice, and aU the exercises of piety, which had been aforetime performed in honom- of the Holy Vfrgin. After the piety of the Queen had accomphshed this salutary re-establishment of the Rosary, for the glory of God, for the honour of the most Holy Vfrgin, for the benefit and spiritual advancement of numberless Catho hcs, there were crowds of people who earnestly begged to be admitted into that holy congregation. The chapel became more frequented, conversions more common, our labours for the salvation of souls more arduous and unremitting. To enable us to be the more successfiU, and to render the mission stUl more flourishing, our Reverend Father Provincial, with the Reverend Fathers VOL. II. F F 434 THE COURT AND TIMES OF definitors, sent us this letter, with the following regu lations.Letter of the Most Reverend Father Provincial of the Capuchins of the Province of Paris to all the Capuchin Missionaries in E?igland. The peace of om- Lord Jesus Christ. It is but just that, labouring in the business and for the general good of the whole province, and of each convent in particular, we should also devote a few hours to the welfare of your mission, which we consider as the noblest and holiest employment in our religion. We have, therefore, thought it right to draw up the little regulations which we transmit to you, that you may observe them faith fully, hoping that by this means your way of life may be more regular, that you may set a better example to your neighbours, and give more glory to God in your occupation. Accept these gifts, and let the Reverend Father Superior require them to be read at least once every two months. If we were with you, we should , know better what you need, and add other regulations to these ; but as our absence deprives us of aU other light, we shall confine ourselves for the present to these, begging you to remember in your holy sacrifices him who is.Venerable Fathers, your most humble and most affectionate servant in Jesus Christ, F. Nicolas, Provincial. Regulations for the Fathers Missionaries in England. The Friars ought frequently to recollect that they are not missionaries, and we dispense them only that they may labour seriously for the salvation of souls: and if, instead of thus employing themselves, they seek amusement in the unprofitable conversations of seculars, they abuse thefr dispensation, betray their conscience, and are absolute double-dealers. Since the best means of being serviceable to others is to be good to one's self, and one cannot be good to one's self vrithout fulfiUing one's obligations, each will render CHARLES THE FIRST. 435 himseff assiduous in the offices, in the communities, and in the mental prayers which are marveUously service able for raUying the mind chssipated by associating vrith seculars, and which give us a great advantage over aU other missionaries. These exercises cannot be omitted by any one whatsoever, either for visiting in the town, or for mere conversation with seculars; but only for confessions, conferences with heretics, atten dance on the sick, and the like. The conduct of souls being a very difficult, but a very meritorious business, when weU performed, very dan gerous when carelessly executed, every one wiU study to do that duty without favom- or affection to any crea ture, solely to glorify God. Let us strive to make our selves very skilful m the discovery and practice of the means of effecting the salvation, and advancing to per fection those whom we guide. Embarrassment with temporal things in favom- of one's neighbour, being frequently an impediment to spiritual benefit, and an occasion of evU reports against the com munity, we forbid you to occupy youi-selves with such, as also to receive letters fi-om, or to send them to, secu lars, to borrow, or to beg money to relieve the poor, &c. Unless for some important spiritual benefit, any of these, or similar things, be necessary, the missionaries vrill not enter into them without the permission of the Father Superior, to whom an account must be given of everything ; and when one is obliged to go out fre quently for the conversion of heretics, one must acquaint the Father Superior with it, that he may know what business one is about, and what houses one frequents. Our Seraphic Father, St, Francis, forbids in his rule all suspicious consorting ivith women, which has proved fatal to the greatest saints, ' In order to avoid clashing with the most holy prohibition, to keep ourselves in good odour, and to withdraw ourselves from even the shadow of sin, we wiU that the Friars admit not females, whether single or married, into thefr chambers, and that they aUow them not to enter thefr garden ; but, when itr ' This is an acknowledgment for which we were not quite prepared. F F 2 436 THE COURT AND TIMES OF is necessary to speak to them, that this be done in the church, or in the house, in places set apart for the pm-- pose ; to which end the Father Superior wiU assign one or more places for conversation vrith such females, single or man-ied, as may come to our house, and for bid them to be spoken with out of the places so set apart. In order that blessed poverty may be better observed by the Fathers missionaries, we desfre the Father Su perior to be careful to provide for aU the wants of the missionaries, whom we forbid to make use of money for ordinary and indiridual necessities, leaving the Father Superior to attend to aU that, whenever it shaU be ne cessary to go in a boat, or the like, which cannot be done vrithout money, they may use it, vrith the blessing of the Superior, whom they will ask for it as it is wanted. But they must not keep any money in thefr rooms, or elsewhere, and shaU receive what they have need of, by order of the Father Superior, to whom they shaU dehver what they have left on thefr return, when they have satisfied the want for which they received the money. Done at Paris, in our definition, the 16th of September, 1668. F. Nicolas, Pro-vincial. Some missionaries ha-ving found difficulty in these reforms, the Reverend Father Provincial added to them this explanation, in a letter addressed to the Reverend Father Cyprien, of Gamache, Capuchin preacher, Supe rior of the Capuchin missionaries in the service of the Queen of Engknd. My Reverend Father, — Haring heard that some of our missionaries in England find some difficulty in un derstanding some of the articles which have been made by the definition in our chapter for the good government of that mission, I am very glad to give you an elucidation of them in the three or four foUowing articles : 1. That the serrice of the Queen and of the chapel be preferred to aU things. 2. That the missionaries always bear in mind that they are not mere missionaries, but regular mission- CHARLES THE FIRST. 437 aries, who ought to unite regularity with the duties of the mission, vrithout wishing to imitate those who hve in private houses, who go and come, who do what they please, and as they please. 3. That our missionaries should not be abroad so much, nor go out so assiduously as not to stay at home one day in the week to coUect themselves, to study, and to prepare themselves for the important employments of confessions, preaching, conferences with heretics. 4. That no one dispense himself from communities, prayers, regular serrices of the Queen, and of the chapel, unless vrith the permission of the Reverend Father Su perior, or for some important business of the mission, which wiU be communicated to him, and which cannot be deferred tUl anotiier time. Such are the four articles which I beg you to be pleased particularly to enforce, that they may be strictly obsei-ved by our Father Missionaries, and aU the rest that has been ordered in our last chapter by the defi nition, for the good government of that mission. Forget me not, too, I beg of you, iu yom- holy sacrifices, who am, my Reverend Father, Your most humble and affectionate servant, F, Nicolas, Prorincial, Dunkfrk, 20th February, 1664, The Queen beheld with great joy, in her chapel, the extraordinary influx of people who filled the confes sionals, who came to the communion table, who attended the divine serrice vrith a fervour which animated her zeal, of which she gave signal tokens on many occasions, which Divine Proridence afforded her : here is a noble example of it. The Enghsh are habituaUy engaged in the navigation to the East Indies, Thefr ships coming from those dis tant parts, frequently put into the port of London, and are always bringing rarities thither, I know not how it happened that one of these ships had on board a httle Cliinese lad, fourteen or fifteen years old, saUow, of a gentle disposition, weU made, and of good figure. He 438 THE COURT AND TIMES OF was presented to the Queen, who received him very kindly, in a spirit of religion, with the intention of con tributing her endeavours towards making him a Chris tian and a Catholic. Being incorporated with her house hold, and numbered among her servants, she ordered me to instruct him in the catechism, to influence him to wish to be a Christian, I received the command with sub mission and respect, and began to talk to this young heathen, who had already learned the Enghsh language, and entirely forgotten that of his own country. It was in this language that, after some little conver sations on mdifferent things, I strove to make him comprehend, by natural reasons, that there is a God, who made tins vast miiverse, and everything in it ; that this God has no body, that he is a spirit, who has al ways existed, and wUl exist for ever, who is in heaven, on earth, in every place in the world ; who sees every thing, knows everything, possesses infinite knowledge; by Svhom man, animals, the elements, and all things have been produced ; that this God is alone, and cannot be multiplied, because, in multiphcation, he would not be infinitely perfect, the one not having the perfection of the other. Supposing there were more Gods than one — two, for example — these two Gods would not have the same perfections ; having the same perfections, they would be entirely the same, and would be but one God : on the contrary, having different perfections, neither would be entirely perfect, not having the perfections that would be in his companion ; thus neither would be God, This point was not difficult to the Chinese; he comprehended it extremely weU,' but the mystery of the Trinity puzzled him ; and as it is impenetrable, and infinitely above nature,, so at first it appeared impossible to •him. He could not persuade himself that God was perfectly sole and smgle, and that, in this simple unity, there were Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three abso lutely distinct persons, each of whom was God, He found the same difficulty in the incarnation, and in the Eucharist, being unable to conceive that a God, who, ' He must have been a,- very clever youth. CHARLES THE FIRST. 439 by his immensity, fills heaven and earth, was reduced to the smaU size of an infant, and afterwards to an igno minious death on a gibbet, and lastly, to the mean quality of victuals, serving Christians for spiritual food in the Holy Sacrament, AU this shocked him much ; I therefore said to him that, these mysteries being elevated above nature, it was no wonder that natural reason could not reach them ; that God, being all-powerful, all things were possible to him ; that it was not natm-ally more difficult to God to change a visible substance into another that was invisible, than it would be to him to create heaven and earth out of nothing; that, being ti-uth itself, he could not lie, and that he had revealed to us these things to which we had some resemblances in nature, as I pointed out to him. He acquiesced, and expressed no difficulty in beheving the words heU, the immortahty of the soul, rewards of the good, and punishment of the wicked after this life, the perfection and holiness of the Chris tian rehgion, and in its sacraments, its mysteries, and in aU that it ordains and prescribes for chUdren, in a countless number of vfrgins, confessors, martyrs, who have cheerfuUy giv^en thefr blood and their lives in defence of the truth. I related to him some instances, which touched him, and, with the grace of Heaven, excited in him a desire to be a Catholic, This desire he repeatedly confirmed to me, and gave me occasion to tell him that this desfre was an inestimable favour and blessing which he ought to prize highly, and to thank God for all his life, salvation being so bound up vrith Christianity that it was not possible to be saved vrithout being a Christian. I then gave him the in struction necessary to prepare him for baptism, and informed the Queen of this happy success. She rejoiced greatly, and it so spurred her piety, that she not only resolved to attend the ceremony of baptism, but deemed it no derogation from her royal dignity to perform the office of godmother, and to au thorise what she had ordained touching our indepen dence on the Fathers of the Oratory in the ecclesiastical 440 THE COURT AND TIMES OF functions of her chapel. Without making any mention of them on this occasion, she dfrected me to proride aU things for the striking solemnization of baptism, desfred that I would officiate and baptize this youth, and sent to request M, the Abb6 d' Aubigny, brother of the Duke of Richmond, and grand almoner of the young Queen, to name the boy, whom he caUed Peter, which was his own name. Thus, the young Chinese, so far distant from his country, deprived of his own father and mother, sustained a lucky loss, since he was made by the grace of baptism a real hefr of Paradise, and had on earth for his spiritual father one of the most iUustrious gentlemen of England, and for mother a mighty Queen, who designed to secure to him an honourable subsistence. This sacred ceremony was performed before a great concourse of people; many Protestants were mingled with them, to be spectators of this noble action, to see the beauties of the chapel which they had heard talked of, and to take notice in what manner, with what cere monies, we served God, Among these was a young man, versed in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew lan guages, which he made it his profession to teach in London, in a public school, vrith his father, who was an eminent divine, I had several conversations vrith him, which he received with docUity; he Uked them, and took occasion from them to come to see me several times ; and, after explaining to him, in many interriews, the principal points of our faith, grace at length appear ing in his heart, he renounced the Protestant religion and embraced the Cathohc, in which he manifested great fervour, employing himself vrith zeal in the con version of his countrymen, in writing and viva voce. Among those whom he has served in this important matter, his father is one of the most considerable. We were conversing one day on the obligation to live in a Catholic manner in order to be saved, I told him that he ought to pray to God for that grace for all men in the world, and particularly for Monsieur, his father, and for Madmoisel, his mother, whose con- CHARLES THE FIRST, 441 version was so much the easier, because they led a strictly moral Iffe; that, having received from them Iffcj existence, education, and other advantages, he ought not to omit either prayers, or sohcitations, or addresses, to withdraw them from heresy, and to lead them into the ways of salvation ; that the procuring for them this internal felicity is, in some sort, a spiritual birth to those from whom he had received the corporeal. Hearing this, the young man, animated with holy fer vour, resolved to undertake the affair, though he saw at first very great obstacles. His father had always preached and taught a doctrine contrary to the Romish ; his school gained him high acquaintance, made him many friends, afforded an honourable subsistence to his large famUy, by the considerable profit which he de rived from it. He could not embrace the Cathohc re hgion, vrithout ceasing, not only to preach, but even to frequent any Protestant church, his continual absence from which would cause him to be looked upon as a Catholic, and this persuasion of the people would ruin lus school, and prevent him from teaching, which he could not do -without the permission of the bishop, who would not give it to a Cathohc, These reasons, and many others, were strong, these obstacles powerful, but grace proved stronger and more powerful. It prevailed against them aU, and proved nobly rictorious through the mediation of the son, who, upon pretext of a walk, drew his father to our house, introduced me to him, afforded me the means of speak ing to him, and conversing vrith him. After the usual civUities, we had several conversations, temperate, but, at the same time, forcible ; the result was that the Holy Ghost, acting powerfuUy on the heart of the minister, filled him vrith confidence, and inspfred him with a generous resolution to renounce all human interests for the salvation of his soul, to forsake the Protestant re ligion, to hve and die in the Cathohc, After receiving the necessary instructions on this important subject, being well prepared for the profession of the faith, I thought that he ought to make it accompanied by 442 THE COURT AND TIMES OF prudence ; that it should nevertheless be as solemn as possible, that we might draw others by this holy ex ample, I spoke on the subject to the Queen, who thought my proposal reasonable, took a warm interest in this affair, rejoiced greatly, and determined to be present with the Catholics of her court at this holy act. Monsieur the Abbe de Montagu took no less interest, and expressed no less satisfaction, on account of this event, I requested him to perform the cere mony, in order to render it more solemn. On the day appointed, therefore, dressed in alb and stole, seated on a rich chair before the altar, the minister, kneeling at his feet, after a short discourse that was addressed to him, declared aloud, that the Pro testant religion, in which he had too long lived, was one of error, which he renounced with aU his heart; that he deeply regretted having passed so many years separated from the Catholic, Apostolic, and Romish Church, which he believed to be the only true Church, and humbly begged to be received into it ; then, in a solemn and elevated tone, he made the profession of faith of the sacred council of Trent, Monsieur, the grand almoner, exhorted him to continue stedfast in that faith, and to acknowledge aU the days of his life that very great felicity, to pay humble thanks to God for it, and then he gave him absolution fi-om heresy, reconciled him with the Church, and sent him to me for his sacra mental confession, the whole in presence of the Queen and the Catholics of her court. Being thus happUy converted, having made his con fession, and tvrice or thrice received our Lord Jesus Christ in the adorable sacrament of the Eucharist, he took pains to communicate to his family the great felicity which he himself enjoyed. His wife was a lady per fectly well bred, morally virtuous, of a mUd disposition, who esteemed her learned husband a very excellent man, who had great confidence in him, and lived with him in great harmony. In these excellent dispositions, she could not learn his change of rehgion, and the powerful motive which had urged him to it, without CHARLES THE FIRST. 443 being mightily touched, and without thinking of fol- lovring him, that she might not be separated from him in faith, as she had never been in affection and charity. She therefore wished to be more particularly instructed in so important an affair, which involved the peace of her house and her eternal salvation. The reasons which clearly and sohdly proved the falsehood of the Protestant religion, and the constant truth of the Ca thohc, were propounded to her in detaU. She compre hended them, examined them, reflected much upon them, and at length acquiesced in them. Thus grace effected, -without much difficulty, her conversion and that of aU her chUdren, It was afterwards wonderful to see the fervour of aU these new converts, who shamed the cowardice of ancient Catholics, and who strikingly proved, in their holy examples, the tmth of these words of our Lord, Erunt novissim,i primi — " The last shall be first;" being gained last for the serrice of God, by their fervent exercises they shall, in a short time, make greater pro gress in virtue, and advance much further in perfection than the others have done in the course of many years. The minister, his wife, and his children, came separately vrith great assiduity, on Sundays and hohdays, to the sacrifice of the mass, to vespers, to complins. We put the minister into a particular place, where he could see and hear the priest at the altar, without being himself seen by anybody : his wife, who had her face masked and muffled up in a scarf, entered the Church with reverence, but freely, and took her place -with the other women. Their devotion was great to the most Holy Eucharist, which they received every month, and on aU high festivals, with an extraordinary sense of the awftUness of that august sacrament and of their own unworthiness. After leading this praiseworthy life for four or five years, they ended it by a happy death. Of the whole famUy, two children only were left, who thanked God every day for the mercies which they had received from his goodness; and particularly for the favour of their vocation to the Catholic Church. 444 THE COUET AiSD TIMES OF If the converaon of this whole happy fiumly gave me gr^it joy. as there is no satistaction on earth that is not nuDgledwith or fellowed bv something unpleas^uit, I received, about this time, sad tidings -which rent mj heart with grief. Before the troubles in England, and the un just decree for our return to France, I had the direction of a good CathoKc lady married to a Protestant knight, who was engaged, in various eoimnissions fi)r the Kn^. Thefr marriage had produced several chUdren, whom the mother biought to be instructed in the Christian doctrine, findiTig them in great dai^r of foUovrii^ the rehgion. of thefr fother. I finequentiy talked to them of the grace of Uving and dyii^ Cathohc in order to be saved. I took particular pains to impress this SiUutary and oonstaiit truth upon their minds. So thoroughly had thej comprehended it. that it seenied impossible for them to be shaken in it. They bore noble testi monies to it on occasions that afforded me high satis- fiietion. and came assiduously to divine serrice, confessed, and took the communion fiequentlj with warm feelings of devotion. In this wav, they eontiaued during the whole of our residence in London, after the restoration of the King, and the retom of the Queen, his mother. I inquired concerning the state of these persons, whose charity had rendered them very dear to me, and with whom I had taken such pains. I learned, vrith astonishment and griel; that Monsieur the Chevalier was dead; that aU his chUdren had been won over to the Pivtestimt religion iu various ways: that Madame, thefr mother, who had continued Catholic, could not prevent this pemicious and lamentable change. I went to this good hidT to confer with her on the means that we could take to withdraw the chUdren fiom thefr errors, and to bring them^ back to the ways of salvation. We knew that the eldest daughter was reputed to have a superior understanding : that she formerly mani fested esteem and kindness tor me: and that, being of an exceUent liispositiou. heresy had not completely stiUed those sentiments. Without sho-winar that 1 CHARLES THE FIRST. 445 knew anything of her damnable faU, I purposed to caU upon her, and, ff the good God should so bless our conversations, that they should persuade her to forsake heresy and again embrace the true faith, the conversion of brothers and sisters would afterwards be easy. In this resolution, I went to her house, after com mending my enterprise to God. She received me poHtely, but not vrith the frankness and affection of past times. I inqufred concerning the whole famUy, and how it had fared during the strange revolutions of the kingdom, since we left the country. We then tumed to the subject of religion : she changed colour, began to blush, to tremble, and to say, what did it signify what religion one was of, prorided that one led a regular moral life, that one took care to observe the commandments of God, and that the Ufe of the Christian was governed by his ordinances? This an swer, which did not surprise me, gave me occasion to reply that this language was not Cathohc; that she had formerly learned a different doctrine, and that she had entertained other sentiments, which I had taught her in the Queen's chapel; that there is but one true Church through which one can attain eternal happi ness; that one must live and die in it to be saved. Jesus Christ obUges aU Christians, by an express ordi nance, to hsten to it ; to beheve and practise what it says ; and pronounces a sentence of condemnation upon aU who separate themselves from it, who refuse to hearken to it ; whoever has not faith, does not beheve, is already judged and even condemned by a sentence of present justice. The heathen, the pubhcans, have not the faith; they do not beUeve: in that separated state there is no salvation for them. Now, our Lord declares and protests that he who does not hsten to the Church is like a heathen and a pubhcan ; and hving in the impossibUity of salvation so long as he continues in that wretched state. It is, therefore, a manffest error to beheve that it does not signify of what rehgion 446 THE COURT AND TIMES OF one is, provided that one leads a moral life, and that one may be saved in any rehgion. The lady hstened -with attention to this little dis course, which was interrupted by the coming of some person to visit her. I left them together, and took leave of the company with some good hope, founded on the serious attention which the lady had paid to all that I had said. I went afterwards several times to her house, and, in aU our conversations, I strove to impress her -with that great truth, that it is impossible for any one who does not die in the faith of the Ca tholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church to attain salva tion. Having nothing to urge against the strong reasons which I produced, she was touched by them, I saw her as if doubtful and humbled, considering what resolution she ought to take. The French language was familiar to her : she spoke it naturally, took pleasure in speaking it and hearing it spoken ; for which reason, instead of going to hear English Protestant sermons, her inclination led her to the Huguenot church in the Savoy, where the French meet, and where the minister preaches in French. There she was highly esteemed for ha-ring forsaken the Catholic religion ; she was admired for her fine under standing, which had penetrated the clouds of Popery and detected its faUacies; every one applauded the change; every one, on seeing her enter the church, made her a low obeisance, and there was a particular place of distinction into which she was put. AU this fed her vanity, flattered her pride, and contributed much to prevent her from leaving that false Church. It was a chain that must be broken before she could be vrithdrawn from it. Victorious grace produced that effect, recalling to the memory of this lady her first profession of the Catholic faith; the great fervour which she then manifested, the inward peace which she then possessed, the consolations which she enjoyed in the exercises of piety, the agitation and trouble in which she found herself ever since her change of reli- CHARLES THE FIRST. 447 gion, the great reverence and the holv ceremonies with which God was served in the Catholic churches, the unde- voutness and the nakedness of Huguenot places of wor ship,' the mfracles which divine power caused to be -wrought from time to time iu the Roman Catholic Chm-ch, the exemplary hfe of innumerable rehgious of both sexes, who have renounced the honoui-s, riches, and pleasm-es of the world, in order to conform the more closely to the obedient, austere, and suffering hfe of Jesus Christ, who has set us an example, and requu-es us to imitate it; in the religious orders so many learned persons, who, in the dead of night, rouse up from thefr slumbers; rise v^ith fervoui-, Avatch and devoutly sing the praises of God; who expose them selves to a thousand dangers by land and sea; who peneti-ate to the Indies, to the most distant parts, to convert the infidels ; who are in continual submission to thefr superior; then deprived of that which is most prized by man, namely, his own wiU ; and lastly, lead a hfe of great austerity and hardship : vrith the hghts derived from thefr studies and thefr prayers, they would not re- maia in the Cathohc Church if it were not the ti-ue one ; and God woiUd nev^er permit them thus to suffer and to be hai-assed pui-ely for his glory ; he would not leave them in en-or ; his goodness would be interested in it. These reflections and others, which grace put into the heart of the lady, vrith abundance of tears, which sor row for her past faults wi-ung from her eyes, snatched her fi-om heresy, re-estabhshed her in the Cathohc reh gion, and now she edifies aU the Cathohcs by her zeal and her fervour. Shortly before her happy conversion, I had attended Madame her mother when dying, administered the sacra ments to her, and obtained leave from the Queen for her interment in our cemetery. This favour, confen-ed on the mother, contributed much to withdi-aw the daughter ' Father Cyprien always lays great stress on the ceremonies of the Protestant worship not being so grand as those of the Romish Church. At least, it may be said for the former, that their places of worship were not more naked than those of the Saviour and his Apostles. 448 THE COURT AND TIMES OF from her errors, and to bring her back into the ways of salvation. The famous Calvinist, Father DumouUn, of Chacontan, and afterwards of Sedan, left many chUdren, who are at present dispersed in various prorinces and various king doms. I knew two of them in England ; one is minister and canon of Canterbury; the other lives in London, and practises medicine, after occupying a professor's chair in the university of Oxford. The latter, named Louis Dumouhn, had a Cathohc friend, to whom he strove to communicate the poison of heresy, which he had himself sucked in with his nurse's mUk. He saw him frequently, and always solicited him to the damnable desertion of the Romish Church. Having a hundred times heard his father discourse on this vast subject, his memory was ftdl of the false reasons which he had learned from his hps ; and, having added others to them himself by means of his studies, and by reading Hugue not books, he was never ban-en on this point, and had always something new to say ; so he greatly annoyed the ears and the mind of his friend, and made him waver a little in his faith, when the grace of Heaven caused him to say, that though, indeed, he had not passed his life in turning over books, stUl he had learned so much as to know that his was not a new faith, that it was that of his ancestors from time immemorial, from whom it had been handed down to him by tradition and a continuous succession, and that, if he chose to enter into conference on this subject, not having been himself brought up in the schools, he would request a firiend of his, who had studied, to make amends for his deficiency. At the same time, he named Father Archange, of Beauvais, one of the Queen-Mother's Capuchins, and assured him that he would be very glad to confer with him. Dumoulin, who did not expect this answer, expressed surprise at it, and could not, vrithout disgrace, refuse so ready and so frank an offer. Distrust of his bad cause, and the slowness of his mind, mduced him to consent to confer, not oraUy, but in writing; and, in order to comply with this promise, which he could not avoid ful- CHARLES THE FIRST. 449 filhng without great injm-y to his reputation, after con- sidei-ing for a long time how he could back, vrith honom-, out of tiie engagement., he -wi-ote, that those of his party and those of the Popish pai-t}- both thought themselves to be in the true rehgion ; but, these two parties, behev ing totaUy opposite things, one of the two must neces sarily be in en-or — ^which was it? Both pretended to keep far aloof fi-om it ; both pretended to foUow truth : now, one must know, added Dumoulin, that rehgion foUows this impoi-tant ti-uth, ff it conforms to the Church of the fii-st foiu- centimes. Huguenot inge nuity had forged this most specious expedient in ap- peai-ance, but in reahty leading to no conclusion, tUl aU the controverted points were fii-st settled and de cided by antiquity, which would requu-e an unlimited time to render it necessai-y to tm-n over aU the books of those first ages ;' for, having shown, for example, that the Christians of those days beheved the reality of the body and blood of Jesus Chi-ist in the holy Eucharist, having proved tins great truth by the testi mony of the first Fathers of the Chm-ch, it would afterwards be requisite to prove the august sacrifice of the mass, then the intercession of the Saints, and so of aU the rest ; and then, every proof being contested by the minister, who would have said that the passage ought not to be understood in that way— judge whether the expedient proposed by Dumoulin was a ready and con vincing mode of settling the matter. Besides that, it had been so offcen discussed, concluded, and sohdl}- proved hyso many celebrated authors, particulai-ly by theleai-ned Secaret, in his answer to the King of Great Britain. Great as was the shrewdness of the minister m making this proposition, no less sincerity and judgment were shown by Father Archange, of Beauvais, in an swering him, that he did not reject his proposal and lus demand; but, before proceeding to the execution, it was necessary to agree upon two points, -without which none of the matters in dispute between them could be defini- ' There was only one book it was necessary to turn over : a Book, by the way, to which Pere Cyprien never refers. VOL. II. G G 450 THE COURT AND TIMES OF tivelv settled. The first was, whether that Church of the first four centuries was infaUible : for, supposing that it coiUd be, or that it actuaUy was in eiTor, it would not thence foUow that one which should be conformable to it would be the ti-ue Church, since this conformity woiUd render it a partaker in its errors.' The second position where it was requisite that they should come to an imder standing was, respecting an umpfre, capable of bringing the two parties to agree, touching the explanation of passages of the Holy Scriptures aud of the Fathers of the Church, which tiiey might adduce in proof of what was aUeged; that is to say, that conformity vrith the ancient Church. Father Archange, of Beauvais, added that, when once agreed upon these two absolutely neees sarv" points, each might then proceed steadUy to the search after proofs of this presumed conformity. The minister found himself embarrassed by this answer, which he did not expect. He took a long time to consider about it, and, in order to preserve the httle reputation which he had acqufred, and which he woiUd have lost, ff he had stopped there, he replied that the Church of the ffrst four centuries was not infallible, and that there needed no other umpfre for settling thefr dff- ferences but the Holy Scriptures. But Father Archange had afready anticipated his reply, proving by eridence that the Chm-ch of the ffrst four centmies, not being in faUible, was hable to abide in error, to mingle a false ci-eed with its ti-ue articles. This being the case, a Chm-ch which should conform to it woiUd not foUow the pure truth, and could not justiy bear the title of the tme Chtirch of Jesus Christ. This reason was sfrong; so his adversary made no reply to it, nor to the neces sity for an umpfre to settie disputed matters. This could not be the Scripture, since each wovUd explain it to his own advantage. There was necessarUy requfred an infaUible oracle, fi-om which might be learned vrith assurance the tme meaning of a contested passage; ' If the Church of the first four centuries was in error, the Church of a subse quent period was not likely tn be less so. We should imagine, the nearer to the source of Christianity, the purer the stream. CHARLES THE FIRST. 451 otherwise, the dispute would continue endlessly and without leading to any conclusion, I know not what effect these reasons produced on the mind of M, Du moulin, for his own salvation ; but I know that, being conrinced by their manifest truth, he ceased writing, and would no longer continue the conference, which ren dered his Catholic friend immoveable in the faith. This man, who, seemed before to waver a httle, was the more strongly confinned in the belief of the Romish Church, in which he died, Dumoulin was reduced to a disgrace ful sUence by the force of trath, which rendered him unable to answer, and to vrithstand the reasons of the Capuchin, which he had rashly attacked,' This victory of Father Archange was foUowed by another, A certain Frenchman, son of a trader of Paris, an upright member of a celebrated religious order, finding his profession unprofitable, had assumed the secular habit, and gone to England, He stopped in London, a populous and wealthy city, where aU sorts of sects are congregated. He was in intercourse vrith Anabaptists, who afforded him some assistance, and furnished him vrith the means of setting up in business, and introduced him to a young woman, whom he mar ried, and so wrought upon his mind that they persuaded him to renounce the Cathohc, ApostoUc, and Roman Church, and to embrace the Anabaptist faith. Curiosity brought him afterwards to our church, and then into our garden, where he met vrith Father Archange, who received him very ci-riUy, conversed vrith him on indif ferent subjects, inqufred if he had hved long in London, what motive had brought him thither, and what profes sion he foUowed, These innocent questions, put with a winning kindness of manner, and an agreeable and respect ful familiarity, opened the heart of this man, who answered them all with perfect frankness and sincerity. He said that he had made trial of a religious life ; that, his profession producing him nothuig, he had left his monastery, vrithout any design of forsaking the Catholic rehgion, in which he was bred ; but that the Anabaptists, ' As usual, the good Father is a little intolerant. gg2 452 THE COURT AND TIMES OF whom he had faUen in -with, had shown him very clearly, from the Holy Scriptures, that thefrs is the tme faith, which he had embraced, vrith the intention of passing the remainder of his hfe in it. Father Archange was not at all surprised at this answer, manffested no coldness, met him with the same kindness of look and manner, and was rather pleased vrith his frankness. After speaking in terms of due praise of the Holy Scriptures, which were dictated by the Holy Spirit, which were the word of God, which, Uke God, were essential truth, into which Ues and false hood cannot enter, he began to show how important it is to understand them rightly, to comprehend thefr true meaning ;' that the want of this knowledge had produced heresies ; that aU of them boast of being authorized by the Holy Scriptures, He afterwards proved to him the absurdity of the Anabaptist creed, and the truth of the Romish Church, by reasons so clear and so strong, that this man, sorry for ha-ving vrithdrawn from it to foUow ex travagant novelties, took leave of Father Archange, went home to his vrife, related to her what had passed, stated the reasons by which his mind was con-rinced of the faUacy of the creed of the Anabaptists, and of the orthodoxy of that of the Roman Church, demonstrated both to her so convincingly, that she acquiesced in it, and afterwards came vrith her husband to Father Archange, from whom they received together the instructions necessary for con firming them strongly in the true faith, and for leading a Christian hfe. In this good disposition both of them renounced heresy, solemnly made thefr profession of faith and thefr sacramental coiffession. Having thus lived together for some time in great harmony, it pleased God to call to himself the vrife, who departed from this world, cheered by the sacraments of the Church, with the signs of a predestined soul. These conversions, next to God, are o-wing to the zeal of Father Archange, of Beauvais, who dehvered every Sunday a sohd but famUiar controversial lecture, 1 The good Father did not attempt to explain why this " true meaning" should be accessible only to one set of men. CHARLES THE FIRST, 453 in the church, from one tUl two o'clock, AU profited there, both Catholics and Protestants ; the former being better instructed and more confirmed in the true faith ; the latter, opening their eyes to the truth, acknowledg ing their errors, humbly sohciting their reconciliation to the Catholic Chm-ch; so that we had daily agree able occasions to raise Catholics who had faUen under the severity of persecutions; to set right schismatic persons, who, being secret and concealed Catholics, at tended the Protestant serrice for the preservation of their property ; to confer vrith aU sorts of heretics, who were astonished to learn that our faith was so contrary to the account given of it by thefr ministers, who repre sented it as fiUl of errors and blasphemies, I have made mention of the other services which we rendered to the Cathohcs in and out of the chapel, in the administration ofthe sacraments. Thus God was glorified, and religion received daUy fresh accessions by the conversion of some, and by the spfritual advance of others. The Queen was the cause of these great benefits ; she was the primum mobile that impeUed the whole machine ; nothing was done but under her authority and protec tion. It were to be wished that her hfe had lasted a century. Divine Providence decreed otherwise, and sent her a fingering illness, God had given her a generous mind and a very delicate body. The terrible afflictions of which we have spoken, exercising her courage, had increased its vigour, but at the same time they had reduced the strength of her body. On her last return to England, encountering the rude afr of the climate, after having long breathed that of France, which is much purer, she found herself seriously indis posed, and endured aU her pains with great fortitude and resignation to the vriU of God, One year, two years, three years, passed away in this suffering state, which, becoming worse, caused her to think of remedies. She recoUected that the waters of Bourbon had always been of benefit to her, and felt some inclination now to go thither. The Catholics ^topped her, Iler presence was advantageous to the 454 THE COURT AND TIMES OF service of thefr religion. Her malady urged her to this journey; zeal for the welfare of the Cathohcs opposed it: she wavered long irresolute. At length she be thought her that she might leave England for a time, and seek health in France, without detriment to the spfritual weffare of the Cathohcs, leaving her chapel open for service by eight Capuchins, in the same manner as if she were present. She mentioned this matter to the King, her son, who found no difficulty in permitting the chapel to be kept open ; but a very great one in parting with so dear and virtuous a mother : however, her health being so precious, he gave his consent. So she resolved to depart, and commanded me to attend her, vrith another of her Capuchins, whom I should think fittest for this journey, I chose the Reverend Father Mathieu, of Auxerre, who had the honour of preaching before her for two Lents in London, vrith great satisfaction ; and who could, on occasion, continue that practice in France ; and, in fact, he did worthUy acquit himself of this duty all the time that this great princess lived. Shortly before her departure from London, our duty obliged us to go aU together to learn her pleasure, and to receive her commands from her own Ups, As God had endowed her with a shrewd and ready understand ing and great fluency of speech, she made us imme diately a flne address, in which she declared that her journey, "with the grace of God, would not last long; that her chapel would be constantly open to the Ca thohcs, French and Enghsh ; that she should take vrith her Father Cyprien and Father Mathieu ; that aU the rest were to stay and to perform during her absence the same spfritual exercises which they practised in her presence ; that it was necessary to labour for the assist ance of Cathohcs, and for the conversion of heretics as they had been accustomed, that is to say, in such a manner that nothing should appear outwardly, so as not to afford any cause of complaint to the Protestant bishops and ministers, and to om- enemies the Puritans ; that if, during her stay in London, we had acted with CHARLES THE FIRST. 455 that prudent caution, Ave ought to observe it much more sti-ictly in her absence. She added that those A\'ho went into the city, to administer the sacraments to the sick and to prisoners, ought so to conduct themselves that the Protestants who came to her chapel, and who knew us, might be edified ; and that, for the rest, she had no need to recommend herself to our prayers, being- sure that the affection and zeal which we had for her service would not aUow us to forget her. She left London, accompanied by the King and Queen, and the gentlemen and ladies of her court, who embarked vrith her. Ha-ring proceeded about fifteen leagues out to sea, it became necessary at length to part, and to bid one another fareweU, which, -without being aware of it, was for the last time in her hfe ; and so, perhaps, vrithout any particular feeling of sorrow. The King returned to London, the Queen proceeded vrithout accident to Calais, and from Calais to her chateau at Colombe, whither their Majesties, Monsieur, Madame, and the whole court of France repafred to pay thefr respects to her. As it frequently happens that one gains when the other loses, if the court of England was grieved at the departure of this most amiable princess, the com-t of France, and particularly Monsieur and Madame of Orleans, manffested inexpressible joy at her happy return. She passed the summer very agreeably at Colombe, and the winter in Paris, at the magnificent Hotel de la Basiniere, which the King gave her for her residence. When she left London, the plague was commencing there : it increased to such a degree that, in a single week, it carried off four or five thousand persons. This caused the Queen to think of shutting up her chapel, that this contagious disease might not spread fiirther by the intermixture and communication of healthy and infected persons, who shoiUd come to divine serrice. She mentioned this matter to me, but vrithout coming to any resolution, I wrote on the subject to our Fathers in London, FUled with zeal and fei-voiu-, they begged me to work upon the Queen to 456 THE COURT AND TIMES OF obtain from her goodness permission for the doors of her chapel to continue open as usual, notwithstanding the plague, to all the Cathohcs, that they might thus enjoy the benefit of the sacraments, and not be left de stitute of spiritual assistance when they most needed it, I proposed this to the Queen : her piety led her to deem it so reasonable that she would rather suffer her palace to be infected than that one Catholic should die without confession and riaticum. Accordingly, orders were given that the chapel should be kept open, and that the Catholics should be at liberty to frequent it in the time of the plague just as when there was none. That contagious disease, which threatened all, obliged every one to be upon his guard, to think seriously of his soul, to redouble his fervour, and to be more assiduous in attendance on divine ser vice : of course, the chapel was more frequented than ever. Amidst this great concourse of people, several who were seized with the plague met, confessed, and innocently imparted corporeal death to the priest from whom they received spiritual Ufe by absolution of thefr sins and the infusion of grace. Of the eight Capuchins who were left in London at the departure of the Queen mother, two caught the disease in that manner : these were the most Venerable Fathers Franjois of Abvile [AbbeviUe], and Apolinaire of Paris. An ardent zeal for the salvation of souls kept them almost incessantly engaged in exercises of charity, sometimes hearing confessions, at others carry ing the sacraments to the sick, at others again confer ring upon religion with heretics. This same zeal led them to beg me to use my solicitations with the Queen to forego her purpose of preventing this great misfor tune for the Catholics — the shutting up of her chapel — desfring still to continue their attendance on them. They were ftiUy aware that, in the service which they should render them, they would endanger their own lives, but they deemed it a great favour to foUow Jesus Christ, their master, and, in imitation of him, to die for the salvation of their fellow-creatures. In fact, it was, CHARLES TIIE FIRST. 457 whUe confessing infected persons, that both of them, one after the other, took the disease, which deprived them of this miserable earthly life, to give them a happy one in heaven. Father Charles Fran9ois had received an exceUent education before he entered our Order. He afterwards continued his studies with great assiduity. It is true that, haring embraced a rehgious hfe, that he might meet vrith the fewer obstacles to virtue, and the better to advance himself in Christian perfection, he spent the greater part of his time in this employment. That which was left him was so devoted to study that he wasted none on useless things. By these means, he acquired extraordinary skUl in polemics and in cases of conscience. These two things were of wonderfiU ser vice to him in the mission ; the one for the conversion of Huguenots, in the conferences which he had with them, the other for the dfrection of souls in confession. The most Venerable Father Apolinaire of Paris was endowed vrith so many exceUent qualities, that Nature seemed to have been stingy in giving him so smaU a body, that she might be the more prodigal in adorning him with many other valuable advantages to compensate that innocent defect. He had a sweet temper, respect- fiU, courteous, agreeable to every one. He liked to employ himself upon the little conveniences of convents, and was so clever in aU sorts of mechanical arts that you would have thought he had served an apprentice ship to them before he embraced a religious life. His piety and his skUl were extraordinary in the decoration of churches, and in the ornaments of altars, keeping up at the same time that poverty which is essential to us. His ingenuity and skUl gave them a beauty and a lustre which others scarcely have with gold, diamonds, and other rich materials. His cleverness in all things induced our Reverend Fathers to give him the office of Warden, which greatly shocked his feelings, and which he nevertheless accepted, from a spirit of sub mission. In this office he behaved so weU that he equaUed the prudence and the wisest government of 458 THE COURT AND TIMES OF old superiors ; and so he would ever have continued, if his great humUity had not forbidden it, being forcibly and perseveringly desfrous to obey and not to command. The King of England, Charles II. , being happily re placed on his throne, employed his affectionate solicita tions, and the humble intreaties of the gentlemen of his court, to prevaU upon the Queen, his mother, to resolve to return to England, and to pass the rest of her hfe there. Father Apolinaire was then our companion vrith her Majesty ; after the death of the most Venerable Father Lambert, of Fliscourt, we had lived some years together in the Palais Royal. Two things in him were very praiseworthy, namely, great diffidence of himself, and entfre submission to his superiors. This diffidence dissuaded him from going to England, on the specious pretext that he should there have to perform the duties of the mission, that it was a downright heretic country, and that he had not the qualifications requisite for a good missionary. This notion he retained for some time, tUl Father Charles, of AbvUle, who then governed the province in the absence of the Reverend Father Provincial, intimated to him that he beheved him to be caUed by God to that mission ; that the way to succeed was to continue to cherish that feeling of diffidence of himself and of the capacity of his own strength, but, vrithout brooding too much over that diffidence, to turn to God, to put his trust in his goodness in all that con cerned his glory, and to await with great faith the suc cour of his mercy and of his power. Father Apolinaire received this adrice from the lips of his Superior as coming from God. He deliberated no longer about going to England; all his scruples vanished, his de pressed courage was raised, cheerfulness appeared in his countenance, and thus disposed him to set out; the rirtue of religion, which he eminently possessed, impeUed hun, as I have said, to the decoration of churches, where fore, when in London, he was charged to keep the Queen's chapel always diUy adorned. To this pious duty he applied himself with great diligence, and exer cised all his skill in order to increase the splendour and CHARLES THE FIRST, 459 the majesty of the altar, in order to honour Jesus Christ, who dwells there in the adorable sacrament of the Eucharist, to raise the devotion of the Catholics, and to win for the Church such Protestants as came to see those rare pieces of workmanship, and thus afforded us opportunities of speaking to them, and of representing to them the falsehood of thefr rehgion and the truth of ours, AU the pensions of the Queen, for the subsistence and wages of her people, being stopped on the blockade of Paris, she was obhged to seU her jewels and the plate of her chapel. On returning to England, she accepted from Madame the Duchess d'AiguiUon that of the late M, le Cardinal de Richeheu, which was very rich, very splen did, very magnificent. Being placed upon the altar, and ranged -with the other ornaments by the skUl and ingenuity of Father Apohnafre, it was a rarishing sight to the eyes, a subject of high admiration to the mind, and a strong incitement to devotion of heart I ^ According to the difference of seasons and festivals, the altar was dressed in so many different ways, that there was always some clever and pleasing novelty to admire, through the inventive ingenuity of this industrious Father, Seeing the most Venerable Father Charles Frangois, of AbvUle, whose confessor he was, attacked and carried off, he was deeply affected, and soon afterwards felt himself seized by the same malady, which, in a short time, re moved him from this world, to place him, as we may weU believe, for ever in heaven. The Queen, who was fond of him, manifested great sorrow for his death. In order that her Majesty's chapel might always have a sufficient number of priests to officiate in it, and that the Catholics might not be deprived of the assistance necessary for thefr salvation, she desfred that other Capuchins of the Prorince of Paris might go and fiU the places of the deceased. The Reverend Fathers Superiors sent thither the most Venerable Fathers Robert Bourlon, Mathieu of St, Quentin, and Antoine of Quimper, all three zealous preachers, who laboured ' We were not aware that there was so much virtue in plate. 460 THE COURT AND TIMES OF vrith great fervour in the duties of the mission, adminis tering the sacraments to Cathohcs, converting Hugue nots, and rescuing from apostacy several persons whom debauchery had induced to leave France for England, The Reverend Father Robert Bourlon endured with firmness the violent assaults of several enemies of re ligion and of Christian piety ; and, by his arguments, his perseverance, and his dexterity, he fixed those whose good graces he won, and who, giving themselves up to a false creed and to false persuasions, were on the brink of a precipice. The indisposition of the Queen diverted him from learning the English language, which would have been very useftU, After the decease of her Majesty, his chief emplojnnent was vrith the French, many of whom profited by his conversations, some to advance to Christian perfection, others to escape fi-om heresy, into which adversity had thrown them, I know two who are under the greatest obligations to him in this respect; they are two persons of quahty, who had been to see England, and whom the pernicious conversation of zealous Calvinists had perverted. Father Robert found means to speak to them, and so convinced them by his reasons, that they admitted their errors, renounced thefr heresy, and returned penitent to the arms of thefr mother, the Holy Church, Before obedience sent the Reverend Father Mathieu, of St, Quentin, to England, he had written a contro versial book, which gained him great reputation. He had acquired stUl more by his modesty, by his fervour, and by his other vfrtues, which induced M. Colbert, the ambassador of the King of France, to choose him in London for his confessor. He gained many ladies for God, by several conferences on the subject of rehgion: this became talked of. It happened fortunately for a young Frenchman, of fine understanding, of Huguenot parents, who had received an exceUent education, and was weU versed in controversy, which he had more par ticularly studied, as he intended soon to be a minister; and the pride which always accompanies heresy had given him a high idea of himself, and a strong desire to CHARLES THE FIRST. 461 exhibit his abUity on the first favourable occasion. He considered the title of the Queen's Capuchin as the mark of an iUustrious antagonist, over whom a victory would be very glorious. Under this idea, he entered into con versation vrith the Father, and, after some indifferent discourse, he advanced an heretical proposition, which the Capuchin immediately laid hold of, and refiited so sohdly, as to throw confusion upon him whose pre sumption promised him triumphs. The Huguenot being forced in this post, entrenched himself in another, in which he was not more fortunate, for he had to do vrith a generous and experienced warrior. At length, finding himseff incapable of resisting, he did as the governors of besieged towns do, who, when they can no longer defend themselves, desfre to capitulate. He said that he should confer better another time on these de bated points. After a few shght skirmishes, he surren dered, and confessed the truth, which the spfrit of pride refused to acknowledge in good company. He resolved to renounce Calrinism, to embrace the Cathohc, Apos- toheal, and Roman rehgion, and to make a public pro fession of it, which he did with great courage and joy, because the grace of the Holy Ghost, and the instruc tions which he had received, had rendered him more humble. He is now a worthy ecclesiastic, fuU of fer vour. The Reverend Father Antoine, of Quimper, is not only a friar of exemplary character and abUity, like the other missionaries, but he has also the wonderful, facUity of speaking sis or seven different languages, of which he has very usefully avaUed himseff in various places, particularly in the city of London, which commerce renders very famous, and where you meet with people of aU nations and all rehgions. The Cathohc merchants, the French, Spanish, Flemish, and German, were very glad to converse vrith a Capuchin who understood and spoke thefr language, to submit to him difficulties of conscience, to ask his opinion, to lay before him thefr sins in the tribunal of penitence, and to receive absolu tion of them. As for the professors of other religions. 462 THE COURT AND TIMES OF though he was extremely averse to thefr false creeds, nevertheless, speaking their language, he found ready access to them. His serene coimtenance, his modesty, seasoned vrith cheerfulness, imperceptibly gained the good-vriU of those vrith whom he conversed. From one topic to another, he skilfiUly led them to the subject of religion ; explained to them, with great anxiety for their salvation, that the rehgion which they professed was not the tme one ; that they must be incorporated into the Romish Church, and die in its faith, to find a place in heaven. Proceeding thus with mUdness and love, he won many for God, even in the presence of the ministers vrith whom he often had disputations, and always vrith success. Having orders to note the persons whom, by the grace of God, he converted to the faith, and received into the Church, I find thirty-five on his list. He has given, on many occasions, noble testimonies of his zeal and his abUities, I shaU notice only the foUowing trait, which is ingenious. An EngUsh gentleman, brought up in the Protestant religion, being in France, was happUy, and very secretly, converted to the Cathohc church. On leaving Paris, to return to England, he was addressed to me by Father Ange, of Raconi^s, a Capuchin, whom he had met with. As it was of great importance to his fortune, and to the preservation of his property, that it should not be known that he was a Cathohc, he covered the principal exer cises of religion -with the darkness of night. He came to me very early in the morning, before it was hght, to confess and communicate, in a very secret place, where he could not be perceived, A long time passed in this manner. The Queen-mother ha-ring come to France for the benefit of her health, as I was obhged to attend her, during my absence, he had recourse to Father Antoine, of Quimper. He admired his understanding, took great pleasure in his conversation, and, to enjoy it the longer, he begged him to accompany him in a jour ney which he had to take into the country. His influ ence was too great, and his request too reasonable, not to be complied -with. Having, therefore, the Father in CHARLES THE FIRST. 463 his house, he told him that a niece of his, a Protestant, was committed to his care, upon promise that he would not suffer a change of religion to be talked of to her; that he had agreed to this fatal condition, the violation of which would be productive of very great incon veniences to himself and to several other Catholics, He, therefore, begged him not to speak to her on the sub ject, saying, that God had his intentions vrith her, and would convert her at the time ordained by his Prori dence, This intimation surprised Father Antoine, and did some violence to his zeal, which eagerly sought occasions to gain souls for God, He was sorry to lose one whom he thought a fit subject; but the order was too explicit to act contrary to it. He was obhged, there fore, to make up his mind to a gloomy sUence, As, however, love is ingenious, he considered whether there was not some method of satisfying the gentleman by saying nothing to the young lady, and of endeavouring to gain her by some other way. After he had long turned this idea in his mind, he bethought him of the foUovring expedient. He wrote a letter, addressed to a minister, to whom he proved by clear and sohd reasons that the Protestant religion is false ; that it is impossible to be saved in its faith ; that the Romish Church alone is the true Church ; and that, out of its communion, there is no salvation, Haring folded this letter, vrithout sealing it, he dropped it in a place to which the young Protestant lady was to come presently. She picked it up, read it several times, and, haring a good under standing, she was so enlightened and touched by it, that she determined to turn Cathohc, and nobody could divert her from that holy resolution. The most Venerable Father BasUe, of Soissons, know ing that Madame HamUton, married to the Earl of SeUtirk, was not particularly attached to the Pro testant rehgion, found means to speak to her, and to have several conferences vrith her, which, at length, caused her to resolve to embrace the Cathohc rehgion, to pass over to France, and to go to Soissons, where she received absolution from heresy, and was solemnly 464 THE COURT AND TIMES OF reconcUed to the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman church, by Monseigneur the Bishop of Soissons, who begged Madame the Abbess of N6tre Dame to receive her for a time into her royal monastery, in order to confirm her in the true faith, and show her the practices of solid de votion, and the pious exercises of her nuns. After a stay of five or six weeks at this place, she came to Paris, to pay her respects to Madame the Duchess of Orleans, who received her very civUly, and gave her handsome apartments in the Palais Royal, whither I was sum moned, to explain to her the mysteries of our religion, and to receive her sacramental confession, which I did several times, and had occasion to converse with Mon sieur the Earl, her husband, who showed no displeasure at her conversion to the Cathohc faith; so he is a pru dent, moderate, sensible gentleman, susceptible of rea son, and of a sweet temper, I left him in very good sentiments, which God wUl bless, if he pleases, and render instrumental to his salvation. We have, at last, arrived at the end of those conver sions, at the conclusion of that great progress of the Catholic religion, and at the last period of this mission, which, through the grace of God, has produced such happy effects in England, What is common to aU the things of this earth, which have their beginning and thefr end, could not fail to happen to this mission. All its foundation and its support was the service of the Queen ; it was permitted on her account alone ; this was the only cause that gave it subsistence, and, that cause being taken away, the mission must necessarUy be at an end; as the life of the Queen kept it alive, so her de cease was death to it. It was the intention of that zealous princess to return to England, as we have said, for the preservation and the promotion of the Catholic religion. Heaven, satis fied -with these pious wishes, prevented thefr fulfilment, decreeing that France should be the theatre" of her death, and that her hfe should not extend beyond the year 1669. AU the time that she passed in France, after her last return to England, she was continuaUy CHARLES THE FIRST. 465 subject to fainting-fits, sleeplessness, and other bodUy ailments. The waters of Bourbon, which she went to drink every year, afforded a temporary mitigation of her complaints, but did not take them away; nay, at last, finding these more inveterate and obstinate, they produced neither diminution nor relief. This generous Queen was not dejected on this account; she uttered no complaints, no repinings, showed none of those iU tem pers which are common vrith aihng women. With the blood of the great Henry, she had inherited a courage that was never to be cast down by difficulties, which disguised the sharpness and severity of her pains, and which caused her fine face to exhibit an agreeable se renity, and a majestic cheerfulness, as if she had enjoyed perfect health. I have frequently heard her say, that complaints in illness were useless, or, ff they served for anything, it was to show the great weakness and the httle resolution of the persons who complained. She laughed at those ladies who scream, who weep, who lament, about a touch of headache or toothache, as if it was aU over vrith them. Monseigneur the Duke of Orleans, and Madame, his vrife, who were deeply interested in her health, begged her to permit the most eminent physicians of Paris to hold, in her Majesty's presence, a consultation upon her complaint. She consented ; and at the same time M. VaUot, first physician to the King, M. Esprit, first physician to Monseigneur the Duke of Orleans, and M. Ivelin, first physician to Madame, repaired to the chateau de Colombe, agreeably to the orders which they had received, and there, conjointly with M. Duquin, first physician to the Queen, they paid thefr respects to her Majesty, and inqufred concerning her complaint. She explained to them, and told them aU the symptoms and circumstances -with such clearness, that she left M. Duquin, her physician in ordinary, nothing to add but his mode of treatment, and the medicines which he had employed for the cure of the disorder. M. VaUot ap proved of everything, and, in discourse afterwards, said, that, by the grace of God, the disorder did not threaten VOL, II, H H 466 THE COURT AND TIMES OF any danger which was to be dreaded ; that the ailments of the Queen were painfiU, but vrithout danger of death ; that, to the remedies which M, Duquin had employed, he should merely add three grains' {grains), which would remove the sleeplessness of her Majesty, and contribute greatly to her health. The Queen, hearing grains men tioned, declared positively that she would not take them, as she found by experience that they disagreed vrith her, and that the famous English physician, M, de Mayerne, had warned her never to take any, M, de Vallot answered vrith great respect, that the grains which he proposed to give were of a particular compo sition, and that he would not have been so Ul adrised as to propose them, had he not known to a certainty that they would be conducive to her health ; he begged her Majesty to be thoroughly persuaded of that, and said that he weU knew how precious her hfe was, and how much it behoved them to employ none but sure remedies for its preservation; and that, if he acted otherwise, he should be the greatest criminal in the world. These words made some impression on the mind of the Queen, who asked the opinion of the other physicians. All of them coincided in that of Monsieur VaUot, M, Ivelin, who spoke last, said, vrith great moderation and prudence, that he knew not the com position of those grains, but he had such an esteem for M, Vallot, that he reputed him to be so able and so excellent a man that he would not give her Majesty anything whatever, if he did not know to a certainty that it was proper and salutary for her, I was present at this illustrious and fatal consulta tion, the result of which was that the Queen took the grains at eleven o'clock at night. She submitted vrith difficulty, her great courage triumphing over the re pugnance that she felt for them. She kept very regular hours ; that for supper having arrived, she sat down to table, ate heartily, amused herself agreeably after her repast, laughing as if nothing ailed her. She had pre viously put all her affairs m order, provided for the ' Probably that portion of an opiate, or that number of pills. CHARLES THE FIRST. 467 payment of her household, and arranged with the King, her son, that, when God should caU her from the world, aU the persons then in her service should be paid their usual wages and recompensed by the payment of two years beyond: of this she had assured her confessor, with whom she had on that day had long spfritual con versations, in order to prepare herself for the commu nion, which she designed to take the next day, not having been able to do so on the preceding, which was the festival of the nativity of the most blessed Virgin, But, 0 God, how inscrutable are thy judgments! Thou didst infuse these good sentiments into that pious Queen, thy servant; thou didst produce in her those holy resolutions; though didst inspfre her "with that desfre to communicate, and, -without wiUing the effect, thou wast satisfied with this desire; thy Providence made use of the fatal consultation of physicians to re move her from us, changing her eartlUy kingdom (as it is to be presumed) for an empire in heaven. Death, which, in the opinion of Aristotle, holds the first rank among terrible things, was dreadful in her eyes : though she never represented it to herseff as any other than far distant, stUl the bare idea of it made her shudder ; so she did not like any one to talk of that doleful subject. She often said to me, that it behoved us to prepare weU for it, by purity of Iffe and frequently taking the sa crament, by the performance of good works, and not by talking so much. In these holy dispositions, O adorable Providence, thou didst permit her to faU into a temporal slumber, in which death threw her into an everlasting one, to translate her from this world to the other, vrithout her perceiving it, as if she were perfectly ready, as if there were not an hour of the day that she had destined to some particular employment, to rouse her to vocal, to mental prayer, the mass, meals, company, recreations, business, all which had different hours aUotted to them. Bed-time having arrived, she lay down to rest, and slept soundly, till the lady, who lay in the same cham ber, woke her to take the fatal medicine prescribed for HH 2 468 THE COURT AND TIMES OF her by the physicians — those luckless grains, which robbed her of speech and Ufe ; for, from the moment she took them, she never spoke. The lady left her for some time without saying anything to her after that mur derous dose ; then she asked her how she felt, whether she wanted an3rthing, and, receiving no answer, she raised her voice, and repeated the question several times in a stUl louder tone, to make her hear; but having, instead of words, nothing but sighs, oppressions of the chest, palpitations of the heart, she quickly sent the valets de chambre, who were at hand, to inform the priests and the physicians of the cfrcumstance. We were among the first that came, and the priests pre sently followed, and then the confessor. Each spoke to her : the physicians, having felt her pulse, asked her several questions respecting her complaint; the priests exhorted her to contrition for her sins, to the love of God, and to confidence in his mercy, besought her to give some sign that she vmderstood us, but she rephed only by a mortal silence. Some of the physicians at tributed it to certain vapours which had ascended to the brain, which could not last long, and which, when dispelled, would leave the patient capable of speaking. I beUeved them at first ; and then, seeing that there was no abatement of her malady, I urged the confessor to cause extreme unction to be administered. He left the duty to me, and I immediately apprized M. the Cur6 of Colombe, who came in haste, and administered that sacrament ; and, when prorided with it, she, vrithout vio lence, -without the shghtest con-vulsion, with great serenity, and a sweet expression of countenance, rendered up her soul to God. A gentleman went off immediately for St. Germain en Laye, where the court of France then was, to acquaint the Ejug, Queen, Monsieur and Ma dame d' Orleans, vrith the lamentable tidings, which affected them so deeply that they could not repress their tears. Thus it vrill be seen that this great Queen had ac qufred an empfre, as it were, over hearts. Her excel lent qualities, her piety, her cheerful temper, her rirtue CHARLES THE FIRST. 469 of doing good, and of not offending any one, and the gift of speaking weU, rendered her amiable to every body. The King regarded her not only as his dearest aunt, but stUl more as the bond of union and peace between France and England. Monseigneur the Duke of Orleans, being convinced of her rare prudence and her great affection, communicated his affafrs to her with perfect confidence, and retained for her the senti ments and affection which he should have entertained for his own mother. My pen would strive in vain to express here the riolent grief of Madame d' Orleans, his wffe, the great love which she bore to a mother, so tender, so rirtuous, so loving, and so beloved ; and all that we have related on this subject in these Memofrs wUl fiirnish a much better idea of the keenness of her sorrows than anything that my pen can write. M. VaUot, who had so strongly urged the Queen to take those unlucky grains, was loudly blamed for it. The esteem which he had acqufred at court for his medicine suffered a great diminution. The servants of the deceased shouted after him, that he had deprived them of their dearest mistress. It was thought that, after so fatal an accident, he could not maintain his ground in the city, honourable and important as was the post of first physician to the King ; but he found friends, who talked of it to his Majesty, who told him that their opinion of the death of the Queen was, that she had a complaint which rendered it impossible for her to live any longer ; that the grains which she had taken were not by any means the cause of her death, for they had restored health to several other patients ; that M. VaUot had experienced in his own person the salutary virtue of this medicine, using it when he was himself iU, and by its means recovered health ; that, after so much ex perience, he had had reason to prevaU on the Queen to take some of these grains. This speech made an im pression on the mind of the King, whose goodness con sented that M. Vallot shoiUd continue in his ordinary service. It was not for any long time ; for, in a few months, he feU into a dangerous illness, from which his 470 THE COURT AND TIMES OF grains could not rescue him, or prevent his learing the court and hfe to enter a tomb. Though the house of Colombe was to the Queen as a monastery, and her cabinet as a ceU, which she fre quently entered to commune more quietly and more intimately vrith God ; nevertheless, to animate herself stUl more for his serrice, she often visited the convents of nuns ; and, to advance herseff stUl more in virtue by the example of others, she several times stayed there for several weeks. She retfred, for three whole months, to the monastery of the Carmehtes, in the Faubourg St. Jacques; afterwards the nuns of St. Fran9ois de Sales, desiring to settle at Chaillot, near Paris, and to change into a house of prayer a palace which had opened to earthly pleasure only, this pious princess supported them with her authority and her means ; she bought in her name the palace and the lands belonging to it. Generously surmounting the great difficulties which the DevU raised up in this business, she put the nuns in quiet possession of that house, of which she became the foundress, and she reserved for herself apartments to which to retfre at certain times. There she usuaUy passed Advent, Passion Week, the feasts of Easter and Wlutsuntide, the octave of the Holy Sacrament, and the feasts of the most Blessed Vfrgin ; never thinldng her self so near to her end. Some years before her death, she had resolved to recompense aU her household, and to pass the rest of her life in this place of solitude and retfrement. The vfrtues and the holy exercises of the nuns had so attached her to it, that she coiUd have vrished to he there even after death ; but, foreseeing that her rank of Queen and of FUle de France would be a bar to the interment of her body there, she determined at least to give her heart to this place. According to her intention, a few days after her decease her body was opened, and that truly Christian and royal heart was solemnly carried to the nuns of ChaiUot. There was nobody who knew the noble and rare qualities of this great Queen, but lamented her decease. France and England were long in extraordinary mourn- CHARLES THE FIRST. 471 mg for her. England, struck with a horrible blindness, had formerly most unjustly banished her, persecuted her, and ffred cannon at the v^essel which she was on board of: but now, the whole kingdom, penitent for its abominable crime, convinced of the -virtues of her whose destruction it had before sought, vrith such injustice, could not hear of her unexpected death vrithout melting into tears, manffesting sonow in all sorts of doleful ways, and fransmitting to posterity an everlasting memorial of her in elegies and other mournful pieces, and in Latin and Enghsh graces, in such quantity, that, if they were aU coUected, they woiUd form a whole volume. France, to which the memory of the Great Henry is so precious, which did not regard this death as merely that of the Queen of England, but as the end of the chUdren of that worthy monarch, as a FUle de France, mUd, famihar, obhging, doing good to every one- — ^in short, endowed with aU the exceUent qualities that are capable of winning the heart — in France, her obsequies were solemnized at St. Denis, with a pomp as splendid and royal as it was rehgious. The piety of the King of France, nephew of the deceased, took upon itseff the whole expense, and appointed Mr. the Bishop of Amiens, one of the most eloquent prelates of the age, to dehver the funeral discourse of that august serrice. Madame the Duchess of Orleans, daughter of that Queen, grateful for the obhgations which she owed to so dear and so worthy a mother, had another very cele brated service performed for her in the chapel of ChaUlot, where M. Bossuet, bishop of Condon, nobly set forth the heroic rirtues of that Queen in the funeral discourse which he dehvered to the marveUous satis faction of his whole audience. In the foUowing year, on the anniversary, these solemnities were renewed; when the Reverend Father Mathieu, of Auxene, Capu chin preacher, attested in a rich discourse the extraordi nary merits of her august Majesty, Though Msgrs, the Prelates had related wonders of her in thefr harangues of the preceding year, stUl they had not so completely exhausted this royal subject, as not to leave very rare 472 THE COURT AND TIMES OF and very exceUent particulars to be added from his own knowledge by this Father, having had the honour of being for several years preacher to her Majesty, and belonging to the spiritual household of that great Queen ; and he published, vrith not less eloquence than truth, the respectful and grateful acknowledgments paid to the lamented memory of the deceased, who had so highly honoured them vrith her affection. The English manifested the great sorrow which they felt for her unfortunate decease, not only by a general consternation throughout the kingdom, but by aU sorts of doleftU pieces, composed in various languages. Such were the revolutions of one of the greatest Queens that ever lived; such her life, her death, her obsequies, the end of the noblest and the most useful of our missions, which, established and subsisting only by authority of that royal princess, dropped with her into the tomb. It is true, as I have remarked at the com mencement of these Memoirs, that, before her marriage, some French and English Capuchins performed the duties of the mission m England and Scotland, but it was very secretly, in disguise, going out at night to be less noticed, and to avoid being taken up as guilty of high treason, for which the quality of priest would render them liable to a most cruel death, according to the iniquitous laws of that kingdom. The French Capuchins were not then in that great perU ; they acted vrith freedom in the chapel of the French ambassador, not clandestinely, but without any parade. The humi hty of our former Fathers, who wished to leave to God alone the knowledge of their good actions and the care of transmitting them to posterity, has left us in ignor ance of many memorable things, which would now con duce greatly to our edification; so, having been parti cularly acquainted -with only two missionaries of that time, it will be about them alone that I shall here set do-wn what I learned as weU from thefr own accounts as from other testimonies concerning those faithful persons. The illustrious birth, the excellent judgment, the CHARLES THE FIRST, 473 great prudence, and the other noble qualities of the Count de TUlieres, having induced Louis XIII, to chuse him for his ordinary ambassador to his Britannic Majesty, who was then James, the first of that name, that nobleman, who particularly honoured the Capu chins vrith his affection, applied for two of them, for the guidance of his conscience and that of his household, to be the dfrectors of his chapel and his preachers. To acquit themselves duly of this office, it was not suffi cient to possess great -virtue, and a talent for preaching : it was requisite to be versed in polenucs, and to know how to treat skUftdly vrith the Huguenots, Father Ange de Raconi^s was endowed with those superior qualities ; our Fathers, therefore, selected him, and gave him, vrith another Capuchin, to that ambassador. After his return, I had the good fortune to be associated -with him for carrying on the mission, particularly against the Huguenots of La Brie, where he had many rela tions infected with the heresy of Calvin; so the jour neys and the conversations that we had together made me intimately acquainted vrith him. He was of a noble famUy, a man of fervent zeal and eminent piety after his conversion ; for, in his youth, he had foUowed the enors of Calvin, vrith which his relations were infected. Heresy, encouraged by the DevU, had made such pro gress in France, and had become so powerful and so cruel, that King Henry HI,, who then reigned, found himself obliged, in order to preserve his kingdom, to per mit a sanguinary action, caUed to this day the St, Bartholomew,' To escape this terrible storm, many retfred to foreign countries, whence the orthodox faith was afready banished, having renounced the Romish Church, to foUow the wUd notions of some deluded minds, such as several places in Germany, whither M, de Raconies removed with aU his family. Seeing ' The historical reader need scarcely be reminded that the sovereign, who not merely permitted but planned and assisted in performing that sanguinary action — certainly the most sanguinary that Christendora ever witnessed — was not Henry III., but his brother Charles IX. ; and that this sanguinary act was instigated by the Pope, and his fiendlike mother, Catherine de Medicis ; and highy applauded by that detestable bigot, Philip II. of Spain. 474 THE COURT AND TIMES OF that his young son, whom we now caU Father Ange, was strongly awakened, and had a superior understand ing, he placed him in Huguenot schools, and was de hghted to hear that he made great progress there, and that he surpassed aU his companions : and, as science puffs up, if it is not tempered by humility, which this scholar had not, he conceived so high an idea of himself that he sought occasions fbr engaging in disputation -with the most eminent doctors of the Romish Church, his vanity and presumption promising him triumphs. In this assurance, haring finished his studies, and the affairs of rehgion being more tranquU in France, he came to Paris, for the purpose of conferring -with the doctors, and to oblige them, by the force of his argu ments, to embrace his opinions. Accordingly, he had several conferences vrith them, the success of which was contrary to his hopes ; for, instead of perverting the others, as he expected, he was himself completely converted to the Catholic religion. The conversations of these learned persons enabled him to perceive that his reasons were very Ul founded; that the religion of Calrin was but a sect, which had nothing less to sup port it than the Word of God ; that the Holy Scriptures, Divine tradition, the holy Fathers, antiquity, rendered this truth indubitable that the Romish Church is the Church of Jesus Christ, the sole true Church, out of which there is no salvation. The proofs which those doctors gave him of this were so sohd and so powerful, that the mind of the young Huguenot was convinced. Nevertheless, as obstinacy is the characteristic of heresy, and as it is hard to vrrench aU at once from the heart what education has planted there, he did not at first ac quiesce in these reasons, sohd as they were, continued the disputations, gave some weak answers, made some replies ; but the brave defenders of the truth proved to him that the answers and the rephes were frivolous, and confirmed so clearly and so solidly aU they had advanced on the subject of rehgion, that the aggressor, having nothing more to say, signified, by a movement of grace, that he had hitherto lived in error, that the CHARLES THE FIRST. 475 reformation of Calvin was but a pernicious deformity, that his Church had but the name; that, in fact, it was an absolute sect; that those who foUowed it were in error, that the Romish Chui-ch was the only universal, apostohc, and taiie Church of Jesus Clirist, into which he humbly begged to be received. His apphcation greatly rejoiced our doctors, who immediately began to insti-uct him in our whole creed, in our mysteries, in our ceremonies, in the sacrament of penance, in the manner of confessing and communicating properly; and, by the permission and authority which they ob tained fi-om ~Mv. the Cardinal de Gondy, then Bishop of Paris, they pubhcly gave him absolution from heresy, and incoi-porated him with the Chui-ch, in which, after appealing thrice at the ti'ibunal of penance, he con fessed aU his sins vrith great contrition, and received absolution. Pui-ified, deeply humbled, and animated ¦with a hvely faith and an ardent love, he approached vrith great reverence the Holy Table, and gave great edification to aU those who saw him communicate vrith such devotion, strictly foUovring the guidance of his confessor. He endeared himseff particularly in those two sacraments, penance and the Euchaiist. In order to receive them eveiy month vrith more pro fit, he renewed and increased, by stUl greater fervours, his first prepai-ations ; by these means, he made very considei*able progi-ess in perfection in the space of the two or three years that he remained in the world. For, after seeing the great danger of being lost, impeUed by strong graces, he resolved to leave it, and to enter into the rehgious state, where his salvation woiUd be in less perU; and because, among aU the Orders, that of the Capuchins appeai-ed to him to be most detached fi-om worldly things, most apostohc, he sohcited vrith humi hty and eamestaiess to be adniitted into it. After several apphcations on his part, and several refusals given by our Fathers, to put his vocation to the test, they at length found that it was from God. He was admitted, and clothed in the sacred habit of Capuchin. Dmrii^ the whole time of his noriciate, he manffested a perfectly 476 THE COURT AND TIMES OF contented mind, great courage, ardent zeal, and extra ordinary fervours, which spoke in his favour, and urged the Fathers and the Friars to give their votes for his profession: he made it with many remarkable senti ments of devotion. Living afterwards in great seclu sion from aU worldly matters, he strove continuaUy to advance himseff to perfection, in order to render himself a tme son of the Seraphic Father St, Francis, and to become, by this means, more pleasing unto God, In this manner, he spent three years, after which, though he had studied much in the secular state, though his fine understanding, his great assiduity, and his apphcation to books would have rendered him learned, nevertheless, to purify his knowledge, derived from a bad source, to separate from it the worthless, and to leave only the valuable, to add to it sciences of assured worth and perfectly holy, our Fathers thought it right to set him about the study of theology, to which he gave himself up, and in which he made himself, such an adept, that he never relaxed in the least in his first fervours and in his ardent devotion ; on which account he was by obedience promoted to holy orders, and afterwards to the office of preacher and apostolic missionary. Having happUy disengaged himself from the enors which education had instiUed into his mind, he wished, with vehement desire, to vrithdraw from them all those whom the misfortune of thefr birth, or a dissolute life, had phmged into them. To this object he dfrected his prayers, his efforts,'and his studies, I have often seen him deplore the infatuation and the ruin of those misguided people : gladly would he have given his blood to gain them for Jesus Christ, by making them chUdren of the true Church, His great zeal on this point caused him to resemble the great St, Paul, who vrished to be accursed for his brethren, obstinately attached to Judaism; Madame, his mother, being dead. Monsieur, his father, took for his second vrife a lady named Rachel, whose beauty was not inferior to that of her for the love of whom a serritude of seventeen years seemed a very CHARLES THE FIRST. 477 short time to the patriarch Jacob ; but, if this exquisite beauty imparted great splendour to her body, heresy gave great deformity to her soul, for she surpassed all others in obstinacy. She had a daughter, over whom she watched with the greater care, because, knowing her to be extremely docUe, she apprehended lest the conver sations with her brother the Capuchin might induce her to embrace the Catholic faith, which actually did happen, AU the efforts of man are of no avaU against the design of God; great as was the care of this mother, it could not prevent her daughter from steahng out of her sight, and talking in secret with Father Ange, who re presented to her the falseness of the sect of Calrin and the truth of the Catholic Church, and who gave her proofs of this so clear and so forcible that she resolved to embrace the faith of the Romish Church, in spite of the great obstacles which she foresaw, the punishments, the sufferings, and the persecutions that her conversion would draw down upon her. Being persuaded that her eternal salvation was at stake, she thought that she must disregard every other consideration adverse to this im portant end. Father Ange, delighted to see her in this holy dispo sition, communicated the pious secret to Madame de Gondy, wffe of the general of the gaUeys, and mother of the most Eminent the Cardinal de Retz, so worthy of the purple vrith which he is invested. This lady, fiUed vrith zeal for the salvation of souls, spoke of this affafr to other devout persons animated vrith the same spirit as herself, and, acting all together, they secretly intimated to MademoiseUe de Raconies to feign indis position on a Sunday agreed upon, and excuse herself from accompanying Madame her mother to preaching. Being thus left at home alone, and having nobody with her but some serring-man or maid, a carriage should be sent for her ; she was to get into it vrithout any one belonging to the house knovring whence it came, or whither it was going, Madame the lady of the general ofthe gaUeys, and other ladies of high quahty, received her vrith that joy and kindness which exceeding charity 478 THE COURT AND TIMES OF is, in this case, capable of producing, and treated her hke their own daughter, had her thoroughly instructed in all our mysteries, took extraordinary care of her; and, after her profession of faith, kept her tfll Divine Providence, which governs aU things, united her in mar riage vrith a virtuous, wealthy, and highly esteemed gentleman. It was with the consent of aU her relations that this aUiance took place, that this great honour was done her, Madame de Raconies, her mother, had then recovered from aU those passions which had been extreme on her return from preaching. Not finding her daughter at home, and learning that a carriage had come to fetch her, she judged, and rightly judged, that her brother the Capuchin had persuaded her to turn Catholic, and her fury was terrible. Under this idea, she gave vent to her rage ; she screamed like a maniac. Nothing escaped her hps but language of the grossest abuse, and horrible imprecations. She cursed her son, the Capuchin ; and you would have said that she had divested herself of the feelings of humanity, to assume those of a raging honess, or a furious tigress, who had been robbed of her cubs in her absence. In these frightful passions. Father Ange had not refrained from appearing before her, though those violent outbursts gave him great pain. He comforted himself, however, -with the consciousness that he had furnished no occasion for them. He beheld vrith delight the glory of God shine forth vrith great splendour in the conversion of a soiU which forsook the ways of hell to follow the desirable path of everlasting salvation. He paid humble thanks to God, and besought of him the grace to make many simUar conquests, which was granted to him ; for a great number of Huguenots were converted to the Cathohc, Apostolic, and Romish religion by his indefatigable sohcitations and efforts. Business haring called him to Rome; he had the honour of speaking several times with the great Cardinal BeUarmin, who took extraordinary pleasure in his con versation; learning from him the mode in which our French Huguenots conduct themselves, their devices. CHARLES THE FIRST. 479 thefr artifices, and thefr roimd-about ways, which were not so well known to his Eminence when he gave to the public his great controversial work, which has spread his fame aU over the world, as rirtue gives him glory in heaven. In consequence of these discourses, the Cardinal conceived a high esteem for Father Ange ; thought that he ought to employ him in the reduction of heretics; and, in order that nothing might prevent him from acting with suitable freedom in this office, he obtained for him considerable privUeges, such as to be ApostoUc mis sionary, to have a companion on feast days, whom he could employ to absolve from heresy; and -with these advantages, he most usefuUy applied to the labour for the salvation of souls, and, in particular, for the conversion of heretics. Among the great number whom he gained for the Church, I shaU notice only two who are Ulustrious above the rest, the one in France, the other in Eng land, The one in France was his nephew, Charles Frangois d'Abbra de Raconies, who exceUed in phUo sophy, in theology, and in preaching. The University of Paris placed him in the first rank of its most eminent and ablest phUosophers, and he was foUowed by four hundred students, who listened to him vrith admfration. In theology he won the palm from aU the Bachelors, The first place was due to his merits; but, as it is always favour which confers this place, and as no per son can hold it without great expense, he was dispensed from it, and had the second place. With this recom mendation, Raconies had, in his degree, more honour and less expense. Passing from the degree of doctor to the divine exercise of preaching, his learning, accom panied by piety, zeal, and eloquence, made him preacher to the King, His sermons consisted in general of three parts: the first, on doctrine; the second, upon controversy ; the last, on morality. In the first, he taught some Christian truth; in the second, he attacked the Huguenots ; in the third, he inveighed against corrupt manners, IUustrious persons convicted of error by his contro- 480 THE COURT AND TIMES OF versies, desfred to see him enter into conference with the famous minister, Dumoulin, He complied vrith joy, -with the permission of the King, This conference was held before many persons of quahty of both religions, M, de Raconifes argued with such subtlety and such solidity, that M, Dumoulin, finding himself too weak to resist so powerful an adversary, had recourse to address, and artfuUy broke off the conference in which M. de Raconies had effected the conversion of the noble per son, who had been the cause of this learned and brUhant dispute. And, after this conversion, he achieved a great many others, in the merit of which Father Ange de Raconies had a share ; having, by the grace of God, won for the Church, and for God, him who was the cause of this great felicity, I recollect that, preaching in the Church of St, Germain de I'Auxerrois, he inrited his congregation to attend on the foUowing Sundays, to vritness the investiture of Dumoulin, the minister, who was going to take the habit of Capuchin, This news greatly astonished the people, who thronged to the place in crowds, and who were not in the secret, Dumoulin had engaged, by a solemn promise, to assume the Capuchin habit, if one could prove to him one thing, which M, de Raconies was assured of verifying by a conrincing demonstration. These controversial dis putes, the number of persons whom he snatched from heresy, the very considerable benefit arising from his ser mons, brought him into such esteem, that the King, who was acquainted vrith his merits, appointed him to the bishopric of La Vaur, which highly pleased the Pope; who immediately sent him the Bulls, Among all the conversions which the zeal of Father Ange de Raconies effected in France, is not this of Mr,, his nephew, a memorable one? The other was very illustrious in England, in the person of Madame the Duchess bf Lenox, mother of M, d'Aubigny, grand almoner to the Queen, The Count de TUlieres, having orders to go on embassy to the King of England, he desired to have two Capuchins, one skUled in controversy and a good CHARLES THE FIRST. 481 preacher. Our Reverend Fathers offered him Father Ange, with another who bore the name of Deluynes, who was related to the great favourite of Louis XIII, Both made considerable progress in England by their conferences, thefr insinuating conversations, thefr great zeal, and thefr good example. King James was then liring ; I have heard talk of him ; and, though the faith which they preached was contrary to that which was instiUed into the minds of his subjects, not only did he not express any displeasure, but he even desired to see a work on religion written by Father Ange, which his Majesty honoured with an answer, and to which he added marginal notes with his own royal hand. It was a noble and advantageous opening for the conversion of the King; but the wonderful secrets of Divine Pro vidence prevented the effect by the removal of Father Ange, whom Mr, the Ambassador sent to France on some important business. Before he set out, he had treated with many persons of quahty, and, among others, with the Duchess of Lenox, to whom he had demonstrated, by Scripture and reason, that the Protestant religion, in which she hved, was not the true rehgion necessary for salvation. At first, this made no great impression on her mind, and produced no happy effect, but was foUowed by her holy conversion to the Cathohc religion. At the time of our arrival in London, she told us that the learned and pious conversations of Father Ange de Raconies had been like a seed thro-wn upon the earth, which does not immediately produce its fruit, but in a suc cession of seasons ; for, thus retaining in her mind the solid reasons of Father Ange, she had long meditated upon them; and, at length, they had made her re solve to renounce the Protestant and to embrace the Catholic faith. As her rank was very high, for she had the honour to be related to the King of Great Britain, her conversion excited great notice, and touched several who began to doubt of their faith ; and, desiring to be instructed, were brought to the knowledge of the truth, followed it, and passed the remainder of their VOL. II. I I 482 THE COURT AND TIMES OF lives holily in the Catholic, Apostolic, and Romish religion, I have forgotten the names of some other English Capuchins, who served the mission in England and Scotland, before our Queen arrived there. Her coming rendered heresy more reserved, and served to temper the violent hatred borne to the priests, and the strict search made for their persons, and the severe torments with which it afflicted their innocence. Before, there was nothing for them but prisons, gibbets, and aU sorts of punishments; which showed the great zeal of our missionaries, who, notwithstanding those objects of terror, went to England to withdraw some from their errors, and to confirm others in the true faith, God gave them the grace to succeed in their labours ; but, thefr humility having concealed the particulars, let us go from England to Scotland, the mission of which was also dependent on the province of Paris, Father Ange, of Scotland, rendered himself famous, among others, by the ardour of his zeal, and by the subtilty of his understanding, which are set forth in brUliant colours in the history of his life, which an elo quent pen hath given us by the title of " The Scotch Capuchin;" and to that I refer the reader who knows that, at the same time, another Capuchin, named Father Chrysostome, of Scotland, effected several conversions, as weU by the sanctity of his life as by the force of his reasons. I shaU only notice here the principal, which were weU known to me, such as that of a virtuous gentleman and Enghsh knight, called Richard Forster. He sprang from a very noble and a stanchly Cathohc famUy, which the persecutions caused him to leave at an early age, to embrace the Protestant religion. He had the good fortune to be the grandson of a martyr. His grandfather had suffered death in defence of the faith. This noble cause having made him a prisoner along vrith two priests, the jaUor one day left the prison-door open inadvertently; the priests, on per ceiving it, said : "It seems as if Divine Providence affords us this means of escape, that we may continue CHARLES THE FIRST. 483 to assist the poor Cathohcs, Let us commend our selves to God ; let us take our time adi-oitly, without noise; let us aU go out one after another." Mr. Forster approved their design, as far as they were con cerned, but not for himself; said that, in fact, they would do well to preserve themselves for assisting those who should have need of their aid ; that it would be easy for them to conceal themselves in the city, where they were not known ; that they would have no difflculty to proceed to another, where they were un known ; bnt, for his part, he was married ; that he had a -wife and children, and that God had not called him, hke them, to the administration of the sacraments, and to the conversion of the people ; that he had promised his family, when he parted from them, that he would never forsake them ; and that he would await in the prison the accomplishment of the designs which God had vrith him. Accordingly, he stayed behind ; the priests went forth, and he was soon condemned to death, which he underwent -with great courage and joy. The prayers of this martyr and father were powerful with the Almighty to rescue from heresy a son who was moraUy rirtuous, and who had formed an intimate friendship with a Mr. Taleur [Taylor?], an Englishman by birth, and agent to the Archduchess of the Low Countries, Isabel Claire Eugenie. He was at home when Father Chrysostome arrived to receive 99 tapers and 99 ad dresses, touching his mission and his journey; for this judicious and zealous agent, besides the affafrs of his employer, was much engaged for the benefit of Ca thohcs and for the protection of priests. He received with great grarity Father J, Chrysostome ; and, on learn ing his intentions, he told him that he had come most opportunely; that a respectable gentleman, a good friend of his, resided on the borders of Scotland; that he could go -with him in perfect assurance, and procure for him a signal benefit, by persuading him gently to forsake the Protestant religion and to embrace the Ca thohc, which had always been that of his ancestors. At the same time, taking him by the hand, they went to II 2 484 THE COURT AND TIMES OF the gentleman, who was in another room, " Here," said he, " is a good friend of mine, who wiU accompany you, if you please, on your return home. He is going to Scotland, and your road is that which he must take, I am certain that you vriU like his company, and his conversation vriU beguile and shorten the journey," — " WeU and good," replied the gentleman, " I shall be delighted; the long journey would have been very tedious, if I had been obliged to travel alone," They settled thefr affairs, and soon set out. During the journey. Father J, Chrysostome begged Mr, Forster not to take it amiss, if he did not continue his conversation all the way, as he wanted a little time to himself, to attend to his private affafrs. This time was employed in prayers and meditations, with which the gentleman was highly edified. He told me that the Father, coming to himseff, as from a trance, asked one day, " Quelle heure est ilf [What o'clock is it?], not re collecting that he was speaking to a gentleman who knew not a word of French, His prayers and his medi tations rendered Mr, Forster weU disposed to profit by his conversations, which were always seasoned vrith piety. He afterwards spoke of the difference of the two opposite creeds, and feU adroitly upon the impossibUity of being saved in both, because there was but one true Church established by Jesus Christ, preached by the Apostles, and cemented by the blood of so many mar tyrs ; said that this true Church could not be the Pro testant, since it had neither the antiquity nor the other essential marks which it had ; that it had sprung up but lately ; that Luther and Calvin, men who led bad lives, were its founders. He added that this glorious title of true Church, and Church of Jesus Christ, belonged to the Romish Church ; that, ever since it was founded, it had continuaUy persisted, in spite of the cruel and sangui nary persecutions, which aimed at its extinction; that it had flourished in England and Scotland for several centuries ; that the Churches of these two kingdoms were iUustrious testimonies of it. The gentleman acknow ledged that they were, and that his father had even CIIAIiLES THE FIRST. 485 been condemned to death, and the sentence executed, merely because he was convicted of being a Papist, This ingenuous avowal was a fine field opened and strong arms given to the Capuchin, for conquering and securing his man. In fact, he pressed him so closely, that he remained completely rictorious, making hiin sensible of his blindness in things so clear ; of his want of courage to attend the places of worship of his ancestors ; in short, of the genuineness of the Romish church, and the necessity of living and dying in its faith, in order to be saved. So far, he was unacquamted vrith the character of Father J, Chrysostome, and that he was a priest. He was anxious to find one who Avould admit him into the church ; and then the Father, delighted to see such ex ceUent dispositions in his neophyte, conceived that the time to discover himseff had arrived. He excused him self for not having entirely revealed himself to him, the unjust laws of the kingdom having obliged him to con ceal his quahty; that, by the grace of God, he was a priest, would receive him into the Church, hear his con fession, and render him aU the assistance of his ministry. This intimation greatly rejoiced, and, at the same time, surprised Mr, Forster, who made his confession and his profession of faith on reaching home. His wife was of the Protestant religion. He was earnestly desfrous to induce her to embrace, like himself, the faith of the Romish Church. Father J. Chrysostome and he having commended this important affair to God, she received so much grace, that she was converted to God, and with her aU their chUdren, and some servants of both sexes. It often happens that Heaven impels us to en terprises, and, as it were, bandages our eyes, that we may not perceive the difficulties which would depress our corn-age, and prevent us from accomplishing the good, strong inspirations of which it has imparted to us. This was the case vrith Mr, and Madame Forster, Convinced of the tmth of the Romish Church, he had generously joined it, without considering the fearful penalties decreed in England against Catholics, but 486 THE COURT AND TIMES OF which they afterwards underwent with great resolution and joy. All intercourse with heretics, and particularly the par ticipation in the sacraments, Ijeing forbidden us, they found themselves greatly at a loss in regard to the bap tism of the children bom after their conversion, Madame Forster, finding herself near her lying-in, her husband and she made believe to quit thefr house, with the in tention of hving somewhere else for a while. They set out in broad day, before the faces of the people; re turning secretly at night, they kept the house closed, and had the infant, which had come into the world, bap tized by Father J. Chrysostome, But God, designing to exercise their vfrtue, permitted malicious and vigilant Calvinists to notice that the chimney of the chamber of the master of the house threw out a thick smoke. They judged that the famUy was still there, and that they might gain something by surprising them. Under this idea, they went thither, broke open the doors, found the lady in bed, and her husband with her, whom they treated with all sorts of indignities, and, after ravaging all they could, they threatened them with the direst penalties. But God prevented the execution of these threats, by means of a considerable sum of money, which these new Catholics were obliged to pay, and which they did with a celestial joy, emanating from the grace which associated them -with' of whom St, Paul speaks, praising them for that generous pleasure -with which they lost their property for the sake of Jesus Clirist, They learned afterwards, by happy ex perience, what a good and infinitely liberal master he is; and that, by losing something in his service, one gains a great deal more than one loses. Heaven having brought the Lord High Treasurer acquainted vrith the superior understanding and the sohd virtue of Mr, Forster, he employed him secretly in the affairs of the kingdom, induced the King to grant him a pension, derived important services from him for the State, for the Catholics, and for religion. The Queen, 1 Blank in MS. CHARLES THE FIRST. 487 being informed of the matter, determined to have him for her treasurer, and it was in this office that I had the happiness to be acquainted with him. Such were the fruits of the mission of Father J. Chry sostome, If it is so successful in its commencement, what are we to think of its progress and its conclusion, both being concealed from us! What I have related was told me by the converts. Not knowing anything further of the mission of this Father, let us proceed to that of Father Epiphane Lindesay, missionary, at the same time, in Scotland, and, I may almost ventm-e to say, the most laborious and the most zealous that I have ever Imown, The conversations that I have had vrith him have afforded me reason to speak of him in this manner. Father Epiphane was a scion of the very noble and very ancient famUy of Lindesay, in the north of Scot land, His father was Earl of Maine, and his mother daughter of another earl ; aU estimable for the antiquity of their nobUity and for generosity, but much more so for the purity of the Cathohc Church, which they had preserved inviolably, amidst the most vehement perse cutions of the heretics, God blessed their marriage with this happy chUd, who was named Roger in bap tism. As soon as he was old enough to learn the Latin language, he was sent to the coUege under a Huguenot master, who knew him to be brought up in the Cathohc rehgion; wherefore he paid stricter attention to his actions, and, finding them so different from those of his other scholars, he predicted the profession for which this exceUent boy was destined. He said without re serve, and prophesied, that he would some day be a priest, which actually came to pass. His many ex ceUent qualities rendered him so amiable, that, though the minister was of a different faith, stiU he loved him much, and was deeply grieved when he was taken from his school to be sent to Flanders, to the Scotch College of Louvain, which was then governed by the Reverend Fathers Jesuits, There the young student felt happy in no longer having to hear the scornful things launched by the Huguenots against our faith, and the impieties that 488 THE COURT AND TIMES OF annoyed his chaste ears. There it was that holy in structions and good examples powerftiUy animated him to the study of science and virtue. He applied himself to it so assiduously, and made such progress, that the good students regarded him as the model which they ought to follow. Having finished his studies, he prayed to God to make known to him the state of life which he was to embrace. After having earnestly commended to him that im portant affair, he had the inspiration to become a priest, to assist spirituaUy the poor Catholics of his country, and to oppose heresy, which was making great ravages there. He asked the advice of his confessor, opened to him his whole heart, and acquainted him vrith all his intentions. The confessor consulted God, and was in spired to assure his penitent that he was caUed by God to the ecclesiastical profession, to the serrice of the mission, and to the assistance of the Cathohcs, He received that answer as coming from Heaven, and im mediately prepared himseff for holy orders by medita tion and the practice of the virtues. After each order had been administered to him successively, according to the inj mictions of the canons, at length, adorned with the character of priest, and furnished vrith the faculties of missionary, he left Louvain, and returned to Scot land, vrith the greater resolution, because furious perse cutions were then raging against the Catholics, and particularly against priests. He gained some Puritans for God, assisted a great number of Cathohcs, cheering some under thefr afflictions, exhorting others to perfec tion, catechizing these, preaching to those, and adminis tering the sacraments to aU. God, designing to increase his merit, and to render his virtue more conspicuous, in order to teach others by his example, permitted him, amidst these sacred avocations, to be discovered, apprehended as a priest, and consigned to a prison, vrith aU sorts of abuse and Ul-usage. There he remained for a long time, and suffered much ; but his sufferings were soothed by in ward consolations which the Lioly Ghost infused into CHARLES TIIE FIRST. 489 his heart. His dungeon was an oratory, where he prayed to God, who gave him the grace to prepare himself well to die for his glory. In fact, he was about to be condemned as a priest. Such was the fate to which he was reduced. It was what he desired with ardour, rejoicing to acknowledge by his death the obli gation which he owed to God, who had died for him ; but this dear Master was satisfied with his wiUingness, and, reserving hiin for severer trials than death, insti gated a person in authority to obtain very cleverly a commutation of the sentence of death into that of per petual banishment from the kingdom. He was thus deprived of the happiness of martyrdom, for which he ardently longed. The sentence which released him from prison dfrected also that he shoiUd be conducted under good guard to a seaport, where he embarked, and returned to Flanders. He then began to risit the Capuchins, and to take a hking to their way of life, which seemed to him quite apostolical, felt strong in spirations to embrace it, and humbly solicited to be received. After several apphcations, he was at length admitted, and his fervency animated the novices to virtue, and edified all the professed to such a degree, that they gave him all their votes for his profession, which he made with sentiments of deep devotion. There were at that time in Flanders many persons addicted to witchcraft, some beset, others possessed by, the DevU. Father Epiphane was ordered to exorcise them. God gave him grace to do it -with such success, that he broke the contracts, dispelled the illusions, dis solved the speUs, and drove out the DevUs, who were enraged against him, while his virtue rendered him most amiable to the people. He studied hard in despite of himself, giving to God the glory of aU his good works. Several years passed in this manner, during which he frequently thought of the unhappy heresy of his country, and cherished in his heart a strong desfre to assist it. His Superiors, not doubting that these fervours and this charitable feeling proceeded from Heaven, deemed it right to send 490 THE COURT AND TIMES OF him back to Scotland, With the merit of holy obedi ence, and with the faciUties of missionary, he set out, to the general grief of the monks and of the people, who usuaUy called him " the good Father" — " the holy Father," But, if Flanders mourned at his depar ture, Scotland greatly rejoiced at his retui-n. Among aU the Cathohcs who participated largely in this joy, a gentleman of note exhibited solemn demonstrations of it. He honoui-ed and loved him much, begged him to come and live vrith him, and be the dfrector of his famUy, Father Epiphane consented, assumed the spi ritual direction of that house, gave exercises to each, animated them to ^-fr-tue by fervent exhortations, said mass to them every day, and so regulated that house that you would have taken it for a monastery. But he was not content : his zeal was too much cramped in this place ; he was deeply grieved that he could not extend it fiirther. He beheved himseff caUed by God to dis course with Huguenots, to gain them for the Church, to confirm the faith, to confess, and to administer the holy communion to the poor Catholics in the country, who had no assistance. These motives induced him to beg the gentleman to take another priest ; represent ing to hun that any other could render him the same services that he was doing ; but that, not having, hke him, a robust body, not being capable of enduring hunger, cold, and heat, aU priests were uot fit, like him, for the arduous duties of the mission in the country, whither God called him. This request was too just and too charitable not to be granted. The gentleman acquiesced in it, but not without pain : so Father Epiphane departed with the regrets of every one. You "wUl be surprised at the maimer in which he equipped himself, aud the cha racter which he assumed. On leaving the house ofthis gentleman, he put ou a dress similar to that worn by those among whom he was going to labour. He was going to assist the poor — he dressed himself as a poor man. Lie was going to givc to souls a spfritual pasture — it Avas requisite to have a shepherd's dress CHARLES THE FIRST, 491 conformable to that office. He put on a shepherd's dress, with knapsack, crook, and flageolet, on which he had purposely learned to play. In this humble garb, he travelled on foot through aU Scotland, visiting the poor Catholics, whom he confessed, said mass, administered the communion to them, exhorting them to perseverance, and bestowing alms on them out of the little that was given to him for his own subsistence. The Cathohcs of one quarter informed him of those in the neighbour hood to which he was going, and he was ftirnished with certain marks by those by whom he was sent; and, because the pursuivants were continually on the watch for the apprehension of priests, our shepherd missionary, haring recourse to a holy deception, for the purpose of luUing aU suspicion in regard to his person, in the evening, in sight of everybody, stopped with the shep herd who was tending his flock, not very far from some place where there was a Catholic house. He made friends with that man, got into conversation with him, played on his flageolet, and then, bidding him farewell, lie went, in the darkness of night, to the Catholic house, where he performed all the functions of missionary, and then set out again in the dark to go to others. Is not this an ingenious stratagem? What eyes could have been sharp enough to discover a priest in this disguise ! Thus it is that charity has these holy and subtle arti fices, and that it knows perfectly weU how to unite the prudence of the serpent with the simplicity of the dove, for the glory of God and the salvation of its neighbour. Having thus visited the poor Catholics dispersed through different provinces of Scotland, he tarried in a district where they were more numerous and more de stitute of spiritual assistance. He was content to lodge with poor Catholics, in a very mean house,_ which was offered him, recoUecting these words, in which he took great delight,— I am sent to preach the gospel to the poor, and to converse with the lowly. His fare was not different fi-om that of the poor. He lived with them in this northern kingdom, A\here wheat is rare ; 492 THE COURT AND TIMES OF and the table was covered with oaten bread only, cheese, skimmed milk, and a little beer, on which he subsisted for many long years, till he became the oldest missionary, having exercised that noble vocation tiU the age of 84 years. His devotion to the Most Holy Virgin was extra ordinary. He regarded her as his dearest mother. To honour her and to qualify himself the better to receive her favours, he fasted so strictly on the eve of her festivals, that he ate nothing whatever, and did the same on the eves of solemn holidays. He had accus tomed himself to eat but once a day ; and, though his life was a perpetual fiist, which rendered him victorious over all the attacks of the flesh, and kept him in such purity, that his confessor, who was, in these parts, a good Jesuit priest, declared in a paper in his own hand writing, that he had kept inviolable the integrity which he had brought with him into the world on the day of his bfrth. With that strict fasting, which contributed greatly to the maintenance of that virgin purity, was united the extreme care which he took of his conscience, over which he watched, with wonderful attention. Twice a year he made a general confession of his whole life. His confessor mildly insinuating that there was no need to repeat it so often, he replied that the sinner cannot repeat often enough his contrition for his sins. When we arrived in London for the service of the Queen, our Superiors recalled all the Capuchins, natives of the kingdom, inasmuch as there was great danger of their being known and taken, and, if they had been con victed of being priests, subjects of the King, engaged in the mission, contrary to the laws of the kingdom, they would have furnished occasion for us to be sent back to France, So Father Epiphane had orders to leave Scotland, As soon as he had received the letter, he came to London, to see our Superior, and to give him an account of his proceedings, in order to pass afterwards iuto Flanders, the province in which he had made his profession ; but his prompt obedience, and the entreaties of .several persons of quality, and the great CH.\RLES THE FIR>T. 493 assistance which Scotland received fi-om him, induced om- Reverend Father Superior to send him back thither, under the idea that no inconvenience would arise from that measure, since it was founded on the glorv of God. Burdened with many infii-mities, having crieatlv weakened his stomach, he was enjoined bv his con fessor to take a Uttle wine; though his temperament had a great repugnance to it, he nevertheless obeved, and, finding him.^elf worse for it, it was deemed expe dient to permit him to do as he had been accustomed, I have afready remarked that he had chosen a poor house for his ordinary habitation. In a great persecu tion, he received warning from his confessor to leave it, and to betake himseff to a safe place at the residence of a gentieman of quahty, who was fond of him, and wished much to have him in his house. He went thither out of obedience, but tarried there only a short time ; for the poor people not being aUowed to enter, and he being prevented from going out to them, lest it should be known that the gentlemen in question har boured a priest, he left the gentleman's house, and, putting aU his confidence in the protection of God, he retumed vrith the poor people, whom he assisted spi rituaUy and temporaUy, as much as he could, expe riencing the trath of tliose words — He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord. He assured his con fessor that every time he thus gave something, he him seff received afterwards in alms four times as much as he had given. Adorned with so many and such noble virtues, it is no wonder that he should so greatly advance the glory of God in Scotland, that he shoiUd convert so many in fidels, that he should obhge so many persons to forsake thefr disorderly Uves. that his exhortations and his ex ample should excite so many people to virtue, in short, that he gained so many souls for God. At this sight, the DevU regarded him as his .swom enemy. He could not suffer bim to vrithdraw so many heathen from his swav; and, to revenge himseff on this Father, and to stop his progress, he raised up against him the most 494 THE COURT AND TIMES OF energetic satellites, the Puritans, It was Whitsunday, I beheve. They said that this festival was held in great veneration by the Papists ; that, in aU probabUity, mass would be said at a Catholic house to which Father Epiphane was suspected to have retired. Thither they went -with the intention of seizing him, bringing him to trial, and having him condemned to death. They broke open the doors, and proceeded to the room where the Capuchin was. He had already said mass, administered the communion to the persons present, and put away all the ornaments. They took particular notice of each Catholic, and did not perceive the priest, though the room was very sinall, and there was no place of con cealment, as if the protection of God had rendered him invisible. Having escaped this danger, he presently feU into another. FaUing in with his persecutors, they used great violence to secure him, but he slipped out of their hands, and fled vrith a swiftness which proved fatal to him. He fell into a ditch and broke a leg, which stopped him short ; his pursuers, not having ob served him faU, were surprised at not seeing him, could not imagine what had become of him, and returned mortified at the escape of the fugitive, whom they reckoned upon taking, to their profit and advantage,' The Devil had stimulated them to war against this servant of God, who was afterwards the object of his triumphs in Scotland, as he had formerly been the ob ject of his victories in Flanders, He threw them into more confusion in Scotland; victory is so much the more glorious to the conqueror, and the confiision the greater to the vanquished, since he was overthrown in the heart of his empire. Is not Scotland the wretched domain of Satan ? — weU, it was in Scotland that Father Epiphane triumphed. His victory then is the more splendid, and the confusion of the DevU so much the greater, A troop of those unhappy spfrits had taken posses sion of a woman in the country. They exercised their ' We are afraid the reader will consider this " a lame story.'' CHARLES TIIE FIRST. 495 tyranny over her, tormenting her in all sorts of ways.' She did what she could to be delivered from them; but, having found the means recommended to her use less, she had recourse to Father Epiphane, who pre pared himseff for the conflict by fasting, mortification, and fervent prayers. Provided with these spiritual arms, he attacked the infernal powers with the ex orcisms of the Church, and commanded them to go out. At first, they made a strong resistance ; but at length they found themselves forced to obey. One of them spoke, and said that he would go forth alone, and that four of his companions would stay. Father Epiphane obhged him afterwards to teU his name, and the reason why he took possession of that woman. He said his name was Bel-Zebuth [Belzebub], and that this woman, being mounted on a horse, which was carry ing a sack of corn to the miU, the horse flung both sack and woman, who flew into such a rage that she gave up to us both sack and horse, and herself, which gave us occasion to secure her person, and, by an order from Heaven, to possess her. All present were sur prised at this answer, and, though the Devil is the father of hes, the woman knew that he had told the truth. One would have thought that after this he must have taken himself off, but he stoutly maintained his ground, and he was obliged to repeat the exorcisms, which finaUy ejected them aU, leaving at thefr depar ture a horrible stench, which infected the whole room, perhaps to give those present a foretaste of heU, whence that stench proceeded. These rebeUious spirits had several times before ex perienced the force of the holy prayers of Father Epiphane, and of the special grace which he had re ceived from Heaven, to drive them out of bodies of which they had taken possession. I omit the relation of these things, in order to say a word concerning vritchcraft, which he ruuied. He found hi some viUage ' The passage which follows shows Father Cyprien's credulity in a very strong point of view. Tf he had his information from Father Epiphane, the latter de serves to be styled Father Munchausen : indeed, the Baron, in this and othermar- vellous stories to be told presently, has been excelled by the Capuchin. 496 THE COURT AND TIMES OF in Scotland a very surprising thing. The inhabitants of this place had cows, from some of which they de rived great profit, and others caused them expense without any profit. In one house, they gave abundance of milk, one of them as much as two of the most productive. In another house, they gave no milk at all, nothing but blood. Father Epiphane judged that this marvel was the effect of vritchcraft, and, under this impression, he considered who was in and about that house. Liis search discovered a cart-rope ftiU of knots, and this he conceived to be the speU, as it really was. He took the rope, threw it in the fire, and, when it was consumed, the speU was dissolved. Things returned to their usual course; the cows which had given blood yielded nothing but milk, and the super abundance obtained from the others was reduced to the ordinary measure. This roused still more the rage of the Demon against the Capuchin Father, who laboured so successfully for the ruin of his empfre. To daunt his courage, he ap peared to him several times in divers hideous shapes, to revenge himself upon him. He resolved to be the ruin of him, and would have been too, had not God de prived him of the power. This Father, going one dark night to a place whither he was summoned, crossing a river, the bridge of which was not above a foot and a half vride, the DevU strove to fling him from it and to drown him. This detestable attempt turned to his own confusion, for Heaven denied the power of hurting him, as soon as the Father had commanded him in the name of God to be gone, I know generaUy that there are several miracles in the life of Father Epiphane ; but, as I am not acquainted with the details, I pass them over with the intention of writing them another time. After so many vigUs, and austerities, and labours, in the mission, he feU into great bodily infirmities. The age of four score years and four, which rendered him the oldest of the missionaries, enfeebled him to such a degree, that he could no longer holdup, and, consequently. CHARLES THE FIRST. 497 he could not say mass in that infirm state. As his end drew nigh, like the candle which gives more hght when on the point of going out, stretched on a truckle-bed, he never ceased to perform vrith fervom- the functions of missionary, to direct his attention to the Cathohcs old and new, whom he had by the grace of God vrith drawn from heresy, giving them holy instructions, and representing to them the great blessing of the faith, exhorting them to preserve it carefuUy, to suffer death rather than relinquish that behef of which they had made profession. He encouraged them to suffer for hving weU, to gain souls for God by thefr good example, and by their devout conversations. He fed them with this pasture, and, thus fed, he sent them to their homes ; and yet he who could not sleep at night, partly on account of the complaints which oppressed him, — partly on account of his habit of being up at night, going abroad in the dark, that he might not be observed, that time which others passed in sleep, he employed in acts of contrition and love, in holy meditation, and in fervent prayer. Several weeks passed in that manner. At length, finding his strength almost entfrely gone, he sent for the Reverend Father, the Scotch Jesuit, who was his confessor. He put into his hands all his books and every thing he had; begging pubhc pardon for such bad examples as he might have given ; thanked God for aU his blessings, and particularly for his vocation to the Catholic rehgion, and to the Order of the Seraphic Father St, Francis ; renewed the vows of his religious pro fession ; reiterated his sacramental profession ; received riaticum and extreme unction; and passed happUy from this world to go probably to heaven, to receive the reward of his exceUent charity in the glory which I vrish you, in the name of the Father, through the Son and the Holy Ghost. 8 8 Amen. 8 8 What I have written concerning Father Epiphane I leamed partly from his own mouth, when he came VOL, II. K K 498 THE COURT AND TIMES OF from Scotland to London, and partly fi-om Father Clerc, the Scottish Jesuit, who was his confessor in his last years, after the death ofthe Capuchins, who performed the duties ofthe mission along vrith him. He intitles the paper which he sent to me, Brevis Synopsis Vitse ac Mortis. V. P. Epiphanii, Ordinis Capercinorum, S. P. Francisci, At the end he adds. Many other greater things, which he did, said, and underwent, as they have been proved to me, I wUl send at an early day, God willing, Mean whUe I have received this miniature of St, Andrew, the Apostle of Scotland, which resembles Father Epipha nius to the Ufe, I, the undersigned, have attentively read these Memofrs, in which I have not found any thing contrary to good morals or contrary to the faith,' F, Anselme, of St, Rambert, Of the Order of Capuchins, I ought not here to omit a letter which he wrote to me a year or two before his death, in answer to one which I had sent him, -vrith some little presents. It shows the great dangers in which he found himseff, the Di-vine Providence which delivered him from them, and the avenging Justice which punished the persecutors of the Cathohcs, Reverend Father, I have received your letters, with the manuscripts, for which I return you many thanks. You wish to be made acquainted with the various dangers that have befaUen me during so many years. Many I recoUect to have related to you afready in London : I wUl add the foUowing, in which the won derful providence of God is strikingly displayed. I came into this kingdom of Scotland in the year 1620, at which time there were, as far as I know, but three priests in the whole kingdom. I ffrst went to the north coast, where I laboured some years, thence 1 This is rather an ambiguous certificate: it is a pity the writer forgot to certify how much he had found in the Memoiis contrary to truth. CHARLES THE FIRST, 499 to_ the western, and, lastly, I reached the southern dis trict. At that time, about the year 1630, a most vio lent persecution arose against the Cathohcs, A certain nobleman, having obtained authority, coUected three or fom- hundred of his friends and confederates, partly horse, partly foot, who unexpectedly feU upon the houses of the Cathohcs, and, haring carried off their goods, seized, and threw them into prison. The report of this most iniquitous act ha-ving reached the adjacent Cathohcs, they betook themselves to flight. The leader of the band, however, as soon as he returned home, glorying in his plunder, was stricken by a terrible disease, and his conscience upbraiding him, he thought that it was a punishment sent by God for his villany. He, therefore, when near death, admonished his sons not to do anything against the Papists, if they wished to avert from themselves a simUar scourge. But this salutary admonition was disregarded; the second son, worse than the father, succeeded him in his place : day and night he harassed the Catholics, but he soon feU into a mortal disease, by which his whole body was putrefied, and he died vomiting up his vitals from his mouth. A certain Baron, not at aU daunted by this awfiU death of the deceased, took his place, but only for a short time. For, when he was the most inveterate enemy of the Cathohcs, he rendered himself the avenger of his guUt, by the explosion of a gun, the ball from which passed through his heart. Another Baron supplied his place, and shortly afterwards was carried off by a disease unkno-wn to the physicians. Then foUowed an extraordinary circumstance, the memory of which is not yet forgotten. It was now the tum of Mr, Thomas Ramsay, a minister, who was seized with madness, and, at certam intervals, when somewhat compos mentis, could not be prevaUed upon before his death to pray to God, After him Jacobus Brunus [James Brown?], the most ruthless of aU, going to bed m health after the work of persecution, was found to have faUen a victim to sudden death in his sleep. There K K 2 500 THE COURT AND TIMES OF was then sent to those parts a certain viscount, who, returning home after inflicting persecution on the Catholics, feU into a disease, and sunk under it vrithin ten days ; and his corpse filled all around vrith such a stench, that it was found necessary to consign him to the earth at night, as the riscount's sister told me. The viscount was succeeded by the minister Galterus Gladinates, the most inimical against me of them all. He obtained power to seize me, vrith books, cup, and Catholic instmments and ornaments, Ffred with hatred and rage, he came with some armed sateUites, broke open the house wherein I was then accustomed to lodge, coUected the books and the ecclesiastical ornaments, the more valuable of which he reserved for himseff; the rest, having kindled a fire in the pubhc market-place, he burned. Boasting of this outrage as weU to his neigh bours as in the pulpit, within two months, havmg bitten off part of his tongue with his teeth, he breathed forth his spirit. His body could scarcely be carried away on account of the stench,' After all these, a certain gentleman, a most -wicked man, and the bitterest enemy of the Catholic Church, summoned many Catholics before his tribunal, and con fined them in the most loathsome dungeons, but, on his return home, he was crossing a river in a boat, when the boat was upset, and he, carried away by the stream, with his companions in villany, perished, partly suffo cated by the water, partly strangled by the clasp of his cloak. If I were to add all that I could relate to you, neither days nor years would be sufficient. Here I lived many years alone, vrithout any com panion, scarcely ever stirring out of the house, till the year 1648, since which time I have had a faithful com panion and constant friend. My intercourse was mostly with poor Catholics and such as were least known or suspected. I went to them at night, and took rest in houses remote from others. Thrice was I betrayed, but never taken. The first sold me to the Earl of Dunbar, ' This is a favourite accompaniment to dissolution with the good Capuchin, but why it should be a feature peculiar to Protestants the Father does not say. CHARLES THE FIRST, 501 for a suit of clothes and one hundred Scotch marks; but, having timely warning ofthe treachery from a Cathohc, I evaded the snares of the noble. The second sold me to Thomas Ramsay, the minister, for one hmidred Scotch marks ;' I had given notice for the Cathohcs to meet in the house of a certain nobleman, the Duke of Dumfries,^ at one o'clock ; and the minister was apprized of the time, I therefore anticipated the hour, and, on return ing home, went out again immediately, at the inspira tion, as I verily think, of the Holy Ghost, The minister, with some others, entered the house, and having sought me ever3rwhere without finding me, he sent some of his people to a neighbouring hUl, where he had understood that I sometimes concealed myseff, and where indeed I then was, but hid among bushes. The minister, disappointed of his prey, being seen by some persons, whUe returning home, said that he had not yet given up aU hope of catching me. For, said he, I have been bargaining -with some persons to betray him, I have given each of them five Enghsh shiUings ; and I have promised a hundred marks to whomsoever shaU deliver him to me. The third sold me to one of my relations; but, early forewarned of his treachery, I evaded the danger. These are the particulars that occur at the moment : more another time, if God grants life. Meanwhile, I am. Your fi-iend from my heart, Epiphanius Lindesay, Cap, ' The good Father's value seems to have fallen since his first betrayal, 2 There was no Duke of Dumfries. William, kinsman and successor of Robert Lord Crichton of Sanquhar, (who was hanged for the murder of his fencing-master) was created Earl of Dumfries June 12, 1633. ADDITIONAL NOTES. Page 5, line 21—" Sir Thomas Roe.'' He obtained great reputation as a traveller to Turkey, Persia, and other parts of the East, whither he had been sent in the capacity of ambassador, and on his return published accounts of what he had observed, in 1629, he was sent to mediate a peace between the kings of Sweden and Poland, and was afterwards employed in other missions in Germany ; was present at the Congress ot Hamburg, and was subsequently sent to the Diet at Ratisbon, to negociate for the restoration of the unfortunate King of Bohemia, of which negociation he published an account. He represented Oxford in Parliament in 1640, and Charles I. soon afterwards created him a privy councillor and chancellor of the order of the Garter, He died in 1644. Page 16, line 9 — " Sir Thomas Edmondes." In the preceding reign he had been ambassador at the court of Brussels, and sub sequently to that of France; to which court he was again accredited in 1629. Page 53, line 1—" Sir Robert Dudley." Son of the celebrated Earl of Leicester, by his second wife. He had been obliged to fly the country soon after the accession of James, but found a refuge at the court of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, where he obtained the post of cliam- berlain, and employed himself in the composition of various literary works, one of which was the unfortunate manuscript that, falling into the hands of Sir Robert Cotton, occasioned him so rauch annoyance. He died in 1639. Page 100, line 1 — " The Lord Pierrepoint, Earl of Kingston." Commonly called " the good Earl of Kingston," from the generosity of his dis position. On the breaking out of the struggle between the king and the parliament. Lord Kingston raised four thousand men, and was shortly afterwards appointed lieutenant-general of all his majesty's forces in the counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Huntingdon, Cambridge, and Norfolk. He was a very active commander ; never theless, he was surprised by the enemy, and, while being conveyed in an open boat to Hull, on the 30th of July, 1643, was pursued by Sir Charles Cavendish, when the Parliamentarians refusing to surrender their prisoner, they were fired upon, and the Earl fell mortally wounded ; the boat was captured, and the crew put to the sword. Page 103, line 1 — " Sir William Brounker." He was gentleman of the privy chamber to Charles I., and vice chamberlain to his son, when Prince of Wales. He was raised to the peerage, September 12, 1645, as Baron Brounker, of Newcastle, and Viscount Brounker, of Lyons, county of Dublin, He died July 20, 1649, and was succeeded by his eldest son, who, for fifteen years, was president of the Royal Society. Page 104, line 15 — " Archie." The well known fool of James I. 504 ADDITIONAL NOTES, Page 125, line 6 from bottom—" Lord Ochiltree." Sir James Stewart purchased the lordship of Ochiltree from Andrew, the third lord, who resigned the title in his favour in 1615. Page 133, line 11 from bottom—" My Lord Chaworth." Sir George Chaworth, created Baron and Viscount Chaworth, in 1627. Page 189, line 6 — " John Tradescant." This name belonged to three men of considerable celebrity in their day, as gar deners, travellers, and antiquaries. They were grandfather, father, and son. The fii'st two arrived in England together in the reign of James I., having travelled over a great portion of Europe and the East. They took a house at Lambeth, which they filled with the curiosities they had collected in their several journeys, which was well known to the sight-seers of the metropolis as Tradeseant's Ark. The second John Tradescant was appointed gardener to Charles I., and was assisted by his son. Thecontentsof the Ark formed the nucleus of the Ashmolean Museum. Page 190, line 12 — " Chancellor Oxenstiern." A full account of the proceedings of this eminent man, with copious information respecting the war in Germany, in which each of the different celebrated com manders, whose names are given in the text, played so distinguished a part, will be found in Coxe's " History ofthe House of Austria," THE END, F. Shobetl, Jim.. Printet to H.R,II, Prince Albert. Riipeit Rlteet. a39002 00i»05056itb